dentist

Death and Greed at the Dentist: Is Your Child at Risk?

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A new investigation came out recently by ABC News appearing on both “Nightline” and “World News With Diane Sawyer” looking at sedation deaths from dentistry. The story is located over on the ABC News website which appeared on July 12, 2012 and is titled “Death, Greet at the Dentist: American Children at Risk.” A synopsis of the investigation appeared on drbicuspid.com on July 13, 2012, titled “ABC News spotlights pediatric dental sedation risks.” The story over on ABC News opens up with “American children are being put at risk by inadequately trained dentists who often seek to enhance profits by sedating their young patients for even routine tooth cleaning and cavity treatments.” In the segment on “Nightline” Brian Ross says “…it is a scandal in many cases driven by dentists who are told they can increase their bottom line. Hundreds … Read more

The Evidence Base for Third Molar (Wisdom Teeth) Decisions

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An excellent editorial appears in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the August 2012 edition titled “Those Who Ignore the Evidence Are Doomed to Misuse It” by Dr. Thomas B. Dodson (70, pages 1765-1767). Dr. Dodson explains how the debate regarding whether or not to either 1) remove asymptomatic, disease-free third molars, or 2) retain asymptomatic, disease-free third molars has become highly controversial. He argues that there are an assortment of viewpoints that play a role here. A) Payer-based clinical decision making: “The payer is the invisible hand in the operatory, influencing the treatment plan with a bold line that determines whether a service is covered or not. With PBCD, there is little regard or sympathy for what the OMS perceives about the individual patients and their circumstances. Thus, PBCD risks moral hazard by pre-empting services that the … Read more

Reconsideration of decision making for third molar extraction

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An article recently appeared in the Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titled “Reconsideration of decision making for third molar extraction, “(vol. 37, pages  343-348, 2011) by Wonse Park and et al. I am unable to read the article since it is in Korean but the abstract is in English. The introduction of the article states “Third molar extraction is one of the most common procedures in oral and maxillofacial surgery. The impacted third molar causes many pathological conditions, such as pericoronitis, caries, periodontitis, resorption of adjacent teeth, and cyst or tumors associated with impacted teeth. Extraction is often considered the treatment of choice for impacted lower third molars. On the other hand, imprudent extraction of deeply impacted third molars can cause permanent complications, such as inferior alveolar nerve damage. Therefore, guidelines for the extraction of … Read more

The Body Fights Gum Disease Better When You Are Not Fat

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An interesting study was conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine. The study included 31 obese people with gum disease. Half of those in the group with an average BMI of 39 had gastric bypass surgery and had had fat cells from the abdomen removed. This half did better than a control group of people with an average BMI of 35 who did not have gastric bypass surgery or had fat removed. It was stated that “All study participants underwent nonsurgical periodontal treatments of scaling/root planing and oral hygiene instructions for home care. While both groups showed improvement, the surgery group did even better on the measures for periodontal attachment, bleeding, probing depths and plaque levels.” Periodontal disease is a potential risk of keeping wisdom teeth and is discussed in more detail over at http://www.teethremoval.com/risks_of_keeping_wisdom_teeth.html. Periodontal disease has … Read more

Dental Cleanings May Reduce Stroke and Heart Attack Risk

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A study in Taiwan looked at those who have had professional tooth scraping and cleaning performed and found that they had reduced risks of stroke and heart attack. The study showed that more frequent scraping/cleaning was associated with more reduced risk compared to never having teeth cleaned/scraped or occasionally having it performed. The study looked at over 100,000 people and found that if either a dentist or dental hygienist scraped and cleaned teeth those people in that group had a 24% lower risk of a heart attack and a 13% lower risk of a stroke when compared to those who never had a dental cleaning performed. The people in the study were followed for an average of 7 years. The study was conducted using data from the Taiwan National Health insurance data base. One of the researchers was Emily (Zu-Yin) … Read more