UK Dentists offering Botox alongside fillings May 17, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO, -GEN. INFO.Tags: Botox injections
add a comment
Telegraph News
A growing number of dentists who have left the NHS are setting up lucrative sidelines in beauty treatment, offering Botox injections alongside fillings and check-ups.
One in four dentists are now able to offer the cosmetic injections to freeze facial muscles, as well as anti-ageing fillers and facial peels, a survey found.
The leading cosmetic training body for dentists, run by Dr Bob Khanna, has taught 4,000 of England’s 20,000 dentists procedures such as Botox, while experts said a conservative estimate would suggest one in four are either offering “cosmetic injectables” or preparing to enter the market.
The survey included NHS dentists, some of whom do private work that could include beauty treatments.
More than 1,000 dentists have left the NHS since the Government’s introduction two years ago of a contract that many claim loses them money.
Almost half the population in England – more than 23 million people – had no NHS dental care in the two years to last September.
But increasingly, those paying privately for the perfect smile appear to be open to cosmetic work.
Electronic Prescribing Legislation May 17, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO.Tags: e-prescribing, electronic prescribing
add a comment
Investigative reporter Darrell Pruitt, DDS
The article below states that the AMA “has been considered the largest barrier to enacting e-prescribing legislation” because of the group’s “concerns over the cost of adopting and implementing the technology”
What does the ADA say? They are all for e-prescribing, no questions asked. Darrell
**************************************************************************
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report
AMA Officials Outline Provisions Physicians Would Accept in Electronic Prescribing Legislation
The American Medical Association on Friday discussed a set of standards that physicians would accept for any electronic prescribing requirement under Medicare, CongressDaily reports. According to CongressDaily, AMA “has been considered the largest barrier to enacting e-prescribing legislation” because of the group’s “concerns over the cost of adopting and implementing the technology” (Edney, CongressDaily, 5/9).
Some consumer, labor, insurer and business groups have said that the Medicare package that the Senate Finance Committee is drafting should include language to require physicians participating in Medicare to e-prescribe, CQ HealthBeat reports. In addition, separate legislation (S 2408, HR 4296) would require e-prescribing in Medicare and would offer payment incentives to encourage e-prescribing adoption. AMA officials announced the proposal at a forum sponsored by the Brookings Institution’s Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 5/9).
Bug Responsible For Bad Breath Found May 11, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO, -GEN. INFO.Tags: bad breath, halitosis, Solobacterium moorei
add a comment
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Solobacterium moorei is the organism largely responsible for chronic bad breath, or halitosis, biologists reported Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Dental Research in Dallas.
In a previous study of eight patients with halitosis and five without, S. moorei was “always found in patients with halitosis and never in patients who did not have this problem,” Dr. Violet I. Haraszthy, who was involved in both studies, noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. “A number of other studies have also found this bacterium in halitosis patients.”
Haraszthy points out that, at present, “not much is known about this particular organism.”
“As we identify and find out more about the bacteria that cause bad breath, we can develop treatments to reduce their numbers in the mouth,” Clark added in a university-issued statement.
As reported Friday on Reuters Health, the same team of investigators has found that brushing twice a day with antibacterial toothpaste and using a toothbrush with a built-in tongue scraper can eliminate chronic bad breath.
Arginine Candies May Reduce Caries May 11, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO, -GEN. INFO.Tags: arginine bicarbonate, arginine candy, BasicMints, CaviStat
add a comment
State University of New York (SUNY)
Candies containing a novel formula of arginine bicarbonate and calcium carbonate reduced decayed, missing, and filled surfaces by two thirds in a new study on children’s molars.
In the study — published in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Dentistry — 96 Venezuelan children aged 10 and 11 sucked four mints fortified with CaviStat per day. A control group of 99 children sucked on sugarless mints without CaviStat. At the end of a year, the CaviStat group had 61.7 percent fewer decayed, missing, or filled surfaces in molars than the placebo group, the researchers reported.
Arginine is an amino acid that causes bacteria to produce base, counteracting the acid that demineralizes teeth, the researchers write. The bicarbonate produces an additional buffering effect, while the calcium carbonate provides a source of calcium to replace any that is dissolved in acid.
The study was funded by Ortek, where lead researcher Israel Kleinberg, D.D.S., Ph.D., a SUNY professor of oral biology, serves on the board of directors.
U.S. FDA says Zila mouth rinse promotion misleading May 11, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO.Tags: mouthwash, Peridex, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Zila Pharmaceuticals Inc.
add a comment
WASHINGTON (Reuters) April 23 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned Zila Pharmaceuticals Inc. about promoting its Peridex oral rinse without including information about possible risks, according to a letter released on Tuesday.
A company letter and a brochure for the rinse, which is approved to treat gingivitis, also made unproven claims about how well Peridex worked and made false statements about competitors’ products, the FDA wrote in an April 18 letter to Zila Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Zila Inc.
