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implants - international magazine of oral implantology

A German manufacturer of dental care products has developed a flavoured toothpaste that reduces a per- son’sdesireforsweets.Theproductpromiseshealthy teeth and curbs one’s sweet tooth.Users only have to brush three times a day for at least three minutes to benefit from the product, which promotes dietary changeandcanleadtoweightlossofuptoalmost7kg. According to Dr Weiler, a newly founded company, natural flavours in the toothpasteareresponsible fortheeffect. A randomised, placebo- controlled,blindstudywith 48 participants over four weeks and an application study over three months with 36 people found that 90 per cent of the participants re- portedasignificantlyreducedappetiteforsweets. Some of them saw a weight reduction of up to 6.8 kg withinthreemonthsasgivingupsweetsbecameeas- ierwhenusingthetoothpasteregularly. I 49implants4_2012 Flavoured toothpaste suppresses Appetite for sweets Treatment costs for oral and dental conditions across Europeoftenexceedthoseofothermajordiseases,in- cluding cancer, heart disease, stroke, and dementia, according to a pan-European study released in Sep- tember2012.TheStateofOralHealthinEuropeReport estimates current spending in dental treatment in the EU27tobecloseto€79billionperyear,afiguresetto reach €93 billion by the year 2020 if adequate action isnottakennow.Thereportrevealsthatoralhealth-re- lated costs are still on the rise despite the fact that caries and their complications are highly preventable through a healthy, balanced diet and routine oral hy- gienepractices. ThestudywascommissionedbythePlatformforBet- terOralHealthinEurope,aforumthatbringstogether Europeanorganisationsthatworktowardsthepromo- tionoforalhealthandthepreventionoforaldiseasesin Europe. The report analysed data from 12 European countries (Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Ger- many,Ireland,Italy,Lithuania,Poland,Romania,Spain andtheUnitedKingdom). Thereportshows that—despite significant achieve- ments in the prevention of cavities in Eu- rope—much remains to be done in areas such as: promoting oral health awareness, tackling oral health inequalities and addressing common risk factors.Furtherindispensabletoolsinthefightforbet- ter oral health in Europe include the development of high quality, comparable oral health data and better cost-effectivenessstudiestoassesstheimpactofpre- ventioninitiatives. Onthebasisofthereportfindings,thePlatformhasde- velopedaseriesofrecommendationsandcallsonpol- icymakers. PresentingtheresultsofthestudyatthefirstEuropean OralHealthSummit,held5September,2012,attheEu- ropean Parliament in Brussels, Member of the Euro- pean Parliament Ms Karin Kadenbach said,“In a time ofausteritymeasuresandgrowingpressureonhealth- care budgets,this report is a timely reminder that we havetotacklethepersistingdispari- ties in oral health across and within EUcountries,withregardstosocioeconomic status,age,gender,orindeedgeneralhealthstatus.” Speaking at the Summit, Professor Kenneth Eaton, Chairman of the Platform for Better Oral Health in Eu- rope,calledformorepolicyattentionandactiononthe topicoforalhealth.“AttheEUlevel,thereiscurrentlya lackofunderstandingabouttheintegralroleoralhealth playsinoverallhealthandwell-being,”hesaid.“Onbe- half of the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe, I hope and believe we finally have the adequate tools and procedures in place to work effectively together and foster policy decisions which will benefit the oral healthofeveryoneinEuropeintheyearstocome.” Source:www.oralhealthplatform.eu New study reveals Oral health’s growing price tag for Europe Moreandmoresurgicalproceduresarebeingper- formed globally every year,driving the demand for new and improved surgical equipment, states a new report by healthcare experts GBI Research. ThenewreportSurgicalEquipmentMarketto2018 —Increased Access to Ambulatory Surgical Cen- ters to Drive Outpatient Surgery Volumes shows that this increase in surgical procedures is due to improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging countries, increasing cases of lifestyle diseases and technological innovations boosting the possi- ble workload of surgeons. According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 48 million surgical procedures are performed in the US each year, while emerging countriessuchasIndiaandChinaholdhugefuture potential for surgery due to increased healthcare expenditure and huge patient populations. The spreadofwesternisedlivingstandardshasledtoa worldwide increase in diseases such as obesity, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and kidney disorders, expanding the patient population eligi- ble for surgery. Accessibility, affordability and patient comfort are also driving up the demand for outpatient proce- dures.Outpatientsurgeryisfoundtobemorecost- effectivethaninpatientsurgeries,astheyeliminate hospitalization costs, minimize the time spent in theoperatingtheatre,andcutcostsforstaffingand travel. The increasing volume of surgical proce- duresbeingcarriedoutisresultinginagrowingde- mand for surgical equipment such as surgical su- tures, electrosurgical devices and hand instru- ments.Theglobalmarketforsurgicalequipmentis thereforeforecasttoexceed$7billionby2018,fol- lowinggrowthataCompoundAnnualGrowthRate (CAGR) of 4.2% during 2011–2018. Minimally Invasive Surgery Boosts Outpatient Procedures [PICTURE: ©VALERIY VELIKOV] [PICTURE: ©GRASKO] [PICTURE: ©ALMAGAMI]