Dental Blog News : November 2015

Monday, November 30, 2015

Dental Hygiene students return to Belize again

Madison College’s Dental Hygienist program students return to Belize for spring break this year to help less fortunate people receive dental care.

The team will consist of seven second-year students, two instructors: Heidi Petersen and Susan Kloosterboer, and dentist Dr. Adina Ness. They will spend two days at Holy Cross School in San Mateo and two days at San Pedro High School.

The South American country is impoverished and getting access to healthcare is a challenge, especially dental care.

“Almost all of the children who will visit the clinic will have untreated cavities and gum infections,” explained Klooseterboer, who went on to say, “The dental hygiene students will provide dental cleanings, dental sealants and fluoride treatments to prevent cavities. The dentist will do restorative work (fillings).”

The trip is more than just about sealants and fluoride treatments.

“We take the students to allow them to expand their view of the world and the (sic) show them how sharing the skills they have developed can help improve and save lives,” Floosterboer said.

More so, it is an exercise in humility, through practice.

“They learn how very fortunate they are to live as they do; how much good they can do in the world with their skills and how much need there is. It is a very humbling experience,” explains Kloosterboer, who will be spending her third spring break in Belize.

When asked what was her most memorable experience in Belize, Kloosterboer said, “a little girl who was in pain from a toothache saw us a couple of days after she received treatment and remembered that we were the group who had helped her. She was no longer in pain and her smile was worth a thousand words.”

The Dental Hygiene program is currently raising funds to help defray the costs of the trip, buy supplies that haven’t already been donated and pay for food.

“We are selling both powered Oral-B toothbrushes, manual Oral-B toothbrushes, whitening toothpaste, whitening kits with pre-loaded trays, Yankee Candles and Racine Kringles. We will also do gift wrapping at East Towne Mall just before the holidays.”

If you’re interested, you can send an email to healtheducation@madisoncollege.edu for more information. They can meet you at the Heath Education building on Truax campus, or in the main building. Watch for additional fund-raisers as well.

Source: http://www.theonlineclarion.com/news/2015/11/29/dental-hygiene-students-return-to-belize-again/#sthash.6PuxSwmf.dpuf

In other dental news: Aurident's 3D dental scanners offer superior quality for both model and impression scanning. The Optimet DS 6000 Scanner uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans. The DSi 6000 Impression & Model Scanner overcomes the limitation of other scanners by accurately scanning impressions and models where other scanners have difficulty.

Nigeria: Inside Africa's First Dental Museum

Oshogbo — Daily Trust visited the Foundation for Dental Education Museums and Archives in Ile-Ife, set up by a professor of dentistry and discovered that it is the first of its kind on the African continent.

Though not very big, the signpost was visible enough to indicate the location of the Foundation for Dental Education Museums and Archives located opposite the Ife City bus stop along Ilesa road in Ile-Ife. With a modest space and clean surrounding, the newly built flashy one-storey building painted in pink with a dash of cream paint on its sides could not be missed.

At the frontage of the museum, one is greeted by a well parked old dental van in the premises. Pointing to the vehicle, the owner of the museum, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, explained that the vehicle was among the collections he acquired. He noted that the vehicle was a mobile dental van used for the provision of dental services in Ogun State in the early 70s.

He said: "As you see this van, it is very strong and rugged. It was used for mobile dental services in Ogun State in the seventies. It is a German vehicle and you cannot find such van anywhere again. It has complete facility required for dental services and it was meant to take care of people in the rural areas. Ogun State government eventually sold the van to someone. When I met the person that bought it from Ogun State government, I begged him to sell it to me and he obliged."

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201511302724.html

In other dental news: Aurident offers the Optimet DS 6000 Scanner which uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans.

The DS 6000 Scanner can be used for all dental applications such as copings, full contour crowns, bridges up to 14 units, implants, implant bars and dentures.

Greater Springfied chapter of The Links sponsors Colgate Dental Van at two Springfield schools

The Greater Springfield Chapter of The Links Inc. recently partnered with the Colgate Dental Van Bright Smiles Bright Futures for van visits to two schools.

The elementary schools included in this screening visits last month were Hiram L. Dorman Elementary School and Mary O. Pottenger Elementary School. During the visits, 110 students were screened and 78 had no dental problems.

"This was a great turnout, and the children were excited about having their teeth examined by the volunteer doctors within the Colgate Dental Van, and each received a toothbrush for future cleaning and bright smiles," according to Dr. Tashanna Myers of The Links Inc.

"We would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Chien Duong, Dr. Rob Matthews and Dr. Kirk Moore. Without their expertise and professional staff, this event could not have been possible," she said.

