The Dentistry Blog

I found a few links that answers queries most parents have about maintaining good oral hygiene for newborns. Thought I would share it with you guys. Here they are:

http://www.aapd.org/foundation/hints.asp

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/dental/dent4376.html

http://www.aapd.org/publications/brochures/specialcare.asp

http://www.ada.org/public/topics/decay_childhood_faq.asp

http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/pubs/jada/patient/patient_56.pdf

http://www.ada.org/public/media/releases/0701_release01.asp

According to new research published in the Journal of Oral Implantology dental implants are 98 percent successful and cause little or no bone loss.

Authors Zeev Ormianer, DMD and Ady Palty, DMD reviewed 60 charts of patients who received a total of 267 implants in two private dental practices in Israel and Germany. They found that 98.5 percent of the implants survived and there was no discernable bone loss in 88 percent of the implant sites. The mean follow-up time was 7.5 years.
The study goal was to determine the level of bone loss over time at the implant sites in the jaw. A key clinical issue was not whether bone loss would occur but how much bone loss should be considered normal and acceptable.
Commenting on the findings, Jamie Lozada, DDS, president of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry said the study adds to growing body of compelling clinical evidence supporting dental implants as the most successful method for replacing missing or compromised teeth

Source:American Academy of Implant Dentistry

What is a dental implant?
An implant is an artificial replacements for the tooth root and it look like a cylinder or a screw. A typical implant consists of a titanium screw with a roughened surface. It is anchored into the jaw bone and becomes a stable base for one or more artificial teeth. Implants offer stability because they fuse to the bone and this integration helps the replacement teeth to feel more natural than conventional substitutes.

History:
The Mayan civilization has been shown to have used the earliest known examples of endosseous implants (implants embedded into bone). In the 1950s research was being conducted at Cambridge University in England to study blood flow in vivo. These workers devised a method of constructing a chamber of titanium which was then embedded into the soft tissue of the ears of rabbits. In 1952 the Swedish orthopaedic surgeon, P I Brånemark, interested in studying bone healing and regeneration, adopted the Cambridge designed ‘rabbit ear chamber’ for use in the rabbit femur(thigh bone). Following several months of study he attempted to retrieve these expensive chambers from the rabbits and found that he was unable to remove them. He observed that bone had grown into such close proximity with the titanium that it effectively adhered to the metal. Brånemark carried out many further studies into this phenomenon, using both animal and human subjects, which all confirmed this unique property of titanium. He termed the clinically observed adherence of bone with titanium as ‘osseointegration’.

In 1965 Brånemark, placed the first titanium dental implant into a human volunteer, a Swede named Gösta Larsson.There are several types of dental implants; the most widely accepted and successful is the osseointegrated implant which forms a structural and functional connection between the living bone and titanium implant.

Anatomy of a dental implant:
A dental implant designed to replace a single tooth is composed of three parts: the titanium implant that fuses with the jawbone; the abutment, which fits over the portion of the implant that protrudes from the gum line; and the crown, which is created by a prosthodontist or restorative dentist and fitted onto the abutment for a natural appearance.

