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Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 3/2016 hygiene tribune 4 Company introduces world’s first smart floss dispenser ByDTI PALO ALTO, Calif., USA: For preven- tion of dental disease, the American Dental Association recommends flossing at least once a day to help remove plaque from interproximal areas that cannot be reached with a toothbrush. However, only a quarter of people use dental floss on a regu- larbasis.Inordertoaddressthisissue and improve oral health care, a U.S. company has now introduced floss time,anovelsmartflossdispenser. The patent-pending floss time can easily be mounted to the bathroom mirror or wall and automatically dispenses 18 in. of floss at the push of a button. After floss has been dis- pensed,thedevicestartsa90-second flossing timer in the form of blue- glowing quadrants that move clock- wise around the circular light ring, indicating how long the user should floss each quadrant of his or her mouth. Upon completion, floss|time will light up with a blue smile. If not used daily, an orange frown or re- minder light cues the user that it is timetoflossagain. The device has a single- and dual- usermodeandcanthusbesharedby two people. It can also be individual- ized using animal snap-ons to make flossingmoreappealingtochildren. The use of dental floss is generally recommended in addition to daily toothbrushing. Insufficient floss- ing has been associated with an in- creasedriskofcariesandperiodontal disease, which have been linked to other serious health problems, in- cluding cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Floss time was created by a team of designers, Ph.D.s and engineers. In addition to the device’s functional properties, the team paid great at- tention to its esthetic aspects, such as elegant LED lightning. They be- lieve that their invention will help establish long-term flossing habits. The group is currently raising mon- ey for the manufacture of floss|time through the Kickstarter funding platform,whichwillhelpfinancethe firstproductionrun. The funding initiative at Kickstarter endsonDec.12at4p.m.(CET). More information about the dis- penser can be found at www.floss- time.com. According to theinventors, theflossin thenewdevicelastsforoneyearofdailyflossing.(Photograph:floss|time) Smiles in London, York and Liverpool rated best ByDTI LONDON, UK: Brits may not like to show their smiles very often, accord- ing to research, but when it comes to ranking them, most consider Lon- doners, Yorkers and Liverpudlians to have the nicest smiles. All three cities scored highest in a recent poll commissioned by the Oral Health FoundationaspartofNationalSmile Month. Overall, the foundation asked 2,000 Brits where they thought the best smiles in Britain are, out of 45 of the country’s most populous urban areas. While the capital and the two northern cities came out top, smiles inSalford,WolverhamptonandLich- fieldwereratedsignificantlylower. “London may have a reputation for being a place that is very short on smiles but this couldn’t be further Dental caries treatment may prevent pneumonia in Parkinson’s patients ByDTI KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan/KUALA LUM- PUR, Malaysia: Pneumonia is a common condition in patients with Parkinson’s disease. A new study that explored risk factors for pneu- monia development has now found that patients treated for dental car- ies had a reduced risk of pneumonia comparedwithpatientswhohadnot beentreated. The study included 2,001 partici- pants newly diagnosed with Par- kinson’s disease between 2000 and 2009. Over a mean follow-up period of about six years, 19 per cent of the patients were hospitalised for pneu- monia. With regard to oral health status, the researchers observed that dental diseases were among the most common co-morbidities. About 48 per cent of the patients in the study had dental caries and over 44 per cent periodontitis. Moreover, the data analysis showed that the incidence of pneumonia in patients who had received treatment for dental caries was lower. They thus concludedthatmaintenanceofgood oral hygiene and control of oral bio- film formation reduce the number of potential respiratory pathogens, thereby lowering the risk of pneu- monia,especiallyinelderlymen. The researchers found that older pa- tients, males in particular, patients living in the northern, southern and eastern regions of Taiwan, and pa- tients with lower income had a high- er risk of developing pneumonia. For example, over 60 per cent of the participants who developed pneu- monia were men. Of the patients hospitalised for pneumonia, about 95percenthadamonthlyincomeof lessthanNT$30,000(US$928). The study, titled “Risk factors for pneumonia among patients with Parkinson’s disease: A Taiwan na- tionwide population-based study”, waspublishedon27AprilintheNeu- ropsychiatricDiseaseandTreatment journal. from the truth,” remarked Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foun- dation Dr Nigel Carter, OBE, on the poll. “It shows that quantity is not always related to quality and when London residents do choose to smile theirgrinsareshowingtherestofthe countrythewayforward.” The survey findings were released on the first day of National Smile Month, the UK’s largest and long- est running charity campaign ini- tiative. Celebrated this year for the 40th time and held until 16 June, it is aimed at increasing awareness of the importance of oral health by highlighting key messages, such as the benefits of regular toothbrush- ing and visiting a dentist in order to develop and maintain a healthy mouth. Thousands of individuals and or- ganisations take part in the initiative everyyear. “A simple smile can make others around you feel at ease. It is highly contagiousandplayssuchanimpor- tant role in our lives that we should make our oral health top priority,” Carteradded.“Itisanincrediblypow- erful tool and worth remembering it isoneweallpossess.”