The doctors gave special care in making the children feel comfortable during their visit to the Colgate Dental Van, Myers said. She said there were minor problems that needed attention, which were assessed by the Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Classification Treatment Plan.

Those students identified with severe dental problems will receive the attention needed to address the problems, Myers said.

In the U.S., Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures provides free dental screenings and oral health education to children through its fleet of mobile dental vans. The Greater Springfield chapter is one of the many chapters of The Links, an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946.

The membership consists of nearly 14,000 professional women of color in 282 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

It is a volunteer service organization of women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.

In other fashion news: Aurident's 3D dental scanners offer superior quality for both model and impression scanning. The Optimet DS 6000 Scanner uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans. The DSi 6000 Impression & Model Scanner overcomes the limitation of other scanners by accurately scanning impressions and models where other scanners have difficulty.

Military veterans receive free dental care at CVTC clinic

Andrew Francis was desperate for help.

“All my front teeth started to break off about five years ago,” Francis, of Gilman, said as he waited for his appointment at the Chippewa Valley Technical College Dental Clinic.

The U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran receives his health care through the Veterans Administration, but in most cases veterans benefits do not include dental care. Military veterans do not receive dental benefits unless they are 100 percent disabled or suffered an oral injury related to their service.

“That’s why my teeth are so bad,” Francis said.

So Francis traveled to Eau Claire Saturday, Nov. 14, for Give Vets a Smile Day, which provided an opportunity for veterans without other dental benefits to receive free dental care.

“It’s our way of saying ‘Thank you for serving our country,’ ” said Pam Entorf, a CVTC dental hygienist program instructor and outreach coordinator of the clinic. “We are hoping this can become an annual event much like Give Kids a Smile Day is.”

The event was exactly the opportunity Francis had been waiting for. He knew he needed what was left of his front teeth extracted.

“There was nothing I could do,” Francis said. “I went to one place and they wanted $6,000 up front. Where am I going to get $6,000?”

Francis was well aware that the service may not be able to take care of all of his needs in one appointment, but he was optimistic. “Hopefully they can take out as many as they can,” he said.

Most of the approximately 70 veterans receiving services at Give Vets a Smile did not have such dramatic stories. Many received overdue dental hygiene work and checkups from one of the four dentists who volunteered their time. Veterans received such dental services as fillings, extractions, limited root canal therapy and limited denture services.

Steven Heisel, a U.S. Navy veteran from Altoona, appreciated the opportunity for dental care. He graduated from CVTC’s human resources program in 2012, then went on to complete his bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing at UW-Stout. Now he hopes to work for a nonprofit group.

“The VA does a lot for you, but they won’t give you dental insurance,” he said. “I’ve gone years without having it.”

Other veterans were similarly appreciative of receiving dental care.

“I’ve got some problems with my teeth and I haven’t got the money to take care of it right now, but my son’s trying to help me out,” said Benedict Solis, of Alma Center, a Korean War-era veteran who once patrolled the Cold War border between Germany and Czechoslovakia. “There’s a lot of people I know who need this.”

“It makes me feel so good to be able to give back,” said Dr. John Look, a U.S. Air Force veteran who retired from a dental practice in Chippewa Falls. He now works at the CVTC Dental Clinic and was happy to volunteer for Give Vets a Smile.

“The veterans have done so much. They disrupted their lives for a period of time,” Look said. “It’s fun talking to them about when they served.”

‘Huge need’

Entorf said the idea for Give Vets a Smile came from a letter she received from a college in Kansas City, Mo., that established a similar program three years ago in its dental programs after finding a need in their area. Entorf then contacted the veterans’ service officers in Eau Claire, Chippewa and Dunn counties.

“They said there’s a huge need for dental services for veterans,” Entorf said. “It’s one of their most requested services.”

Entorf and the CVTC Dental Clinic staff planned the event along the same lines as Give Kids a Smile, an annual nationwide event held in February in which the clinic takes part. Dental hygienist students, as well as graduates of the program and other professionals in the field, were eager to help out.

“It’s really great to see our past graduates come in and help out when they can,” Entorf said.

Another of the dentists who helped out was Dr. Zach Marshall, an Eau Claire Memorial High School graduate who subsequently graduated from the Marquette University School of Dentistry. The Marine Corp veteran who served in Iraq drove from Milwaukee to help out with the effort.

“One of my friends that I kept in contact with after the service said recently that for the first time in a long time he had seen a dentist. He had to pay out-of-pocket,” Marshall said. “He got his health care from the VA, but they don’t have dental.”

Entorf said the turnout of patients was tremendous. People were calling as soon as word got out. The staff saw as many patients as they could for Give Vets a Smile, and there was a waiting list of about 50 patients.

