Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

11CommentApril 15-21, 2013United Kingdom Edition Goodbye Washer Disinfector... ...Hello Ultrasonic that Automatically Soaks, Cleans, Rinses & Dries! Price £4,500 Thermosealing machine. Spacious platform to make the sealing process easier. Worktop or wall hung. Adjusts to double roll holder so different sizes are always avaliable. Sturdy and reliable. The Clean One2 Pouch SealerPouches One to trust more reliable than conventional washer disinfectors. No moving parts. Low Running Costs all soiled instruments washed, disinfected & dried all in 35 minutes, ready for sterilisation. Space Saver eliminating the need for two sinks, the Clean One2 is an ultasonic bath & disinfector combined. Peace Of Mind the Clean One 2 comes complete with a 2 Year Guarantee, low cost, hassle free installation plus requires only annual validation. £490.00 Heat Sealed Sterilisation Pouch Reels Flat 200m Gusseted/Expanding 100m 50 mm wide 75 mm wide 100 mm wide 150 mm wide 200 mm wide 250 mm wide 300 mm wide 400 mm wide 75 x 38 mm wide 100 x 50 mm wide 150 x 50 mm wide 200 x 50 mm wide 250 x 65 mm wide 300 x 65 mm wide 400 x 65 mm wide 35 MINS CYCLE! G GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE tel. 01274 885544dental@trycare.co.uk there must be no bacteria, so what would be the point of floss- ing? Is this really evidence based information or potentially dan- gerous marketing? The manipulation of facts by pharmaceutical companies was also the subject of a serious warning in 2010 where FDA (US Food and Drugs Agency) issued warning letters to three compa- nies that manufacture and mar- ket mouth rinse products with claims that they remove plaque above the gum line or promote healthy gums. These claims sug- gest that the products are effec- tive in preventing gum disease when no such benefit has been demonstrated. Warning letters were sent to Johnson & Johnson (Listerine Total Care), CVS Cor- poration, and Walgreen Compa- ny. These mouth rinse products contain the active ingredient sodium fluoride. The FDA deter- mined that sodium fluoride is ef- fective in preventing cavities but has not found this ingredient to be effective in removing plaque or preventing gum disease. Now of course we all know that fluoride is excellent for strengthening teeth, so naturally we can come to the conclusion that adding it to water in gen- erally accepted doses is a good thing. Well perhaps it is for teeth, but what about for type 2 diabe- tes? Bear with me folks. There is of course no direct causative link between diabetes and fluoride. However, the silver lining of largely preventable dis- eases such as tooth decay is that individuals within society may change their habits in order to improve their health, which can have far-reaching effects beyond purely the realm of oral health. Whilst fluoride may reduce tooth decay, a knock on effect may be that it also reduces the number of patients who actively decrease their sugar intake and improve their oral hygiene upon being told they have dental caries. I am not suggesting that tooth de- cay is a good thing, but for many people it can act as a catalyst for change. It is interesting to pon- der how strong the sugar indus- try would be in a world without fluoride; perhaps society would take the issue of added sugar more seriously if we didn’t have the safety net of preventative strategies such as fluoride. In a 2007 Cochrane review by Nield et al, the authors state that ‘the results suggest that the addition of exercise alongside a reduced energy diet is the best way to promote better glyceam- ic control in type 2 diabetes pa- tients’. Unarguably diet is linked to both diabetes and tooth decay. Anecdotally, it is interesting to note that type 1 diabetic patients tend to have low caries rates, presumably through a more carefully controlled diet. Simi- larly, many patients with type 2 diabetes do not present with active caries. It does raise the question, would they have had active caries without fluoride? And conversely if they had ac- tive caries at a younger age and consequently had changed their habits, would they have gone on to develop type 2 diabetes? Hypothetically, if one was to find a cure for lung cancer specifically relating to smoking, would that result in an over- all benefit to society as a result of reduced cases of cancer or would that result in more peo- ple smoking and accordingly dying of heart disease or other ailments? Sorry, I digress. Until next time, remain sceptical! DT About the author Neel Kothari qualified as a den- tist from Bristol University Dental School in 2005, and currently works in Sawston, Cam- bridge as a princi- pal dentist at High Street Dental Prac- tice. He has completed a year-long postgraduate certificate in implantol- ogy and is currently undertaking the Diploma in Implantology at UCL’s Eastman Dental Institute. ‘No ethical ap- proval was sought for this study on the grounds that it may infringe upon my human rights, which for the pur- pose of the experi- ment I have chosen to waive’