tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62843188628009976042024-03-13T07:09:52.947-07:00Dental News ReportJonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.comBlogger817125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-30692661402409454662024-03-05T05:44:00.000-08:002024-03-05T05:44:07.611-08:00 Low-cost liquid tames tooth decay<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">An inexpensive, cavity-fighting liquid called silver diamine fluoride (SDF) works as well as dental sealants to keep tooth decay at bay in a school cavity prevention and treatment program, according to a new study by researchers at NYU College of Dentistry. </span></p><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The study, which followed more than 4,000 elementary school students for four years and is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.6770" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">published in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">JAMA Pediatrics</em></a>, shows that SDF is an effective alternative to sealants, and can increase access to dental care while reducing costs.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Dental cavities are <a href="https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/research/data-statistics/dental-caries#:~:text=Dental%20caries%20(tooth%20decay)%20remains,remain%20among%20some%20population%20groups." style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">the most prevalent chronic disease in children</a> and can lead to pain, school absences, and lower academic performance. To prevent cavities, especially among children less likely to see a dentist, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/dental_sealant_program/school-sealant-programs.htm" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports the use of school sealant programs</a>. In sealant programs, dental professionals visit schools to apply a thin, protective coating to the surface of teeth that hardens and safeguards against decay.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.ada.org/en/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/oral-health-topics/silver-diamine-fluoride" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">SDF</a> has emerged as another promising treatment for fighting cavities. Originally approved by the FDA for treating tooth sensitivity, the solution is brushed onto the surface of teeth, killing decay-causing bacteria and remineralizing teeth to prevent further decay.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“A growing body of research shows that SDF—which is quicker to apply and less expensive than sealants—can prevent and arrest cavities, reducing the need for drilling and filling,” said <a href="https://dental.nyu.edu/faculty/ft/rn45.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Richard Niederman, DMD</a>, professor of epidemiology & health promotion at NYU College of Dentistry and the study’s senior author.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">SDF in schools</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Researchers at NYU College of Dentistry led Caried<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Away</em>, the nation’s largest school-based cavity prevention study, to compare the use of SDF and traditional sealants. The study included approximately 4,100 children in New York City elementary schools; more than a quarter of kids had untreated cavities at the start of the study.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">At each school visit, a team of health professionals examined children’s teeth and applied either sealants or SDF followed by fluoride varnish, depending on which treatment the school was randomly assigned to receive. Sealants were administered by dental hygienists, while SDF was applied by either dental hygienists or registered nurses, all under the supervision of a dentist. Starting in 2018, the team visited each school twice a year, although the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures led to missed visits.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The researchers <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2023/february/school-dental-program-prevents-80-percent-of-cavities.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">reported last year in the journal <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">JAMA Network Open</em></a> that a single treatment of either SDF or sealants prevented 80% of cavities and kept 50% of existing cavities from worsening two years later. The team continued their study for another two years, and in their study published in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">JAMA Pediatrics</em>, found that SDF and sealants prevented roughly the same number of cavities after children were followed for a total of four years. Moreover, both sealants and SDF reduced the risk of decay at each follow-up visit.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Our longitudinal study reaffirms that both sealants and SDF are effective against cavities. SDF is a promising alternative that can support school-based cavity prevention—not to replace the dental sealant model, but as another option that also prevents and arrests decay,” said <a href="https://dental.nyu.edu/faculty/ft/rrr8.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Ryan Richard Ruff, PhD, MPH</a>, associate professor of epidemiology & health promotion at NYU College of Dentistry and the study’s first author.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Most research shows that SDF can stop a cavity from progressing further. Our study demonstrated that SDF can prevent cavities from happening in the first place,” said Tamarinda Barry Godín, DDS, MPH, associate program director and supervising dentist for Caried<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Away</em>, research scientist at NYU College of Dentistry, and the study’s coauthor. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">An “untapped” oral health workforce</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Embracing SDF for cavity prevention and treatment in schools could keep kids from needing fillings, saving families and the healthcare system money. Yet these programs can only succeed if there are enough health professionals to provide care.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The NYU researchers found that children who had SDF applied by dental hygienists and registered nurses had similar outcomes, suggesting that nurses—including school nurses—could play a crucial role in cavity prevention programs. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Nurses may be an untapped resource for addressing oral health inequities,” added Ruff. “Our results suggest that nurses can effectively provide this preventive care, which could dramatically improve access, given the role of school nurses and the size of the nursing workforce.”</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-85386815992636150552024-03-05T05:41:00.000-08:002024-03-05T05:41:13.396-08:00Those who report having poor oral health have negative long-term health outcomes <p><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Those who report having poor oral health are as likely to have negative long-term systemic health outcomes as those previously diagnosed with periodontal disease, or gum disease, according to a new </span><a href="https://dental.tufts.edu/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Tufts University School of Dental Medicine</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> study published in </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2023.11.006" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">The Journal of the American Dental Association</a></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. </span></b></p><div class="entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The researchers examined whether self-reported oral health questions, which are commonly used in the surveillance of periodontal disease, had the same or similar comorbidities of the disease by analyzing data sets from the Women’s Health Study and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The Women’s Health Study followed women 45 years or older with self-reported information on gum disease, oral health questions, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis in various timeframes starting from 1992, while the NHANES included data on oral health questions and linked mortality from 1999 to 2018. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Led by first author <a href="https://dental.tufts.edu/people/faculty/yau-hua-yu" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Yau-Hua Yu</a>, associate professor of periodontology at the School of Dental Medicine, the researchers tested their hypotheses by running analyses that estimated the probability of outcomes based on a variety of factors and then looked at survival rates within various groups. The results showed that negative self-evaluations were associated with the same level of systemic comorbidities as those who had been diagnosed with periodontal disease. The study also found that suboptimal dental visits or infrequent flossing were associated with an increase in all-cause mortality. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“These questions are really helpful to understand a person’s oral health conditions when clinical access is limited,” said Yu, noting that in large epidemiological studies like the Women’s Health Study, it’s not possible to have a dentist on-site to physically examine research participants.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Yu and fellow researchers, including senior author Julie Buring of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, also examined the role that access to dental care plays on overall health. They did this by asking two important questions: “In the past 12 months, have you visited the dentist or hygienist?” and “How often do you visit a dental office for routine check-ups and cleaning?” The researchers found that about 10% of the Women’s Health Study participants and 45% of NHANES study participants did not visit a dentist within a year and, as a result, their oral and overall health outcomes were poor. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Our study findings suggest that people who don’t see a dentist may have negative outcomes in terms of mortality,” Yu said, noting that their original goal was to understand the usefulness of these questions for understanding and evaluating gum disease and oral health in general.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Given this demonstrated link between oral health and mortality, Yu suggests primary care physicians consider asking about their patients’ dental habits and condition to get a fuller picture of their overall health.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Yu isn’t stopping with this study. She says she’s still working on big data sets, and hopes to showcase outcomes in different populations, such as veterans. She is currently collaborating with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">And, Yu underscores the need for more large-scale national health studies/biobanking efforts to incorporate questions around dental health to better understand and communicate the association between oral health and long-term health outcomes, as well as the gaps in access to dental care. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“For society in general,” she said, “we need to look at, without dental care access, what is the burden?”</p><div><br /></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-79970033144222284732024-02-27T06:55:00.000-08:002024-02-27T06:55:14.990-08:00‘Artificial tongue’ detects and inactivates common mouth bacteria<p> </p><header style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;"><br /></h1><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 23px;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">From the fuzzy feeling on your teeth to the unfortunate condition of halitosis, bacteria shape mouth health. When dental illnesses take hold, diagnosis and treatment is necessary, but identifying the microorganisms behind an infection can be a lengthy and expensive process. Now, researchers reporting in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces </em>have designed a chemical sensor array, or an artificial tongue, that distinguishes dental bacteria and can inactivate them.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">When bacteria are suspected as the agent behind dental disease, such as cavities or periodontitis, the first step is to identify the source. Traditional detection and identification methods can involve culturing or looking for specific DNA markers belonging to different species using sophisticated equipment. So, Na Lu, Zisheng Tang and coworkers wanted to investigate a simple and less expensive alternative: sensor arrays known as electronic or artificial tongues. Previously developed artificial tongues have detected and measured several types of bacteria, similar to how a real tongue can taste multiple flavors at once. And the researchers wanted to add in the capability of reducing the effects of, or inactivating, the identified dental bacteria.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The researchers turned to a nanoscopic particle that mimics natural enzymes, called a nanozyme, and made them from iron oxide particles coated in DNA strands. When hydrogen peroxide and a colorless indicator were added in solution, the presence of nanozymes caused the indicator to turn bright blue. However, bacteria that adhered to the DNA decreased the nanozyme’s reactivity, reducing the amount of blue color produced. The researchers coated nanozymes with different DNA strands so that each type of bacteria could be linked to a unique change in color signals. To test the DNA-nanozyme system, as an artificial tongue, the researchers created samples of 11 different dental bacteria species. The sensor array was able to identify all the bacteria in artificial saliva samples. Then, using the DNA-encoded nanozyme sensor array, the researchers were able to distinguish whether a dental plaque sample came from a healthy volunteer or from a person with cavities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In addition, the DNA-encoded nanozyme sensor array had antibacterial effects on the dental bacteria species tested. Compared to controls without the nanozymes, three typical bacterial species were inactivated in solutions containing the nanozyme system. Scanning electronic microscopic images suggest to the researchers that the nanozyme system destroyed the bacteria membranes. They suggest that this sensor system could also be used in the future to diagnose and treat bacterial dental diseases.</p><div style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-6748230107232095592024-02-16T12:19:00.000-08:002024-02-16T12:19:46.964-08:00When it comes to bad breath, some bacterial interactions really stink<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;"><br /></h1><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Researchers from Osaka University find that a metabolite produced by the commensal oral bacterium Streptococcus gordonii activates another bacterial species, Fusobacterium nucleatum, to produce the malodorous compound methyl mercaptan</p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">OSAKA UNIVERSITY</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><figure class="thumbnail pull-right" style="border-radius: 0px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px 0px 20px 34px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; width: 288px; z-index: 9999;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1015368" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><div class="img-wrapper" style="background: rgb(241, 241, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 288px; text-align: center; text-wrap: nowrap; width: 288px;"><img alt="Fig.1" src="https://earimediaprodweb.azurewebsites.net/Api/v1/Multimedia/a619fb54-e98a-4b80-b463-5a07d60685c7/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-height: 272px; max-width: 272px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /> </div></a><figcaption class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">IMAGE: </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF OBSERVED METABOLIC FLOW OF BACTERIAL METABOLISM <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">F. NUCLEATUM</em> AND <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">S. GORDONII</em> COCULTURES.</span></p><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"></span><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1015368" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-weight: 600; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">view <span class="no-break-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-wrap: nowrap;">more <span class="fa fa-angle-right" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></span></a><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"></p><p class="credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">CREDIT: © 2024 HARA ET AL. THIS IS AN OPEN-ACCESS ARTICLE DISTRIBUTED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 4.0 INTERNATIONAL LICENSE.</p></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Osaka, Japan – </span>Having bad breath really stinks! Now, researchers from Japan report that a particular combination of bacteria in our mouths may be responsible for producing some very unpleasant smells.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In a study published last month in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">mSystems</em>, researchers from Osaka University revealed that the interaction between two common types of oral bacteria leads to the production of a chemical compound that is a major cause of smelly breath.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Bad breath is caused by volatile compounds that are produced when bacteria in the mouth digest substances like blood and food particles. One of the smelliest of these compounds is methyl mercaptan (CH<span style="bottom: -0.25em; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>SH), which is produced by microbes that live around the teeth and on the surface of the tongue. However, little is known about which specific bacterial species are involved in this process.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Most previous studies investigating CH<span style="bottom: -0.25em; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>SH-producing oral bacteria have used isolated enzymes or relatively small culture volumes,” explains lead author of the study Takeshi Hara. “In this study, we aimed to create a more realistic environment in which to investigate CH<span style="bottom: -0.25em; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>SH production by major oral bacteria.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">To do this, the researchers developed a large-volume anaerobic co-culture system that enabled them to test interactions between multiple different types of bacteria that live in the mouth. This system was able to test both direct, physical interactions among the bacteria, as well as whether these species could affect each other from a distance, for example by secreting active substances.