Dental Health Project Fo

Will you be able to wear future smartphones on your clothes?

May 16, 2014
In this month’s introduction, FOCUS Editorial Director Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS, asks whether or not smartphones in the future could have the ability to be printed on your clothes. With the debut of the world’s first “spaser,” made completely from carbon, many applications—such as cancer therapy—may be possible.
This issue presents information on a variety of topics. Child (and other) abuse, cancer prevention, risk assessment, and preparing for success. I want to mention some other interesting items for your perusal.

We also feature a new report entitled: Dental Sealants: Proven to Prevent Tooth Decay: A Look at Issues Impacting the Delivery of State and Local School‐Based Sealant Programs. The report states that school‐based dental sealant delivery programs are an evidence‐based public health approach for preventing tooth decay among school‐aged children. See Section 4. The Journal of the Canadian Dental Association has published “How to Manage a Patient with Peri-implantitis.”(1) It presents a good overview of the disease and how to manage it. Another article in the same publication presents information about the uncertainty that exists about effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis for bacterial endocarditis.(2) A 2013 Cochrane Review found there is little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis for patients at risk of developing bacterial endocarditis who are about to undergo invasive dental treatment.(3) The review authors found few primary studies that evaluated the effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis and they were generally of low quality. Only one case-control study met the inclusion criteria for the review. To read the CDA position statement on prevention of infective endocarditis, go to the website.(4) For information on the impact of the NICE guidelines in the 2 years after they were introduced, see this link.(5) For a Risk-Based Implant Treatment Planner and Maintenance Assessment, click here.

I recently read about "Dental Dilemma Part 1 & 2: Meth and Mountain Dew."(6,7) PepsiCo, the maker of Mountain Dew, released this statement to 13News: "We understand the importance of oral health and while there are multiple causes of tooth decay, there are many preventative measures that can help minimize it. We have always marketed our products responsibly and, with basic dental hygiene practices, people have enjoyed soft drinks for decades without risk to their dental health."(6) Very interesting reading! Did you ever consider that smart phones, in the future, could be printed on your clothes?
Engineers have modeled the world’s first “spaser” (surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) to be made completely out of carbon.(8) Spasers are similar to lasers, but produce surface plasmons (coherent electron oscillations) instead of photons. A spaser can generate high-intensity electric fields concentrated in a nanoscale space, and these fields are much stronger than those generated by using a laser for illuminating metal nanoparticles for applications such as cancer therapy.(8)
The Office of Minority Health launched an oral health e-Learning Program focusing on the widespread prevalence of untreated dental decay in minority populations.(9) The Cultural Competency Program for Oral Health Professionals is an online Continuing Education course. It is a certified online resource for professionals interested in bridging the gap and providing underserved populations with the care that they need.

According to a recent article, periodontal disease prevalence surpasses diabetes with nearly 65 million affected. Periodontists are asked to educate Americans to take action against this highly prevalent, yet seriously overlooked disease.(10) For more information, visit the American Academy of Periodontology website.(11). And last, but not least, Katie Dawson, former ADHA President, suffered a medical emergency and is unable to work for an undetermined amount of time. There has been a call to action to help Katie. If you are interested, visit Katie’s page on gofundme, created by the East Bay Component of CDHA.(12) I hope you enjoy the newsletter. Thanks to all the contributors!RELATED | ADHA announces contest winners

References
1. Hsu A and Kim JM. How to Manage a Patient with Peri-implantitis. J Can Dent Assoc 2014; 79:e24. http://www.jcda.ca/article/e24. 2. CDA Guideline. Uncertainty Remains about Effectiveness of Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Bacterial Endocarditis. J Can Dent Assoc 2014; 80:e40. http://www.jcda.ca/article/e40. 3. Glenny AM, Oliver R, Roberts GJ, Hooper L, Worthington HV. Antibiotics for the prophylaxis of bacterial endocarditis in dentistry. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2013; 10: CD003813. 4. http://www.cda-adc.ca/_files/position_statements/infectiousEndocarditis.pdf. 5. http://www.jcda.ca/article/jcda_express_issue_6_2011. 6. http://www.wowktv.com/story/25336256/dental-dilemma-dentists-continue-to-battle-mountain-dew-mouth. 7. http://www.wowktv.com/story/25346302/dental-dilemma-part-2-meth-and-mountain-dew. 8. Chanaka Rupasinghe, Ivan D. Rukhlenko, Malin Premaratne, Spaser Made of Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes, ACS Nano, 2014, DOI: 10.1021/nn406015d. 9. https://oralhealth.thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov. 10. http://www.enhancedonlinenews.com/news/eon/20140422005343/en. 11. http://www.perio.org/. 12. http://www.gofundme.com/7xp44o.

Sincerely,

Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS, is the editorial director of RDH eVillage FOCUS.