Health

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

4 Serious Infections You Can Pick Up in Hospital

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A common concern from patients who are undergoing surgery is the risk of infection at the site of their surgery, particularly caused by bacteria that are commonly found in hospitals. While hospitals and operating theatres are kept spotlessly clean to an obsessive level and the risk of these infections is very low and made even lower by proper post-operative wound care, knowing about the common ones and how to spot them can be beneficial. Even if you do happen to pick up a bacterial infection, they are almost always easily treatable, apart from these few which might mean a longer hospital stay. Royalty Free Photo Staphylococcus Aureus The staph infection is one of, if not the most notorious hospital-acquired infections on this list. You might be surprised to learn that about one-third of us actually carry the Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria … Read more

How to Get Low Cost Dental Implants Done

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A smile is one of the few natural qualities that endear someone to others. And because it wields such an enormous influence as a first impression, the condition of our teeth, gums and mouth can really influence our confidence level. If you are dissatisfied with your teeth in a way that makes you keep mum or feel uneasy around people because you don’t want to show your dentition, then you need a denture. Dental implants are a smart choice for people who were born with a missing tooth or had a tooth extraction due to infection, decay or even an injury. They are the most natural and functional solution used for replacing a missing tooth. Most people who find themselves in this situation are sometimes discouraged from going for implants due to the huge financial cost. In some dental facilities, … Read more

Mastering the Challenge of Health Data in Dentistry

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In the past on this site there has been discussion of using an outcomes data registry for dentistry and a quality data registry in dentistry to help assess complications, outcomes, and treatment effects in dentistry. A data registry is used to monitor what occurs in clinical practice on a regular basis to help with quality of care improvements and more satisfied patients. In recent years, an explosion of data has occurred due to advances in information technology which has led to the area of dental informatics. An interesting article titled “Health Data in Dentistry: An Attempt to Master the Digital Challenge,” written by Tim Joda et al. appears in the 2019 issue of Public Health Genomics (no. 22, pp. 1-7, Published Online Aug. 7, 2019). The article discusses a blueprint to master the challenge of health data collection, sharing and analytics, along with … Read more