Topamax Increases Risk of Kidney Stones

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Topiramate (Topamax), a drug commonly prescribed to treat seizures and migraine headaches, can increase the propensity of calcium phosphate kidney stones, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. A study — the largest cross-sectional examination of how the long-term use of topiramate affects kidney-stone formation — appears in the October issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. Several case reports have described an association between topiramate and the development of kidney stones, but this complication had not been well recognized and physicians have not informed patients about the risk, the UT Southwestern researchers said. More important, the mechanism of stone formation was largely unknown previously. “The wide-spread and escalating use of topiramate emphasizes the importance of considering the long-term impact of this drug on kidney-stone formation,” said Dr. Khashayar Sakhaee, senior author of the study and chief of … Read more

Dr. Teeth’s Birthday Bash Contest

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Today is Dr. Teeth’s birthday and he is celebrating it in style. He is offering a contest for his readers of his blog over at http://www.dentalblogging.com. There are 3 rules to enter the contest. 1) Blog about the contest with title as “Dr. Teeth’s Birthday Bash Contest”. 2) Subscribe to the blog with your email. 3) Start commenting on Dental Blogging. Right now he is offering cash prizes to the top commentators and a lucky random email subscriber. He also plans to add additional sponsored prizes such as domains and webhosting. So stay tuned and head on over to his blog to enter.

Dental Fraud

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If you live in America you should be concerned about dental fraud. The only way to solve this is single payer health insurance. The bottom line: get a second opinion and question everything when seeing the dentist. The video below goes into more issues on dental fraud and what you should do to protect yourself.

Invitation to Bright Kite

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If you are looking for an invitation to BrightKite, look no further. I am offering an invitation to the first 2 people who comment on this post. If you have not heard about BrightKite here is a brief explanation. It is a startup aiming to bring location-specific services to the masses. At its core Bright Kite is a location-aware social recommendation service. Users are encouraged to define their frequented locations, once at a defined location users can view a placefeed – think location-specific twitter – as well as, post notes, images, and check in. All of the site’s functionality is also available through their excellent iPhone web app. In addition you can make friends, check up on your friends, and view your friends last checked in locations.

Are Dentists out of Touch?

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Here is an article written by Joushua Bernstien and appeared in Dental Economics. At a recent dental meeting, a famous panel of dentists and consultants fielded questions about how to improve our practices. Leadership, teamwork, vision, communication, strategic planning, focus, and many other great buzz-word ideas were discussed. When the dust settled after the discussion, I realized that we are completely out of touch with our cosmetic dentistry patients. As we evolve and behave like business owners, we sometimes forget that the patients are still thinking the same old thing-they “hate the dentist!” While we are excited about various occlusion philosophies, new materials, and high technology, the patients are still “afraid of the shot!” While we are dinking around refining the perfect crown margin, the patients “hate the sound of the drill!” While we are concerned about diagnosis and treatment, … Read more