teeth

The Relationship Between Bruxism and Vitamin D

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An interesting article titled “Association between bruxism severity and serumconcentrations of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D levels” appears in the 2022 edition of Clinical and Experimental Dental Research written by B. Allaf and M. Abdul-Hak (pp. 1-9). In the article discussion is made of a study that was conducted to investigate the relationship between bruxism, when someone unconsciously clenches or grinds their teeth, and blood levels of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D, commonly known as Vitamin D. Vitamin D is an essenetial vitamin found in foods, like salmon, eggs, and dairy products. Vitamin D can also be obtained from mainly through skin exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Obtaining a low amount of vitamin D has been linked to greater risks of diseses ike cancer and heart diasese and could help prevent gum disease. In the study, 100 patients who had dental treatment peformed at Damascus … Read more

Social Isolation in Old Ages Leads to Fewer Teeth

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An interesting article titled “Social isolation, loneliness and accelerated tooth loss among Chinese older adults: A longitudinal study.” appears in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology in 2022 written by Xiang Qi, Yaolin Pei, Katherine Wang, Shuyu Han, and Bei Wu. The article sought to explore the effects of social isolation and loneliness for older Chinese adults by looking particularly at the number of teeth remaining and the rate of tooth loss over time. In the article the authors analyzed data from 4,268 adults ages 65 and older fromthree different timepoints of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (2011-2012, 2014, 2018). The surveys captured measures of social isolation, loneliness, and tooth loss. In these surversy more than a fourth (27.5%) of the study participants were socially isolated and also more than a fourth (26.5%) reported feeling lonely. The authors found that if … Read more

Illinois Man Dies From Too Much Anesthesia While Having Teeth Extracted

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A 51 year old man from Illinois died after having five teeth extacted in July 2021. He had has teeth extracted by an oral surgeon in Lake County which is North of Chicago. During the procedure he was given as given a single dose of 200 milligrams propofol. There was no anesthesiologist present and the oral surgeon was the one also administrating the anesthesia. During the tooth extractions, the man stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. Emergency responders were called and when they arrived took the man to a hospital where he died the next day. According to statements from the Lake County Coroner there was too high of a dose of propofol given and this dose would cause a person to not breathe. Further, the oral surgeon did not supply supplemental oxygen until the tooth extractions were already … Read more

Does a Parasite in the Mouth Contribute to Periodontitis?

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An interesting article titled “Entamoeba gingivalis Causes Oral Inflammation and Tissue Destruction,” appears in the Journal of Dental Research written by X. Bao and et al. (vol. 99, no. 5, pp. 561–567, 2020). The article seeks to explore the protozoan Entamoeba gingivalis (E. gingivalis) in inflamed periodontal pockets. In the article, the authors sought to validate the frequency of the Entamoeba gingivalis by analyzing the gums of 158 people with periodontitis and healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction and microscopy tests. A total of 107 of the people in the study were healthy controls while 51 had periodontitis. For those healthy control patients, E. gingivalis was detected in oral cavities in 15% of these patients. For those with periodontitis, E. gingivalis was detected in 77% of inflamed periodontal sites and 22% of healthy sites. The authors state “In conjunction with abundant … Read more

Panoramic X-Ray Showing Tooth Inside Chin Lights up Internet

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A man posted an image of a panoramic x-ray of his mouth in the midlyinteresting channel on Reddit and this caused the internet to light up. The Reddit user u/super9mega posted the x-ray with the caption “There’s a tooth in my chin.” Reddit users were quite amazed and the post has racked up over 50,000 upvoes and over 2,000 comments. The user explained that the tooth is not causing him any discomfort and he was not aware that it even was present prior to the x-ray he received by his dentist. It seems the consensus by the man’s dentist and also those commenting is that it would do more harm than good to attempt to remove the tooth. With wisdom teeth it is somewhat common to see completely horizontal wisdom teeth that do not erupt. Embedded teeth like this tooth … Read more