Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

HYGIENE TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Hygiene Newspaper · U.S. Edition g HT page 2B Is there new hope for periodontal patients? By Jeanne R. Bosecker, BSN, RDH (Photo/DanaRothstein,www.dreamstime.com) September 2011 www.dental-tribune.com Vol. 4, No. 9 As clinical dental hygienists, we want our patients to be as healthy as possible. This means having the skills and knowledge to treat them as effectively as possible. When a patient presents with periodontal disease, scaling and root planing with or without osseous surgery are the modalities for treating this con- dition. However, what about the cases that do not respond well to these treatments? It is important for us to keep ourselves aware new treatment developments that may provide some more hope for these patients. This could involve looking outside the dental field. I learned about this new treatment for osteoporosis from a patient of mine who is an orthope- dic physician. We are all aware of the bisphos- phonate drugs for treating osteo- porosis and the potential for com- plications they bring. A new drug for osteoporosis has been shown to regenerate bone. Teriparatide, mar- keted under the name Forteo, is a parathyroid hormone injection taken once a day. Forteo is used to treat osteopo- rosis in cases that do not respond to traditional treatments. It has just recently been introduced and is still very expensive for the patient, so bisphosphonates are still the first choice for the treatment of osteopo- rosis. Forteo is the portion of human parathyroid hormone (PTH) amino acid sequence 1 through 34 of the complete 84 amino acid molecule. PTH is the primary regulator of cal- cium and phosphate metabolism in bone and the kidneys. PTH increases the serum calcium partially caused by bone resorption. Thus, chroni- cally elevated levels of PTH can lead to depleted bone stores, however, intermittent exposure by a daily 20-microgram injection will activate osteoblasts more than osteoclasts. Daily injections of teriparatide have a net effect of stimulating new bone According to a new report series by iData Research, the leading global authority in dental market research, the U.S. dental hygiene and oral care market, which includes instru- ments and consumables used in the office setting, recovered from the economic recession in 2010 to reach over $1.6 billion. By 2017, the market will reach over $2 billion driven by the rapidly growing digital caries/cavity detec- tion, professional teeth whitening and fluoride varnish segments. In the United States, dental caries/cav- ities affect more than 95 percent of the adult population. “Sales of specialized light-emit- ting diode (LED) and fluorescence laser-based digital caries detection devices, which enhance the ability to detect dental decay with greater accuracy and specificity, is driving dental hygiene market growth,” says Dr. Kamran Zamanian, CEO of iData Research. “In 2010, this market grew almost 30% led by Acteon, Air Tech- niques and Kavo.” The report also states that the pro- fessional teeth whitening segment is expected to see strong growth through 2017, due to increased sales of professional take-home whiten- ing systems, in which dentists fab- ricate custom trays for use at home. These products are considered more convenient and preferred by dentist and patients. In 2010, Discus Dental, Ultradent and SDI led this market. “The professional fluoride mar- ket will be another area of strong sales growth, reaching double-digit rates by 2017,” says Dr. Zamanian. “This segment is being driven by sales of fluoride varnishes, which is growing in popularity among den- tists and patients due to the products mild taste, easy application, reduced risk of over-ingestion, its ability to treat tooth hypersensitivity and a shorter treatment time. 3M ESPE dominates this market, however smaller competitors such as Varnish America have released lower-priced varnishes that have received positive reviews.” More information is available at www.idataresearch.net/idata/ registration.php. iData’s 2-report series on the U.S. and European “Markets for Dental Hygiene and Oral Care 2011” covers: dental hand- pieces, scalers, lasers, prophylaxis angles and pastes, oral irrigators, dental-guards and more. About iData Research iData Research is an international market research and consulting group focused on providing market intelligence for dental and medical device companies. iData covers research in: dental implants, equip- ment, BGS, prosthetics and more. HT (Source: iData Research) What fuels the $1.6 billion dental hygiene market? The answer: teeth whitening and digital cavity detection