Raven Maria Blanco Foundation

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I thought I would make a quick post here to make readers aware of the Raven Maria Blanco Foundation. “The mission of RMBF is to increase the awareness of medical emergency preparedness in dental offices across the United States.” The foundation has a focus on pediatric dental patients and came about due to an 8 year old girl named Raven Maria Blanco who passed away unexpectedly after having her teeth cleaned and calcium deposits removed by a general dentist. She was given an overdose of chloral hydrate. The foundation released a Six Links of Survival Public Service announcement and has numerous dental and other partners. The foundation is headed by Mario Blanco and has teamed up with Larry J. Sangrik D.D.S. You can view the Public Service announcement, some news segment features on Raven and the foundation, along with other … Read more

Wisdom Teeth Surgery Survey

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I wanted to let those know who might be new to teethremoval.com that a 10 question survey on wisdom teeth removal is ongoing. If you are a longtime visitor and have not yet taken the survey or are a new visitor to teethremoval.com I hope you can spare a few minutes of your time and click on the link below to take the survey on wisdom teeth extractions. http://teethremoval.polldaddy.com/s/6E8CF57E23BD9041 The survey is anonymous so your name and personal information will not be tied to the responses. Below are a few recent responses from the survey.  Thanks for your help! It makes a difference to those who may be considering have their wisdom teeth taken out. Here is a recent survey response from a 29 year old woman who had 1 wisdom tooth removed who chose to elaborate on her wisdom … Read more

Family Reaches $3 million settlement from faulty medical gas during wisdom teeth removal

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I have previously reported on Austin Stone, a teenager who was left with partial blindness and neurological problems after having his wisdom teeth removed. Today a partial settlement has been reached for $3 million with Action Plumbing; however, they denied being liable. Legal action is still pending against other defendants. Austin visited Dr.  Steven Kirk Vincent in Lawrence, Kansas, U.S., in March 2009, to have all four of his wisdom teeth removed.  Dr. Vincent had just had a new dental surgery center opened and Austin was the first patient to visit on a Monday morning. Dr. Vincent began administering to Austin what he believed to be nitrous oxide and oxygen. Austin did not become sedated and so Dr. Vincent administered diazepam, fentanyl, and later propofol. Austin’s heart rate began to decrease and Dr. Vincent administered what he believed to be … Read more

Lactobacillus Reuteri Helps Oral Health

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A recent study by researchers at Malmö University in Sweden show that the lactic acid bacteria called Lactobacillus reuteri improves oral health. Lactobacillus reuteri was first discovered in the 1960s and at this time 30-40% of the population had it naturally in their bodies. Today this number is down to around 10-20% of the population and this is believed to be due to changes in lifestyle and food consumption. Many preservatives found in foods today kill the bacteria. Gabriela Sinkiewicz a researcher at Malmö University also found that Lactobacillus reuteri occurs naturally in breast milk of women but that on average women in Japan and Korea have higher concentrations. Gabriela Sinkiewicz says that Lactobacillus reuteri is important for infants as it help’s their intestinal system and immune system. In addition, she determiend that that the occurrence of both plaque and … Read more

Vitamin D Can Help Prevent Gum Infections

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A study appearing in the June 2011 issue of Infection and Immunity titled “Vitamin D-Mediated Induction of Innate Immunity in Gingival Epithelial Cells.” written by Laura McMahon and et al. (vol. 79, no. 6, pages 2250-2256), suggests that making sure you have enough Vitamin D can help with the immune defense in the oral cavity. The authors found that an innate immune regulator TREM-1 can be induced by treating gingival cells with vitamin D. While still much work needs to be done looking at how exactly vitamin D can fight infections there is potential for targeted therapies in the future. The authors state “As vitamin D and calcium defciences can lead to increased inflammation, it is reasonable to hypothesize that there is an association with periodontal disease….vitamin D-mediated gene regulation of the innate immune response may be associated with the … Read more