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“The results were very intriguing,” says Masae Kuboniwa, senior author. “We found that <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fusobacterium nucleatum </em>produces large quantities of CH<span style="bottom: -0.25em; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>SH in response to <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Streptococcus gordonii</em>, another oral bacterium.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">By using stable isotope tracers and analyzing gene expression, the researchers showed that <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">S. gordonii</em> releases a substance called ornithine that prompts <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">F. nucleatum</em> to produce more of a molecule called polyamine. Because <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">F. nucleatum </em>needs methionine to produce polyamine, this enhanced polyamine production activates its methionine salvage pathway, which in turn results in increased CH<span style="bottom: -0.25em; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>SH production.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Taken together, these findings suggest that CH<span style="bottom: -0.25em; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>SH production in the mouth is driven by the interaction between <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">S. gordonii</em> and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">F. nucleatum</em>,” says Hara.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Understanding how these two bacterial species work together to cause bad breath could be helpful in developing ways to treat or even prevent bad breath. In addition, given that bad breath is often associated with periodontal disease, treating this symptom early could help prevent more serious damage in the future.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">###</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The article, “Interspecies metabolite transfer fuels methionine metabolism of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fusobacterium nucleatum</em> to stimulate volatile methyl mercaptan production,” was published in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">mSystems </em>at DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00764-23" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00764-23</a></p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-36515729982507458792024-02-16T10:03:00.000-08:002024-02-16T10:03:27.069-08:00 Gargling away the bad bacteria in type 2 diabetes<p> </p><header style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Researchers from Osaka University find that gargling with an antiseptic mouthwash can reduce ‘bad’ bacteria in the mouths of people with type 2 diabetes, and may lead to better control of their blood sugar</p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">OSAKA UNIVERSITY</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 23px;"><figure class="thumbnail pull-right" style="background-color: white; border-radius: 0px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px 0px 20px 34px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; width: 288px; z-index: 9999;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1015214" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><div class="img-wrapper" style="background: rgb(241, 241, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 288px; text-align: center; text-wrap: nowrap; width: 288px;"><img alt="Fig.1" src="https://earimediaprodweb.azurewebsites.net/Api/v1/Multimedia/07a61825-3f74-4834-b65f-9cb3919b2d3b/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-height: 272px; max-width: 272px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /> </div></a><figcaption class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">IMAGE: </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">MECHANISM OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS IMPROVEMENT BY GARGLING WITH MOUTHWASH</span></p><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"></span><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1015214" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-weight: 600; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">view <span class="no-break-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-wrap: nowrap;">more <span class="fa fa-angle-right" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></span></a><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"></p><p class="credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">CREDIT: SAAYA MATAYOSHI</p></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Osaka, Japan – </span>More than bad breath, there is growing evidence that ongoing inflammation in the mouth, like with gum disease, is associated with serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or type 2 diabetes. Now, researchers from Osaka University have identified an easy way to fight bacteria that might cause such problems.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In a study published this month in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Scientific Reports</em>, the researchers reported that when people with type 2 diabetes gargled with an antiseptic mouthwash, the numbers of periodontitis-related bacteria decreased. Excitingly, some patients with reduced bacteria also achieved much better control of their blood sugar, hinting at promising future clinical applications. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“There are three highly virulent bacterial species that are linked to periodontitis, or diseases of the tissues surrounding the teeth,” explains lead author of the study Saaya Matayoshi. “We decided to see if we could reduce these three species—<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Porphyromonas gingivalis</em>, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Treponema denticola</em>, and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tannerella forsythia—</em>in patients with type 2 diabetes using a mouthwash containing the antiseptic chlorhexidine gluconate.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">To do this, the researchers took monthly or bimonthly saliva and blood samples from 173 patients over an entire year. With the saliva, the researchers noted the presence or absence of the three bacterial species, and with the blood samples, they measured HbA1c levels as a marker of blood-sugar control. Importantly, for the first 6 months of the study, the patients gargled with water, whereas for the second 6 months they gargled with the antiseptic mouthwash. In this way, the research team could see whether gargling itself was effective for reducing bacteria, or whether mouthwash was more effective.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“We were unsurprised to see that gargling with water had no effects on bacterial species or HbA1c levels,” explains Kazuhiko Nakano, senior author of the study. “However, there was an overall reduction in bacterial species when the patients switched to mouthwash, as long as they were gargling at least twice a day.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The researchers also found that, although there were no overall changes in HbA1c levels when patients gargled with the antiseptic mouthwash, there appeared to be large variations in individual responses. For example, when they split the group into younger and older patients, younger patients had greater reductions in bacterial species and significantly better blood-sugar control with the mouthwash compared with water.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Given that poor oral health is linked to serious disease, simple methods to improve oral hygiene have important ramifications. If researchers can identify patients who are likely to respond well to antiseptic mouthwash, this easy-to-use treatment may improve the lives of people with periodontitis-linked diseases such as diabetes, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory tract infections.</p><div style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></div></div><p> </p>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-92009610195704147912024-02-06T06:23:00.000-08:002024-02-06T06:23:45.781-08:00New guideline details acute pain management strategies for adolescent, adult dental patients<p><br /></p><header style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) taken alone or along with acetaminophen are recommended as first-line treatments for managing short-term dental pain in adults and adolescents aged 12 or older, according to a new clinical practice guideline developed by the American Dental Association (ADA), the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and the Center for Integrative Global Oral Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. The</span><span style="color: #333333; text-align: justify;"> </span><a href="https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(23)00672-4/fulltext" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">guideline</a><span style="color: #333333; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; text-align: justify;">has been endorsed by the ADA and is now available in the February issue of</span><span style="color: #333333; text-align: justify;"> </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">The Journal of the American Dental Association.</em></p></header><div class="entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">Based on review of the available evidence, a guideline panel concluded that, when used as directed, NSAIDs (like ibuprofen and naproxen) alone or in combination with acetaminophen can effectively manage pain after having a tooth removed or when experiencing a toothache when dental care is not immediately available.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">The guideline also offers clinicians recommendations for prescribing opioid medications in the limited circumstances in which they may be appropriate. These include avoiding “just in case” prescriptions, engaging patients in shared decision-making and exerting extreme caution when prescribing opioids to adolescents and young adults. When prescribing opioids, the guideline suggests advising patients on proper storage and disposal and considering any risk factors for opioid misuse and serious adverse events.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">“It’s important to take special consideration when prescribing any type of pain reliever, and now, dentists have a set of evidence-based recommendations to determine the best care for their patients,” said Dr. Paul Moore, D.M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., the guideline’s senior author and panel chair and professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Dental Medicine. “Patients are encouraged to discuss pain management expectations and strategies with their dentist so they can feel confident that they are receiving the safest, most effective treatment for their symptoms.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) awarded the University of Pittsburgh and the ADA Science & Research Institute (ADASRI) – now the ADA Forsyth Institute – a three-year $1.5 million grant to develop a clinical practice guideline for the management of acute pain in dentistry in children, adolescents and adults. A group of researchers and methodologists from ADASRI, University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, Center for Integrative Global Oral Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, McMaster University and The Art of Democracy worked together to develop the guideline.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">“Providing prescribing guidelines for acute dental pain management is an important step towards improving patient treatment and outcomes,” said Dr. Marta Sokolowska, Ph.D., deputy center director for substance use and behavioral health at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “We hope this clinical practice guideline will reduce the risk of opioid addiction, overdose and diversion.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">This is the second of two guidelines on acute dental pain management. A previous set of recommendations for pediatric patients was published in 2023. Both guidelines can be found at <a href="https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/evidence-based-dental-research/pain-management-guideline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">ada.org/painmanagement</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">For more information on how the ADA is working to combat opioid misuse while continuing to help patients manage dental pain, visit <a href="https://www.ada.org/advocacy/opioid-crisis" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">ada.org/opioids</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The contents of the guidelines are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, the FDA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or U.S. government.</em><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> </p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-64746362155449280632024-02-02T10:16:00.000-08:002024-02-02T10:16:15.012-08:00ADA releases updated recommendations to enhance radiography safety in dentistry<p> </p><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span>The use of lead abdominal aprons or thyroid collars on patients when conducting dental X-rays is no longer recommended, according to an expert panel established by the American Dental Association (ADA) Council on Scientific Affairs. Additionally, dentists should take into consideration the diagnostic information needed from X-rays to benefit patient care or substantially improve clinical outcomes.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Journal of the American Dental Association</em> published the new <a href="https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(23)00734-1/fulltext" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">recommendations</a> today, which aim to improve radiation protection in dental radiography and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Medical physicists with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supported the panel’s development of these recommendations – the first on dental imaging safety and radiation protection from the Council since 2012. The Council’s recommendations are also aligned with recent recommendations released by the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">After reviewing published studies on radiography, the expert panel determined lead aprons and thyroid collars are not necessary to shield patients from radiation exposure. These recommendations apply to all patients, regardless of age or health status (like pregnancy). Evidence indicates that modern digital X-ray equipment and restricting the beam size only to the area that needs to be imaged better protect patients against radiation exposure to other parts of their body. Lead aprons and thyroid collars can also block the primary X-ray beam, preventing dentists from capturing the image they need.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">“When this happens, more radiographs need to be taken, and unnecessary X-rays are what we want to avoid,” said Dr. Purnima Kumar, D.D.S., Ph.D., professor of dentistry and chair of the Department of Periodontology and Oral Medicine at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and chair of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs. “The central point of these recommendations is that clinicians should order radiographs in moderation to minimize both patients’ and dental professionals’ exposure to ionizing radiation.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">The recommendations also advise dentists to safeguard patients against unnecessary radiation exposure by:</p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Ordering radiographs like X-rays to optimize diagnostic information and enhance patient care outcomes and making every effort to use images acquired at previous dental exams;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Using digital instead of conventional X-ray film for imaging;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Restricting the beam size during an X-ray exam to the area that needs to be assessed (an approach called “rectangular collimation”);</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Properly positioning patients so the best image can be taken;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Incorporating CBCT only when lower-exposure options will not provide the necessary diagnostic information; and</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Adhering to all applicable federal, state and local regulations on radiation safety.</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">“We encourage dentists and their teams to review these best-practice recommendations, comply with radiation protection regulations and talk with their patients about any questions or concerns before ordering dental imaging,” Dr. Kumar said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">To view the complete recommendations, visit <a href="https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(23)00734-1/fulltext" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">JADA.ada.org</a>.</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-58656836296523250262024-01-19T11:51:00.000-08:002024-01-19T11:51:13.758-08:00Brush biopsy enables early detection of oral cancer without surgery<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;"><br /></h1><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Reports and Proceedings</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CHICAGO</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">A new test invented by University of Illinois Chicago researchers allows dentists to screen for the most common form of oral cancer with a simple and familiar tool: the brush. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The diagnostic kit, created and patented by <a href="https://dentistry.uic.edu/guy-adami/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Guy Adami</a> and Dr. <a href="https://dentistry.uic.edu/joel-schwartz/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Joel Schwartz</a> of the UIC College of Dentistry, uses a small brush to collect cells from potentially cancerous lesions inside the mouth. The sample is then analyzed for genetic signals of oral squamous cell carcinoma, the ninth most prevalent cancer globally. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">This new screening method, which is currently seeking commercialization partnerships, improves upon the current diagnostic standard of surgical biopsies — an extra referral step that risks losing patients who sometimes don’t return until the cancer progresses to more advanced, hard-to-treat stages. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“So many patients get lost; they don’t follow up,” said Adami, associate professor of oral medicine and diagnostic sciences. “We’ve tried to keep our focus mainly on early Stage 1 and 2 cancers, so it actually works with the cancers that you want to detect.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The detection system works by looking for small segments of genetic material called microRNA that regulate the expression of genes. