Dental Tribune South African Edition

2 International News Dental Tribune South African Edition - March 2014 Several times a year, dental students and academic staff of the university travel to Gambia to continue ongoing research projects in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Gambia and the WHO. (Photo: Witten/Herdecke University) GROUP EDITOR Daniel Zimmermann newsroom@dental-tribune.com +49 341 48 474 107 CLINICAL EDITOR Magda Wojtkiewicz ONLINE EDITORS Yvonne Bachmann Claudia Duschek COPY EDITORS Sabrina Raaff, Hans Motschmann PUBLISHER/PRESIDENT/CEO Torsten Oemus DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & CONTROLLING Dan Wunderlich BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Claudia Salwiczek EVENTS MANAGER Esther Wodarski MEDIA SALES MANAGERS Matthias Diessner (Key Accounts) Melissa Brown (International) Peter Witteczek (Asia Pacific) Maria Kaiser (USA) Weridiana Mageswki (Latin America) Hélène Carpentier (Europe) MARKETING & SALES SERVICES Nadine Dehmel, Nicole Andrä ACCOUNTING Karen Hamatschek EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Gernot Meyer DENTAL TRIBUNE INTERNATIONAL Holbeinstr. 29, 04229 Leipzig, Germany Tel.: +49 341 48 474 302 | Fax: +49 341 48 474 173 www.dental-tribune.com info@dental-tribune.com REGIONAL OFFICES ASIA PACIFIC Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Limited Room A, 20/F, Harvard Commercial Building, 105–111 Thomson Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong Tel.: +852 3113 6177 | Fax: +852 3113 6199 THE AMERICAS Tribune America, LLC 116 West 23rd Street, Ste. 500, New York, N.Y. 10011, USA Tel.: +1 212 244 7181 | Fax: +1 212 244 7185 © 2014, DENTAL TRIBUNE INTERNATIONAL GMBH. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Dental Tribune makes every effort to report clinical information and manufacturer’s product news accurately, but cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims, or for typographical errors. The publishers also do not assume responsibility for product names or claims, or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Dental Tribune International. DENTAL TRIBUNE SOUTH AFRICA Modern Dentistry Media PO Box 76021 Wendywood 2144 South Africa Tel: +27 11 702 3195 | Fax: +27 86-568-1116 www.moderndentistrymedia.com PUBLISHER Ursula Jenkins ursula@moderndentistrymedia.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Chris Jenkins chris@moderndentistrymedia.com ADMINISTRATION Jane Wilson DESIGN & LAYOUT C Designz LICENSING BY DENTAL TRIBUNE INTERNATIONAL Dental Tribune International WITTEN, Germany: Researchers from Germany have investigated the effectiveness of basic root canal treatment (BRT) with tactile working length determination compared with BRT with standard radiographic working length control. They found that tactile working length determination achieves comparable treatment outcomes in terms of radiographic and clinical outcome parameters and is an accurate method in BRT. Researchers from Witten/Herdecke University conducted their study in the course of the university’s Gambia dental care programme, which was established in 1995 and provides dental care to people living in isolated parts of the West African country, where modern medical technology is mostly non-existent. In the study, BRT performed without radiographs was applied to a test group. For the treatment of the control group, X-rays were taken to facilitate working length determination. In total, 70 patients were followed up over a period of two years. At the end of treatment, participants in both groups were examined using X-rays. Tactile working length determination proved to be as effective as radiographic working length control: 24 months after treatment only one tooth in the test group had been lost. “Basic root canal treatment can help to preserve even teeth with major substance loss. Thus, it can help prevent preterm removal of teeth,” said Dr Anna-Louisa Holzner, a dentistry graduate of the university. For her doctorate, Holzner developed a method that enables root canal treatment without electricity and water, and with only minimal materials and tools. The initial results of this so-called BRT were published in the International Dental Journal in 2009. The current study, titled “Clinical effectiveness of basic root canal treatment after 24 months: A randomised controlled trial”, was published online ahead of print in the Journal of Endodontics. DT Successful root canal treatment possible with basic equipment The new interactive Oral-B toothbrush was developed together with dental professionals in order to enable personalised brushing routines. (Photo courtesy of Procter & Gamble) Dental Tribune International BARCELONA, Spain: Procter & Gamble’s Oral-B toothbrush brand has introduced a new electric toothbrush that uses Bluetooth 4.0 technology to connect to a smartphone application. The toothbrush was presented on Monday at the opening of the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a major event in the mobile industry. According to P&G, the toothbrush is the first of its kind. Using Bluetooth 4.0, the interactive device connects to the respective Oral-B application, which provides real-time guidance while the user is brushing. It records and stores brushing activity as data that can be shared with the dentist to achieve more personalised brushing routines. Dental professionals can program their patients’ brushing routines in the application to help them focus on problem zones in their mouth. Users of the toothbrush can use their smartphone as a kind of remote control to customise it to their needs. As reported by P&G in a press release, preliminary tests of the application have shown that when connected brushing time increases from less than 60 seconds with a manual toothbrush to more than 2 minutes. The technology will be made available in a variety of Oral-B electric toothbrushes, including the new Oral-B SmartSeries. However, it will be sold initially in limited quantities in Germany from spring. The company announced that it will be distributing the new interactive toothbrush globally from June. The new smartphone application will be available in iOS in May and in Android in August. The 2014 Mobile World Congress ran until Thursday, 27 February. This year, more than 1,700 exhibitors are showcasing their latest product innovations. In 2013, the congress and its exhibition attracted more than 72,000 visitors. DT Oral-B launches new Bluetooth toothbrush DENTAL TRIBUNEThe World’s Dental Newspaper · South African Edition