Dental Tribune Indian Edition

The World’s Dental Newspaper • Indian Edition Published in india www.dental-tribune.com Vol. 1 no. 2 Page 3 Dental occlusion/temporo mandibular joint and general body health Page 21 Trends & Applications Aesthethic guidelines for dentures that are natural looking Page 8 World News US study suggests dentists cause implant failure INDDLG2213101 Trends & Applications DTI HYDERABAD, India: India’s rising dental healthcare sector is expected to receive another significant in vestment, as Alliance Dental Care has announced that it will triple its number of dental clinics by mid2013. The expansion is intended to serve different market segments, including dental spas, regular dental clinics, as well as express cleaning and whi tening spots located in public places like airports and shopping malls. Alliance Dental Care was founded in 2002 as a subsidiary of Alliance Medicorp, a joint venture betwe en Apollo Hospitals and medical equipment provider Trivitron. Both companies have been reported to seek private investors in order to raise Rs 0.5 trillion (US$10 million) for the first phase of the expansion in 2012. The new clinics, as well as the exi sting ones, have been rebranded as White Dental Clinics, they said. Alliance Dental Care currently maintains over 20 dental clinics in major Indian cities like Chennai, Ban galore and Hyderabad. In addition to its Indian business, the joint venture is also eyeing potential markets over seas, including SouthEast and West Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. According to the latest financial reports, Apollo boasted revenues of Rs 23 trillion (US$460.4 million) in 2010/2011. Once the expansion has been completed, the company will hold a 70 per cent share in Alliance Dental Care.DT Indian dental clinic chain aims for expansion Ben Adriaanse DT Netherlands HOUTEN, Netherlands: In recent years, researchers have noted a signi ficant increase in contact allergies to rubber additives among health care professionals. Although the cause of this cannot be stated with certainty, experts believe that nitrile gloves does. In the 1980s, the use of medical glo ves made of natural rubber latex was introduced into dentistry. Owing to an alarming number of allergic reactions caused by certain proteins contained in latex, synthetic alternatives like ni trile and vinyl gloves emerged shortly afterwards. While they, like other al ternatives, score significantly lower in comfort and elasticity, nitrile gloves are most commonly used by dentists. According to Michiel Paping, di rector of Budev, a Dutch research and development company focused on na tural rubber latex allergens, type I al lergic reactions, which are immediate reactions to allergens in a product, are very rare nowadays owing to impro ved quality standards and production processes. Type IV reactions, howe ver, are delayed reactions to the che micals used in the production process and are more common and can arise in response to nitrile or vinyl. “In fact, I think that synthetic rubbers cause more contact allergies than natural rubber latex,” he told Dental Tribune Netherlands. “It is not the raw, unprocessed rub ber that causes type IV allergic con tact eczema but the excipients added during the manufacturing process, such as vulcanization accelerators, plasticizers, fillers, antioxidants and colorants. Excipients are present in both natural and synthetic rubber gloves,” said Prof. An Goossens, a contact allergy expert at KU Leuven’s Department of Dermatology in Bel gium. In 2010, a soft nitrile glove was in troduced that weighed only 2.5 to 3.5 g. The production lines were shortened and the vulcanization was performed at lower temperatures to save costs and energy. However, concerns have been raised about the thinner gloves. “Producing thinner gloves and the reby being able to fit more gloves in a shipment, saves costs for raw ma terials and transport. However, the production of such a thin product and vulcanization at lower temperatures inevitably requires extra and new che micals. In addition, it is unavoidable that thinner gloves will score worse in strength and permeability,” said Paping after his company had tested various gloves with regard to these properties. Alongside the growing number of contact allergies in recent years that are likely caused by added chemicals or antimicrobial agents, Paping and his team have observed an increase in allergic reactions in daily practice. “Recently, we have seen that the pro fessional body is becoming alarmed. Despite this, I am concerned that the average dentist is not aware of this matter,” he said. “When health care professionals start working in practice, they use the same glove out of habit. When gloves are ordered, the responsible person most often looks for the cheapest pro duct on the market. As a result, cheap gloves of unknown origin are someti mes used in dental care,” Paping said. According to studies conducted in Finland and the Netherlands, the qua lity of latex gloves today is evolving and most manufacturers have eradica ted the proteins that can cause aller gies from their production. However, currently there is insufficient data on the new generation of latex gloves but initial studies have shown promising results. According to the experts, a change of thinking and a policy on rubber gloves based on neutral information is urgently needed. Currently, a num ber of inferior products on the market owing to the fact that CE markings can be awarded based on selfasses sment in Europe, Paping said. He recommended the implementation of new standards to replace the CE marking in order to promote high quality products that are flexible, cause as little sensitisation as possi ble and keep permeability as low as possible. Contact allergies caused by gloves are a growing problem and should not be underestimated, the experts con cluded. “With an annual global use of more than 150 billion pieces, the me dical glove is something that requires serious attention,” said Paping. “It is a condition that can threaten your ca reer and you can develop it suddenly,” he warned. (Edited by Claudia Duschek, DTI) DT Experts believe that nitrile gloves cause contact allergies. Contact allergies owing to gloves: A growing problem in dentistry