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5275769/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Research conducted by Adami and Schwartz</a> found an expression signature of 40 microRNA sequences that can distinguish between a tumor and normal tissue with over 90% accuracy. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Importantly, their test also worked using epithelial cells, the outermost layer of cells in a patient’s mouth. These cells can be easily collected in less than a minute of gentle brushing — no numbing required — by a dentist or nurse, who then places the brush in a tube of solution and sends it to a lab for microRNA analysis. Results can be returned to the clinic in days with the current version of the diagnostic test. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“We were the first to observe that brush biopsy samples actually work quite well when you use microRNA,” Adami said. “All you need is a good light and the brushes.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In addition to the convenience of the collection method, the brush biopsy also provides several other advantages, the authors said. Surgical biopsies often collect a mixture of cell types, making subsequent analysis more complicated, and risk spreading cancerous cells to other areas of the mouth. And unlike blood tests that survey generally for genetic signals of cancer, the brush method only collects cells from a single site where treatment can be focused if a malignancy is detected. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“If you compare what we do, which is site-specific targeting of tissue, to the other tests out there, they don’t have a targeting of where the tumors actually are,” said Schwartz, professor of oral medicine and diagnostic sciences. “That makes it harder to start treatment rapidly after detection.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The inventors hope that the new test will make screening easier to perform, particularly in patient populations that don’t receive regular dental care or have a higher incidence of oral squamous cell carcinoma. For example, Black men have a dramatically lower survival rate with the disease compared with white, Hispanic and Asian men. Usage of the invention in nonclinical settings would allow earlier cancer detection in high-risk populations.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The technology may also eventually be useful in diagnosing other oral diseases through their own unique microRNA signatures, the authors said. To commercialize the test, Adami and Schwartz formed a company called <a href="https://www.arphiondiagnostics.com/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Arphion Diagnostics</a> that has worked with the UIC Office of Technology Management. But they continue to look for business partners to help take the test into dental clinics. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“There are 600 different diseases that occur in the mouth, and a number of these have already been characterized with microRNAs,” Schwartz said. “We could use the same approach and really have a profound impact on these kinds of disease.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In addition to Adami and Schwartz, research and design of the diagnostic test was conducted by oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Antonia Kolokythas, a key member of the project who helped optimize the methodology and identified and collected brush samples from the first group of patients. The work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Cancer Institute. Adami and Schwartz are also members of the <a href="https://cancer.uillinois.edu/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">University of Illinois Cancer Center</a>.</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-5083480116404856042024-01-13T06:19:00.000-08:002024-01-13T06:19:48.004-08:00 How gum disease aggravates chronic obstructive pulmonary disease<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;"><br /></h1><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Highlights:</span></h3><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Previous studies have connected severe gum disease to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bacteria play a critical role, but the details remain unclear.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">A new study shows how periodontitis, an oral disease, activates immune cells associated with aggravated progression of COPD.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The findings suggest that periodontitis and COPD together worsen COPD, and point to gum disease management as a potential treatment for COPD.</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Washington, D.C.</span>—Severe gum disease has been linked to the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, but an understanding of how the connection plays out in the immune system remains unclear. This week in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">mSystems,</em> a <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.asm.org%2Fdoi%2F10.1128%2Fmsystems.00572-23&data=05%7C02%7Cnewsroom%40asmusa.org%7Cc7aa462b38b54589d4a608dc1141af8f%7C8de26b03ae474a28b9cd4d0b4002d59f%7C0%7C0%7C638404221551508304%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=z1iUyDgo7WbS15e8CnrBCDmpEVzZjxPURhh0UL6pSxg%3D&reserved=0" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">new study</a> identifies immune system cells that play a critical role in the microbial link between COPD and gum disease.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Researchers from Sichuan University, in China, report that bacteria associated with the gum disease promote COPD through the activation of 2 types of cells, γδ T cells and M2 macrophages, that are important to the immune system. Focusing on this mechanism might offer new, practical strategies for COPD prevention or control, said the researchers, from the West China Hospital of Stomatology at Sichuan University.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“By enhancing periodontal therapy and targeting the inhibition of γδ T cells and M2 macrophages [we] may be able to help control the progression of COPD,” said microbiologist Boyu Tang, Ph.D., who led the study with microbiologist Yan Li, Ph.D. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />According to the World Health Organization, COPD is the sixth-leading cause of death worldwide. It is not curable. In higher-income countries, tobacco smoking is the leading cause of COPD; in low- and middle-income countries, both tobacco smoking and household air pollution are significant risk factors. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Periodontitis is a gum disease that results from the untreated buildup of plaque, a sticky film made primarily of bacteria. Over time, the plaque can harden into tartar and cause irritation and inflammation of gum tissue, and then produce deep gaps between the teeth and gums where bacteria flourish and may lead to bone loss. Periodontitis is a chronic infectious disease, and previous studies have found that it’s a risk factor for a raft of diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, some cancers, cardiovascular disease and COPD. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Previous studies, including some led by Li and Tang, have established that the oral bacteria <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Porphyromonas gingivalis</em> plays an important role in gum disease. For the new work, Li, Tang and their colleagues used mouse models to show how those bacteria could aggravate progression of COPD. In one experiment, they showed that mice infected with both periodontitis and COPD had worse progression of COPD than mice infected with COPD alone. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />In another experiment, they found that in mice orally infected with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">P. gingivalis</em>, the bacteria migrated to and infected lung tissue, leading to a significant, observable change in the lung microbiota. Further observations using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence revealed that periodontitis promoted the expansion of the immune cells in the lung tissue. Finally, in experiments using mouse lung tissue, the group connected the dots by showing that <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">P. gingivalis</em> could activate the immune cells, promoting their ability to produce cytokines associated with worsening COPD. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The researchers noted that the decrease in lung function and increase in immune cells was more modest than they’d predicted, but that could be an artifact of the experimental setup. The team created COPD animal models using exposure to cigarette smoke. “If the cigarette smoke exposure could be extended for a longer period of time, these changes might be more pronounced,” Li said. In future studies, Li said that the group plans to investigate how increases in smoke exposure might affect the immune response. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“We’ll further carry out additional studies on human subjects to confirm the mechanism,” Li said. They plan to recruit patients with both conditions and offer periodontitis treatment, then compare lung function and immune cell counts before and after. “Our finding could lead to a potential new strategy for treating COPD.”</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-20784387674783681032023-12-20T13:08:00.000-08:002023-12-20T13:08:58.536-08:00 Handbook for Dental Chair Side Assistants - Part 2<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The second part of Bentham Science’s Dental Chair Side handbook set is now published,</span></p><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The thorough and up-to-date Handbook for Dental Chair Side Assistants is a useful tool for teaching dental nurses and chair side assistants about dentistry. The fundamental sciences, clinical aspects of all dental specialties, and emergencies are covered in this unique practical manual. Simple and understandable explanations are given to the theoretical knowledge and background of dental anatomy, dental microbiology, oral pathology, dental materials, dental radiology, dental procedures, common medicines, issues, and dental instruments in dentistry practice. The materials are structured to provide the best possible balance between the theoretical underpinnings of the subject and clinical abilities. There are two sections to the book. Basic sciences are covered in Part 1, along with an overview of working in dental clinics. A section on medical crises and details on various dental specialty settings are included in Part 2.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Key features include:</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">- Clear and concise explanations for learners;</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">- Basic and useful advice for dental assistants and nurses;</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">- Information pertaining to all dental specialties</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">- Notes on cutting-edge dental technology are included.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Information is illustrated and made simple to understand with the help of vibrant clinical images, flowcharts, and tabular data. Each chapter has a thorough synopsis. The book is a helpful resource for undergraduate students who are working at clinics. Clinicians who are considering setting up a dental clinic will also find the content useful in training medical assistants about the basics of dental chair side procedures.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Learn more about this book here: https://www.eurekaselect.com/ebook_volume/3591</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-90802949270841847002023-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:002023-12-20T12:14:13.608-08:00 Toothbrushing tied to lower rates of pneumonia among hospitalized patients<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><header style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;"><br /></h1><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-size: 14px; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Toothbrushing also associated with lower rates of ICU mortality, shorter duration of mechanical ventilation, and shorter ICU length of stay </p></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Researchers say toothbrushing could be a cheap but effective way to help lower rates of hospital-acquired pneumonia </p></li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Researchers have found an inexpensive tool that may help reduce rates of pneumonia for hospitalized patients—and it comes with bristles on one end. A new study by investigators from <a href="https://brighamandwomens.org/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Brigham and Women’s Hospital</a>, a founding member of the <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Mass General Brigham</a> healthcare system, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute examined whether daily toothbrushing among hospitalized patients is associated with lower rates of hospital-acquired pneumonia and other outcomes. The team combined the results of 15 randomized clinical trials that included more than 2,700 patients and found that hospital-acquired pneumonia rates were lower among patients who received daily toothbrushing compared to those who did not. The results were especially compelling among patients on mechanical ventilation. Their results are published in <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.6638?utm_campaign=articlePDF%26utm_medium=articlePDFlink%26utm_source=articlePDF%26utm_content=jamainternmed.2023.6638" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">JAMA Internal Medicine</em>.</a> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“The signal that we see here towards lower mortality is striking—it suggests that regular toothbrushing in the hospital may save lives,” said corresponding author <a href="https://physiciandirectory.brighamandwomens.org/details/1011/michael-klompas-infectious_disease-boston" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">Michael Klompas, MD, MPH,</a> hospital epidemiologist and an infectious disease physician in the Department of Medicine at BWH and Professor of Population Medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. “It’s rare in the world of hospital preventative medicine to find something like this that is both effective and cheap. Instead of a new device or drug, our study indicates that something as simple as brushing teeth can make a big difference.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Hospital-acquired pneumonia occurs when bacteria in the mouth enter a patient’s airways and infect their lungs. Patients experiencing frailty or patients with a weakened immune system are particularly susceptible to developing hospital-acquired pneumonia during their hospital stay. However, adopting a daily toothbrushing regimen can decrease the amount of bacteria in the mouth, potentially lowering the risk of hospital-acquired pneumonia from occurring. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the association between daily toothbrushing and hospital-acquired pneumonia. Using a variety of databases, the researchers collected and analyzed randomized clinical trials from around the world that compared the effect of regular oral care with toothbrushing versus oral care without toothbrushing on the occurrence of hospital-acquired pneumonia and other outcomes. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The team’s analysis found that daily toothbrushing was associated with a significantly lower risk for hospital-acquired pneumonia and ICU mortality. In addition, the investigators identified that toothbrushing for patients in the ICU was associated with fewer days of mechanical ventilation and a shorter length of stay in the ICU. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Most of the studies in the team's review explored the role of a teeth-cleaning regimen in adults in the ICU. Only two of the 15 studies included in the authors’ analysis evaluated the impact of toothbrushing in non-ventilated patients. The researchers are hopeful that the protective effect of toothbrushing will extend to non-ICU patients but additional studies focusing on this population are needed to clarify if in fact this is the case. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“The findings from our study emphasize the importance of implementing an oral health routine that includes toothbrushing for hospitalized patients. Our hope is that our study will help catalyze policies and programs to assure that hospitalized patients regularly brush their teeth. If a patient cannot perform the task themselves, we recommend a member of the patient’s care team assist,” said Klompas. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></p></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> </span>The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 randomized clinical trials with an effective population size of 2,786 patients suggest that daily tooth brushing may be associated with significantly lower rates of hospital-acquired pneumonia, particularly in patients receiving mechanical ventilation, lower rates of intensive care unit (ICU) mortality, shorter duration of mechanical ventilation, and shorter ICU length of stay. Policies and programs encouraging more widespread and consistent toothbrushing are warranted.<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </span><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">free access to the full-text article:</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> time <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.6638?guestAccessKey=c5ed804f-b2a2-4e2c-974c-4f4991426605&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=121823" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.6638?guestAccessKey=c5ed804f-b2a2-4e2c-974c-4f4991426605&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=121823</a></p><div style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-44745565121394094152023-12-15T05:56:00.000-08:002023-12-15T05:56:20.227-08:00Newly discovered autoimmune disorder disrupts tooth enamel development<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;"><br /></h1><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Celiac disease in children might be associated with sensitivity to a protein abundant in dairy products. The new findings may facilitate the disorder’s early detection and prevention</p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-size: 14px; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Enamel, the hardest and most mineral-rich substance in the human body, covers and protects our teeth. But in one of every 10 people – and in one third of children with celiac disease – this layer appears defective, failing to protect the teeth properly. As a result, teeth become more sensitive to heat, cold and sour food, and they may decay faster. In most cases, the cause of the faulty enamel production is unknown. