Personal Dentistry

Important Findings On Oral Health Care Perceptions

The American Dental Association (ADA(R)), in collaboration with Crest(R) and Oral-B(R), yesterday revealed findings from a national public opinion survey on oral health care.

Here is a sneak peek at the key learnings:

Sandia Handheld Instrument Assesses Dental Disease In Minutes

Article Date: 03 Apr 2007 - 23:00 PDT

Who would have guessed that when the Star Trek medical diagnostic tool known as the tricorder makes its appearance in real life, the first user might be ... your dentist.

According to a paper in the March 27 issue of PNAS (the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), a recently completed pilot study conducted with the University of Michigan shows that a Sandia National Laboratories handheld device determined in minutes - from a tiny sample of saliva alone - not only if a patient has gum disease but quantitatively how advanced the disease is.

"The gold standard for any medical test is when instruments are used to examine human patients," says Sandia researcher Amy Herr. "The pilot study allowed us to compare our results to accepted clinical measurements. Then we could statistically validate both the periodontal disease biomarker and the new microfluidic instrument.

"We achieved faster and more reproducible results because we combined steps that ordinarily require time-consuming manual handling by many people, into a single automated device."

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratory.

Dental Implants May Improve Sex Life

"In a 2005 research report, Heydecke et al[1], compared the impact of social and sexual activities by 102 adults between the ages of 35-65 years, before and after being fitted with dental implants, against people fitted with conventional dentures only. The research revealed that the subjects fitted with implant-retained dentures experienced a greater increase in comfort felt during kissing and sexual activity over a two month compared to those with normal dentures.

Why The Pretty Prosper

Found this article to be interesting...

A new study finds that our preference for beauty might be hard-wired

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Bad Breath but Good Health

Source: Eric Nagourney, www.nytimes.com

As dentists we are supposed to help you fight bad breath and other oral health problems. But surprise, sometimes bad breath can be good for you! Well not exactly, but the subject of this email is about an interesting new study about the cancer-fighting properties of onions. If do you plan to incorporate the results of the study into your daily routine, however, please remember to brush and floss.

New Cell Phone Detects Bad Breath

I found this article and couldn't resist posting it. What will they think of next?

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=18613

Dr. Mansky Is Interviewed by USA Today

A new treatment for the prevention of migraine and tension-type headache pain.