Implant Placement Procedure:
The surface an implant is treated either by plasma spraying, etching or sandblasting to increase its surface area and thus its integration potential. A small-diameter hole (pilot hole) is drilled into the jawbone at edentulous sites(lacking teeth) to guide the titanium implant in place. Drilling into jawbone usually occurs in several separate steps. The pilot hole is expanded by using progressively wider drills (typically between three and seven successive drilling steps, depending on implant width and length). Care is taken not to damage the osteoblast or bone cells by overheating. A cooling saline spray keeps the temperature of the bone to below 47 degrees Celsius (approximately 117 degrees Fahrenheit). After the hole has been drilled the implant is placed. Once properly torqued into the bone, a protective cover screw is placed on the implant, then the gingiva or gum is sutured over the site and allowed to heal for aprox 3-6 months for osseointegration to occur between the titanium surface of the implant, and the jawbone. There may be some swelling, tenderness or both for a few days after the procedure so pain medication is prescribed to alleviate the discomfort. A diet of soft, cold foods is often recommended during the healing process. In the second stage the implant is uncovered in another surgical procedure, usually under local anesthetic and a healing abutment and temporary crown are placed onto the implant. This encourages the gum to grow in the right scalloped shape to approximate a natural tooth’s gums and allows assessment of the final aesthetics of the restored tooth. Once this has occurred a permanant crown is fabricated and placed on the implant.
An increasingly common strategy to preserve bone and reduce treatment times includes the placement of a dental implant into a recent extraction site. In addition, immediate loading ( a procedure where the abutment is placed during the initial surgical procedure along with the implant) is becoming more common as success rates for this procedure are now acceptable.

Patients often shy away from teeth whitening procedures because of the fears and misconceptions surrounding the techniques. Some of these concerns have been proven to be completely false. Other worries should only be a concern for patients who do not go to certified professionals.

1.Whitening Agents Can Cause Oral Cancer
Most bleaching and whitening products use hydrogen peroxide or carbomide peroxide to remove stains from your teeth. The saliva present in the patients mouths would equalize with these peroxides to dilute and eliminate any possibility of danger.

2.Teeth Whitening Systems Can Damage Tooth Pulp And Nerves
Extremely high concentrations of chemicals can burn the nerve endings and pulp inside the tooth but when used in the right concentrations, there is no way this can happen.

3.Tooth Enamel Is Negatively Affected By Whitening Agents
Early whitening products are at the root of this misconception. These compounds used an abrasive material that would scratch off the stain as well as the surface layers of enamel. New techniques focus on dissolving the stains in the tooth rather than acting like a scratch pad to rub it off.

4.Teeth Whitening Cannot Be Performed On Dental Work
Although this is true with certain procedures, there are other options available to those who cannot benefit from professional whitening. Caps, special fillings, crowns, and bonding do not respond to teeth whitening techniques and the adhesive of these procedures may also be affected. As an alternative, patients can have veneers, bonding, or replace their existing work for the best results. Other dental work such as standard fillings or root canals are not affected negatively by whitening techniques, and respond well to the techniques.

For more read here.

A new technology that spots tooth decay almost as soon as it’s begun promises to reduce the need for drilling and filling.

A preliminary study at King’s College London, where the technique is being developed, found that chemical changes in the tooth could be detected by analysing how light is scattered when a laser is fired at the tooth. Researchers were able to tell healthy teeth from carious teeth because bacteria, responsible for the decay, scatter light in a different way to healthy teeth.
Currently, decaying teeth are uncovered either by visual examination or the use of x-rays, but usually by then, the damage has been done and the decayed area must be drilled out. The new technology, which may be available in dental surgeries in five years from now, is based on Raman spectroscopy most commonly used to distinguish between different chemicals by identifying each molecule’s unique fingerprint. It detects decay simply and painlessly by pointing a tiny optical fibre at the tooth to check on its health.
The downside of developing the machines is the cost and the time it takes to do a scan – 30 seconds can be a long time for any patient to remain perfectly still.

For more on this article read here.

Athletes these days are looking towards a new option-in protective mouthpieces. The pros from many sports have turned to PPM, Pure Power Mouthguard, because it not only offers protection, but it also increases strength and balance. Sound silly? Well, it’s true.

A TENS (Transcutaneous Electro Neural Stimulation) unit is used to relax your muscles and find an optimal jaw position which is used by the PPM dentist to fit the mouthguard. PPM holds the jaws in ideal position, which results in improved vertebrae alignment and better muscled recruitment, balance, and upper body strength.
Most sports like like hockey, golf, basketball, football and also those requiring high degree of technical efficiency like gymnastics, soccer etc can also be affected by use of PPM.
So the next time you play some sport you might want to try the PPM.