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Now, a study by Prof. Jakub Abramson and his team at the Weizmann Institute of Science, published recently in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nature</em>, may shed light on this problem by revealing a new children’s autoimmune disorder that hinders proper tooth enamel development. The disorder is common in people with a rare genetic syndrome and in children with celiac disease. These findings could help develop strategies for early detection and prevention of the disorder.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Tooth enamel is made up primarily of mineral crystals that are gradually deposited on protein scaffolds during enamel development. Once the crystals are in place, the protein scaffold is dismantled, leaving behind a thin but exceptionally hard layer that covers and protects our teeth. A strange phenomenon was identified in people with a rare genetic disorder known as APS-1: Although the enamel layer of their milk teeth forms perfectly normally, something causes its faulty development in their permanent teeth. Since people with APS-1 suffer from a variety of autoimmune diseases, Abramson and his team hypothesized that the observed enamel defects may also be of an autoimmune nature – in other words, that their immune system could be attacking their own proteins or cells that are necessary for enamel formation. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In general, autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system’s T cells or its antibodies mistakenly trigger an immune response against the body’s own cells or tissues. To prevent these incidents of “friendly fire,” T cells developing in the thymus gland need to first be educated to discriminate between the body’s own proteins and those of foreign origin. To this end, T cells are presented with short segments of self-proteins that make up various tissues and organs in the body. When a “poorly educated” T cell erroneously identifies a self-protein in the thymus as a target for attack, that T cell is labeled as dangerous and destroyed, so that it could not cause any damage after being released from the thymus.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">This critical education step is impaired in APS-1 patients as a result of a mutation in a gene known as the autoimmune regulator (Aire). This gene is essential for the T cell education process: It produces a protein that is responsible for the collection of self-proteins presented to the T cells in the thymus. In their new study, scientists from Abramson’s lab in Weizmann’s Immunology and Regenerative Biology Department, led by research student Yael Gruper, sought to work out how mutations in the Aire gene lead to deficient tooth enamel production. The researchers discovered that, in the absence of Aire, proteins that play a key role in the development of enamel are not presented to the T cells in the thymus gland. As a result, T cells that are liable to identify these proteins as targets are released from the thymus, and they encourage the production of antibodies to the enamel proteins. But why do these autoantibodies damage permanent teeth and not baby teeth?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The answer to this question lies in the fact that milk teeth develop in the embryonic stage, when the immune system is not yet fully formed and cannot create autoantibodies. In contrast, the development of enamel on permanent teeth starts at birth and continues until around the age of six, when the immune system is sufficiently mature to thwart enamel development. Furthermore, the researchers found a correlation between high levels of antibodies to enamel proteins and the severity of the harm to enamel development in children with APS-1. This strengthens the assumption that the presence of enamel-specific autoantibodies in childhood can potentially lead to dental problems.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">When the researchers looked into deficiencies in enamel development in people with other autoimmune diseases, they found a very similar phenomenon in children with celiac disease, a relatively common autoimmune disorder that affects around 1 percent of people in the West. When people with this disease are exposed to gluten, their immune system attacks and destroys the cellular layer lining the small intestine, leading to attacks on other self-proteins in the intestine.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In an attempt to understand how celiac disease, known to cause intestinal damage, may also cause damage to tooth enamel, the researchers first examined whether people with this disease have autoantibodies that attack enamel. They found that a large proportion of celiac patients have these autoantibodies, just as do people with APS-1. But the “education” that takes place in the thymus gland of these patients seems normal, so why do they develop these antibodies? The researchers hypothesized that some proteins are found in both the intestine and the dental tissue and that these proteins play an important role in the development of tooth enamel. In this case, the antibodies that identify proteins in the intestine might move through the bloodstream to the dental tissue, where they could start to disrupt the enamel production process.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Since many celiac patients had previously been found to develop sensitivity to cow’s milk, the researchers decided to focus on the k-casein protein, a major component of dairy products. Strikingly, they found that the human equivalent of k-casein is one of the main components of the scaffold necessary for enamel formation. This led them to hypothesize that antibodies produced in the intestines of celiac patients in response to certain food antigens, such k-casein, may subsequently cause collateral damage to the development of enamel in the teeth, similarly to the way in which antibodies against gluten can eventually trigger autoimmunity against the intestine.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Indeed, they discovered that most of the children diagnosed with celiac had high levels of antibodies against k-casein from cows’ milk, which in many cases can also react against k-casein’s human equivalent expressed in the enamel matrix. This means that in theory, the same antibodies that are produced in the intestine against the milk protein could act against the human k-casein in the teeth.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">These findings could have implications for the food industry. “Similarly to the lessons learned from gluten, we can assume that the consumption of large quantities of dairy products could lead to the production of antibodies against k-casein,” Abramson explains. “This protein increases the amount of cheese that can be produced from milk, so the dairy industry deliberately raises its concentration in cow's milk. Our study, however, found that the milk k-casein is a potent immunogen, which may potentially trigger an immune response that can harm the body itself.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Tooth enamel flaws are common, not just among people with celiac disease or APS-1. “Many people suffer from impaired tooth enamel development for unknown reasons,” Abramson says. “It is possible that the new disorder we discovered, along with the possibility of diagnosing it in a blood or saliva test, will give their condition a name. Most important, early diagnosis in children may enable preventive treatment in the future.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Also participating in the study were Prof. Anette S. B. Wolff and Prof. Eystein S. Husebye from the University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital, Norway; Liad Glanz, Dr. Yonatan Herzig, Dr. Jan Dobeš, Dr. Noam Kadouri, Osher Ben-Nun, Amit Binyamin, Bar Lavi, Tal Givony, Razi Khalaila, Tom Gome and Carmel Sochen from Weizmann’s Immunology and Regenerative Biology Department; Dr. František Špoutil, Goretti Aranaz Novaliches, Dr. Blanka Mrázková, Dr. Radislav Sedláček and Dr. Jan Procházka from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Eng. Dr. Adriana Osičková, Dr. Tomáš Wald and Eng. Dr. Radim Osička from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Prof. Mihaela Cuida Marthinussen from the University of Bergen and Oral Health Centre of Expertise, Norway; Marine Besnard and Dr. Carole Guillonneau from Nantes Université, France; Dr. Shifra Ben-Dor and Ester Feldmesser from Weizmann’s Life Sciences Core Facilities Department; Elizaveta M. Orlova from the Institute of Paediatric Endocrinology, Moscow; Prof. Csaba Hegedűs, Dr. István Lampé, Dr. Tamás Papp and Prof. Zsuzsa Szondy from the University of Debrecen, Hungary; Prof. Szabolcs Felszeghy from the University of Debrecen, Hungary, and the University of Eastern Finland; Prof. Esti Davidovich from the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine; Dr. Noa Tal, Prof. Dror S. Shouval and Prof. Raanan Shamir from Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel; and Prof. Knut E. A. Lundin from the University of Oslo.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Prof. Jakub Abramson </em><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">holds the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Professorial Chair</em><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">. His research is supported by </em><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Joseph and Sarah Bollag.</em></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Enamel, the hardest and most mineral-rich substance in the human body, covers and protects our teeth. But in one of every 10 people – and in one third of children with celiac disease – this layer appears defective, failing to protect the teeth properly. As a result, teeth become more sensitive to heat, cold and sour food, and they may decay faster. In most cases, the cause of the faulty enamel production is unknown. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Now, a study by Prof. Jakub Abramson and his team at the Weizmann Institute of Science, published recently in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nature</em>, may shed light on this problem by revealing a new children’s autoimmune disorder that hinders proper tooth enamel development. The disorder is common in people with a rare genetic syndrome and in children with celiac disease. These findings could help develop strategies for early detection and prevention of the disorder.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Tooth enamel is made up primarily of mineral crystals that are gradually deposited on protein scaffolds during enamel development. Once the crystals are in place, the protein scaffold is dismantled, leaving behind a thin but exceptionally hard layer that covers and protects our teeth. A strange phenomenon was identified in people with a rare genetic disorder known as APS-1: Although the enamel layer of their milk teeth forms perfectly normally, something causes its faulty development in their permanent teeth. Since people with APS-1 suffer from a variety of autoimmune diseases, Abramson and his team hypothesized that the observed enamel defects may also be of an autoimmune nature – in other words, that their immune system could be attacking their own proteins or cells that are necessary for enamel formation. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In general, autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system’s T cells or its antibodies mistakenly trigger an immune response against the body’s own cells or tissues. To prevent these incidents of “friendly fire,” T cells developing in the thymus gland need to first be educated to discriminate between the body’s own proteins and those of foreign origin. To this end, T cells are presented with short segments of self-proteins that make up various tissues and organs in the body. When a “poorly educated” T cell erroneously identifies a self-protein in the thymus as a target for attack, that T cell is labeled as dangerous and destroyed, so that it could not cause any damage after being released from the thymus.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">This critical education step is impaired in APS-1 patients as a result of a mutation in a gene known as the autoimmune regulator (Aire). This gene is essential for the T cell education process: It produces a protein that is responsible for the collection of self-proteins presented to the T cells in the thymus. In their new study, scientists from Abramson’s lab in Weizmann’s Immunology and Regenerative Biology Department, led by research student Yael Gruper, sought to work out how mutations in the Aire gene lead to deficient tooth enamel production. The researchers discovered that, in the absence of Aire, proteins that play a key role in the development of enamel are not presented to the T cells in the thymus gland. As a result, T cells that are liable to identify these proteins as targets are released from the thymus, and they encourage the production of antibodies to the enamel proteins. But why do these autoantibodies damage permanent teeth and not baby teeth?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The answer to this question lies in the fact that milk teeth develop in the embryonic stage, when the immune system is not yet fully formed and cannot create autoantibodies. In contrast, the development of enamel on permanent teeth starts at birth and continues until around the age of six, when the immune system is sufficiently mature to thwart enamel development. Furthermore, the researchers found a correlation between high levels of antibodies to enamel proteins and the severity of the harm to enamel development in children with APS-1. This strengthens the assumption that the presence of enamel-specific autoantibodies in childhood can potentially lead to dental problems.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">When the researchers looked into deficiencies in enamel development in people with other autoimmune diseases, they found a very similar phenomenon in children with celiac disease, a relatively common autoimmune disorder that affects around 1 percent of people in the West. When people with this disease are exposed to gluten, their immune system attacks and destroys the cellular layer lining the small intestine, leading to attacks on other self-proteins in the intestine.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In an attempt to understand how celiac disease, known to cause intestinal damage, may also cause damage to tooth enamel, the researchers first examined whether people with this disease have autoantibodies that attack enamel. They found that a large proportion of celiac patients have these autoantibodies, just as do people with APS-1. But the “education” that takes place in the thymus gland of these patients seems normal, so why do they develop these antibodies? The researchers hypothesized that some proteins are found in both the intestine and the dental tissue and that these proteins play an important role in the development of tooth enamel. In this case, the antibodies that identify proteins in the intestine might move through the bloodstream to the dental tissue, where they could start to disrupt the enamel production process.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Since many celiac patients had previously been found to develop sensitivity to cow’s milk, the researchers decided to focus on the k-casein protein, a major component of dairy products. Strikingly, they found that the human equivalent of k-casein is one of the main components of the scaffold necessary for enamel formation. This led them to hypothesize that antibodies produced in the intestines of celiac patients in response to certain food antigens, such k-casein, may subsequently cause collateral damage to the development of enamel in the teeth, similarly to the way in which antibodies against gluten can eventually trigger autoimmunity against the intestine.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Indeed, they discovered that most of the children diagnosed with celiac had high levels of antibodies against k-casein from cows’ milk, which in many cases can also react against k-casein’s human equivalent expressed in the enamel matrix. This means that in theory, the same antibodies that are produced in the intestine against the milk protein could act against the human k-casein in the teeth.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">These findings could have implications for the food industry. “Similarly to the lessons learned from gluten, we can assume that the consumption of large quantities of dairy products could lead to the production of antibodies against k-casein,” Abramson explains. “This protein increases the amount of cheese that can be produced from milk, so the dairy industry deliberately raises its concentration in cow's milk. Our study, however, found that the milk k-casein is a potent immunogen, which may potentially trigger an immune response that can harm the body itself.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Tooth enamel flaws are common, not just among people with celiac disease or APS-1. “Many people suffer from impaired tooth enamel development for unknown reasons,” Abramson says. “It is possible that the new disorder we discovered, along with the possibility of diagnosing it in a blood or saliva test, will give their condition a name. Most important, early diagnosis in children may enable preventive treatment in the future.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Also participating in the study were Prof. Anette S. B. Wolff and Prof. Eystein S. Husebye from the University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital, Norway; Liad Glanz, Dr. Yonatan Herzig, Dr. Jan Dobeš, Dr. Noam Kadouri, Osher Ben-Nun, Amit Binyamin, Bar Lavi, Tal Givony, Razi Khalaila, Tom Gome and Carmel Sochen from Weizmann’s Immunology and Regenerative Biology Department; Dr. František Špoutil, Goretti Aranaz Novaliches, Dr. Blanka Mrázková, Dr. Radislav Sedláček and Dr. Jan Procházka from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Eng. Dr. Adriana Osičková, Dr. Tomáš Wald and Eng. Dr. Radim Osička from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Prof. Mihaela Cuida Marthinussen from the University of Bergen and Oral Health Centre of Expertise, Norway; Marine Besnard and Dr. Carole Guillonneau from Nantes Université, France; Dr. Shifra Ben-Dor and Ester Feldmesser from Weizmann’s Life Sciences Core Facilities Department; Elizaveta M. Orlova from the Institute of Paediatric Endocrinology, Moscow; Prof. Csaba Hegedűs, Dr. István Lampé, Dr. Tamás Papp and Prof. Zsuzsa Szondy from the University of Debrecen, Hungary; Prof. Szabolcs Felszeghy from the University of Debrecen, Hungary, and the University of Eastern Finland; Prof. Esti Davidovich from the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine; Dr. Noa Tal, Prof. Dror S. Shouval and Prof. Raanan Shamir from Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel; and Prof. Knut E. A. Lundin from the University of Oslo.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Prof. Jakub Abramson </em><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">holds the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Professorial Chair</em><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">. His research is supported by </em><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Joseph and Sarah Bollag.