teeth

Dental Amalgam Mercury Poisoning: Why Is It Still an Issue?

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This is a guest post written by Harmon Pearson who is currently pursing a post graduate degree in dental science. He  spends time blogging about his pursuits and writing on dental care. When he is not studying, he enjoys restoring antique pendulum timepieces. How is it that in the 21st century we continue to put a known toxic element—mercury—into our mouths?  The question may seem straightforward, but the answer, curiously, is not.  Mercury remains a primary ingredient in dental amalgam, also known as silver fillings.  Other ingredients include copper, silver, tin, and zinc.  These elements when bound with mercury form what’s typically referred to as a stable compound.  It’s hard and resilient to degradation in the mouth environment making it a seemingly ideal compound for replacing small amounts of decayed or removed tooth material.  Because of this, it’s remained a … Read more

Looking at Evidence Supporting Dental Procedures from Cochrane Systematic Reviews

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An interesting article titled “Is the Evidence Supporting Dental Procedures Strong? A Survey of Cochrane Systematic Reviews in Oral Health” by Clovis Mariano Faggion Jr. appears in J Evid Base Dent Pract, vol. 12, pp. 131-134, 2012. The article sets out to explore Cochrane systematic reviews and whether or not they provide useful information for use in dentistry. The author set out to look at the quality of evidence for Cochrane systematic reviews published in dentistry. The evidence was considered inadequate when authors described weak or insufficient evidence or when no studies were selected for the review. A total of 120 systematic reviews were looked at for 20 topics. The author did have some creative interpretation to assess the reviews. He states: “The full text of articles was, however, scrutinized to assess the risk of bias of included primary studies; methodological … Read more

Herbs in Dentistry

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In a previous blog post I talked about Using Adaptogens to Help Reduce Stress and discussed 8 different herbs that were reviewed in a 2010 journal article to help reduce stress. The use of herbs is also beneficial for migraine, for example, see this post Daily Preventative Therapies Can Reduce Migraine. Recently I came across the article “Herbs in Dentistry: Evidence-based herbal medicine” appearing in Dental Abstracts, vol. 57, issue 6, pp. 305-307, 2012. The article mentions the use of echinacea mouthwash which when combined with peppermint oil, sage, menthol, and chamomile is effective in gingivitis and periodontal disease. Further, this combination has shown to be effective against colds and flu. The article mentions the possible use of aloe vera  “Aloe vera gel is as effective as prednisolone and indomethacin, without these agents’ long-term toxicity… Uses of aloe vera include … Read more

The Misbehaving Tooth Fairy

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In the article “The tooth fairy and malpractice” by Sian Ludman, Hamid Daya, Polly S Richards, and Adam Fox, in BMJ Christmas 2012, 345, e3027, a very interesting discussion is made of the tooth fairy. The article states “We are concerned that the actions of the mythical character at the root of this report must be brought to the attention of the medical community, as it seems to represent the first signs of a worrying new trend in malpractice.” The tooth fairy is widely considered to be benevolent but the authors present a disturbing report. A discussion is made of an 8 year old who presented with a foreign body in the left external auditory meatus (which showed up on a CT scan). The image is in the report. The parents of the boy discussed how three years earlier the … Read more

Dental Bibs May Harbor Oral and Skin Bacteria Even After Disinfection

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Researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and the Forsyth Institute published a study on April 2, 2013, which showed that a significant proportion of dental bib clips harbored bacteria from the patient, dental clinician, and the environment after the clips had undergone standard disinfection procedures. A dental bib clip of course is that metallic chain that wraps around your neck and holds the dental bib that the dentist gives you when you see them. The researchers found that the majority of thousands of bacteria found on bib clips were removed after the standard disinfection procedure. Even so, the researchers found that 40% of the bib clips after disinfection retained one or more aerobic bacteria which is able to grow and live in oxygenated environments. Furthermore, the researchers found that 70% of bib clips tested after disinfection retained one … Read more