Western Dental injuries and pain

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I found some interesting pieces from ABC 7 KGO-TV San Francisco, CA. The articles and videos are about the second largest HMO in the state of California called Western Dental. Numerous people are profiled talking about things such as nerve damage following wisdom teeth removal, people’s healthy teeth being pulled out and being replaced with dentures,  a syringe injecting bleech into a girl’s sinus during a root canal, and putting too much filler into the root of a woman’s teeth during a root canal and causing severe pain. Of course Western Dental defends by not admitting wrongdoing but then lawsuits result and a settlement is reached in some cases. In other cases Western Dental has not paid for subsequent follow up treatment. To see the videos and read more of the articles visit these 2 links. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=7583317 http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=7585208

Physical Causes of HPA Axis Hyperactivity and Smaller Hippocampus Volumes Linked to Depression in Multiple Sclerosis

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I found this new research to be quite interesting.   Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord become damaged.  Depression has been found to be present in nearly 50% of MS sufferers. It is clear though that the depression is not just a psychological reaction to having the disease.  This is because in patients the depression occurs and it has been found to not be related to how severe one’s MS is and it also can occur at different stages of MS. Recently researchers at UCLA have showed a physical cause for depression in those patients suffering from MS atrophy of a specific region of the hippocampus which is part of the brain. The researchers also found a relationship atrophy of the hippocampus and hyperactivity of the … Read more

Legal Standpoint of Oral Surgery Complications

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As I have written on my website, I disagree with wisdom teeth removal from a legal standpoint (in addition to scientific). Essentially what I argue is that if you have your wisdom teeth extracted and suffer a complication that is not one of the better known you may not recover any money and be left with the pain, suffering, and loss of earnings for the rest of your life. A recent oral surgeon lawsuit after wisdom teeth removal helps reaffirm my previous remarks.  The article states that Cynthia Thompson sued Dr Princell because he did not disclose all the risks of surgery and she suffered a neurological syndrome (specifically a damaged inferior alveolar nerve) as a result of the wisdom teeth removal. “During the trial, 3 oral surgeons told the court that they knew little about the causes of the … Read more

Dental Needle Could be Replaced

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I find this study to be quite interesting as I have had anesthesia delivered directly in my nose before in an attempt to prevent my constant 24/7 headache. New evidence has emerged that a common local anesthetic, when administered to the nose as nose drops or a nasal spray, travels through the main nerve in the face and collects in high concentrations in the jaw, teeth, and structures of the mouth. William H. Frey II and colleagues found that drugs administered to the nose travel along nerves and go directly to the brain, although I really don’t think this finding is novel. One of those nerves is the trigeminal nerve, which brings feelings to the face, nose and mouth. Until now scientists never paid much attention to intranasal drugs passing the nerve in the nose and how it might reach … Read more

Metlife Dental and Dentist Cleaning

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So recently I have stated in a previous post on this blog, I have finished up graduate school and now moved to a new area with a new job. My employer offers dental insurance. The dental plan turned out to be Metlife. On their website they allow you to select your type of plan either PPO or HMO (I have PPO) and you also enter in your zip code. Now I found a dentist listed as one of their preferred providers and one of my friends in the area recently went to him so I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately I didn’t find out the specifics of how much the new dentist would charge for a cleaning and exam which turned out to be $286.00. Metlife sent me a statement in the mail saying they would cover $97 … Read more