</em></p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-24402189723036136902023-12-02T08:48:00.000-08:002023-12-02T08:48:49.640-08:00 Tissue regeneration to replace root canal treatment<p><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Want to avoid a root canal? In the future, you might be able to opt for tissue regeneration instead. ADA Forsyth scientists are testing a novel technology to treat endodontic diseases (diseases of the soft tissue or pulp in your teeth) more effectively. The study, “</span><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00220345231197156" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">RvE1 Promotes Axin2+Cell Regeneration and Reduces Bacterial Invasion</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">,” which appeared in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The Journal of Dental Research,</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">demonstrates regenerative properties of resolvins, specifically Resolvin E1 (RvE1), when applied to dental pulp. Resolvins are part of a greater class of Specialized Proresolving Mediators (SPMs). This class of molecule is naturally produced by the body and is exquisitely effective in the control of excess inflammation associated with disease.</span></b></p><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Pulpitis (inflammation of dental pulp) is a very common oral health disease that can become a serious health condition if not treated properly,” said Dr. Thomas Van Dyke, Vice President at the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at ADA Forsyth, and a senior scientist leading the study. “Root canal therapy (RCT) is effective, but it does have some problems since you are removing significant portions of dentin, and the tooth dries out leading to a greater risk of fracture down the road. Our goal is to come up with a method for regenerating the pulp, instead of filling the root canal with inert material.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Inflammation of this tissue is usually caused by damage to the tooth through injury, cavities or cracking, and the resulting infection can quickly kill the pulp and cause secondary problems if not treated.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The study applied RvE1 to different levels of infected and damaged pulp to explore its regenerative and anti-inflammatory capacities. There were two major findings. First, they showed RvE1 is very effective at promoting pulp regeneration when used in direct pulp-capping of vital or living pulp (replicating conditions of reversible pulpitis). They were also able to identify the specific mechanism supporting tissue regeneration.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Second, the scientists found that placing RvE1 on exposed and severely infected and necrotic pulp did not facilitate regeneration. However, this treatment did effectively slow down the rate of infection and treat the inflammation, preventing the periapical lesions (abscesses) that typically occur with this type of infection. Previous publications have shown that if the infected root canal is cleaned before RvE1 treatment, regeneration of the pulp does occur. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">While this study focused on this technology in treating endodontic disease, the potential therapeutic impact is far reaching. Dr. Van Dyke explained, “because application of RvE1 to dental pulp promotes formation of the type of stem cells that can differentiate into dentin (tooth), bone, cartilage or fat, this technology has huge potential for the field of regenerative medicine beyond the tissues in the teeth. It could be used to grow bones in other parts of the body, for instance.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The study was funded by Alvin Krakow Harvard/Forsyth Research Fund (Y. Wu), and USPHS grant DE025020 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) (T.E. Van Dyke).</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Study authors include Yu-Chiao Wu, Ning Yu, Carla Alvarez Rivas, Nika Mehrnia, and Alpdogan Kantarci.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">About The Forsyth Institute</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><a href="https://www.forsyth.org/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">The Forsyth Institute</a>, founded in 1910, is the world’s leading independent research institution focused on oral health and its connection to overall wellness. Forsyth was founded as a pediatric dental hospital serving disadvantaged children in the Boston area. Today, the Institute is grounded in a 3-pillared strategic plan focused on biological research, clinical service and public health outreach, and technological innovation. Forsyth conducts its original mission through a mobile public health dental program called ForsythKids.</p><hr class="hidden-xs hidden-sm" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; box-sizing: content-box; font-size: 14px; height: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px;" /><div class="featured_image" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="details" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="well" style="background: none; border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 2px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-radius: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px 40px; min-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">JOURNAL</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 5px 0px 0px;">Journal of Dental Research</p></div><div class="well" style="background: none; border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 2px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-radius: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px 40px; min-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">DOI</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 5px 0px 0px;"><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00220345231197156" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">10.1177/00220345231197156 <span class="fa fa-sign-out" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></a></p></div></div></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-73881998491802869062023-11-30T08:14:00.000-08:002023-11-30T08:14:24.081-08:00 What smoking does to oral bacteria<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><b>A study shows the effects of cigarette use and what happens when you stop</b></p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">EURAC RESEARCH</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-size: 14px; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The father of Biotechnologist Giacomo Antonello, a dentist, sometimes amazed patients with his seemingly clairvoyant diagnostic abilities: one look in their mouth and he would advise them to see a specialist, because, he explained, they might have a problem with their heart or diabetes. He often turned out to be correct. While his patients were always very impressed, for experts, the dentist’s diagnoses were justified: empirical studies show that there is often a connection between periodontitis and various cardiovascular diseases, even if the exact mechanisms are not fully understood. Giacomo, who is currently conducting research for his PhD at the Institute of Biomedicine, has now just completed a <a href="file:///C:/Users/SHechensteiner/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/F76ZE9AK/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">study</a> with colleagues at the Eurac Research Institute for Biomedicine that points to one possible factor: in people who smoke, the alteration of the healthy community of oral bacteria could contribute to the increased risk of these diseases. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The study, which was conducted as part of the CHRIS study in Val Venosta, asks two central questions: What exactly happens to the bacterial community in the mouth, the so-called oral microbiome, when we smoke? And what effect does quitting have on these same communities? </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">To find out, the research team in Bolzano, together with epidemiologist Betsy Foxman from the University of Michigan, analyzed saliva samples from more than 1600 people – a huge number of subjects for this research field, as bioinformatician Christian Fuchsberger, Giacomo’s doctoral advisor, emphasizes: “There are hardly any large studies on the salivary microbiome. This is a young research field in which a lot is happening right now and one in which not everything is conducted so clearly. Many of the current studies are working with very small numbers of cases, for example, which means their results are not broadly applicable.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Microbiome research is a fairly young field: just a few decades ago, the communities of trillions of microorganisms that live on and in humans – mostly in the digestive tract – were considered of little significance by scientists. Now, the microbiome is taking center stage and is recognized to be of massive importance to our development and health. The intestinal microbiome is the subject of intensive research with a major study currently underway at the Institute of Biomedicine (see box). </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Compared to the microbial density of the intestine, where thousands of strains of different bacteria live, our mouth is only sparsely populated. However, saliva has a particular advantage for studies: it is relatively easy to sample. Researchers can therefore acquire the data they need to investigate whether it is possible to identify changes in the oral flora (biomarkers) that indicate certain diseases, which, if found, could provide a valuable diagnostic tool that healthcare systems could easily employ. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In the CHRIS Study’s examination, CHRIS participants were requested to spit 5 milliliters of saliva into a special collection tube. The participants were divided into groups according to whether they were current smokers, had stopped smoking, or had never started. Those who had quit were asked exactly when they had quit, and those who still smoked were asked about the number of cigarettes they smoked per day. To get a picture of the microbial community in each mouth – which species were represented and at what frequency – the research team employed a universally used technology for identifying bacteria, namely sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, a gene which represents something like an “identity card” for each different species. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Giacomo’s research using the microbiome data collected in the CHRIS Study showed clear results. People who have never smoked carry a significantly different microbial community in their mouths than people who still smoke or have recently given up. Cigarette consumption primarily affects the bacteria that need oxygen:aerobic bacteria. The number of these bacteria decreases continuously the more cigarettes one smokes; if one stops smoking, these aerobic bacteria gradually increase again. And the longer the smoke-free period, the more aerobic bacteria are found in the saliva. Only after five years of not smoking are former smokers indistinguishable, in terms of aerobic bacteria in their oral microbiome, from people who have never smoked. “We have observed that the effects of smoking persist for years,” Fuchsberger says. “So then, of course, it’s interesting to ask whether these effects are related to certain diseases.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Smokers are known to have an increased risk of both periodontitis and cardiovascular disease. Could the changes in the oral microbiome caused by cigarettes use play a role in this? This is where a function of the bacteria that live in the mouth comes into play, and like everything to do with our microbiome, it has been receiving increasing attention for some time – some of these bacteria, mainly aerobic ones, convert the nitrate we ingest with food into nitrite, which then become nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is an important substance for regulating blood pressure, among other things. If too little nitric oxide is available, this could contribute to poorly perfused gums and cardiovascular disease. Now, the study in the<u style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </u>Venosta valley did not measure nitric oxide in saliva, but it did examine the microbes in it; all the research team can say, therefore, is that the more the subjects smoked, the fewer nitrate-reducing bacteria lived in their mouths. That this could be an additional explanation for why smokers have a higher risk of periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease is “a hypothesis that needs to be tested in further studies,” Giacomo emphasizes. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">He is already pursuing the next question based on the CHRIS samples. Namely, what are some of the other factors that influence our oral flora and to what extent? What role does genetics play, and what role do the people we share households with also play? He will only be able to answer this question in about a year’s time, but one thing is already very clear: who we live with is very important. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><hr class="hidden-xs hidden-sm" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; box-sizing: content-box; font-size: 14px; height: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px;" /><div class="featured_image" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="details" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="well" style="background: none; border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 2px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-radius: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px 40px; min-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">JOURNAL</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 5px 0px 0px;">Scientific Reports</p></div><div class="well" style="background: none; border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 2px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-radius: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px 40px; min-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">DOI</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 5px 0px 0px;"><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42474-7" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">10.1038/s41598-023-42474-7 <span class="fa fa-sign-out" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></a></p></div></div></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-8267982998061666132023-11-30T06:17:00.000-08:002023-11-30T06:17:52.069-08:00The Second Plague Pandemic may have led to oral microbiomes that contribute to modern-day chronic disease<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><b> The Second Plague Pandemic of the mid-14th century, also known as the Black Death, killed 30-60 percent of the European population and profoundly changed the course of European history. New research led by Penn State and the University of Adelaide suggests that this plague, potentially through resulting changes in diet and hygiene, may also be associated with a shift in the composition of the human oral microbiome toward one that contributes to chronic diseases in modern-day humans. </b></p></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Modern microbiomes are linked to a wide range of chronic diseases, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and poor mental health,” said Laura Weyrich, associate professor of anthropology, Penn State. “Uncovering the origins of these microbial communities may help in understanding and managing these diseases.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">According to Weyrich, dietary changes are believed to have influenced oral microbiome evolution through time; however, few studies have directly examined the history of human oral microbiomes in a single population. Weyrich noted that some studies have used the microbiomes of living Indigenous people who practice traditional subsistence lifestyles as a proxy for the microbiomes of pre-industrialized peoples. Yet, this strategy is faulty, she said, because modern-day non-industrialized populations may not have microbes that accurately reflect those that existed in the ancestors of industrialized peoples. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Additionally, she said, “This research places unnecessary responsibilities and obligations on Indigenous communities to participate in microbiome research, where the benefits of these studies may not directly serve Indigenous peoples.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">A more accurate and ethically responsible method is to directly examine the oral microbiomes preserved within calcified dental plaque, known as calculus, from the ancestors of Industrialized people with the permission and collaboration of decedent populations and stakeholders. In the largest study to date of ancient dental calculus, Weyrich and her colleagues collected material from the teeth of 235 individuals who were buried across 27 archaeological sites in England and Scotland from about 2,200 B.C. to A.D. 1853. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The findings published today (Nov. 29) in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nature Microbiology. </em></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The researchers processed the samples in an ultra-sterile, ancient DNA laboratory to minimize contamination. They identified 954 microbial species and determined that they fell within two distinct communities of bacteria — one dominated by the genus Streptococcus — which is common in the oral microbiomes of modern Industrialized peoples — and the other by the genus Methanobrevibacter — which is now largely considered extinct in healthy Industrialized people. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Exploring the origins of these two communities, the team found that almost 11% of the total variation in microbiome species composition could be explained by temporal changes, including the arrival of the Second Plague Pandemic. But how could the Second Plague Pandemic contribute to changes in the oral microbiome? </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“We know that survivors of the Second Plague Pandemic earned higher incomes and could afford higher-calorie foods,” said Weyrich. “It’s possible that the pandemic triggered changes in people’s diets that, in turn, influenced the composition of their oral microbiomes.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The team used a novel approach to investigate whether a change in diet could have influenced the emergence of the Streptococcus group and the extinction of the Methanobrevibacter group. They assembled a list of functional differences among the bacteria in the two groups that could be linked to diet; for example, functions linked to high or low-dietary fiber digestion, carbohydrate metabolism and lactose — a sugar in milk — metabolism. