dentist

Dentists and staff should wear protective eyewear and disinfect between patients

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An interesting article titled “Blood and saliva contamination on protective eyewear during dental treatment,” written by Nora Bergmann and et al. appears in the 2022 edition of Clinical Oral Investigations (Feb. 14, 2022). The article sought to explore the amount of aerosols, blood and saliva splashes on protective eyewear worn during dental treatments. The authors also looked at the effectiveness of disinfection of the eyewear. In the study the authors used forensic techniques to analyze 53 protective eyewear shields worn by dental staff during aerosol-producing dental treatments. The protective eyewear were worn during dental treatments like supragingival cleaning, carious cavity preparation, and subgingival periodontal instrumentation. To detect blood contamination, luminol was applied on the surface of the eyewear shilds. The authors found that a macroscopically detectable amount of contamination was found on 60.4% of the protective eyewear shields that had … Read more

Taking etoricoxib before Wisdom Teeth Surgery to Help Relieve Pain

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An interesting article titled “Does low dose of etoricoxib play pre-emptive analgesic efect in third molar surgery? A randomized clinical trial” written by Long Xie and et al. appears in BMC Oral Health (vol. 21, no. 462, 2021). The article discusses the results of a randomized clinical trial that explored if a preemptive low dose of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) etoricoxib may reduce the need for analgesics after wisdom teeth extraction. The study the authors conducted was designed as randomized, parallel, double-blinded and placebo-controlled and occurred between August 2019 and July 2020. A total of 56 patients were included in the study that met the inclusion criteria and scheduled to have impacted horizontal mandibular wisdom teeth extracted. The authors found that the mean VAS pain score in the etoricoxib group was significantly lower than that in the placebo group … Read more

Grant Awarded to Help Improve How Primary Care Doctors Apply Fluoride Varnish on Kids Teeth

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A grant in the amount of $424,000 was awarded for researchers at Kennesaw State University in Georgia to study how flouride varnish is applied to kids teeth. The grant was awarded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in particular to explore how pediatricians apply fluoride varnish to kids teeth. The grant is for a three year period of time. It is the first NIH grant awarded soley to Kennesaw State. Fluoride varnishis applied to help reduce decay for both primary teeth and permanent teeth and thus can help improve oral health. In the U.S. insurance pays for pediatricians to apply fluoride varnish to young children. Even so it has been reported that only 4% of pediatricians report regularly applying fluoride varnish to the primary teeth of infants and children. Due to affordability issues many children particulary under three years … Read more

Dentist Cuts Chunk out of Cheek and Lip while Patient Has Wisdom Teeth Removed

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A 31 year old woman had a chunk of her cheek and lip taken out while having two wisdom teeth extracted in September 2013 in Watford, England. She was left with permanent nerve damage as a result of the chunk of her cheek and lower lip being taken out with a pair of pliers that slipped while the dentist was performing the surgery. She had to have four stitches to repair the damage. The woman stated that she was in the dental chair for over an hour for just one tooth extraction procedure and had to be given anesthesia twice because of the length of the surgery. The reason for the surgery was due to repeated inflammation of the wisdom teeth. She left the dental office bleeding from her cheek. She also experienced pain and swelling and went back to … Read more

Oral surgeon must pay 2.75 million in malpractice case for dental surgery gone wrong

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An oral surgeon has been ordered to pay $2.75 million in a medical malpractice case that nearly killed a 32 year old man. The trial had been delayed numerous times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the oral surgeon refused to negiotiate any type of settlement with the patient. In 2018, the man was refered to the oral surgeon for removal of his lower left wisdom tooth. During the his first appointment, the man had a panoramic x-ray of his mouth. When the oral surgeon reviewed the x-ray he noticied a radiolucency near the man’s lower left wisdom tooth. The oral surgeon then had the man undergo a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan and suggested a biopsy to determine whether the lesion was cancerous. When a radiologist reviewed the CBCT san he said it was suboptical because IV contrast had … Read more