Care for patients on anticoagulant therapy
In the September 2017 issue of Clinicians Report newsletter, the article “Anticoagulants: are they dental friendly or not?” overstated the bleeding risk in dental patients taking anticoagulants and understated the risk of embolism if anticoagulation therapy is interrupted for dental procedures. Rather than repeat the inaccurate information, an editorial set out to ma ke sure the correct information was available to dentists and could be shared with physicians. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Facilitating dental care for autistic children
Children with autism have a higher risk for dental disease as a result of many factors, among them difficulty accessing preventive dental care. Dental care professionals often lack sufficient understanding of autism and prefer not to deal with the challenging behavior these children may exhibit in a dental setting. Many nonpharmacological approaches to managing such behavior exist, and parents often create their own approaches to handle everyday life based on their intimate knowledge of their child. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Oral health effects of breastfeeding
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that breastfeeding be initiated immediately upon a child's birth and continue exclusively for up to age 6 months, then be complementary for up to 2 years or beyond. WHO also recommends that it be delivered ‘on demand’. Many countries fall short of these targets, and breastfeeding practices vary widely between countries (Figure 1). Breastfeeding is associated with profound health effects that influence an individual's entire life. Breastfeeding has been found to be helpful in preventing malocclusi on, but dental caries appears to be unfavorably influenced by breastfeeding....
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Recommendations for surgeons
The benefits of dietary supplements are often unknown, but many people take them in the belief that they will improve performance, ensure better health, and add to quality of life. Studies have shown that some supplements can improve the performance of athletes, those in the military, and airplane pilots and address adverse results related to stress and pressure. Doctors and surgeons may benefit from dietary supplements through improvements in physical or mental performance or both. The specific supplements that may benefit oral and maxillofacial surgeons and clinicians were detailed. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Short implants versus sinus augmentation
After tooth loss, the alveolar bone undergoes progressive physiological resorption, which can often produce insufficient bone volume, especially in maxillary posterior areas, to place dental implants of standard length, which is defined as 10 mm or longer. Ways to overcome reduced bone height in posterior maxillary regions include bone reconstruction procedures, such as maxillary sinus augmentation (SA), or the use of short implants (SI), defined as those measuring 4 to 8.5 mm in length. The latter involves less complex surgery, reduces cost and morbidity, requires less treatment time, and still achieves a high implant sur...
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Immediate or delayed loading
Whether to immediately load or delay loading of single dental implants has been studied very little. This lack of research on loading protocols led to a 2014 consensus statement indicating that immediate loading of a single implant in the edentulous mandible may not be indicated to support or retain overdentures. Survival rates of single mandibular implants were examined in the context of loading protocol effects. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Brush head design and plaque removal
The removal of dental plaque is generally accomplished by daily tooth brushing. Many variations of the manual toothbrush are currently available, but the best plaque removal score reduction achieved regardless of brush-head design is just 42%. This indicates there is considerable room for improvement. An unconventional design is the triple-headed toothbrush. These multi-headed brushes can be placed on the occlusal surface and clean all 3 surfaces of the tooth at the same time. It is proposed as a tool to help improve the efficacy of brushing. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Biological links between periodontal disease and diabetes
Evidence has shown that periodontal disease and diabetes have complex interactions. Diabetes patients who struggle to control serum glucose levels are more likely to develop periodontitis compared to those with good diabetes control and persons without diabetes. In addition, periodontitis has been shown to influence diabetes management. The biological plausibility of the bidirectional association between periodontitis and diabetes was investigated in a 2013 review by Taylor et al. An update on this review containing publications from 2012 to 2016 was done. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Periodontal disease and death from pneumonia in hemodialysis patients
Patients who undergo hemodialysis tend to have a relatively low life expectancy, and 50% of these patients die of pneumonia. This is a significantly higher rate than among the general population. Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by bacteria in the dental plaque and is also seen more often among hemodialysis patients than in the general population. The aspiration of colonized pathogens related to periodontal disease is considered a significant risk factor for pneumonia, although the association between periodontal disease and death from pneumonia among hemodialysis patients has not been establish...
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Oral hygiene with orthodontic appliances
Plaque accumulation is a concern accompanying the wearing of orthodontic devices such as bonded brackets, archwires, and elastics. These devices don't always allow the patient to perform good oral hygiene and avoid gingival inflammation and decalcification. Compared to conventional (elastomeric-ligated brackets), self-ligated brackets and clear aligners are considered to be better options with respect to achieving oral hygiene. The effects of clear aligners, self-ligated brackets, and elastomeric-ligated brackets on oral hygiene were evaluated in patients undergoing active orthodontic treatment. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Preformed metal crowns in children
The decline in caries does not seem to include all children, many of whom are at a higher risk for caries and can develop significant caries before treatment is sought. Extensive restorative interventions may then be needed. The means for extending the survival of extensive restorations in primary molars were evaluated to identify the best choices for children under age 18 years in Finland. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Adding a statin may improve periodontal status
Statin drugs are widely used to reduce blood cholesterol levels in patients with hyperlipidemia and arteriosclerosis. They are also used preventively against coronary artery diseases, principally to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Statins also exert effects via pleiotropic mechanisms, which can have pharmacological effects such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, angiogenesis, improved endothelial function, and increased bone formation. Statins may also decrease interleukin (IL)-1 β and increase IL-10 levels in the gingival crevicular fluid of patients with periodontitis. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Maintenance programs after active periodontal therapy
Once patients have completed active periodontal therapy (APT), periodontal maintenance (PM) is required to prevent any progression of periodontal disease. Included in PM is close monitoring of the patient's periodontal status, supragingival and subgingival debridement, and behavior modification to help the patient maintain a healthy periodontium. PM begins when the patient achieves acceptable periodontal stability as measured by clinical attachment level (CAL), reduced pocket probing depths (PPDs), and bleeding on probing (BoP) compared to baseline values. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Caries reduction with arginine-containing toothpastes
Dental caries is a significant problem worldwide and particularly affects not only children but also aging adults. The prevalence of untreated decay is 15% by age 15 years across all socioeconomic groups. Although fluoride and at-home care have a preventive effect on caries, modifications of individual preventive behaviors and new caries preventive programs will be needed to further reduce caries rates. The science of caries formation and the usefulness of new products containing arginine as a preventive agent were investigated. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
Fluoride varnish cost-effectiveness
For children and adolescents, the use of fluoride varnish has provided an effective means for reducing the number of caries they experience. It is highly safe and associated with few adverse events. Increasingly, however, varnishes and the fluoride bioavailability vary, which can limit their effectiveness in protecting dental hard tissues. Single fluoride varnish applications tend to be low in cost per application and when distributed over different teeth, but repeated applications done for a long period of time can be costly both on an individual and on a population-based level. (Source: Dental Abstracts)
Source: Dental Abstracts - September 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Inquiry Source Type: research
