TeethRemoval.com

American Dental Association Toothflix Demo Series

Posted on 31. Dec, 2011 by wisdom.

Recently the American Dental Association (ADA)  has released a Patient Education DVD series called Toothflix. It contains 23 different video segments which explore different topics designed to educate patients on their oral health and prevention and treatment strategies.

The complete series including all 23 segments currently is available for $699. Each segment is around 3 to 6 minutes long. It is intended to be played on a TV and DVD player in the reception or waiting area of a dental office. It could also be used in actual treatment rooms perhaps to help explain more clearly certain topics to patients. In addition another use would be for when a dentist goes out into the community to give a presentation or some other event.

The ADA has 7 of the segments partially available on their website for demonstration purposes. I reviewed the segment on Preventing Periodontal Disease and felt it was informative. The viewer learns about how periodontal disease is caused by plaque which is caused by not cleaning regularly enough and properly after eating.

The viewer learns about the warning signs of periodontal disease

• Gums that bleed easily are red, swollen, or tender
• Gums pull away from teeth
• Constant bad breath
• Pus between teeth and gums
• Loose or separating teeth
• Change in your bite
• Change in how dentures fit

In addition the factors that increase the risk of periodontal disease are discussed

1. Smoking or chewing tobacco
2. Systemic diseases
3. Medications
4. Hormonal changes
5. Bridges or partial dentures that no longer fit properly

Of course the possibility of inflammation and periodontal disease and it’s role in your overall health is mentioned.

As is commonly recommend, the video informs the viewer to brush at least twice daily and floss once a day. It says how it is possible to have periodontal disease without having any warning signs and symptoms.

In addition it talks about how a dentist will measure the space between your teeth and gum with a periodontal probe and that this probing depth should be 3 mm or less for you to be considered healthy.

As a side note, the risk of Periodontal disease is a commonly cited reason to have wisdom teeth removed in young adults. Therefore I go into many more details about periodontal disease and their relation to wisdom teeth under the risks of keeping your wisdom teeth page.

The ADA tends to stay out of the wisdom teeth debate so this is not even mentioned in the video. However I was impressed by the video and thought it did a great job providing an introduction and knowledge needed by dental patients.

Additional information about the ADA Toothflix series is available on the ADA website at http://www.ada.org/2334.aspx.  There is no segment on wisdom teeth, but other segments include Tooth Extraction, Root Canal, Cracked Tooth, and Early Childhood Caries.

There are other Toothflix options available besides the complete series. I feel owning this DVD series may make a nice addition for dental offices and aid their patients in understanding and knowledge of their oral health.

Continue Reading

ADA Breaking Down Barriers to Oral Health for All Americans: Repairing the Tattered Safety Net

Posted on 15. Aug, 2011 by wisdom.

On August 12, 2011, the American Dental Association (ADA) released the second paper in their series of papers on access to oral health.

The paper is available for download from the ADA at http://www.ada.org/sections/advocacy/pdfs/breaking-down-barriers.pdf

The first paper released on February 22, 2011, was titled Breaking Down Barriers to Oral Health for All Americans: The Role of Workforce as available for download from the ADA at http://www.ada.org/sections/advocacy/pdfs/ada_workforce_statement.pdf. I have previously commented on this first paper here http://blog.teethremoval.com/breaking-down-barriers-to-oral-health-for-all-americans-ada-workforce-statement/

Like the first paper, in the opening of the document is a message from Raymond Gist, D.D.S. and President of the American Dental Association. In this message Dr. Gist states

“…increasing numbers of Americans find themselves unable to pay for dental care….For this growing population, the so-called oral health safety net is the only recourse for preventing and treating oral disease….the general definition of safety net is the sum of the individuals, organizations, public and private agencies and programs involved in delivering oral health services to people who, for reasons of poverty, culture, language, health status, geography or education, are unable to secure those services on their own…..With the acknowledgment that change to the current system is necessary and is a process and not an event, the ADA is determined to lead what must be the concerted efforts of not only the dental profession, but also governments at all levels, the private and charitable sectors, and all Americans with the will and desire to achieve the goal of a healthier, more productive nation. If all of the stakeholders involved keep that goal at the forefront of our thinking and actions, we can truly progress toward better oral health for all Americans.”

The paper goes on to discuss the safety net for the roughly 82 million people in the U.S. in low income families of which only 27.8% visit the dentist each year.

The ADA is adamant about keeping non-dentists from not providing dental services such as extractions and  restorations”

“The ADA remains unequivocally opposed to proposals for these so-called “midlevel providers,” believing that adding lesser-trained “surgeons” to the workforce has the potential to erode the superlative quality of American dental care….The problem is not how many dentists there are; but rather where they are, and whether they are able to serve disadvantaged patients, either in private practices or in connection with clinics, health centers or other facilities.”

