Dental Tribune United Kindom Edition

A man from Hove has reason to smile after a dentist in Brighton fitted him with new teeth for free, following their search for a worthy patient on Facebook. David Bryant, a member of the charity Blind Veterans UK, was nominated for a new set of teeth, after the Brighton Im- plant Clinic decided to search for somebody who deserved a new smile. After filtering through hundreds of applications, the dental practice decided on David, who was nominated by two colleagues and a patient. David’s hard work and com- mitment to ex-servicemen who have lost their sight in conflict earned him the op- portunity to smile with confi- dence again. “After visiting David at work and seeing how he interacted with patients and staff, it was apparent that he is a much-loved charac- ter,” said Bruno Silva, dental surgeon at the Brighton Im- plant Clinic. “At the beginning of the year we ran a competition via Facebook for one lucky win- ner to win a brand new set of teeth, in the form of an all-on-4 procedure, a treatment that ranges in cost from £6,500 to £15,000. After sorting through hundreds of stories, one man caught our eye.” David started to lose his teeth 15 years ago because of an accident and bad expe- riences with dentists. Before his treatment he only had a few top teeth left, and friends and family felt that David had low self-esteem due to his appearance. David’s treatment consist- ed of extractions and All-on-4 implants. After a straight- forward procedure and pain controllable with paraceta- mol, David left the clinic with new teeth, and above all, a new lease of confidence. “I used to always avoid smiling,” said David. “My teeth were in a really poor state before my treatment, which meant I didn’t smile like I wanted to. “I’m overwhelmed to have been nominated for implants and I can’t stop looking in the mirror at my new teeth,” he added. DT Giving a smile on Facebook David’s teeth before and after A New England Research Institutes study has dis- covered that composite dental fillings could be associated with impaired social behaviours in children. The paper found that dental fillings that may release bisphe- nol-A (BPA) were associated with impaired social behaviours in children. According to the press release from NERI, associations were stronger when the compos- ite fillings were on chewing sur- faces where degradation of the plastic over time may be more likely. No adverse psychosocial outcomes were observed in chil- dren who had fillings made with- out the plastic materials. “Dental Composite Restora- tions and Psychosocial Function in Children” was published in Pediatrics on July 16 2012. BPA is used to create bisGMA – traditionally the main source monomer for composite dental fillings. Either a combination of BisGMA and other materials, or amalgam (silver coloured fillings containing mercury) are com- monly used for dental fillings. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and New England Research Institutes studied dental fillings in 534 chil- dren aged six or older as part of a randomised trial of amalgam. They found that with increasing amount and duration of exposure to bisGMA fillings over five years follow-up, children reported more anxiety, depression, social stress, and interpersonal-relation problems. The researchers say this finding is consistent with laboratory research showing so- cial problems related to early life exposures to small amounts of BPA, but they add that additional studies are needed to confirm these findings. DT Dental fillings cause “anxiety, depression, and social stress” in children A dentist from Austin, Texas, has put togeth- er a selection of po- ems about lips and smiles of patients that visit his dental surgery. The collection of short po- ems, which is called Reflec- tions On A Smile, Poems To Passion, is by Lester Sawicki. According to report, the po- ems offer interesting thoughts and ideas of lips and smiles and the many moods that they present. Having worked with mouths for more than 36 years, dentist Lester Sawicki started to look at his patients’ mouths and their smiles in a humorous and mystical way, rather than simple a mouth from a dentist’s point of view. According to one report, Sawicki now sees the dental world in more ‘complex terms’ thanks to seeing smiles in his dental surgery in a new light. The book is now available from Amazon. DT A sonnet full of smiles A ccording to various news sources, scientists have discovered a mol- ecule that can eliminate tooth decay bacteria in seconds. The molecule, which is be- lieved to be able to help pro- tect teeth for several hours, was reportedly discovered by researchers at the University of Chile. Several reports have sug- gested that the molecule could be added to oral care products, such as toothpastes and even sugar free chewing gum to help prevent dental cavities. The molecule, named Keep 32, is reportedly able to de- stroy Streptococcus mutans, the bacterium which is instrumen- tal in the development of dental caries. However, even though the molecule is a potential break- through in preventing dental cavities, it has yet to undergo human testing. DT Scientists ‘find’ anti-cavity molecule Streptococcus mutans 6 News United Kingdom Edition July 30 - August 5, 2012