Latest Dental News

There are some articles I found recently that I feel may be worth a read. 1) Unfortunate Error in Oral Surgeon’s Background This article from the L.A. times discusses how Dr. Suzanne McCormick, president of the Dental Board of California,  wrongly removed 2 permanent molars instead of wisdom teeth from a patient several years ago, and settled out of court. 2) Some Facts your Dentist Does Not Want you to Know This interesting article provides insights in how you should be managing your dental care. Two fascinating tidbits from this article are “It is estimated that 15 to 18 percent of dentists are addicted to drugs or alcohol.” “Dr. Jay Friedman, the nation’s leading authority on dental quality control, once told me the source of the conventional wisdom that you should brush your teeth twice a day…He told me it … Read more

Headache After Brain Injury

U.S. soldiers who have been in Iraq are returning to the United States with headaches. This is the result of a mild trauma or exposure to a blast. This information was presented at American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle. The study involved nearly 1,000 U.S. Army soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan last year in 2008. All had experienced a concussion, head injury or blast exposure while deployed. Nearly 98 percent of the soldiers reported having headaches during the last three months of their deployment. The headaches started within one week of the traumatic brain injury for 37 percent of the soldiers, and within one to four weeks for 20 percent. Among the soldiers whose headaches started within a week of the injury, 60 percent had migraine-like headaches and 40 percent had headaches that interfered with their … Read more

Aetna Student Health Underpaids Patients for 10+ Years

Today I received a letter from the State of New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuoma. The letter stated that I may be eligible to receive money from Aetna Student Health under a nationwide settlement. The settlement effects around 73,000 students at over 200 colleges across the U.S. and dates back to patients who saw out of network doctors as far back as 1998. This is because Aetna used outdated Medical Data Research even when current data was available when determining the current market rates for reimbursements. If you are interested in learning more, you can read the 32 page investigation report over at http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/health_care/HIT2/pdfs/Aetna%20Student%20Health%20AOD.pdf If you believe you may be affected it is advised that you keep your eyes peeled for any mail you may receive from Aetna. You can also contact Aetna Student Health customer service at 866 … Read more

Imaging of the Paranasal Sinuses, the Diagnosis of Sinusitis, and the Role of 3-D CT Guided Sinus Surgery in Treating Chronic Sinusitis

I wrote a research paper over a year ago for an undergraduate course I took in medical imaging. It is about imaging of the paranasal sinuses. Further topics include the diagnosis of sinusitis and chronic infection along with techniques in using 3-D CT to aid in image guided surgery. It is worth checking out if these topics interest you and/or you have problems with your sinuses. The document has been uploaded to docstoc and is below for your enjoyment. Imaging of the Paranasal Sinuses, the Diagnosis of Sinusitis, and the Role of 3-D CT Guided Sinus Surgery in Treating Chronic Sinusitis

Wisdom Teeth Adventures

Wisdom teeth adventures is a new group on the popular photo sharing site Flickr. You can find interesting photos and discussion from people and their wisdom teeth experiences. The link is http://www.flickr.com/groups/1010852@N25/. One of the photos is the one you can see here in this post. Others appear on my website under “My Pictures.” It really is amazing the kind of pictures and photos people are able to capture from their wisdom teeth removal experiences. Flickr image by Lone Primate. With Permission to use. Image under license.