Biomedical Engineers Improve Dental Imaging and Care

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Biomedical engineers used advanced cone beam imaging technology take a series of two dimensional x-rays, which enabled them to create a detailed three dimensional picture of the patient’s mouth. Better images allow dentists to increase their understanding of the patient’s mouth and predict the outcome of procedures with improved accuracy. In eight-and-a-half seconds, a machine can take 435 X-rays of Samantha Kotey’s jaw and teeth, creating full 3-D imaging with more detail and accuracy and less radiation than a traditional dental X-ray. Physicist, Jeff Sitterle, Ph.D., says it’s just one way researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta are changing the science of dentistry. “We’re focusing on very new technologies and these technologies are actually things that have been utilized in other types of manufacturing and other industries, but they fit very nicely into dentistry,” Dr. Sitterle, chief … Read more

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.