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Hygiene Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition No. 4, 2016

Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 4/2016 HYGIENE TRIBUNE4 Continuous care strategy to manage dentinal hypersensitivity ByGailY.Malone,RDH,BS,USA Toothhypersensitivitycausedbyex- posed dentinal tubules is prevalent in the adult population, affecting as many as one in three adults.1 Peri- odontal patients have historically demonstrated the highest preva- lence,with60–98percentofpatients reporting sensitivity.2 This higher prevalence in periodontal patients is expected, given the exposure of the root surface resulting from both the disease process and the treatment of thedisease. Most dental professionals perceive that the number of general-popula- tion patients experiencing sensitiv- ity is growing.1 Such an increase in prevalenceinthegeneralpopulation might also have been anticipated, particularly given the increasing usage of tooth-whitening products to manage dentinal hypersensitivity Fig.1:NUPROWhiteVarnishisuniquelyformulatedforhypersensitivityrelief. (Photos/ProvidedbyDENTSPLYProfessional) "Surprisingly,amajorityofpatients donotseektreatmenttorelievetheirdentin hypersensitivitypain.Thesubtleonset ofthesensitivityallowsfortheunconscious developmentofcopingstrategies tominimizethediscomfort." Sunstar presents fourth World Dental Hygienist Awards ByMarcChalupsky,DTI,Germany BASEL, Switzerland: As a leading competitor in oral health care with its GUM, BUTLER, Ora2 and other established brands, Swiss-based Sun- star has been one of the first busi- nesses to emphasise an integrated approach to the relationship be- tween oral health and systemic dis- ease. At the fourth Sunstar Founda- tion World Dental Hygienist Awards, the company again recognised three outstanding dental hygienists who have made significant contributions to the community and their profes- sion. The winning submissions also provided new insights for general health. The award ceremony took place on 24 June at the 2016 Inter- national Symposium on Dental Hy- gieneinBaselinSwitzerland. Dr JoAnn Gurenlian, President of the International Federation of Dental Hygienists, thanked the Sunstar Foundation for its involvement in exploring the connection between oral and systemic health. She also recognised dental hygienists for their continued contribution to sci- entific research and community care. The Sunstar Foundation was estab- lished in 1977 with the aim of im- proving oral care among the general public. For its World Dental Hygien- ist Awards competition, held every three years, an expert panel evalu- ates submissions in research and project categories by individuals withabackgroundindentalhygiene. The papers are given a score of one to seven, and this year, almost all 39 manuscripts received a score of six and above. The winning papers may be considered for publication in the International Journal of Dental Hy- giene. In their opening remarks, Sunstar global public relations director May- umi Kaneda and Scientific Affairs Manager Dr Marzia Massignani em- phasised that the company has been areliablepartnerineducationinoral and general health over the last 20 years. It held its first symposium in 1986, followed by a number of high- level events on the latest issues in medicine and dentistry. In 1997, the Sunstar–Chapel Hill Symposium in North Carolina in the US introduced the newest research in periodontics through a systematic approach to oral and general health. Many of the findings presented at the congress became mainstream knowledge. Next year, Sunstar is inviting dental and medical professionals to anoth- ercongresswiththeaimofinitiating the most important topics for the next20years. Massignani further explained that, through seminars and symposia held jointly with the Joslin Diabetes Center, the world’s largest diabetes research and clinical care organisa- tion,bothorganisationshavesought to gain recognition that periodon- tal disease has a strong association with diabetes and arising complica- tions.Atits20thsymposium,heldin January in Singapore, Sunstar again provided new evidence to clinicians and patients about the strong link betweenoralhealthanddiabetes. One of the highlights at the Singa- poreeventwasthereleaseofthenew educational video The Fascination of Science: The Invisible Made Visible, in which leading scientists explain the effects of periodontitis on glu- cose metabolism and the cardiovas- cularsystem.Periodontitisandother inflammatory processes of the oral cavity contribute to the develop- ment of cardiovascular disease and other systematic conditions, such as atherosclerosis and Type 2 diabetes. Besides a fascinating introduction to the cell-to-cell communication and dissemination of bacteria in periodontitis,thehighlyinformative video covers effective dental treat- ment options. Sunstar has released the video in seven languages, along withapatient-friendlyversion. Awardwinners In the research category, Dr Ju- liet Dang received an award for her thesis, Identification and Charac- terization of Novel Human Papil- lomaviruses in Oral Rinse Samples. Although about 200 human papil- lomavirus (HPV) types are already known, the thesis hypothesised that new HPVs could be identified using next-generation sequencing tech- nology in conjunction with cloning and Sanger sequencing. Using oral rinse samples from healthy controls and patients with different types of head and neck carcinomas, she dis- covered three novel and potentially oncogenicHPVs. Dr Rebecca M. Barry won in the research category with her thesis, Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Dis- orders Among Mississippi Dental Hygienists in Relation to Operator Positioning and Work Habits, which foundthatthemajorityofpractising dental hygienists develop musculo- skeletal disorders (MSDs) regardless of operator position used. Further- more, the study participants devel- oped MSDs sooner after entering practice than previous research had suggested. Barry also found that less than a quarter of Mississippi dental hygienists in the study used ergo- nomic devices. She recommended proper operator positioning and use of ergonomic devices to help reduce or prevent future MSDs among den- talhygienists. As the winner in the project cat- egory, Dr Sandra Kemper, presented her report on the Smiles Forever Foundation, titled “A dental hygiene education and service model for Latin America”. Through her non- profit organisation, she has helped to provide full dental care services in under-developed states, such as Bolivia. Since 2001, the foundation has established schools and clinics across the country and more than 30 women have graduated from the two-year programme to become dentalhygienists. Dr Sandra Kemper presented her report on the Smiles Forever Foundation, titled “A dental hygiene education and service model for LatinAmerica”.(Photograph:MarcChalupsky,DTI)

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