Lasers to Detect Tooth Enamel

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A group of researchers in Australia and Taiwan led by Wang, Fleming, and their colleagues showed that they could analyze the health of  extracted human teeth using lasers. This is done by measuring how the surface of a tooth responds to laser-generated ultrasound. This allows them to then valuate the mineral content of tooth enamel. Enamel is the hardest and most mineralized substance of the human body which engulfs teeth in a protective layer. Enamel constantly undergoes a cycle of mineral loss and restoration, in which healthy teeth maintain a high mineral content. If the balance between mineral loss and gain is lost, teeth can develop areas of softened enamel which are precursors to cavities and damaged teeth. This research could lead to the ability to assess oral health and predict emerging dental problems, such as tooth decay and cavities … Read more

Nanotechnology to Play Role in Increasing Duration of Dental Fillings

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Half of all tooth-colored restorations, which are made of composite resin, fail within 10 year. 60 % of all operative dentistry involves replacing them, according to research in the Journal of the American Dental Association. To make a bond, a dentist etches away some of the dentin’s minerals with phosphoric acid to expose a network of collagen. Acid-etching is kind of similar to priming a wall before it’s painted; it prepares the tooth for application of an adhesive to the hybrid layer so that the resin can latch on to the collagen network. Unfortunately, the imperfect adhesives leave spaces inside the collagen that are not properly infiltrated with resin which can cause the bond to fail. Dr. Franklin Tay is trying to prevent the aging and degradation of resin-dentin bonding by feeding minerals back into the collagen network. With a … Read more

NDPH – Chronic Headache Articles

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I found some useful articles on NDPH and chronic headache that may be of interest to you if you suffer from new daily persistent headache or have frequent headaches. There are also some key take-home points even if you do not currently suffer from any headache condition. The first point is that surgery has been shown to trigger 24/7 headache in children in at least a handful of cases. This has occurred in extra-cranial surgery, meaning surgery that is not of the brain. The pathophysiology of this is currently unknown… Thus this should certainly be weighed when considering whether or not to undergo wisdom teeth removal as it is surgery. The other important take-home point is that this 24/7 headache often does not respond to any treatment. Thus the goal of treatment in the short term is often to reduce … Read more

3T MRI Detects Breast Cancer Not Seen on other Modalities

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A recent study suggests, 3T MRI, a powerful tool for evaluating patients with a high risk of having breast cancer, can detect a significant number of lesions not found on mammography and sonography. Results showed that 3T MRI detected 66/66 malignant lesions; mammography detected 54/66 malignant lesions; and sonography detected 57/66 malignant lesions. “3T MRI depicted a significantly higher number of malignant tumors of the breast than mammography and sonography,” said Haitham Elsamaloty, MD, lead author of the study. For those not familar, 3T is a higher field strength for MRI machines. Much higher than 3T field strengths are available but only in a research and not a hospital or clinical setting. Many hospitals are now having 3T MRI scanners so if you feel you would benefit you can request and make sure you use one that is 3T. I … Read more

Ask Dr. Ellie

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So I stumbled upon a blog for a Doctor named Ellie Phillips. Her blog is titled Ask Dr. Ellie and it appears as if people ask her questions related to dental health. It seems as if her blog helps serve as a platform for her to promote her company zellies.com. This company sells mints and gum that contains xylitol. Dr. Ellie is a DDS and does provide advice, perhaps you may find it helpful or perhaps it will conflict with what your dentist has told you. One thing to note is that xylitol is poison to dogs be careful if considering using xylitol.