People Are More Suggestible Under Laughing Gas
from Science Daily
Nitrous oxide is commonly used by dentists to sedate their patients before treatment, but some dentists believe their patients also become more suggestible while under the influence of the gas. A number of dentists have been trained in hypnosis and find that their patients respond well to being spoken to in a quiet, hypnotic manner – the new findings suggest that these effects could be further enhanced with laughing gas. More

ADA, EPA Agreement Promotes Amalgam Best Management Practices
from the American Dental Association
The Environmental Protection Agency, the American Dental Association and a national wastewater treatment organization have signed an agreement to promote voluntary use of the ADA's best management practices for handling amalgam waste. More

Old Tooth Study Revived to Look at Radiation Effects
from The Baltimore Sun
Questionnaires will soon be sent to thousands of men who donated their baby teeth half a century ago to scientists seeking to learn whether radioactive fallout in milk the donors drank as children affected their health later in life. Fifty years ago, concern about atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons spurred a group of local scientists and other area residents to begin the project, then called the St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey. More

Hospital Scrubs Are a Germy, Deadly Mess
from The Wall Street Journal
You see them everywhere − nurses, doctors and medical technicians in scrubs or lab coats. They shop in them, take buses and trains in them, go to restaurants in them, and wear them home. What you can't see on these garments are the bacteria that could kill you. More

New Tool to Improve Oral Hygiene Developed
from Science Daily
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a new dental product to identify plaque build-up in the mouth before it is visible to the human eye. The toothbrush-sized product has a blue light at its tip, which, when shone around the mouth and viewed through yellow glasses with a red filter, allows plaque to be seen easily as a red glow. More

More Dentist Anesthesiologists Needed to Deal with Public Fear of Dental Procedures
from Dental Economics
A retrospective study appearing in Anesthesia Progress examines the relationship between dentist anesthesiologists and general practice dental residents and patients of theirs who were moderately or deeply sedated as part of their dental procedure. Monitored anesthesia care, another term for moderate or deep sedation, was reviewed in 100 randomly selected cases, and the authors found an occurrence of only five instances of morbidity (e.g., nausea, vomiting). Thus, sedation was found overall to be effective and safe. More

Piezoelectric Osteotomy: Simplifying Surgery for Dental Implants?
from Osseo News
A recent study concluded that the use of piezoelectric osteotomy in alveolar distraction appears to simplify surgery for dental implants, and reduce the incidence of intraoperative complications. Piezoelectric osteotomy is based on ultrasonic vibration of an osteotomic device that permits precise cutting of bone structures without cutting adjacent soft tissues. More

Dental Journal of Australia Publishes Study Linking Mouthwash to Cancer
from Associated Content
The Dental Journal of Australia was not the bearer of good news when it comes to the question if mouthwash, such as Listerine − commonly hailed an eradicator of bad breath − could actually be a rinse that leads to oral cancer. Ethanol contained in the mouthwash makes oral mucous membranes easier for cancer causing agents to seep in. More

Tetracycline-induced Renal Failure After Dental Treatment
from JADA
A 42-year-old woman with polycystic kidney disease received a prescription for tetracycline (250 milligrams, four times daily) after undergoing tooth extractions. She developed nausea, vomiting and diarrhea within days and end-stage renal disease within two weeks of taking the antibiotic. Hemodialysis was required to stabilize the patient’s condition. More

Dental Spending Increased to $95.2 Billion in 2007
from the American Dental Association
Dental spending increased from $90.5 billion in 2006 to $95.2 billion in 2007, but at a more modest pace than other health care spending, government actuaries said in the latest annual report on national health care expenditures. Total health care spending grew at its lowest rate in nearly a decade but officials said the slowing growth rate may be short-lived. More