The ADA believes that Americans don’t take their oral health seriously:

“Major improvements in the dental safety net will not occur until the nation places greater value on oral health. Despite a growing appreciation in many quarters that oral health is integral to overall health; it remains the poor stepchild of health care in America. This phenomenon extends from government to the media to other health professions to the public at large. This lack of recognition of the importance of oral health is manifest in government policy, in public and private health plans, in the educational system and even in the priorities that individuals set for themselves and their families.”

Unfortunately I think the ADA is thinking and focusing on issues here without recognizing that there other issues that need to be addressed in the current system. As illustrated in the first paper dentists, oral surgeons, and doctors/physicians in private practice in the U.S. clearly have some financial incentives which are in opposition to achieving the goal of a healthier nation. This is simple economics and understandable.

As eloquently put by someone who suffered from a constant headache after having wisdom teeth removed just like myself:

“In our society, protection from liability is primary, profit is secondary, preserving the posterity and ego of the medical profession is tertiary, and treating the patient is somewhere further down [the] priority chain.”

I have recently added a case to the complications from wisdom teeth page where a patient recently had wisdom teeth extracted by an oral surgeon and suffered from a scar on her cheek likely from thermal injury from the dental drill during surgery. She did not know about the injury until after surgery and was told by the oral surgeon’s office the “…condition was not related to the surgery. ” I had a similar experience when I had my wisdom teeth extracted. When I went back to my oral surgeon after having my wisdom teeth extracted preventatively at the age of 20 complaining of a chronic severe 24/7 headache I was told the headache was not from the surgery and to see my family doctor.

Both in my case and the case I just discussed where the woman suffered a thermal burn, there was no access to the court system of the United States. There is no such system that will pay patients who suffer from injury. In my case I had a 24/7 headache develop. This certainly has and will continue to happen to others who have wisdom teeth extracted in the name of prevention. No technology allows for a headache to be “seen” thus this makes it very difficult to have any sort of malpractice case or recover any fees.

Does it not make sense to focus on fixing some of the problems with the current system? I believe it is time for a no-fault insurance compensation system to be in place in the U.S.  Such a system has been successfully implemented in New Zealand. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/In-the-Literature/2006/Feb/No-Fault-Compensation-in-New-Zealand–Harmonizing-Injury-Compensation–Provider-Accountability–and.aspx

The ADA Repairing the Tattered Safety Net document states:

“A public health model based on the surgical intervention in disease that could have been prevented, after that disease has occurred, is a poor model. The nation will never drill, fill and extract its way to victory over untreated oral disease. But simple, low-cost measures like sealing kids’ teeth, educating families about taking charge of their own oral health, expanding the number of health professionals capable of assessing a child’s oral health, and linking dental and medical homes will pay for themselves many times over.”

Unfortunately, the current system in the U.S. allows for any young adult to go into their dentist or oral surgeon’s private office and have their wisdom teeth removed in the name of prevention.  Then if they suffer a chronic, severe 24/7 headache which severely impacts their life and future earning potential they have no access to receive any compensation and their is no universal healthcare system in the U.S. as it is not considered a right. Of course other possibilities are possible.

I have hence argued that the U.S. needs a single-payer health care in the United States, such as what is advocated by the Physicians for a National Health Program http://pnhp.org/, although this comes with many challenges as well.  The U.S. most certainly needs a major overhaul of the legal system as argued on the page of how the current U.S. legal system rewards doctors for malpractice.

The ADA needs to refocus it’s efforts on removing profits from patient care in the U.S., allowing the people who have been injured  compensation, dentists and doctors respecting and being ethical in their treatment of patients, and most certainly allowing all patients a right to have dental and health care. I can not and will not advocate for surgical extraction of healthy wisdom teeth unless there is clear scientific evidence to demonstrate that removing healthy wisdom teeth preventively is beneficial. Does not the ADA believe in scientific evidence? Current scientific evidence does not support nor refute preventative healthy wisdom teeth extractions and some argue:

“…removing organs such as tonsils and appendices for preventative reasons when they are healthy, have no pathology, and cause no symptoms would be irresponsible, unethical, and negligent and wisdom teeth should be in that category of organs.”

Now certainly this may not apply to all those low income families the ADA talks about in their report who do not regularly see the dentist. The majority of low-income patients maybe should be having their healthy wisdom teeth extracted preventatively particularly those who are uneducated and do not make their oral health a priority which may simply be do to not having the financial resources to do so. However, for the rest of the population particularly in those motivated and educated about making their oral health a priority it seems in most cases to be better served with a strategy of watchful monitoring of healthy wisdom teeth. This is an unfortunate reality of the current state of affairs in the U.S. and I hope and pray that very soon things will change for the better.

I am open to comments and criticisms. Post a comment below or send me an email.

Continue Reading

Breaking Down Barriers to Oral Health for All Americans – ADA Workforce Statement

Posted on 22. Feb, 2011 by wisdom.

