It May be Safe to Provide Predental Antibiotics to Heart Patients

 

Written by Dentistry TodayTuesday, 12 June 2012 15:13

The amount of infective endocarditis didn’t rise for dental patients in Olmsted County, Minn, according to a new study.

There were new guidelines created for administering preventive antibiotics prior to dental procedures for those at the highest risk of complications. The information appears in Circulation, an American Heart Association publication.

Infective endocarditis is a bacterial problem involving the heart lining, heart valve or blood vessel. Patients with a weakened heart are more vulnerable to various types of infection compared those with healthy heart valves.

The AHA changed its guidelines in 2007, recommending that patients take the antibiotics prior to undergoing invasive dental treatment if they are at risk for some type of complication related to infective endocarditis. Things that would fit into that category include patients with abnormal heart valve function and specific heart defects.

Before these regulations were changed, many more people were the recipients of these antibiotics. The antibiotics were also administered for a wider array of procedures.

A study was conducted from the beginning of 1999 through the end of 2010. The Olmsted County, Minn. patients comprised about two to three of every 100,000 people in the United States that were diagnosed with heart infection before the new guidelines and one of every 100,000 after the new guidelines.

The amount of national infective endocarditis cases diagnosed was negligibly different before and after (15,300 to 17,400 cases diagnosed from 1999 through 2006 and 14,700 to 15,500 cases diagnosed after the new guidelines).

More research is necessary to verify this information.

Migraine Sufferers May Benefit From Advances in Dentistry

Migraine Sufferers May Benefit From Advances in Dentistry

Written by Dentistry Today
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 15:19

About 95 percent of migraines are connected to dentistry in some way. It would make sense perfect if dentists were more involved in the migraine treatment process.

With some of the modern advances in dentistry, new aspects of the cause of a migraine are continually uncovered. Things such as imbalances in a person’s mouth can cause the migraine. With modern technology, machines can show where teeth meet and the position they’re located in the mouth, in addition to other precise findings. It enables doctors and dentists to have an easier time trying to pinpoint the root of the migraine.

More than 36 million Americans suffer from some type of migraine headaches. That’s why the National Headache Foundation has designated June as National Migraine Awareness Month.

Migraines have an impact on about 25 percent of American homes, according to research. Roughly nine out of 10 people who suffer from migraines are forced to miss work, school or some kind of function.

People lose about $13 billion each year as a result of missing work due to a migraine, according to the Migraine Research Foundation.

Raspberries May Aid Oral Cancer

Raspberries May Aid Oral Cancer

Written by Dentistry Today
Thursday, 14 June 2012 11:55

Black raspberries and fenretinide could be the secrets to treating oral cancer.

Researchers at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry recently made the discovery. The research team was conducting tests on possible new treatments that can lower the risk of cancer coming back after treatment.

Oral cancer cases have been rising in the last several years and research indicates that one third of oral cancer patients experience some type of recurrence even after cancerous lesions have been taken out of the throat or mouth.

Dr. Susan Mallery from the Ohio State University College of Dentistry was working with Peter Hansen and Gary Stoner from the department of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The study involved a topical gel made from freeze-dried black raspberries. In the study, the gel was applied to precancerous oral lesions and the data showed that the patients benefited in some way.

The team will soon go forward with molecular analysis to focus on the role of genes that control cell growth. A problem, however, for the research team is trying to pinpoint the precancerous lesions that could become cancerous lesions.

Based on information known about berry compound function, the raspberries are effective because they prevent damaged cells from continuing to divide.

If all goes well, the researchers may be able to create mouthwashes and gels that contain the berry compound in some type of concoction that cannot be permeated.