Archive for Dental Research Update
March 22, 2007 at 9:39 pm by Ian Kerr
Filed under Dental Research Update
A recent article in the British Dental Journal (BDJ 2007) highlighted an alarming case of how poor dental care lead to a near fatal incident.
The case involved a 25-year-old woman living in London who experienced severe toothache over a period of several weeks, but was unable to get an adequate diagnosis or treatment for her condition. During the time of her extreme pain she visited 3 separate dentists, none of whom diagnosed her condition correctly (she had a large cavity under an old filling and a clearly inflamed nerve) or gave appropriate care. Left to her own devices the lady discovered that holding cold water against the tooth gave her some relief, albeit short lived. Unfortunately the lady swallowed the water after resting it against the tooth, which lead to a consumption of 10 litres or more per day. Such high levels of water consumption can, and in this case did, lead to dangerously low sodium levels in the body, which in turn resulted in a coma. The lady in question was admitted to hospital and stayed in a coma for 3 days, from which she made a full recovery. Her waking words from the coma were “I’ve got tooth ache” and this time, at last, they did not fall on deaf ears. She was transferred to the dental department of the hospital where her dental condition was treated quickly and painlessly.
This story, as well as painting a very poor picture of my profession, highlights an important diagnostic point that all patients should be aware of. The symptoms of this lady’s condition are very characteristic and should be well noted. Any one suffering from toothache with the following symptoms should seek urgent treatment, which will need to involve direct treatment of the affected tooth (usually removing the inflamed nerve under strong local anaesthetic). Antibiotics will not work in these cases.
- Spontaneous and severe pain often described as an agonising throb
- Pain worse on contact with heat (often cold in early stages, progressing to heat later on)
- Prolonged pain after the heat has been taken away
- Pain that wakes you in the night
- A previous history of milder sensitivity to hot and cold drinks
- Pain relieved by presence of cold liquid
If you would like to know more about this condition or the treatment of it then please do not hesitate to call the surgery and we will he happy to help you.
January 15, 2007 at 11:28 pm by Ian Kerr
Filed under Dental Research Update
An extensive review of over seventy systematic review articles on “fluoride application to prevent decay” was recently completed by the American Dental Association.
The outcome of this review is that there is the strongest possible evidence to support the use of topical fluoride gel application every 6 months by the dentist or hygienist for all children, under the age of 18years, who are at risk of decay.
The “category of evidence” for this finding was classed as 1a which is the highest rating and the “strength of recommendation” was classed as A, which is also the highest rating. In other words, this is treatment that we absolutely should be doing, if we want to do the best for our children’s dental health.
Children who are considered at risk of decay are those who have one or more of the folllowing – poor oral hygiene, a high sugar diet, previous decay in the past 3 years, developmental abnormalities of the teeth or an inability to care for their mouths.
If you are a patient of StoneRock Dental Care and would like to find out more about this treatment and whether it is appropriate for your child, then please call us at the surgery and we will be happy to help.
January 15, 2007 at 11:07 pm by Ian Kerr
Filed under Dental Research Update
A recent systematic review of all available information on the possible affects of active gum disease in pregnant mothers has come up with some interesting findings.
Five studies conducted over the past 40 years that have looked at the possible link between active gum disease and either preterm birth (PTB) or preterm low birthweight (PLBW) all showed an increased risk. The increased risk was seen to be between four and five fold for pregnant mums with active gum disease to get either of the above complications. It should be noted however that the quality of these studies were classed a poor to fair, meaning that they only looked at a small number of cases or did not report all of their findings properly.
Even allowing for this, it seems clear that we should do our best to ensure that pregnant mums are doing everything they can to look after the health of their gums and that any active gum disease is corrected as soon as possible.
Both PTB and PLBW are also linked with smoking, nutritional status, diabetes and stress to name just a few so this dental advice should be taken against a background of the overall health of the mother and should not be seen as the only cause of this distressing problem.
January 9, 2007 at 9:54 am by Ian Kerr
Filed under Dental Research Update
Having lived in the Caribbean for several years I got very used to having all my drinks served ice cold. When I returned to the UK it was (and still is) a constant grumble that you can’t get a cold drink in a pub and that no one ever puts enough ice in my glass. Now at last I have the research to back up my complaint.
Research into the mechanisms of taste and smell has shown that there is a specific pathway from taste buds (known romantically as Trpm-5- channel) that is highly sensitive to temperature, 100 times more so at 37C than at 15C. This explains why bitter drinks, gin and tonic for example, taste better with ice, the bitterness being suppressed by the lower temperature.
Interestingly an extra sensitivity to bitter taste (associated with a higher number of fungiform papillae found on the tip and side of the tongue) is present in about 25% of the population and is due to genetic variations. This helps explain how wine tasters can waffle on about flavours that the rest of us can’t detect and also gives an excuse to children who complain about eating their “greens” as they tend to have a much-heightened response to bitter tastes.
The response to this research is now clear
1) Just put more ice in my glass to shut me up at a party
2) Ignore wine tasters, they are genetic freaks
3) Serve children their “greens” ice cold to reduce the bitter taste.
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