Entorf said organizers want to make it an annual event.

“We will try to run it as close to Veteran’s Day as possible,” she said.

Source: http://www.leadertelegram.com/News/Front-Page/2015/11/30/Military-veterans-receive-free-dental-care-at-CVTC-clinic-1.html

In other dental news: Aurident offers the Optimet DS 6000 Scanner which uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans.

The DS 6000 Scanner can be used for all dental applications such as copings, full contour crowns, bridges up to 14 units, implants, implant bars and dentures.

Marmora dental office helps uninsured veterans

More than 26 people volunteered to help uninsured veterans at a Veterans Dental Day held Saturday, Nov. 14 at Marmora Family Dental.

The dental office joined around 100 offices across the nation to provide free dental services to veterans. Dr. Al Harris, Dr. Robert Kimball, Jr., and Dr. Christopher Nguyen of the Marmora office were assisted by Dr. Dan Loggi, Dr. Wei-Lun Wang, Dr. Susan Wyszynski, and Dr. Bob Woolery, Sr. and Dr. Bob Woolery, Jr.

Dental hygienist Chris Nickles helped organize the event at the Marmora office. Breakfast, lunch, and refreshments were provided to veterans, along with other services such as a free hair cut by the Village Barber Shop in Wayside Village.

“We plan to make this an annual event,” Nickles said.

Office manager Carol Foglio and Nickles worked to raise donations from local businesses. Tables, a tent and chairs were donated along with money. Foglio said monetary donations would be given to Disabled Sports USA South Jersey Chapter. Disabled Sports USA provides opportunities for individuals with disabilities to compete in sports, recreation and educational programs.

A veteran who asked not to be identified thanked Marmora Family Dental and the staff.

“I am very thankful,” he said. “I live on a fixed income. May God bless them all for their service.”

The Marmora dental office also offers free notary services to its patients.

Source: http://www.shorenewstoday.com/upper_township/marmora-dental-office-helps-uninsured-veterans/article_9d119e00-9770-11e5-9fa9-1b847e24e7fc.html

In other dental news: Aurident's 3D dental scanners offer superior quality for both model and impression scanning. The Optimet DS 6000 Scanner uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans. The DSi 6000 Impression & Model Scanner overcomes the limitation of other scanners by accurately scanning impressions and models where other scanners have difficulty.

Sugar-Free Drinks could cause dental problems

A recent study by researchers at the University of Melbourne's Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre suggests that sugar free products can cause measurable damage to the tooth enamel, NDTV reports.

"Many people are not aware that while reducing your sugar intake does reduce your risk of dental decay, the chemical mix of acids in some foods and drinks can cause the equally damaging condition of dental erosion," said Eric Reynolds, CEO of the Oral Health CRC.

"Dental erosion occurs when acid dissolves the hard tissues of the tooth. In its early stages erosion strips away the surface layers of tooth enamel. If it progresses to an advanced stage it can expose the soft pulp inside the tooth," said Reynolds.

For the study, the researchers tested 23 different types of drink. They found that drinks that contain acidic additives and with low pH levels cause significant damage to dental enamel, even if the drink is sugar-free.

The researchers also measured dental enamel softening and tooth surface loss due to the consuming the range of drinks. They found that majority of soft drinks and sports drinks caused softening of dental enamel by 30-50 per cent.

The study concluded that both sugar-containing and sugar-free soft drinks produced measurable loss of the tooth surface, with no significant difference between the two groups of drinks.

Reynolds also pointed out that 'sugar-free' labelling does not mean a product is safe for teeth.

"We have even found sugar-free confectionery products that are labelled 'tooth-friendly' and which when tested were found to be erosive," said Reynolds.

Source: http://www.universityherald.com/articles/26653/20151130/sugar-free-drinks-could-cause-dental-problems.htm

In other dental news: Aurident offers the Optimet DS 6000 Scanner which uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans.

The DS 6000 Scanner can be used for all dental applications such as copings, full contour crowns, bridges up to 14 units, implants, implant bars and dentures.

Nanodiamonds Found To Strengthen Dental Fillings And Reduce Tooth Infection

Diamonds are said to be a girl’s best friend, and it turns out that they could be a pretty strong ally in everyone’s dental health – although don’t go racing to Tiffany’s just yet, as these diamonds are so small, they are invisible to the naked eye. In yet another case of ‘tiny but mighty’ it is the time for nanodiamond to take to the (microscope) stage. Often overshadowed in the nanotechnology world by its siblings, carbon nanotubes and graphene, dusty fragments of diamond have now found a use in the world of dentistry.

