CDC Issues Swine Flu Guidance for Health Professionals
from American Dental Association
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put together an information page for health professionals concerned about treating patients with swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection. The ADA is urging dentists with questions about swine flu to consult the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidance. There, doctors will find an updated fact sheet as well as information on swine flu in health care settings. More

Virtual Implant Treatment Planning—The Future of Implant Dentistry?
from Inside Dentistry
Dentists have entered a new era in implant dentistry. The major excitement and buzz in the field of implant dentistry in recent years involves the introduction of three-dimensional (3-D) "virtual" evaluations of patients using computed tomography (CT) scan technology or in-office cone beam scanners. More

Bone Spreading and Standardized Dilation of Horizontally Resorbed Bone: Technical Considerations
from Implant Dentistry Journal
The uses of a new bone spreading technique with simultaneous implant placement are discussed. The spreading system is an alternative technique to Summers' osteotome. Specific screw designs (spreader) served to laterally compress the bone to increase the cancellous density adjacent to the site. The spreader achieved a controlled and standardized dilation of horizontal bone. The advantages, material selection, and the application of this new procedure are detailed. More

Baby Canine Teeth: No Evidence to Support Extraction
from Science Daily
The practice of extracting baby canine teeth to make way for adult canines that are erupting in the wrong place has no evidential basis, according to a new study by Cochrane Researchers. In a systematic review, the researchers were unable to identify a single high quality study to support the practice. More

Immediate Loading of Implants in the Edentulous Maxilla
from Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research
The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the survival rate of splinted and immediately loaded Straumann sandblasted, large-grit, acid-etched, solid-screw dental implants in the edentulous maxilla after 32 months of loading. Twenty-eight patients (mean age 63 years) with edentulous maxillae received 168 implants (six each) and an implant-supported fixed interim prosthesis within 24 hours after surgery. After a mean healing time of 15 weeks, the patients received permanent screw-retained prostheses. More

Hemisected Molars Display More Complications than those Replaced with Implants
from RDH Magazine
Hemisected mandibular molars have a higher frequency of complications than those treated with implant therapy. When the back teeth of the lower jaw, the mandibular molars, are periodontally involved, treatment decisions include hemisection of the molar and extraction of the tooth, replacing it with an implant. The study examined two groups of patients: 32 patients in one group had a total of 56 mandibular molars treated by hemisection; 28 patients in the other group had received 36 implants to replace mandibular molars. More

Dentist Shortage: Recruitment Efforts in American Indian Communities
from The Arizona Republic News
The need for Native Americans in the health-care professions has never been greater, but the obstacles standing between them and medical degrees are often daunting, if not overwhelming. George Blue Spruce knows those obstacles firsthand and has spent a lifetime helping others overcome them. Blue Spruce, the nation's first American Indian dentist, is assistant dean for American Indian Affairs at the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health. More

Revised HIPAA Privacy Form on ADA.org
from American Dental Association
As part of the ADA HIPAA Privacy Kit, a revised HIPAA Privacy Form 1, Notice of Privacy Practices, is available at ADA.org at www.ada.org/goto/HIPAA. The notice describes to patients how their health information may be used and disclosed and how patients can gain access to the information. Covered dentists are required to provide their patients an opportunity to read Notice of Privacy Practices and document that they've done so. More

No Clear Winner Among Fillings for Childhood Cavities
from Medical News Today
So far, there is a not a clear winner among the types of fillings used to repair childhood cavities, according to a new review. In fact, there are so few useful studies on the topic that there is not enough evidence "to make any recommendations about which filling material to use," said Veerasamy Yengopal, who led the review. More

Laser Cuts New Gum Disease Path
from The Huntsville Times
As a retired veterinarian, Dr. Jim Davis knew about the perils of periodontal (gum) disease and the painful surgery to treat it in his four-legged patients. So he wasn't too thrilled when Huntsville, Ala., periodontist Dr. Paul Weeks recommended periodontal surgery last year. "I had done lots of gum work on dogs and understand how it (surgery) works," said Davis, also a retired U.S. Army colonel and founder of a defense contractor company, Davis Strategic Innovations (DSI). "I was very reluctant to have it done because you remove a lot of the gum and my wife said I would look like a horse." More