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The researchers found that the bacteria in the Streptococcus-dominated group had more functional traits that are significantly linked with low-fiber, high-carbohydrate diets, as well as dairy consumption — all of which characterize modern-day diets. By contrast, the Methanobrevibacter-dominated group were missing traits associated with dairy and sugar consumption, which characterized the diets of some ancient humans. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The team further determined that the Streptococcus group was associated with the presence of periodontal disease, which is characterized by infections and inflammation of the gums and bones around the teeth. When this disease progresses, bacteria can enter the bloodstream through gum tissue and potentially cause respiratory disease, rheumatoid arthritis, coronary artery disease and blood sugar issues in diabetes. The Methanobrevibacter group, on the other hand, was associated with the presence of skeletal pathologies. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Our research suggests that modern-day oral microbiomes may reflect past changes in diet, resulting from the Second Plague Pandemic,” said Weyrich. “Importantly, this work helps to inform our understanding of modern-day chronic, noncommunicable diseases.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Other Penn State authors of the paper include Abigail Gancz, graduate student; Michelle Nixon, assistant research professor of information sciences and technology; Sterling Wright, graduate student; Emily R. Davenport, assistant professor of biology; and Justin Silverman, assistant professor of information sciences and technology. Other co-authors include Andrew Farrer, graduate student, University of Adelaide; Luis Arriola, graduate student, University of Adelaide; C. Adler, senior lecturer, School of Dentistry, University of Sydney; Neville Gully, assistant dean learning and teaching, Adelaide Dental School, University of Adelaide; Alan Cooper; Kate Britton, professor of archaeology, University of Aberdeen; and Keith Dobney, head, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, University of Sydney. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The Australian Research Council, National Science Foundation and Penn State supported this research. </p><div><br /></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-41791690543220727832023-11-17T05:42:00.000-08:002023-11-17T05:42:29.725-08:00 A healthy mouth helps to maintain balanced metabolic profiles<p><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">A</span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">n oral infections, periodontal diseases and caries, are associated with inflammatory metabolic profiles related to an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases, a new study by an international team of researchers suggests. Oral infections also predicted future adverse changes in metabolic profiles. </em></p><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The association between oral infections and adverse metabolic profiles was observed in the Finnish Health 2000/2011 and Parogene study cohorts.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> “The observation is novel, since there are only few studies connecting extensive metabolic measures with oral infections, and no earlier prospective studies exist,” says Professor <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Pirkko Pussinen</span> from the University of Eastern Finland. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Published in Journal of Dental Research, the study also involved researchers from the University of Helsinki, Karolinska Institutet and Medical University of Graz.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Progressed oral infections and inflammations – endodontic lesions and periodontitis – are known to be associated with an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Although the mechanisms behind these associations are partially unclear, poor oral health is probably sustaining systemic inflammation.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The present study comprised 452 middle-aged and elderly Parogene patients and 6,229 participants of the population-based Health-2000 survey. In 2011, 4,116 Health-2000 participants provided a follow-up serum sample. Serum concentrations of 157 metabolites reflecting the risk of chronic diseases, such as lipid and glucose metabolites, ketone bodies and amino acids, were determined with an NMR spectroscopy method. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Parameters describing the oral health status were collected at baseline in clinical and radiographic examinations. They included those describing the periodontal status, such as bleeding on probing, periodontal probing depth and alveolar bone loss. Caries-related parameters included root canal fillings, apical rarefactions and caries lesions. The study composed of a cross-sectional part analysing the association between the metabolic measures with prevalent oral health, and of a prospective part examining whether oral infections predict the levels of metabolic measures in the follow-up.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Periodontitis especially linked to prevalent inflammatory metabolic profile, caries to future adverse metabolites</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Among 157 metabolic measures, increased periodontal probing depth associated with 93, bleeding on probing with 88, and periodontal inflammation burden with 77 measures. Among the caries-related parameters, root canal fillings were associated with 47, inadequate root canal fillings with 27, and caries lesions with 8 metabolic measures. In the prospective analyses, caries was associated with 30 and bleeding on probing with 8 metabolites. These metabolic measures were typical of inflammation, thus showing positive associations with fatty acid saturation degree and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) parameters, and negative associations with high density lipoprotein (HDL) parameters.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Oral infections may partially explain unhealthy lipid profiles,” says Adjunct Professor <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Aino Salminen</span> from the University of Helsinki.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Adjunct Professor <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Kåre Buhlin</span> from Karolinska Institutet concludes: “Oral infections represent a significant risk factor for systemic health. Importantly, they are modifiable through early prevention and treatment.”</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-86676592104441359332023-11-15T16:33:00.000-08:002023-11-15T16:33:11.234-08:00 Soft drinks levy linked to fall in child hospital admissions for tooth extraction<p><br /></p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">2018 legislation may have saved more than 5,500 hospital admissions for tooth extractions</p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">BMJ</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The UK soft drinks industry levy introduced in 2018 may have reduced the number of under 18s having a tooth removed due to tooth decay by 12%, suggests research published in the open access journal <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. </em></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The fall in hospital admissions may have saved more than 5,500 hospital admissions for tooth decay alone and the largest reductions were in children aged up to nine years old.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Sugar-sweetened drinks account for around 30% of the added sugars in the diets of children aged one to three years and over 50% by late adolescence. In England, nearly 90% of all tooth extractions in young children are due to decay, resulting in around 60,000 missed school days a year. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The World Health Organization has recommended a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to reduce sugar consumption, which more than 50 countries have implemented.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In March 2016, the UK government announced a soft drinks industry levy or ‘sugar tax’, which aimed to reduce sugar intake by encouraging drinks manufacturers to reformulate their products. The levy was implemented in April 2018. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">While the relationship between sugar-sweetened drinks and tooth decay is well established, no studies have used real-world data to examine the relationship between the levy and dental health. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">To address this, the researchers analysed hospital admissions data for tooth extractions due to tooth decay in children aged 0 to 18 years old in England from January 2014 to February 2020, four years before to almost two years after the levy was introduced. They studied trends overall as well as broken down by neighbourhood deprivation and age groups. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Overall, in children aged 18 and under, there was an absolute reduction in hospital admissions of 3.7 per 100,000 population per month compared to if the soft drinks levy had not happened. This equated to a relative reduction of 12% compared to if the levy was not introduced.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Based on a population of nearly 13,000,000 children aged 0–18 years in England in 2020, the researchers estimated that the reduction avoided 5,638 admissions for tooth decay. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Reductions in hospital admissions were greatest in younger children aged 0–4 years and 5–9 years, with absolute reductions of 6.5 and 3.3 per 100,000 respectively. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Dr Nina Rogers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, the study’s first author, said: “This is an important finding given that children aged five to nine are the most likely to be admitted to hospital for tooth extractions under general anaesthesia.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">No significant changes in admission rates for tooth decay were seen in older age groups of 10–14 years and 15–18 years. However, reductions in hospital admissions were seen in children living in most areas regardless of deprivation. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">This is an observational study so causality can’t be established, and the researchers acknowledge there was no comparable control group so they could not fully attribute the changes in hospital admissions to the soft drinks levy. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">What’s more, they say other national interventions such as the sugar reduction programme and compulsory nutrition labels alongside the levy may have raised public awareness of sugar consumption and influenced buying habits. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Nevertheless, they conclude that their study “provides evidence of possible benefits to children’s health from the UK soft drinks industry levy beyond obesity which it was initially developed to address.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">*Professor David Conway, co-author, and professor of dental public health at University of Glasgow said: “Tooth extractions under general anaesthesia is among the most common reasons for children to be admitted to hospital across the UK. This study shows that ambitious public health policies such as a tax on sugary drinks can impact on improving child oral health.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">*Professor Sumantra Ray, Executive Director of the NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition & Health, said: “We welcome the publication of this research which attempts to draw the links between policy-level changes and the impact on early life oral/dental health outcomes which, if untoward, would produce a significant onward burden on dental services through the life course.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">He added: “The economic effects of this are more pronounced given current challenges in the provision of far-reaching dental health coverage both in countries with nationalised healthcare systems as well as others. Whilst there are methodological limitations in this study in regard to causal inference, this paper provides the basis for the design of further policy sensitive research investigating these relationships in a manner that clearly links cause and effect.”</p><div><br /></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-52063331094681165262023-11-08T04:38:00.000-08:002023-11-08T04:38:02.441-08:00USPSTF statement on screening and preventive interventions for oral health in adults<p> </p><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of routine screening performed by primary care clinicians for oral health conditions, including dental caries or periodontal-related disease, in adults. The USPSTF also concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of preventive interventions performed by primary care clinicians for oral health conditions, including dental caries or periodontal-related disease, in adults. Dental caries (cavities) and periodontal disease (gum disease) are common and often untreated oral health conditions that affect eating, speaking, learning, smiling, and employment potential. Untreated oral health conditions can lead to tooth loss, irreversible tooth damage, and other serious adverse health outcomes.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Free access to the full-text article:</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2023.21409?guestAccessKey=08d18afc-2e75-4219-8eb4-2a18cd1e1d29&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=110723" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2023.21409?guestAccessKey=08d18afc-2e75-4219-8eb4-2a18cd1e1d29&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_mediu</a></p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-44927262660277195962023-11-04T04:40:00.005-07:002023-11-04T04:40:58.129-07:00Good news, bad news on dental pain care seen in new study<p> </p><header style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;">Patients are taking home far fewer opioid painkillers now than a few years ago, data show, but the pandemic slowed the decline greatly</h1><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Peer-Reviewed Publication</a><p class="meta_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px; margin: 2px 0px 20px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">MICHIGAN MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN</p><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Americans who have a tooth pulled or another painful dental procedure in the United States today are far less likely to get opioid painkillers than they were just a few years ago, a new study shows.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">That’s good news, since research shows that opioids are not necessary for most dental procedures.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">But the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have thrown a wrench into the effort to reduce opioid use in dental care – and not just in the few months after dentists and oral surgeons started providing routine care again after a pause in spring 2020.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The decline in opioid prescriptions filled by dental patients was much faster in the pre-pandemic years 2016 through 2019, compared with the rate of decline from June 2020 to December 2022, the study shows.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In all, dental opioids dispensed to U.S. patients of all ages declined 45% from 2016 to the end of 2022, according to the new findings <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293621" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">published in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">PLoS One</em></a> by a team from the University of Michigan Medical School and School of Dentistry.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">But even with the decline, 7.4 million dental patients of all ages filled opioid prescriptions in 2022.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Fortunately, opioid prescriptions to teens and young adults – who face especially high risks related to opioids – kept declining at a rapid rate after the pandemic pause in dental care, the study finds. But for other groups, the rate of decline slowed after June 2020. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In all, the researchers estimate, 6.1 million more dental opioid prescriptions were dispensed between June 2020 and December 2022 than would have been if pre-pandemic trends had continued.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">And American dentists and oral surgeons were still prescribing opioids in late 2022 at four times the rate that another study showed British dentists were in 2016.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“These data suggest the dental profession has made major strides in reducing opioid prescribing, but also suggest that progress is slowing,” said <a href="https://ihpi.umich.edu/our-experts/chuak" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Kao-Ping Chua, M.D., Ph.D.</a>, the senior author of the new study and an assistant professor of pediatrics at U-M. He worked with first author and former U-M research assistant Jason Zhang, who is now in medical school at Northwestern University.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“We know from research that dental pain in most patients can be controlled with non-opioid medications, avoiding the risks of opioids,” said co-author <a href="https://ihpi.umich.edu/our-experts/romeshn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Romesh Nalliah, D.D.S., M.H.C.M.,</a> professor and associate dean for clinical affairs at the U-M School of Dentistry. “While it’s reassuring that dental opioid prescribing is declining, the recent slowing in the decline suggests the dental profession must redouble its efforts to reduce unnecessary opioid prescribing.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The researchers couldn’t determine the procedure that led to each opioid prescription, nor could they determine the exact reason for the slowing of the decline in dental opioid prescribing during the pandemic. However, there are some likely culprits.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“One reason for the slowing might be that dentists were more likely to prescribe opioids just in case they were necessary, out of concerns that patients couldn’t easily follow up with their dentist during the pandemic,” said Zhang.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Right-sizing prescribing</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Chua, Nalliah and their colleagues have studied dental opioid prescribing multiple times, and worked with the <a href="https://ihpi.umich.edu/our-experts/romeshn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network (OPEN)</a> to develop prescribing guidelines for dental and oral surgery care available at <a href="https://michigan-open.org/dentistry" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">michigan-open.org/dentistry</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Reducing the number of opioids dispensed to dental patients, especially young ones, is thought to reduce the risk of opioid misuse and diversion of pills to other people besides the patient.