The strong and robust properties of diamond could be used in dental fillings (Photo credit Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

A root canal dental procedure is relatively commonplace these days, carried out to remove what is delightfully termed the infected ‘dental pulp’ – the blood vessels and nerve tissue of a tooth that has become infected. The vacant cavity created by the removal of this matter is then filled with a material known as gutta-percha, a biocompatible polyisoprene polymer made from the sap of the Palaquium gutta tree. In theory, the removal of infected dental pulp ought to remove all trace of infection however, this is not always the case, and often a patient will be left with a residual infection that develops over time, resulting in further inflammation in small gaps that the filler cannot fill and possibly loss of the tooth. As this cavity has been filled with gutta-percha, the infection takes hold deep inside the tooth, with no hope of treating it.

Gutta-percha is certainly biocompatible, and its low reactivity in the body is one of the material properties that contributes to its choice as a dental filler, but in terms of its rigidity it falls down, and it is not the ideal material to keep infections at bay. This is where composite materials save the day. A composite material is one that contains a range of materials that each contribute one or more beneficial materials properties to the resultant bulk material. In this case, scientists at UCLA Dentistry in the United States incorporated tiny nanodimensional fragments of diamond that were produced as a waste product of diamond mining and refining into this gutta-percha, resulting in a more mechanically robust dental filling material. This certainly overcame the challenge of using a filler material that was not very strong, but what about tackling the issue of reinfection from trace infected dental pulp, and the fact that the filler did not efficiently fill the entire cavity?

The UCLA Dentistry researchers decided to combine forces with materials scientists and microbiologists to devise a way to preload the nanodiamond with a common antibiotic, amoxicillin, which should combat any infection that developed following the root canal procedure. Through close monitoring, it was found that although the filler did not reach every space within the tooth, the rate of infection following the treatment was much lower when the preloaded nanodiamond was incorporated within the gutta-percha.

Over the next two years, the UCLA Dentistry team plan on carrying out further with their colleagues in other Departments, and hope to optimise this material in order to carry out clinical trials that could well lead to widespread use of this filler materials, resulting in smiles that really will sparkle!

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sujatakundu/2015/11/29/nanodiamonds-found-to-strengthen-dental-fillings-and-reduce-tooth-infection/

There’s a way to eliminate your fear of the dentist

If your fear of the dentist is bad—so bad that you might avoid the dentist for years—and only go when you have a very great pain that is worse than your fear of the dentist, you might suffer from dental phobia. And if you do, there might be hope for you yet, in the form of a specific kind of therapy.

A study recently published in the British Dental Journal suggests that severe fear of going to the dentist can be overcome using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT.

Psychology Today describes CBT as “a form of psychotherapy that treats problems and boosts happiness by modifying dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and thoughts… CBT focuses on solutions, encouraging patients to challenge distorted cognitions and change destructive patterns of behavior.” The study authors add that “it is a synthesis of behaviour therapy and cognitive therapy; it uses both behaviour modification techniques and cognitive restructuring procedures to change maladaptive beliefs and behaviours.”

British Dental Journal

In other words, CBT can lead to behavior modification. In this case, the behavior of avoiding the dentist.

The research was conducted on a group of 130 dental patients who attended a CBT clinic that was run by the King’s College London Dental Institute Health Psychology Service for about 17 months. The patients–99 women and 31 men, nearly 40 years old on average—were surveyed for their particular fears. King’s College offers more details in a statement:

Three-quarters of those assessed scored 19 or higher on the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), indicating dental phobia. The remainder all scored high on one or more items of the MDAS, suggesting a specific fear of some aspect of dentistry. Fear of dental injections and the dental drill were the most common high scoring items on the MDAS. Nearly all patients (94%) reported a knock-on effect from problems with their teeth, mouth or gums on their daily living and quality of life.

After the patients attended the CBT treatment, 79% got dental work done without sedation, which is the most common way of dealing with dental phobia. Six percent were sedated without treatment.

In a statement, King’s College explains that it only takes six to 10 sessions on average for CBT to yield results, and that those who participated in the trial only needed five sessions on average.

Lead author Tim Newton added that unlike sedation, CBT could be a long-term solution for people with dental phobias. But, he added, that doesn’t mean sedation should be thrown out altogether: “There will still be those who need sedation because they require urgent dental treatment or they are having particularly invasive treatments. Our service should be viewed as complementing sedation services rather than as an alternative.”

Which might be a relief to the very fearful.

Source: http://fusion.net/story/239196/dental-phobia-solution-study/

In other dental news: Aurident offers the Optimet DS 6000 Scanner which uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans.

The DS 6000 Scanner can be used for all dental applications such as copings, full contour crowns, bridges up to 14 units, implants, implant bars and dentures.