Dental Health
Periodontal disease linked to metabolic syndrome
In middle-aged adults, gum disease goes hand in hand with the metabolic syndrome, UK researchers report.
“Further studies are required to test whether improvements in oral health could affect the onset/progression of the metabolic syndrome or vice-versa,” Dr. Francesco D’Aiuto of the UCL Eastman Dental Institute in London, one of the researchers on the study, told Reuters Health.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes—including high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides (another type of blood fat). The syndrome is usually diagnosed when a person has three or more of these traits.
Bleeding gums linked to heart disease
Bad teeth, bleeding gums and poor dental hygiene can end up causing heart disease, scientists heard today (Thursday 11 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.
People with poor dental hygiene and those who don’t brush their teeth regularly end up with bleeding gums, which provide an entry to the bloodstream for up to 700 different types of bacteria found in our mouths. This increases the risk of having a heart attack, according to microbiologists from the University of Bristol and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
“The mouth is probably the dirtiest place in the human body,” said Dr Steve Kerrigan from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. “If you have an open blood vessel from bleeding gums, bacteria will gain entry to your bloodstream. When bacteria get into the bloodstream they encounter tiny fragments called platelets that clot blood when you get a cut. By sticking to the platelets bacteria cause them to clot inside the blood vessel, partially blocking it. This prevents the blood flow back to the heart and we run the risk of suffering a heart attack.”
Gum disease tied to diabetes risk
People with moderate to severe gum disease may have an elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the results of a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among nearly 9,300 U.S. adults who were followed for 17 years, those who began the study with gum disease were more likely to develop diabetes later on. Men and women with moderate gum disease had twice the risk of diabetes as those with healthy gums, while substantial tooth loss was linked to a 70 percent higher risk.
The findings, published in the journal Diabetes Care, do not prove that gum disease causes diabetes in some people. But the study is the first to show such a temporal association between the two conditions; the relationship between diabetes and gum disease is well-known, but it has traditionally been assumed that gum disease is solely a consequence of diabetes.
Mother’s vitamin D status during pregnancy will affect her baby’s dental health
Low maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy may affect primary tooth calcification, leading to enamel defects, which are a risk factor for early-childhood tooth decay. Today, during the 86th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, investigators from the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg and Victoria) present the results of a study they conducted to determine the vitamin D status of pregnant women, the incidence of enamel defects and early-childhood tooth decay among their infants, and the relationship with pre-natal vitamin D levels.
Two hundred six pregnant women in their second trimester participated in the study. Only 21 women (10.5%) were found to have adequate vitamin D levels. Vitamin D concentrations were related to the frequency of milk consumption and pre-natal vitamin use. The investigators examined 135 infants (55.6% male) at 16.1 ± 7.4 months of age, and found that 21.6% of them had enamel defects, while 33.6% had early-childhood tooth decay. Mothers of children with enamel defects had lower, but not significantly different, mean vitamin D concentrations during pregnancy than those of children without defects.
However, mothers of children with early-childhood tooth decay had significantly lower vitamin D levels than those whose children were cavity-free. Infants with enamel defects were significantly more likely to have early-childhood tooth decay.
Saving teeth by using periodontal ligament regeneration
Teeth may fall out as a result of inflammation and subsequent destruction of the tissues supporting the teeth. Dutch researcher Agnes Berendsen has investigated a possible solution to this problem. At the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), she has studied the regeneration of the periodontal ligament by use of tissue engineering. The 3D in vitro model she has developed appears to be promising for regenerating periodontal ligament and may also prove valuable for restoring tendons and ligaments elsewhere in the body.
The periodontal ligament forms a flexible connection between the tooth root and the surrounding jaw bone. Trauma or inflammation can cause destruction of the periodontal ligament. Berendsen chose tissue engineering to tackle this problem.
Insuring your smile… the options in the UK
As more and more dentists go private and the cost of treatment soars, a growing number of consumers are insuring their pearly whites.
A standard filling can cost anything into three figures in many British surgeries and even a routine check-up on the NHS can dent your bank balance.
The mounting costs are leading to a growing number of people to neglect their oral care: almost a third of 1,000 adults surveyed earlier this year say they have not visited the dentist in the past two years.
Gum disease linked with gestational diabetes risk
Pregnant women with gum disease may be more likely to develop gestational diabetes than those with healthy gums, researchers have found.
Gestational diabetes arises during pregnancy and usually resolves after the baby is born, but it can raise a woman’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes later on. It can also contribute to problems during pregnancy and delivery, including maternal high blood pressure and a larger-than-normal baby, which may necessitate a cesarean section.
The new findings, published in the Journal of Dental Research, suggest that gum disease may be a treatable risk factor for gestational diabetes.
Cannabis Indicated as Possible Risk for Gum Disease in Young People
Young people who are heavy smokers of cannabis may be putting themselves at significant risk for periodontal disease, according to new research.
The study, published in the Feb. 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is believed to be the first to explore whether or not smoking a substance other than tobacco – in this case, marijuana more than other cannabis products – may be a risk factor for gum disease.
After controlling for tobacco smoking, gender, socioeconomic status and infrequent trips to the dentist by one-third of the participants, the study reported a “strong association between cannabis use and periodontitis experience by age 32.”
Tooth loss in elderly linked to mental impairment
Older people who have lost their teeth are at more than three-fold greater risk of memory problems and dementia, UK researchers report.
“This study essentially raises questions rather than answering them,” Dr. Robert Stewart of Kings College London, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health. “The measurements were taken at the same time, so we are not able to say what caused what.”
Nigeria to destroy all foreign-made toothpaste
Nigeria has asked retailers to hand over for destruction all imported toothpaste on their shelves after its food and drugs watchdog said it had discovered a harmful substance in a Chinese-made brand.
The order followed a spate of scares in the United States about Chinese products, including seafood tainted with antibiotics, and toothpaste and animal food ingredients containing toxic chemicals. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) said it had found diethyl glycol—an anti-freezing agent which can damage the kidney and liver—in Colgate toothpaste.
Fake dentist has 29-year career in Malaysia
Malaysian police have arrested a man who practiced as a dentist for 29 years although he had no medical training and treated patients at his home in a cast-off examining chair.
The impostor’s closest brush with the dental profession was during the years 1962 to 1978, when he assisted an army dentist by carrying his bag on visits to plantation workers’ homes, the New Straits Times reported Wednesday.
Dental assistants at risk of lung problems
Dental assistants who work with substances called methacrylates may be at risk of developing asthma or chronic respiratory symptoms, a study has found.
Methacrylates are used in dental filling materials and bonding agents, like those used to cement porcelain veneers, crowns and orthodontic brackets. Dental assistants are exposed to airborne methacrylate particles when mixing these materials or during placement or removal of dental restorations.
Tainted toothpaste had wider reach than thought
Chinese-made toothpaste tainted with a potentially poisonous chemical was distributed to more places in the United States than initially thought, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
About 900,000 tubes of toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, an ingredient in antifreeze, were distributed to hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers and some hospitals serving the general population, the Times said.
Animal study links prediabetes and gum disease
People with “prediabetes” may want to pay close attention to their dental health, if new animal research findings apply to humans.
In experiments with rats, Dutch researchers found that animals with a condition that mimics prediabetes were more susceptible to developing periodontitis, which causes the gums to recede and the bone supporting the teeth to erode.
Dental X-rays may help detect osteoporosis
A computer program that analyzes routine dental X-rays could offer a simple, cheap way to detect the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, new research suggests.
British researchers found that a software program they developed was able to spot signs of declining bone density in dental X-rays of the lower jaw—a potential sign of osteoporosis.
