New 3D Dental Scan Guidelines

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Three-dimensional imaging systems now have new new guidelines for dentists. This has been extended to scanners  for UK and European practitioners. Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), which gives a similar kind of image as a medical CT scan, is now available in high-street dental practices to give high-definition, three-dimensional scans of patients’ jaws and teeth. However, CBCT carries an increased risk associated with greater radiation dose than traditional dental X-rays. The guidelines hope to serve to establish the safe and ethical use of CBCT. In many European countries, dentists can purchase and use CBCT without any additional training. This caused for many to want to establish some guidelines. Among the guidelines about are when CBCT examinations may be justified, as well information about training, equipment and safety measures. Adapted from materials provided by University of Manchester, via AlphaGalileo.

Childhood Exposure to Anesthesia linked to Learning Disabilities

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Mayo Clinic researchers have found that children undergo multiple surgeries with anesthesia during their first three years of life are at higher risk of developing learning disabilities. Using data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, researchers studied the medical records of over 5,000 children fromwho were born between 1976 and 1982. The research team, led by Robert Wilder, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist, found that although one exposure to anesthesia was not harmful, more than one almost doubled the risk that a child would be identified as having a learning disability before age 19. The risk also increased with longer durations of anesthesia. Even so it is unclear whether the anesthetic, the physiological stress of surgery, or the medical problems that required surgery necessary are responsible for the increased risk of learning disabilities. The general anesthesia chemicals in use during … Read more

New Evidence Based Dentistry Site

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The American Dental Association has recently launched a new website dedicated to providing evidence based dentistry. You can visit the site at http://ebd.ada.org/ Upon reviewing the website, there are systematic reviews, clincal recomendations, and resources. Resources link to other useful websites that may aid in finding evidence based health information. What is missing in this list is a link to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. However, there are numerous links to other sites in the U.K. In addition what is missing are any clinical recommendations on wisdom teeth removal. As of now there are only 3 clinical recommendations. The list and information is short and hopefully this can grow in the future. Even so, it is nice to see that the ADA recognizes the need for evidence based dentistry and is attempting to provide and link to … Read more

Dentists Fight Review Sites

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A new article by the ADA was published a few days ago about dentists fighting online websites where some seek to damage their name. The article can be found at http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/pubs/adanews/adanewsarticle.asp?articleid=3529. The article focuses on the review site Yelp and how one doctor found terrible ratings of herself online. The doctor went so far as to have her attorney sue the person who posted the rating on the site for libel. The doctor’s attorney states that “The parameters of the First Amendment weren’t intended to protect defamatory speech. If there were no limits whatsoever, we could charge anyone with anything. We can’t use speech in a way that is intended to hurt someone.” I personally believe that free speech protects our interests in giving our reviews of doctors, dentists, businesses, whatever you name it. I’m sure if we were to … Read more

Oral Wound Healing Improvement

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Netherlands-based research team’s successful development of a gum tissue for transplantation to aid wound healing in mouth (oral cavity) reconstruction has advanced. Dr. Susan Gibbs says that skin substitutes have been far more advanced than oral gingiva substitutes and up until this study, no oral tissue-engineered products have been available in a clinical setting. The team was the first to develop a same patient full thickness skin substitute “Reconstructive surgery within the oral cavity is required during tumor excision, cleft palate repair, trauma, repair of diseased tissue and for generating soft tissue around teeth and dental implants,” explained Dr. Gibbs. “Drawbacks of using skin as an autograft material in the oral cavity include bulkiness, sweating and hair formation and the limited amount of donor tissue available.” Their current study was aimed at constructing analogous, full-thickness oral substitutes in a similar … Read more