Health

COVID-19 Leading to More Orofacial Pain

by

An interesting article titled “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orofacial Pain Practice: Perceptions from a Convenience Sample of Orofacial Pain Practitioners,” appears in the 2022 edition of The Journal of the American Dental Association written by Fernanda Yanez Regonesi and et al. The article sought to explore the impact of COVID-19 in patients impacted by orofacial pain. In the article the authors analyzed voluntary anonymous online survey data from those who participated in a webinar from the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) on orofacial pain, headaches, and sleep care during COVID-19. The authors used statistic tools to analyze the responses from the AAOP members to questions relating to orofacial pain practices and perceptions about patient symptoms. A total of 111 practitioners completed the survey from the 617 it was sent to. A total of 47 of these … Read more

Does a Parasite in the Mouth Contribute to Periodontitis?

by

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

Algorithmically Detecting Brain Abscess Caused by Dental Infection

by

An interesting article titled “Dental focal infection-induced ventricular and spinal canalempyema: A case report” appears in the World Journal of Clinical Cases written by Hang Xue an et al. (vol. 8, no. 14, pp. 3114-3121, July 26, 2020). A discussion is made of a case report of a 53 year old woman who developed a brain abscess caused by a dental infection and how an algorithm pathogenic sequencing technique was used for diagnosis. In the article, the authors discuss the 53 year old woman from China who presented to a hopsital in 2019. She had high blood pressure for 10 years that was not well controlled even though she was taking medication and also had dental cavities for the prior three years. When she arrived at the hospital she was in narcosis and had no autonomous respiration. She had Cerebrospinal … Read more

North Carolina Oral Surgeon Loses License Forever After Death of Patient who Received Dental Implants

by

An oral surgeon in North Carolina was forced to give up his license in August 2021. The reason was due to an order signed by the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners that was the result of an investigation of a patient the oral surgeon had treated for dental implants who died as a result of the treatment. The patient that died was a 53 year old cardiologist in North Carolina. The oral surgeon had had his license for roughly 20 years when he had to give it up. On July 30, 2020, the oral surgeon administered anesthesia and sedatives to the cardiolgist for dental implant placement. Close to the end of the surgery, the cardiologist’s oxygen saturation and heart rate dropped to life threatening levels. The oral surgeon attempted ventilation, by trying to intubate the patient with an … Read more

Has the FDA Warning for Children Under Three Affected General Anesthesia Use in Dentistry?

by

An interesting article titled “Prolonged General Anesthesia in a Pediatric Population” was presented on July 21, 2021, at the virtual session of the 2021 International Association for Dental Research (IADR)/AADR/CADR General Session written by Mary Younan and et al. The research sets to investigate if use of prolonged general anesthesia amongst pediatric dental patients has changed since 2016 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came out with guidance that said 3 or more hours of anesthetic exposure, may be a risk factor for cognitive defects, particularly for pediatric patients under 3 years of age. The researchers attempeted to see if a difference exists in the proportion of pediatric dental cases with general anesthesia time 180 minutes pre-FDA to post-FDA warning and to use a root cause analysis to identify factors that contribute to prolonged general anestehsia exposure of children … Read more