For more on this article read here.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory disease of the joints and can lead to long-term joint damage resulting in persistent pain and loss of function in affected areas.Over 1.3 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.

The study examined the oral health of 57 RA patients and 52 healthy controls. To determine oral hygiene status, each participant underwent a comprehensive oral examination including an assessment of plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation, both indicators of oral hygiene. Probing pocket depth and clinical attachment loss, two markers of periodontal disease, were also measured.

The study findings indicated that RA patients were nearly eight times more likely to have periodontal disease compared to the control subjects. These findings accounted for demographic and lifestyle characteristics such as age, gender, education and tobacco use. For some patients, adverse RA symptoms may affect manual dexterity, which can make one’s daily routine quite difficult. One area that may be affected is oral hygiene which can ultimately lead to periodontal disease. However, these research findings indicate that poor oral hygiene alone did not account for the association between RA and gum disease, suggesting that other factors may play a role as well.

For more read here.

Brushing and flossing twice a day can keep gum disease and heart disease away. Research has documented that having periodontal (gum) disease can increase - perhaps two-fold - the risk of heart attack and stroke, says Dr. John M. DiGrazia, cardiologist and co-chief of cardiology at CJW Medical Center.

The New England Journal of Medicine published a recent study showing that gum disease(an infection of the gum tissue) is linked with higher levels of blood vessel inflammation.Researchers found higher blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a sign of inflammation, in gum disease patients. Elevated CRP is associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke, declares DiGrazia. Ultimately, treating the gum disease led to reduced inflammation levels in the heart
Preventing gum disease is not just a dentist’s domain. DiGrazia encourages his heart patients to see a dentist if they show signs of gum disease such as discolored or loose teeth.So remember there is no downside to having better teeth and gums.” The upside to a healthy smile is a healthy heart.

Source:www.ada.org and
American Academy of Periodontology.

Many headache sufferers might want to consult their dentist as well as their doctor since headaches and dental pain have a lot in common.That nagging headache and painful jaw may be tied to your oral health.

Headaches and toothaches all transmit through the trigeminal nerve, the largest sensory nerve in the head that supplies the external face, scalp, jaw, teeth and much of the intra-oral structures. Pain in one branch of the nerve has the potential to activate other branches of the nerve, and when that pain is chronic and sustained, it is more likely to trigger a sequence of events that might lead to a headache. In people who have headaches, a continuous, sustained toothache can easily trigger one of the episodic headaches such as migraines.

Besides the close anatomical links between head, face and jaw pain, reflexive behaviors caused by pain and tension such as jaw clenching and muscle tightening can exacerbate and transfer pain.There is a good deal of interconnectivity between the orofacial and craniocervical systems; for example, when you clench your teeth you contract your neck muscles inadvertently. So next time you have a headache you might want to think about going to the dentist.

For more read here.

From hairstyles, to clothing, tattoos to jewelry, today’s youth are making a fashion statement. But those who want to look cool with oral piercing may be looking to their dentists and physicians for help afterwards.

Because your mouth contains millions of bacteria, infection is a common complication of oral piercing.
Pain and swelling are other side effects of piercing. There is an increased flow of saliva at the site, and injuries to the gum tissue are very common. If a blood vessel was in the path of the needle during the piercing, severe and difficult-to-control bleeding can result.

For some, chipped or cracked teeth, blood poisoning or even blood clots can occur. For many, the tongue—a popular piercing site in the mouth—could swell large enough to close off the airway.And in extreme cases, a severely swollen tongue can actually close off the airway and prevent breathing.
The jewelry itself also presents some hazards. You can choke on any studs, barbells or hoops  that come loose in your mouth, and contact with the jewelry can chip or crack your teeth.

Unfortunately, many young people with oral piercings don’t realize that these alarming side effects could happen to them. So, skip the mouth jewelry and let your healthy smile make your fashion statement.

For more read here.