Zila Senior Vice President and General Manager David Barshis said the company disseminated the materials in late 2006 and early 2007 before 3M acquired full rights to Peridex in May 2007. 3M’s Omni Preventive Care unit had already been selling the product since 2000 under a separate arrangement.
Barshis said it would make that point to the FDA, calling the letter a “nonissue.”
“It’s a long time ago. I’m really kind of surprised that there’s such a lag because we haven’t even owned the business (Peridex) for a year,” he told Reuters.
A spokeswoman for the FDA did not have immediate comment.
The agency said in its letter that Zila’s promotion claimed that the effect of Peridex could last up to 12 hours and kill up to 97% of bacteria.
“These claims as to the effectiveness of Peridex in the oral cavity are misleading because they are not supported by substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience,” the FDA wrote.
Zila’s letter and the brochure were intended to be mailed together to health professionals along with the product’s FDA-approved label information, according to the FDA.
Barshis said the mailing went to general dentists, but did not have more details.
Including the label, which details the product’s risks, was not sufficient, the FDA wrote in the letter, posted on its Web site
Betamethasone oral minipulse therapy an option in oral lichen planus May 11, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO.Tags: betamethasone oral minipulse, oral lichen planus
add a comment
NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Apr 29 – Patients with symptomatic oral lichen planus respond equally well to betamethasone oral minipulse therapy and to topical triamcinolone acetonide, but they may respond more quickly to betamethasone, results of a randomized comparative study indicate.
Betamethasone oral minipulse therapy “may be a useful and convenient alternative either as a monotherapy or to achieve rapid symptomatic relief during periods of exacerbations,” the study team concludes in their report in the April issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
“We have successfully used betamethasone oral minipulse therapy in progressive vitiligo, extensive alopecia areata, and now in oral lichen planus,” study investigator Dr. Binod K. Khaitan from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, told Reuters Health.
Dr. Khaitan and colleagues assigned 25 patients with moderate to severe oral lichen planus to betamethasone oral minipulse therapy consisting of 5 mg orally on two consecutive days per week and 24 matched patients to triamcinolone acetonide (0.1%) oral paste applied three times daily. Treatment continued for three months and then was tapered during the next three months.
Twenty three patients from each arm completed the study. Both treatments were “effective in achieving adequate control of the disease in about two-thirds of cases and complete symptom-free state in up to half of cases,” according to the investigators.
Adult Teeth May Come In Early In Diabetic Kids May 11, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO, -GEN. INFO.Tags: diabetes, Diabetic Kids, permanent teeth
add a comment
NEW YORK (Reuters Health), – Children with diabetes may develop their permanent teeth earlier than normal, which could potentially increase their risk of dental problems, according to findings published in the medical journal Pediatrics.
The study looked at children 6 to 14 years old — 270 with diabetes (mostly type 1 diabetes) and 320 without diabetes. The researchers found that among children age 10 and up, those with diabetes were more likely to have teeth in an “advanced stage of eruption.”
According to Lal’s team, the reasons for the speedier tooth eruption may have to do with gum inflammation, which tended to be greater in children with diabetes. Gum inflammation may diminish the mass of the bones supporting the teeth, shortening the distance that developing teeth need to progress to break through the gums.
Law makes Maine hygienists independent May 11, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO.Tags: American Dental Hygienists Association, Dental Hygienists, independent practitioners, Maine Dental Association
add a comment
A law passed April 15 allows hygienists in Maine to serve patients at any location without supervision by dentists.
“I don’t think our dentists will lose patients because of this bill,” explained John Bastey, director of government affairs at the Maine Dental Association. “People will not sever ties with dentists they have been going to for 20 years for cheaper primary care.”
It might improve access to care for people who do not have a dentist, but it will be a couple of years before we can judge the true impact, Bastey concluded.
The following are the unsupervised services hygienists can provide:
NPI Survey Predicts Gridlock May 11, 2008
Posted by Dentist.Com in -GEN. INFO.Tags: ADA, NPI number, ADA Department of Dental Informatics, National Provider Identifier
add a comment
Investigative Reporter Darrell Pruitt
I have attached for you “NPI Survey Predicts Gridlock,” written by Martin Jensen, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Analyst for Healthcare IT Transition Group, Inc. If you have an NPI number, you might want to delay your summer vacation.
Very few people in the nation understand the significance of these bits of real-time history I am sharing with you. At the moment, virtually all dentists in the nation are still asleep. Why? Because they have not been kept adequately informed – like you have been. You are way ahead of the curve on the good news about inevitable changes in dentistry. However, it appears that we must survive a train wreck first.
I would estimate that less than 1% of the dentists in the nation sense the barely perceptible grinding sounds that I amplify for you sometimes twice daily. These sounds mark the beginning of a slow train wreck. In a month or so, dentists across the nation will wake up very grumpy. By then, the grinding sound will have turned into a screech. ADA members will be wide awake when they learn that the train carries their paychecks, and that there are goof-ups and sometimes even scheduled problems at “crossings” for which nobody can be held personally accountable. What do you expect?
….. (Read the rest of this article)
