U.S. House passes ADA-backed Red Flags exemption legislation
American Dental Association
The U.S. House of Representatives this week approved by a 400-0 vote legislation to exempt most dental offices from the Federal Trade Commission's Red Flags Rule. "This is great news for most dental practices in this country and demonstrates the effectiveness of our grassroots advocacy initiatives," said ADA President Ron Tankersley. "Obviously, applying the Red Flags Rule to the typical dental practice overreached the original intent of the legislation and would result in unnecessary bureaucratic burdens and expense."More

Studies: All infant formula contains fluoride at tooth-discoloring levels
Reuters
All infant formulas, whether ready-to-feed, concentrated or organic, contain fluoride at levels which can discolor developing teeth, reports the October 2009 Journal of the American Dental Association. Fluoride, added to some bottled and public water supplies ostensibly to prevent cavities, is also in many foods and beverages, including infant formula. Excessive fluoride discolors and/or weakens permanent teeth (moderate fluorosis).More

Scientists pull an ancient tooth for DNA, clues
The Boston Globe
It was the oddest of scenes: A neurosurgeon delicately threaded a scope up the neck and into the skull of a disembodied, 4,000-year-old mummified head. Sweating with concentration, another doctor clamped a molar and began to rock it gently back and forth. Three hours later, the nerve-wracking operation yielded a tooth, a time capsule holding precious DNA, which might reveal the identity of the ancient Egyptian head.More

Video: AlloDerm grafting: Class III recession with cervical notching
Osseo News
This surgical video shows AlloDerm grafting using the Papilla Retention Pouch procedure to treat Class III recession in the mandibular arch. The recession is complicated by the presence of cervical notching and restorations. Use of the new end-cutting intrasulcular knife for the initial incision is demonstrated. Root preparation with a Varios 750 ultrasonic unit and a special safe-sided diamond tip is shown for reshaping the notched root surfaces following blunt reflection.More

Cuts like a knife
Dental Economics
In the old days, if a patient needed a gingival buccal restoration, the tooth was prepared, tissue dried with cotton or retraction cord, and (after good old Copalite) an amalgam was plastered in place. Sometimes there was bleeding but the amalgam was burnished in under the fluids. Lo and behold, many are still there. With more complex subgingival restorations, dentists set up electrosurgery. Dentists needed the clinical sense to understand biological width to avoid "frying" the bone. More

Computed tomographic evaluation of sinus augmentation with simultaneous endosseous implant placement
Implant Dentistry
Computed tomography (CT) has become the gold standard by which a comprehensive implant treatment plan is determined and a postoperative assessment of cancellous and cortical bone is achieved. A patient with an insufficient alveolar bone height and sinus pneumatization was treated for the simultaneous placement of implants with sinus augmentation.More

Research shows overweight patients more challenging to sedate
Physorg.com
Patients with higher body mass indexes are more challenging to sedate, according to results found by a University of Cincinnati researcher studying data from common oral surgeries.More

Definitive CAD/CAM-guided prosthesis for immediate loading of bone-grafted maxilla
Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research
The reconstruction of a functional occlusion in the presence of severe residual ridge resorption remains a significant challenge for maxillofacial surgeons and prosthodontists. Removable appliances are unsuccessful in severely resorbed cases and the advanced degree of bone loss precludes conventional implant-retained prostehesis. In recent years, bone graft reconstruction of the maxilla and the mandible has been advocated to reverse the debilitating effects of alveolar ridge resorption.More

Thieves target dental office gold
KOMO-TV
Thieves are targeting dental offices around Seattle, going for the gold. They've hit more than 30 offices so far stealing pebble-sized pieces of gold. Put a bunch together, and you've got a pile worth quite a bit of money. The gold in just two small crowns are worth $250.More

The story on gloves
Dentistry IQ
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, limited studies of the penetrability of different glove materials under conditions of use have been conducted in the dental environment. Consistent with observations in clinical medicine, leakage rates vary by glove material (e.g., latex, vinyl, and nitrile), duration of use, the type of procedure perf ormed, and manufacturer. The frequency of perforations in surgeon's gloves during outpatient oral surgical procedures ranges from 6 percent to 16 percent.More