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Poisoning of others in the household, and interactions between opioids and other substances including alcohol and prescription drugs, are other reasons to focus on non-opioid dental pain care.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">But no studies have examined dental opioid prescribing trends using pandemic-era data.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Differences by provider type, insurance type and region</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The new study is based on data from a company called IQVIA that tracks prescriptions dispensed at 92% of U.S. pharmacies. The researchers excluded data from March through May of 2020, when routine dental care in the U.S. stopped temporarily.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The study revealed pandemic-associated changes in dental opioid prescribing varied widely. For instance, the rate of decline in opioid prescribing by oral and maxillofacial surgeons – who perform more complex procedures on people with advanced dental conditions – slowed during the pandemic to a lesser degree than for general dentists and dental subspecialists. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">For low-income patients covered by the Medicaid program, the number of dental opioid prescriptions during June 2020-December 2022 was 57% higher than predicted than if pre-pandemic trends had continued. For privately insured patients, this percentage was 30% higher than predicted.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The authors speculated that worsened access to dental care in Medicaid patients – who have already have poor access to begin with – may have increased the number of painful dental emergencies and the need for opioids.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">People living in the Southern U.S. made up nearly 46% of all people with dental opioid prescriptions in 2022, higher than any other region. But the researchers found that the decline in dental opioid prescribing to people in the Northeast slowed to a greater degree than in other regions. This meant that by the end of 2022, dental opioid prescribing was 69% higher in the Northeast than it would have been if declines had continued at pre-pandemic rates, compared with 23.8% in the South.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Additional authors:</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In addition to Chua, Zhang and Nalliah, the study’s authors include OPEN co-directors Jennifer Waljee, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. and Chad Brummett, M.D. All except Zhang are members of the <a href="https://ihpi.umich.edu/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation</a>, and Brummett co-directs the <a href="https://opioids.umich.edu/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">U-M Opioid Research Institute.</a></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Chua is a member of the <a href="https://chear.org/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center</a> in the Department of Pediatrics, which also provided some of the funding for the study.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The study was also funded by the Benter Foundation and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Association Between the COVID-19 Outbreak and Opioid Prescribing by U.S. Dentists, PLOS ONE, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0293621</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><hr class="hidden-xs hidden-sm" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; box-sizing: content-box; font-size: 14px; height: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px;" /><div class="featured_image" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="details" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="well" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 2px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-radius: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 20px 0px 40px; min-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">JOURNAL</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 5px 0px 0px;">PLoS ONE</p></div><div class="well" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 2px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-radius: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 20px 0px 40px; min-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">DOI</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 23px; margin: 5px 0px 0px;"><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293621" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">10.1371/journal.pone.0293621 <span class="fa fa-sign-out" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></a></p></div><div class="well" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 2px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-radius: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 20px 0px 40px; min-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;"></div></div></div></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-39017852137820881212023-11-01T04:37:00.003-07:002023-11-01T04:37:13.212-07:00 Increased risk of dental caries after bariatric surgery<p><br /></p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><figure class="thumbnail pull-right" style="border-radius: 0px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px 0px 20px 34px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; width: 288px; z-index: 9999;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1003919" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><div class="img-wrapper" style="background: rgb(241, 241, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 288px; text-align: center; text-wrap: nowrap; width: 288px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Taghat and Östberg" src="https://earimediaprodweb.azurewebsites.net/Api/v1/Multimedia/07177f63-1bd1-4577-8cd3-087bc6615c9b/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-height: 272px; max-width: 272px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /> </span></div></a><figcaption class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-size: small;">IMAGE: </span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-size: small;">NEGIN TAGHAT AND ANNA-LENA ÖSTBERG, SAHLGRENSKA ACADEMY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"></span><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1003919" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-weight: 600; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">view <span class="no-break-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-wrap: nowrap;">more <span class="fa fa-angle-right" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></span></a></span><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"></p><p class="credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-size: small;">CREDIT: PHOTO: REGION VÄSTRA GÖTALAND</span></p></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Those who have had surgical obesity treatment have a higher risk of dental caries than before surgery. They also often experience a general decline in oral health. This has been shown by a thesis at the University of Gothenburg.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The aim of the thesis was to study the oral health of individuals before and after treatment for severe obesity. The participants had a BMI of 40 or more, or 35 or more in combination with other medical conditions, such as diabetes. Treatment involved either surgery or medical treatment.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Medical treatment includes lifestyle advice, dietary treatment, possible drug treatment, and support with increased physical activity. However, surgery has proven more effective for weight loss, and with a growing obesity epidemic in many parts of the world, more and more people are having surgery.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Around 5,000 cases of obesity surgery are performed each year in Sweden alone, and the trend is increasing,” says Negin Taghat, who has defended her doctoral thesis at the Institute of Odontology at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy, and who works as a dentist for the Swedish Public Dental Service in Region Västra Götaland. “We were therefore interested in seeing whether there is any change in the oral health of these patients after surgery.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Increased caries risk after surgery</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The group of 118 obese individuals followed in the thesis reveals a pattern whereby higher BMI is associated with higher caries risk according to a rising scale. At the highest BMI values, there was a doubled risk of caries and less regular dental care.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Two years after either surgical or medical treatment, a clear division emerged between the groups. Those who had undergone surgery had gone from an average of 15.0 caries lesions on the surface of the tooth enamel to 19.1. Within the group receiving medical treatment, however, enamel lesions had decreased.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Another example relates to deeper caries lesions in the dentine, with an average pre-treatment initial value of 4.3 lesions. Two years after treatment, individuals in the surgery group had an average of 6.4 such lesions while those in the medical treatment group had 4.9.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The associations were statistically significant, even when taking factors such as socioeconomic status and other medical conditions into account.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Important knowledge for healthcare</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Individuals who have undergone surgical obesity treatment may also experience a variety of oral symptoms and an impact on their oral quality of life,” continues Negin. “We saw that almost half of individuals experienced poorer oral health.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Symptoms can include hypersensitive teeth and difficulties with chewing. The situation as a whole can also cause social discomfort.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Health professionals and dental professionals meet these patient groups in their everyday work. It is extremely important for staff to be aware that oral health can be affected by both obesity and obesity treatment so that preventive measures can be planned.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The group investigated within the thesis is part of the larger BAriatic surgery SUbstitution and Nutrition (BASUN) study, initiated by researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy to compare long-term outcomes of medical and surgical obesity treatment.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Title: On oral health before and after obesity treatment: Studies on clinical and patient-reported outcomes, <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/2077/76802" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">https://hdl.handle.net/2077/76802</a></p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-42804868083692061922023-10-20T09:32:00.002-07:002023-10-20T09:32:50.337-07:00An infected mouth could lead to a broken heart.<p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: left;">Brushing and flossing regularly can keep your smile shining as brightly as ever, but did you know that it could also help protect your heart? Now, researchers in Japan report that an infected mouth could lead to a broken heart.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />In a study published last month in the<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> International Journal of Oral Science</em>, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University(TMDU) have revealed that a common oral pathogen can stop cardiac myocytes from repairing themselves after a heart attack caused by coronary heart disease.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Heart attacks occur when blood flow in the coronary arteries is blocked, resulting in an inadequate supply of nutrients and oxygen to the heart muscle, and ultimately death of cardiac myocytes. To prevent this, cardiac myocytes use a process known as autophagy to dispose of damaged cellular components, keeping them from causing cardiac dysfunction.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“Previous studies have shown that the periodontal pathogen <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Porphyromonas gingivalis</em>, which has been detected at the site of occlusion in myocardial infarction, can exacerbate post-infarction myocardial fragility,” says lead author of the study Yuka Shiheido-Watanabe. “However, the mechanisms underlying this effect remained unknown.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />To investigate this, the researchers created a version of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">P. gingivalis</em> that does not express gingipain, its most potent virulence factor, which an earlier study showed can inhibit cells from undergoing programmed cell death in response to injury. They then used this bacterium to infect cardiac myocytes or mice.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“The results were very clear,” explains Yasuhiro Maejima, corresponding author. “The viability of cells infected with the mutant bacterium lacking gingipain was much higher than that of cells infected with the wild-type bacterium. In addition, the effects of myocardial infarction were significantly more severe in mice infected with wild-type <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">P. gingivalis</em> than in those infected with the mutant<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> P. gingivalis </em>lacking gingipain.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">More detailed investigation of this effect showed that gingipain interferes with fusion of two cell components known as autophagosomes and lysosomes, a process that is crucial to autophagy. In mice, this resulted in an increase in the size of cardiac myocytes and accumulation of proteins that would normally be cleared out of the cells to protect the cardiac muscle.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“Our findings suggest that infection with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">P. gingivalis</em> producing gingipain results in excessive autophagosome accumulation, which can lead to cellular dysfunction, cell death, and ultimately cardiac rupture,” says Shiheido-Watanabe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Given that <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">P. gingivalis</em> appears to have a substantial impact on the cardiac muscle’s ability to health itself after a heart attack, treating this common oral infection could help reduce the risk of fatal heart attack.</p>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-10100256374379157172023-09-19T14:19:00.004-07:002023-09-19T14:19:35.225-07:00 Poor oral health could lessen survival from head and neck cancer<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><figure class="thumbnail pull-right" style="border-radius: 0px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px 0px 20px 34px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; width: 288px; z-index: 9999;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/998714" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><div class="img-wrapper" style="background: rgb(241, 241, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 288px; text-align: center; text-wrap: nowrap; width: 288px;"><img alt="Jason Tasoulas MD, DMD" src="https://earimediaprodweb.azurewebsites.net/Api/v1/Multimedia/4fb7985a-8546-4a2c-84be-36a244e2e155/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-height: 272px; max-width: 272px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /> </div></a><figcaption class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">IMAGE: “THE INHANCE CONSORTIUM’S PATIENT DATA ALLOWED US TO BE AS THOROUGH AS POSSIBLE AND IDENTIFY ROBUST ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN ORAL HEALTH AND SURVIVAL,” SAID LEAD AUTHOR JASON TASOULAS MD, DMD, A CURRENT PHD CANDIDATE. “WE ASSEMBLED A DIVERSE AND EXPERIENCED TEAM TO EXAMINE RECORDS OF APPROXIMATELY 2,500 PATIENTS FROM EIGHT COUNTRIES TO CARRY OUT OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART STATISTICAL ANALYSES.”</span> <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/998714" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-weight: 600; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">view <span class="no-break-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-wrap: nowrap;">more <span class="fa fa-angle-right" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></span></a></p><p class="credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">CREDIT: JASON TASOULAS</p></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">An international study has revealed strong associations between oral health and survival among people diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Specifically, better oral health, as evidenced by the number of natural teeth and dental visits prior to the time of diagnosis, was associated with increased survival. Importantly, those who had more frequent dental visits were more likely to have their cancer diagnosed at an earlier, and less deadly, stage of the disease than those who had few or no dental visits.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The study, by researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and UNC Adams School of Dentistry, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida, in partnership with the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium, appeared Sept. 19, 2023, in the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://academic.oup.com/jnci" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">Journal of the National Cancer Institute</a></em>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“The INHANCE consortium’s patient data allowed us to be as thorough as possible and identify robust associations between oral health and survival,” said lead author Jason Tasoulas M.D., DMD, a current Ph.D. candidate. “We assembled a diverse and experienced team to examine records of approximately 2,500 patients from eight countries to carry out our state-of-the-art statistical analyses.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Head and neck cancer patients were asked to self-report aspects of their oral health and hygiene, including gum bleeding, tooth brushing frequency and mouthwash use, as well as the number of natural teeth and frequency of dental visits they had during a 10-year period prior to their cancer diagnosis.