Archive for Behind the Headlines
October 22, 2007 at 8:33 pm by Ian Kerr
Filed under Behind the Headlines
A recent Channel 4 programme called “How Toxic are Your Kids” identified certain “risk” factors in your toothpaste. Sadly this programme has chosen to follow the now all too popular approach of “pseudo-science” and scare tactics to push home a very poorly researched agenda.
The so called risks related to the active ingredients of Fluoride and Triclosan and the ever popular sodium lauryl sulphate. I’m not going to go into a point by point argument here about the science used in the programme (things like this are dealt with much better on far superior websites such as The Guardian’s badscience page) but I would like to make the following points.
- There is no such thing as zero risk; only balance of probability
- It is very easy to make arguments based on emotional grounds but very difficult to accumulate sound scientific data
- It is, to all intents and purposes, impossible to prove that a risk (or a link) does not exist, only that one does exist
- Fluoride toothpaste has been shown to half tooth decay rates in children. Triclosan has helped improve on this
- Tooth decay is, of course, highly toxic and can cause pain, infection and severe suffering in young children in particular
I should also add that the suggested alternative of a mixture containing lemon juice and rock salt may just be the worst idea for a toothpaste ever suggested. Lemon juice is highly acidic and would dissolve dental enamel very quickly and high levels of salt, if swallowed would be very dangerous for children.
A lot of this can be summed up in a photo I took in California on a recent trip. The following warning sign appears in front of every restaurant in the state, and is quite clearly utterly pointless. Warning people of every theoretical risk does not help them make meaningful decisions, it merely confuses the issue and, in the case of this sign, eventually becomes completely redundant
September 25, 2007 at 9:28 pm by Ian Kerr
Filed under Behind the Headlines
If, like me, you want to have your science well debated and not simply sliced up in to “bite sized” chunks of pseudo science then you might enjoy these websites.
www.badscience.net and www.behindthemedicalheadlines.com.
Enjoy.
PS StoneRock Dental Care cannot be held responsible for any injuries resulting from having the “rug pulled from beneath you” when reading these sites!
July 12, 2007 at 9:41 pm by Ian Kerr
Filed under Behind the Headlines
The following news item was reported in the TimesOnline and reveals the ever present risk of buying cheap, “knock off”goods. Clearly the best advice is to buy all health products from recognised centres that you know and trust.
“Fake Sensodyne toothpaste which contains traces of toxic chemicals is being sold in markets, discount shops and car boot sales, the UK’s medicines watchdog warned today.
The contaminated 50ml tubes of Sensodyne Original and Sensodyne Mint contain potentially dangerous levels of diethylene glycol, which could harm anyone with an impaired liver or kidney function and young children.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warned that the fake products were being made by “unauthorised” copycat suppliers who printed their tubes in both English and Arabic, with genuine Sensodyne products only ever being printed in English.
The affected batch code is PROD 07 2005/EXP 08/2008, the agency said, instructing anyone who believes they may have bought the product to throw all tubes away.
Genuine Sensodyne Mint toothpaste is white in colour whereas the fake version has a green paste, the agency pointed out. However, both the genuine Sensodyne Original and the fake toothpaste have a pink coloured paste, it added.
In addition, genuine versions of both types of Sensodyne come in 45ml and 75ml tubes, not the 50ml that the fakes came in.
“We believe that elderly patients, possibly with impaired liver and kidney function, may have purchased this stock due to lower prices in markets, discount shops and car boot sales,” the MHRA warned, in a statement issued today.
The MHRA does not believe that the tubes are being sold in mainstream shops or pharmacies, and said it had “no evidence” of any UK consumers suffering adverse reactions to the toothpaste so far. However, it has asked hospitals, wholesalers and pharmacies to check for any tubes that might be on sale with both Arabic and English packaging.
Today’s British toothpaste scare echoes that revealed last month by the US Food and Drug Administration, which issued a warning after diethylene glycol - which is used in antifreeze - was found in several brands of toothpaste imported from China. It said the products “typically are sold at low-cost, bargain retail outlets”.
April 19, 2007 at 9:05 pm by Ian Kerr
Filed under Behind the Headlines
A news item on Radio 2 today highlighted a letter from the Chief Dental Officer (Barry Cockcroft) advising dentists that all files and reamers (instruments used in root canal therapy) should be made single use to reduce the risk of spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD).
The debate about the spread of this disease via root canal instruments has been running for several years now and is based on the concern that dental pulp tissue could contain the tiny particles that spread this disease (prions) and that these may not be destroyed by current sterilisation processes. Previous risk assessments for the transfer of vCJD infectivity via dental surgery have concluded that the risk is low. That said the the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) have maintained a watching brief and have now concluded “It is unclear whether or not vCJD infectivity can be transmitted via endodontic files and reamers. However, given the plausibility of such a scenario and the large number of procedures carried out annually, it would be prudent to consider restricting these instruments to single use as a precautionary measure. Since sufficiently rigorous decontamination of these instruments is difficult, single use of these instruments would eliminate this risk, should it exist.”
Early findings coming from research carried out by the Health Protection Agency show a possible pathway for TSE - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies, the group of prion diseases that iinclude BSE, CJD, vCJD and scrapie to be spread via dental tissue in mice. It is these two findings that have lead to this advice being given.
It should be stressed that this is a letter of advice only and cannot be counted as a definite guideline to current best practice. There has been no response, as yet, from the General Dental Council or NICE, the institute for clinical excellence. It should also be stressed that there has been not one single case world wide reported of the disease being spread this way.
The implications of the advice are massive in terms of cost, both financial and environmental and as the title suggested all but removes this type of treatment from NHS care on financial grounds. To complete one root canal filling can take two visits and involve upto three sets of instruments (hand files, rotary files and special drills called Gates Gliddens). Each set costs around £20-£25 plus VAT, making a potential cost of £75 plus VAT extra per case. Currently, under the new NHS contract a dentist is paid £46 for a root canal filling. Clearly they will be unable to provide this treatment if they are paid less than the cost of the instruments alone (they would also need materials, staff and overhead costs to be met long before they could take a salary from the fee).
At StoneRock Dental Care I provide many root canal fillings and see a great many patients from various practices in the surrounding areas. We have always provided above and beyond what is required for our sterilisation procedures and are confident that we have protected our patients at all times. If this advice becomes procedure then the costs will increase for this work. I have resisted making this decision on this basis but will wait eagerly for the next response to today’s suggestion. In the meantime if any patient is concerned and wishes to purchase a set of instruments that are to be used on them only then we will happily do this for them. The instruments will be stored in sealed packets for their use and can be used as a maximum in 5 procedures (giving 2-5 root canal fillings per patient, which is hopefully more than enough).
If you want to read the full article by Barry Cockcroft, Chief Dental Officer you can find it on www.dh.gov.uk
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