Thursday, 25 February 2010
Vaccine to treat gum disease on the way
Australian scientists are leading the way to produce a vaccine to treat Periodontitis, currently affecting nearly one in four Australians. Scientists at the Cooperative Research Centre for Oral Health Science at the University of Melbourne have identified candidate antigens for periodontitis. Chronic periodontitis has been linked to several systemic conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and pre-term or low weight births.
To read more, see http://www.ada.org.au/app_cmslib/media/lib/0912/m201417_v1_120409%20ada-nhhrc%20media%20release.pdf
Thursday, 17 December 2009
ADA’s ‘DentalAccess’ is the Best Solution to Improve Australia’s Oral Health
The Australian Dental Association (ADA Inc.) has responded to the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission’s Denticare Australia with a counter proposal and a better solution - DentalAccess.
DentalAccess is a targeted model to provide for the 30-plus per cent of Australians who cannot access dental care. It is a targeted, equitable, cost-effective fair go for Australians who suffer a double disadvantage when it comes to oral health.
On one hand disadvantaged Australians cannot afford or otherwise access quality dental services, largely because the public system is so profoundly underfunded and lacking in infrastructure.
On the other hand, financial and social disadvantage is a recognised precondition to a complex array of health problems, among them poorer oral health and wellbeing.
DentalAccess will provide dental care for those who currently cannot afford or gain access to dental services without the impracticality of Denticare Australia.
To read more, see http://www.ada.org.au/app_cmslib/media/lib/0912/m201417_v1_120409%20ada-nhhrc%20media%20release.pdf
A new study suggests a common form of gum disease may significantly raise the risk of head and neck cancer
Researchers found that people diagnosed with head and neck cancers were much more likely to have chronic periodontitis than people without cancer.
In fact, each millimeter of bone loss due to chronic periodontitis was associated with more than four times higher risk of head and neck cancer, after taking into account other known risk factors such as smoking.
Researchers say the results may help to explain why head and neck cancer rates continue to climb although smoking rates have been declining for the last 40 years.
The study also adds to a growing body of research that shows chronic inflammation and infection can affect the risk of cancer, heart disease, and other health problems.
The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, compared rates of periodontitis in 226 people with head and neck cancer and a comparison group of 207 people without cancer.
Researchers found that people diagnosed with head and neck cancers were much more likely to have chronic periodontitis than people without cancer.
In fact, each millimeter of bone loss due to chronic periodontitis was associated with more than four times higher risk of head and neck cancer, after taking into account other known risk factors such as smoking.
Researchers say the results may help to explain why head and neck cancer rates continue to climb although smoking rates have been declining for the last 40 years.
The study also adds to a growing body of research that shows chronic inflammation and infection can affect the risk of cancer, heart disease, and other health problems.
The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, compared rates of periodontitis in 226 people with head and neck cancer and a comparison group of 207 people without cancer.
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Voluntary Addition of Fluoride to Bottled Water Approved
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has approved the voluntary addition of fluoride to packaged water.
The amended food standard permitting the addition of fluoride to packaged water was gazetted (published) on 16 July 2009.
The amended standard will allow the addition of fluoride to non-carbonated packaged water to between 0.6 and 1.0 mg/L (total of naturally occurring and added fluoride) and to require mandatory labeling for food identification purposes to indicate that fluoride has been added.
Scientists grow teeth – Is this the future?
Dentures could become a thing of the past. Scientists have grown teeth from stem cells.
The teeth looked like normal, were sensitive to pain and chewed food easily.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Mouth Cancer Treatment Breakthrough
A potential development in mouth cancer treatment has been discovered by researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New York, USA.
Research has suggested an anti-cancer compound could help treat mouth-cancer, and studies showed that the compound killed mouth cancer cells removed from head and neck cancer patients. Currently just half of those diagnosed with mouth cancer survive beyond five years. Nearly 5,000 are diagnosed in the UK each year. In the study, scientists tested a drug for its effects on blood cancer.
British Dental Journal
Volume 206 No. 10 May 23 2009
Friday, 3 July 2009
Prescribing good oral hygiene for adults
http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/32/3/72/5/
Friday, 3 April 2009
Health Groups Slam Coca-Cola for Misleading Consumers
Soft-drink giant Coca-Cola will be required to set the record straight and correct any potentially misleading impressions given by their “Myth Busting” campaign.
Peak health groups have heralded the announcement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) as a wake up call for junk food manufacturers who hide behind marketing spin to suggest their products are not unhealthy.
The ACCC has announced that it considered the advertising was likely to be misleading and deceptive and is requiring the company to take various actions to remedy this, such as through corrective advertising in major newspapers.
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
TONGUE CANCER - LINK TO PERIODONTITIS
A report in the archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery adds tongue cancer to list of conditions associated with chronic periodontitis.A report in the archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 2007;133:450-54 indicated that the list of conditions associated with chronic periodontitis was growing with tongue cancer being a further addition to that list. A case revealed that for every millimeter of alveolar bone loss there was a fivefold increase in the risk of cancer, after accounting for known risks such as age, smoking status and number of teeth.
The study is apparently the first to publish evidence of a possible association between a history of chronic periodontitis and tongue cancer which is independent of smoking. Previous studies have indicated an association between chronic infection and increased cancer risk. However, it was not clear whether periodontal disease bacteria might have had a direct effect that increased the risk of tongue cancer or whether an indirect effect (inflammation) may have been the reason.