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Those who had frequent dental visits (more than five visits in a reported decade) had higher overall survival at five and 10 years (74% and 60%, respectively) compared to those with no dental visits (54% at five years and 32% at 10 years). This finding was most pronounced among people with cancers of the oropharynx, which consists of the structures in the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue, tonsils and soft palate. Having no natural remaining teeth was associated with a 15% lower five-year overall survival compared to those with more than 20 natural teeth. Survival differences of less than 5%, which were not significant, were found for patient-reported gum bleeding, tooth brushing and mouthwash use.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">While survival has improved during the past decades due to treatment advances, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide and accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. In 2023, an estimated 66,920 people will be diagnosed with the disease in the U.S. The main environmental risk factor for the disease is tobacco use but alcohol consumption and testing positive for the human papillomavirus also increase a person’s risk for the disease.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“This current research effort capitalizes on previous data collection efforts by our team in North Carolina through the Carolina Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (CHANCE) study to investigate the role of oral health in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The present report is based on a larger-scale study, accounting for geographic variability and capturing more oral health variables,” said Kimon Divaris, DDS, Ph.D., study author and James Bawden Distinguished Professor at the UNC Adams School of Dentistry and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Inspired by Dr. Divaris’ previous work, we sought out opportunities to collaborate with a larger network of epidemiologists, surgeons, physicians, dentists and scientists from all over the world to address an important but often overlooked problem for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,” said corresponding author Antonio L. Amelio, Ph.D., vice chair of research in the Head and Neck Oncology Department and associate member of the Tumor Biology Department at Moffitt Cancer Center, and an adjunct associate professor at the UNC Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. “Our hope is that these findings become a standard part of guidelines implemented for the prevention and management of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas in the near future.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Carole Fakhry, M.D., MPH, the Charles W. Cummings M.D. Professor of Otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research, called the findings significant. “This is an important study that highlights the interplay between oral health and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and overall survival. While we seek biomarkers to predict which patient will do well, this study points out features of a history and examination that are associated with survival. Additionally, this may lead us down the road of prevention of these cancers.”</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-33875572235490243902023-09-08T07:13:00.005-07:002023-09-08T07:13:21.285-07:00New at-home test for gingivitis protects oral health<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="page_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: -0.34px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 25px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase;"><br /></span></h1><div class="toolbar hidden-print hidden-search" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_pnaa" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="col-xs-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding: 15px; position: relative; width: 305.656px;"><div class="article-tools pull-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox_62ef" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><figure class="thumbnail pull-right" style="border-radius: 0px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px 0px 20px 34px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; width: 288px; z-index: 9999;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/997817" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><div class="img-wrapper" style="background: rgb(241, 241, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 288px; text-align: center; text-wrap: nowrap; width: 288px;"><img alt="GINGIVITIS" src="https://earimediaprodweb.azurewebsites.net/Api/v1/Multimedia/d305cf30-18af-413f-ab4b-99922b2c9e61/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-height: 272px; max-width: 272px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /> </div></a><figcaption class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">IMAGE: UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI ENGINEERS HAVE DEVELOPED A TEST THAT USES SALIVA TO WARN CONSUMERS ABOUT PERIODONTAL DISEASE, WHICH IF LEFT UNTREATED CAN LEAD TO TOOTH LOSS, STROKE, HEART DISEASE AND OTHER ILLNESSES.</span> <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/997817" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-weight: 600; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">view <span class="no-break-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-wrap: nowrap;">more <span class="fa fa-angle-right" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></span></a></p><p class="credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">CREDIT: ANDREW STECKL AND DAEWOO HAN</p></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Engineers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new device that can warn consumers about early risks of tooth decay from diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Gingivitis, the earliest form of gum disease, is caused by bacteria. But not just any bacteria.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The problem for researchers was getting a device to single out the particular type responsible for the disease, said Andrew Steckl, an Ohio Eminent Scholar and distinguished research professor in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“It’s been quite the challenge to get to the point where we can detect this toxin created by the bacteria responsible for gingivitis,” he said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Steckl and UC Senior Research Associate Daewoo Han collaborated with Sancai Xie, a principal scientist at Procter & Gamble Co., and described their results in a paper published in <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2023/sd/d3sd00158j" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">the Royal Society of Chemistry journal <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sensors and Diagnostics</em></a><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">.</em></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Steckl’s research team has been exploring biosensing for various applications. They studied stress hormones in sweat in collaboration with the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Now they are studying saliva.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“There are good reasons to use saliva,” he said. “It’s relatively plentiful and easy to obtain through noninvasive methods. And saliva has a lot of important elements that can act as indicators of your health.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Bacteria from gingivitis can travel through the bloodstream, leading to cardiovascular disease and other serious health problems, Steckl said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">But saliva is a complicated biofluid, said Han, the study's lead author.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Researchers pretreated the sample using potato starch to remove a protein called amylase that could interfere with the test results. Their test uses antibodies that react to the endotoxins found in the bacteria.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Daewoo worked very hard on many dead-ends before he had success,” Steckl said. “I tell my students that research is search, search and re-search until you find the answer.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">At-home health testing has been available for generations in niche uses such as detecting pregnancy. But the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a wide audience of consumers to the concept of monitoring their health with new technology.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The at-home testing industry is expected to generate $45 billion annually by 2031, according to Allied Market Research.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Steckl said he sees a lot of opportunity for new consumer products.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“Our results definitely show promise,” Steckl said. “Sometimes it comes easy. Most of the time you have to persevere.”</p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-14842485905111120462023-08-26T06:47:00.008-07:002023-08-26T06:47:37.704-07:00New guideline details dental pain management strategies for pediatric patients<p> </p><header style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><b>Acetaminophen or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen are recommended as first-line treatments for managing short-term dental pain in children under age 12, according to a new clinical practice guideline developed by the American Dental Association Science & Research Institute (ADASRI), the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and the Center for Integrative Global Oral Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. The guideline has been endorsed by the American Dental Association.</b></p></header><div class="entry" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">A guideline panel determined that, when used as directed, acetaminophen alone, NSAIDs (like ibuprofen) alone or acetaminophen in combination with NSAIDS can effectively manage a child’s pain after a tooth extraction or during a toothache when dental care is not immediately available. These and other <a href="https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(23)00390-2/fulltext" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">recommendations</a> are now available in the September issue of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Journal of the American Dental Association</em>. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">The guideline evaluated doses of acetaminophen and NSAIDs that may differ from the dosing printed on the over-the-counter packages of these medications. According to the guideline, when acetaminophen or NSAIDs are administered as directed by a dentist or other health care provider, the risk of harm to children from either medication is low. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">Guideline senior author Paul Moore, D.M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., is professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Dental Medicine. He said the recommendations align with previous guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which contraindicated the use of codeine and tramadol in children under age 12 in 2017.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">“While prescribing opioids to children has become less frequent overall, this guideline ensures that both dentists and parents have evidence-based recommendations to determine the most appropriate treatment for dental pain,” Dr. Moore said. “Parents and caregivers can take comfort that widely available medications that have no abuse potential, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, are safe and effective for helping their children find relief from short-term dental pain.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">In 2020, the FDA awarded the University of Pittsburgh and ADASRI a three-year $1.5 million grant to develop a clinical practice guideline for the management of acute pain in dentistry in children, adolescents and adults. A group of researchers and methodologists from ADASRI, the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, the Center for Integrative Global Oral Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, McMaster University and the Art of Democracy worked together to develop the guideline.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“This clinical prescribing guideline is a critical step in supporting appropriate treatment of pediatric acute dental pain through the use of acetaminophen and NSAIDs," said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Not only will this advice allow for better treatment of this kind of pain, but it will help prevent unnecessary prescribing of medications with abuse potential, including opioids.” </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">This is the first of two guidelines on acute dental pain management. A second set of recommendations for adolescents and adults is in development. The new acute pediatric pain management guideline can be found at <a href="https://www.ada.org/en/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/evidence-based-dental-research/pain-management-guideline" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">ada.org/painmanagement</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;">For more information on how the ADA is working to combat opioid misuse, while continuing to help patients manage dental pain, visit <a href="https://www.ada.org/advocacy/opioid-crisis" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;" target="_blank">ada.org/opioids</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The contents of the guidelines are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, FDA, HHS or the U.S. government.</em></p></div>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284318862800997604.post-55792976915977204302023-08-03T12:37:00.003-07:002023-08-03T12:37:38.094-07:00Metformin is ameliorating hmgb1-mediated oxidative stress in periodontitis<p> </p><figure class="thumbnail pull-right" style="background-color: white; border-radius: 0px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px 0px 20px 34px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; width: 288px; z-index: 9999;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/994132" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><div class="img-wrapper" style="background: rgb(241, 241, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 288px; text-align: center; text-wrap: nowrap; width: 288px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img alt="Metformin ameliorates HMGB1-mediated oxidative stress in periodontitis." src="https://earimediaprodweb.azurewebsites.net/Api/v1/Multimedia/70df0fbc-2653-478f-9e71-36af51c316fd/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-height: 272px; max-width: 272px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /> </div></a><figcaption class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">IMAGE: PERIODONTITIS INCREASE THE EXPRESSION OF PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE HMGB1. HMGB1 AFFECTS THE EXPRESSION OF INFLAMMATION-RELATED CYTOKINES (IL-6, IL-8) AND AGGRAVATES PERIODONTAL TISSUE DESTRUCTION AND OXIDATIVE STRESS. METFORMIN ACTIVATES AUTOPHAGY THROUGH MTOR PATHWAY, REGULATE THE EXPRESSION, TRANSLOCATION AND RELEASE OF HMGB1, AND THEN REDUCE THE OXIDATIVE STRESS AND TISSUE DESTRUCTION OF PERIODONTAL TISSUE.</span> <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/994132" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; font-weight: 600; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">view <span class="no-break-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-wrap: nowrap;">more <span class="fa fa-angle-right" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FontAwesome; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto;"></span></span></a></p><p class="credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">CREDIT: GENES & DISEASES</p></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">Periodontitis, a prevalent global health concern, results in the gradual destruction of tooth-supporting tissues and is often exacerbated by oxidative stress conditions and bacterial changes. Current treatment methodologies include mechanical debridement, anti-inflammatory drugs, and regenerative surgery.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352304221000830" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">research</u></u></a><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352304221000830" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"> </a>published in the journal of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/genes-and-diseases" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">G</em></a><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/genes-and-diseases" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s linear 0s;">enes & Diseases</a>, </em>conducted detailed examinations on cellular interactions with Metformin, investigating its role in relation to HMGB1 during the progression of periodontitis. It was observed that Metformin could inhibit oxidative stress, and activate autophagy via the AMPK/mTOR pathway. Experimental periodontitis was induced in a murine model, and Metformin was found to attenuate alveolar bone resorption, a major hallmark of the disease.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">A notable discovery from this study is that Metformin not only decreases oxidative stress in periodontal ligament cells but also activates autophagy, a cellular waste removal and recycling process, through the AMPK/mTOR pathway. This pathway has been shown to inhibit HMGB1-mediated oxidative stress in periodontal tissues.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">The study concludes that Metformin can mitigate periodontal tissue damage through its anti-inflammatory effects, which involve reducing the expression and translocation of HMGB1, a key pro-inflammatory factor. These results align with previous studies demonstrating Metformin's capabilities in reducing oxidative stress.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">HMGB1's pivotal role in inducing oxidative stress in periodontal cells adds further credence to this protein being a potential target for periodontal intervention. This opens up a promising avenue for future research and the development of drugs aimed at HMGB1.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">"While our study presents compelling evidence on the protective role of Metformin in periodontitis, further research is needed," the research team stated. "We are optimistic that our findings will pave the way for more comprehensive studies on the relationship between Metformin and HMGB1 in periodontitis, ultimately leading to more effective treatment options."</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">The potential role of Metformin in managing periodontitis could be transformative, especially for patients suffering from both diabetes and periodontitis. The study's results offer hope for an affordable, well-tolerated, and readily available therapeutic option, building on Metformin's known antidiabetic effects. This aligns with the broader medical goal of developing targeted treatments that manage the disease's symptoms while also addressing its root cause.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 15px; text-align: justify;">###</p>Jonathan Kantrowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.com0