dentist

Link Between Poor Oral Health and Systemic Health

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An interesting article titled “Self-reported oral health is associated with systemic health outcomes and all-cause mortality” written by Yau-Hua Yu and et. al. appears in the Journal of the American Dental Association (vol. 155, no. 3, pp. 233-243, March 2024). There’s a growing body of evidence suggesting a strong link between oral health and overall health. This article explores how just asking people about their oral health can reveal important information about their risk of developing other chronic diseases. People who indicated they had poor oral health may be as likely as those already had gum disease to have negative systemic health outcomes. Image by Dana from Pixabay The Link Between Gums and General Health Researchers have known for some time about the connection between gum disease (periodontal disease) and health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. This study looked at a different approach: using people’s … Read more

Orthodontic patients prefer face-to-face interactions over teledentistry

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Teledentistry use in orthodontics has been growing in recent years. To better understand patient preferences and attitudes among orthodontic patients a study was conducted by Jackson K. Griffeth and et. al. titled “Patient perspectives on teledentistry and face-to-face doctor interaction during orthodontic treatment” appearing in  the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (published November 19, 2022). Teledentistry has been covered before on this site see for example the post Delivering Dentistry and Counseling to Patients using Telemedicine. In the article the authors assessed the perceived value of face-to-face interactions between patients and orthodontists, patients desire for convenience, and attitudes toward teledentistry for orthodontics. In the study the authors had orthodontists email their patients surveys that were completed by those 18 and older and by the parents for those under 18. The authors had eight orthodontists in the study that had … Read more

Marijuana derivative might be an alternative for opioids for dental pain

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An interesting article titled “Cannabidiol as an Alternative Analgesic for Acute Dental Pain” written by V. Chrepa and et. al. was published November 1, 2023 in the Journal of Dental Research. The article sought to assess the effectiveness and safety of cannabidiol (CBD) as an analgesic for patients with acute dental pain. The study showed that CBD, a non-addictive and non-psychoactive component of Cannabis sativa, demonstrated potential as a therapeutic analgesic for acute dental pain. CBD may offer a safer and equally efficacious alternative to opioid-based medications. This is believed to be the first randomized clinical trial testing CBD for the management of dental pain. Currently dentists and oral surgeons have switched to anti-inflammatories such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen as the first line of defense for dental pain, see for example the post Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs better than opioids for pain after … Read more

Dental Opioid Prescriptions after Covid: A Slowdown in Decline

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An interesting article titled Association between the COVID-19 outbreak and opioid prescribing by U.S. dentists written by Jason Zhang and et. al. appears in PLoS ONE, published on November 2, 2023, vol. 18, no. 11, pp. e0293621. The authors sought to evaluate the association between the COVID-19 outbreak and the rate of opioid prescribing by U.S. dentists The opioid crisis in the United States has cast a long shadow, reaching even into the realm of dental care and widom teeth removal. While national efforts have led to a gradual decline in opioid prescribing overall as discussed in the post Oral Surgeon Opioid Prescribing Habits in the US during 2016 to 2019, the study reveals a worrying trend: the COVID-19 pandemic may paused the efforts on progress in the dental field. For many years, the number of opioid prescriptions give out … Read more

Stannous Flouride Combination Can Eliminate Dental Cavities

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An interesting article titled “Iron oxide nanozymes stabilize stannous fluoride for targeted biofilm killing and synergistic oral disease prevention” written by Yue Huang and et. al. appears in Nature Communications, vol. 14, No. 6087, 2023. The article discusses a potent therapeutic synergism using approved agents while providing facile stannous fluoride stabilization, to help prevent oral disease and dental caries (cavities). The authors describes a new method for using iron oxide nanozymes to stabilize stannous fluoride and improve the ability to kill biofilms. Biofilms are communities of bacteria that can form on teeth and other surfaces in the mouth. They are difficult to remove and can lead to tooth decay and other oral diseases. Stannous fluoride is an effective antimicrobial agent, but it is unstable and can be difficult to deliver to the site of infection. Ferumoxytol, an iron replacement, stabilizes stannous fluoride … Read more