Health

Dental Material that Kills Bacteria and Resists Biofilm Growth

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Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have developed a dental material tethered with an antimicrobial compound that can kill bacteria and resist biofilm growth. The material is also effective with minimal toxicity to the surrounding tissue, as it contains a low dose of the antimicrobial agent that kills only the bacteria that crosses it’s path. The researchers were motivated to develop a new dental material because the current composite materials to perform restorative procedures, such as filling cavities, are vulnerable to the growth of plaque, the biofilm that leads to tooth decay. The researchers had two goals in mind when developing the dental biomaterial: 1) kill pathogenic microbes effectively, and 2) withstand severe mechanical stress. The newly developed material is composed of a resin embedded with the antibacterial agent imidazolium. Unlike some traditional biomaterials that slowly release a drug, this material is non-leachable … Read more

Benefits and Risks of Medical Interventions

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An interesting article titled “Reaping the Benefits and Avoiding the Risks: UnrealisticOptimism in the Health Domain,” by Hanoch et al. in Risk Analysis, Oct. 4 2018, discusses how people may not be able to accurately perceive the risks and benefits associated with medical interventions. The article looked at 373 adults ages 19 to 76 from the U.S. The participants were asked five scenarios focused only on the benefits. Participants were asked to imagine their doctor had recommended some treatment, this included a drug, dental surgery, ear surgery, kidney operation, or to take a new medication. The participants were also asked to imagine that their doctor had recommended a treatment for a flu (a drug), a life threatening illness (a drug), a fall (knee surgery), depression (anti-depression medication), and a heart problem (heart bypass surgery). The article states the patients were … Read more

9 Things You Should Stop Doing if You Have TMJ

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You might not know much about TMJ, but you use them a lot each time you chew, talk, or swallow. TMJ is temporomandibular joints that connect your jawbone to your skull. When something goes wrong with your jaw muscles and jaw joints because of overuse, jaw injury, or inflammation due to arthritis, TMJ disorders occur. If you have TMJ pain or disorders, you may have to undergo TMJ pain treatment. Your doctor will work with you to reduce your pain and improve the way your jaw functions. In this article, we’ll discuss the things you should stop doing if you have TMJ pain. By avoiding the following activities, you can reduce the stress on your temporomandibular joint and speed up the recovery process: 1. Avoid Clenching Your Teeth Clenching your teeth, also called bruxism,may occur while sleeping or during the day. … Read more

Improving the Oral Health of Children

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An interesting article titled “Childhood lasts a lifetime” written by Benjamin appears in the British Dental Journal (Apr. 20, 2018). The article discusses the epidemic of child tooth decay in the United Kingdom (UK) and that good oral health is important for children. In the article the author states “A child’s early years are crucial to her or his long-term mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. So it’s important to remember that everything we do affects children; how we treat them, how we speak to them, what we feed them, how we teach them to take care of their bodies. All of this matters to help children to develop into fit and healthy adults.” In the article the authors mentions some troubling statistics in the UK. One in four children suffer from tooth decay by the age of five and tooth … Read more

Cosmetic Dentistry in the Era of COVID-19

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With coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the U.S. continuing to reach record highs – averaging over 100,000 cases this past week in the U.S., as shown for example by the New York Times, you may be surprised to hear that many dentists are reporting a boom in interest in cosmetic dentistry. As has been discussed before on this site, this is because of widespread adoption of teledentistry, see the prior post Delivering Dentistry and Counseling to Patients using Telemedicine. This is also known as the Zoom boom, due to the popularly of software made by the company Zoom Video Communications, Inc., although many other video conferencing platforms exist such as WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, and Skype. Patients also have extra money to spend, that may have been used in the past to spend on travel and leisure activities that now … Read more