Today (February 22, 2011) the American Dental Association (ADA) issued a 16 page document titled Breaking Down Barriers to Oral Health for All Americans: The Role of Workforce. This can be downloaded on the ADA website at http://www.ada.org/sections/advocacy/pdfs/ada_workforce_statement.pdf

The document is intended as the first in a series of documents which will be subsequently released intended to help improve the oral health of Americans who may not currently have proper access to dental care.

In the opening of the document is a message from Raymond Gist, D.D.S. and President of the American Dental Association. In this message Dr. Gist states

“As the nation’s leading advocate for oral health, the ADA believes that we can and will reach the day when no American who needs and seeks the care that leads to good oral health will be denied. We believe that this can be accomplished by enhancing, rather than compromising a proven system of care that has served the oral health needs of generations.”

In the document it is stated

“Until a sense of value and a desire for oral health become the norm, the existing barriers will continue to block any significant progress toward improving the oral health of those who currently lack care.”

Further in the document it is stated

“Every group involved in any aspect of solving the nation’s oral health disparities latches onto the same statistics, events and trends in order to argue its case: That dental disease is the most prevalent malady affecting the nation’s children; that disadvantaged children experience a significantly greater burden of oral disease than other children, accounting for 80 percent of childhood dental disease; that a deplorably small percentage of disadvantaged children and adults see dentists regularly; that a great number of private practice dentists cannot afford to treat patients covered under Medicaid, SCHIP or similar programs; that evidence of links between chronic oral disease and non-oral disease continues to mount.”

An interesting point is made in the document about how the number of dentists in the U.S. is expected to increase from 180,000 today to roughly 200,000 in 2030 even though many earlier reports have predicted otherwise.

Another point brought up in the document is

“In the economic sense, the populations in the most common underserved settings—remote rural areas, Native American communities and inner cities—cannot support a dental practice because no one is paying adequately for their care.”

Further on in the document it says

“… dental clinics, whether government funded, private or nonprofit can have a critical role in communities that for whatever reason cannot attract sufficient private dental practices. In some communities these clinics may be the only resource available for dental care, and they often are overwhelmed. Many dentists who dedicate their careers to working in them do so out of powerful sense of social responsibility.”

A conclusion in this document is the following

“The preceding discussion takes place in a terrible context: an ongoing epidemic in the most powerful country in the world, one that corrodes lives, robs children of otherwise bright futures, aggravates chronic and expensive-to-treat medical conditions and even, as in the case of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver, kills.”

Clearly a large theme in this document is how economics prevent dentists from being able to provide adequate treatment to low income individuals and those in remote areas. They want to serve them but competitive pay does not allow for it. Other ways to approach this such as with creative and outreach approaches are discussed.

Ultimately it seems to me that what is truly needed is single-payer health care in the United States, such as what is advocated by the Physicians for a National Health Program http://pnhp.org/, although this comes with many challenges as well.

As stated in the ADA document on its own entirely seperate page

“Ultimately, education and prevention will be the linchpins in eliminating, or at least minimizing untreated dental disease.”

Continue Reading

Lactobacillus Reuteri Helps Oral Health

Posted on 25. Jan, 2011 by wisdom.

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 bleeding from the gums declined after only two weeks of using chewing gum containing certain strains of Lactobacillus reuteri. There are curently numerous studies underway to explore how Lactobacillus reuteri and it’s link to oral health and allergies.

If you are familar with the probiotic called Culturelle, which can be bought at a pharmacy such as CVS, it contains Lactobacillus GG which is a natural preservative in yogurt and diary products. It is useful as it helps to prevent harmful bacteria from growing in the intestine.

Perhaps  the reuteri strain of Lactobacillus may one day appear at your local pharmacy and be used to help further improve your oral health.

Source: Sciencedaily

Continue Reading

Healthy Teeth and Gums with Green Tea

Posted on 30. Apr, 2009 by wisdom.

Origins of green tea consumption believe that it could cure disease and heal wounds. With recent scientific studies showing that there are health benefits of drinking green tea, especially in weight loss, heart health, and cancer prevention.

A study recently published in the Journal of Periodontology, states that routine intake of green tea may also help promote healthy teeth and gums. The study  found that those who regularly drank green tea had superior periodontal health than subjects that consumed less green tea.

Male participants aged 49 through 59 were examined on three indicators of periodontal disease: periodontal pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (CAL) of gum tissue, and bleeding on probing (BOP) of the gum tissue. Researchers observed that for every one cup of green tea consumed per day, there was a decrease in all three indicators.

Green tea’s ability to help reduce symptoms of periodontal disease may be due to the presence of the antioxidant catechin.  By interfering with the body’s inflammatory response to periodontal bacteria, green tea may help promote periodontal health. Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the gums and bone supporting the teeth. It could lead to other diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Thus regualarly drinking green tea could lead to improved oral health and overall health.

Continue Reading