Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

United Kingdom Edition February 11-17, 2013 N ew research from Mayo Clinic in Ari- zona and Banner Sun Health Research Institute sug- gests that testing a portion of a person’s saliva gland may be a way to diagnose Parkinson’s disease. “There is currently no di- agnostic test for Parkinson’s disease,” says study author Charles Adler, M.D., Ph.D., a neurologist with Mayo Clinic in Arizona. “We have previ- ously shown in autopsies of Parkinson’s patients that the abnormal proteins associated with Parkinson’s are consist- ently found in the subman- dibular saliva glands, found under the lower jaw. This is the first study demonstrating the value of testing a portion of the saliva gland to diagnose a living person with Parkin- son’s disease. Making a di- agnosis in living patients is a big step forward in our effort to understand and better treat patients.” The study involved 15 peo- ple with an average age of 68 who had Parkinson’s disease for an average of 12 years, re- sponded to Parkinson’s medi- cation and did not have known saliva gland disorders. Biop- sies were taken of two differ- ent saliva glands: the subman- dibular gland and the minor saliva glands in the lower lip. The abnormal Parkinson’s protein was detected in nine of the 11 patients who had enough tissue to study. While still being analysed, the rate of positive findings in the bi- opsies of the lower lip glands appears much lower than for the lower jaw gland. “This study provides the first direct evidence for the use of submandibular gland biopsies as a diagnostic test for living patients with Par- kinson’s disease,” Dr. Adler. “This finding may be of great use when needing definitive proof of Parkinson’s disease, especially when consider- ing performing invasive pro- cedures such as deep brain stimulation surgery or gene therapy.” Currently, diagnosis is made based on medical his- tory, a review of signs and symptoms, a neurological and physical examination, and by ruling out other conditions. Up to 30 per cent of patients may be misdiagnosed early in the disease. DT Research shows promise for Parkinson’s disease ß -catenin is required for root formation, a new study has found. The pa- per, titled “ß-catenin is Required in Odontoblasts for Tooth Root Formation”, was written by lead authors Tak-Heun Kim and Che- ol-Hyeon Bae, Chonbuk National University Korea School of Den- tistry, Laboratory for Craniofa- cial Biology, is published in the IADR/AADR Journal of Dental Research. The tooth root, together with the surrounding periodon- tium, maintains the tooth in the jaw. The root develops after the crown forms, a process called morphogenesis. While the mo- lecular and cellular mechanisms of early tooth development and crown morphogenesis have been extensively studied, little is known about the molecular mechanisms controlling tooth root formation. In this study, Kim and Bae et al show that a protein called ß-catenin is strongly expressed in odontoblasts - the cells that develop the tooth dentin, and is required for root formation. Tissue-specific inactivation of ß-catenin in developing odonto- blasts produced molars lacking roots and aberrantly thin inci- sors. At the beginning of root for- mation in the mutant molars, the cervical loop epithelium extend- ed apically to form Hertwig’s epithelial root sheath (HERS), but root odontoblast differentia- tion was disrupted and followed by the loss of a subset of HERS inner layer cells. However, outer layer of HERS extended without the root, and the mutant molars finally erupted. The periodon- tal tissues invaded extensively into the dental pulp. These re- sults indicate that there is a cell- autonomous requirement for Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in the dental mesenchyme for root for- mation. “The striking tooth pheno- types in this study shed light on how Wnt signaling regulates od- ontoblast fate and root develop- ment,” said JDR Associa te Edi- tor Joy Richman. DT Study identifies vital protein 6 News A New Zealand dentist has found that children pre- fer the ‘Hall technique’. Dr Lyndie Foster Page, head of preventive and restorative dentistry at the University of Otago Dental School, and col- league Ms Dorothy Boyd, a specialist paediatric dentist, trained 10 Hawke’s Bay den- tal therapists to use the new Hall technique as part of a feasi- bility study funded by the Health Research Council of New Zea- land. The Hall technique, devel- oped by Scottish dentist Dr Nor- na Hall, involves placing a stain- less steel crown over a baby molar tooth to seal the decay in, rather than the conventional method of removing the decay with a drill and then placing a filling. Starved of nutrients, the decay then stops or slows down. The crown stays in place until it falls out naturally with the tooth at about age 10. Of the nearly 190 children between five and eight years old who took part in the Hawke’s Bay study, just over half were Māori. Nearly 100 children re- ceived treatment for their de- cayed teeth using the Hall tech- nique, while the remainder were treated using conventional methods. Many of the children already had six or seven fillings in their mouth, and two-thirds came from low socio-economic status areas. Dr Foster Page said the study showed that children treated in the new way (which doesn’t re- quire anaesthetic) reported less dental anxiety than those who had received conventional care. Interestingly, almost all (90 per cent) of those treated with the Hall technique reported enjoy- ing their clinic visit; among those conventionally treated, the figure was 52 per cent. “After six months, children who had conventional treat- ment had twice as many den- tal abscesses and nearly three times as many replacement fill- ings as those who were treated with the Hall technique,” says Dr Foster Page. “At first, some parents were concerned that people might judge children who had these crowns because of the way the crowns look. Many people today want white fillings. However, af- ter the treatment, we found that the overall positive response of children to the treatment, and the fact that children didn’t need an injection or to go back for replacement restoration work, seemed to far outweigh this concern.” DT Drill-less technique a hit in New Zealand L loyds Banking Group has launched a new free internet banking facility for business custom- ers. The service allows com- panies such as healthcare practices that were previously unable to bank online because they needed two signatories, to process payments using in- ternet banking. The technology gives or- ganisations greater control of their banking as two or three users can now authorise pay- ment. This means that inter- net banking is now a viable option for businesses that re- quire two or three signatories to sign a cheque, to set up and make payments online, or set individual payment limits for each transaction. The facility is available through a simple online regis- tration process once internet banking has been established for the company, and is ide- ally suited to GPs, dentists and pharmacists. Businesses can apply pay- ment limits to delegated us- ers and the system provides easier management of their finances. The reduction of paper-based transactions also makes it easier to keep track of a payments’ status. The function supports the ‘Go On UK’ campaign, cham- pioned by Lloyds Banking Group, which encourages companies to move some of its services online and harness the potential of the internet to expand and help to them to expand. Dr Charles Harris, direc- tor at Barbourne Health Cen- tre and a customer of Lloyds TSB Commercial, said: “Our payment structure requires two authorised people to sign costs off, and normal online banking facilities don’t allow for this. The accessibility of this technology will offer us greater control over our fi- nances and it is a much wel- comed move.” DT Banking group launches online banking technology