In a major boost for dental sustainability, engineers at RMIT University in Melbourne have developed a way of turning three key types of disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) - isolation gowns, face masks and rubber gloves - into reinforcement materials in structural concrete. 

Published in the journals Case Studies in Construction Materials, Science of the Total Environment and Journal of Cleaner Production, the studies by RMIT School of Engineering (RMIT SoE) researchers found that “shredded PPE could increase the strength of concrete by up to 22% and improve resistance to cracking.”

A new U.S. study has revealed the extent of anxiety and depression among those in the dental profession when COVID transmissibility was at its height.

Published in both issues of The Journal of the American Dental Association and the Journal of Dental Hygiene and available online at JADA.ada.org, and reported on by News Medical: Life Sciences, the study showed how the pandemic weighed upon those in the dental profession when lockdowns often meant practices could not open or if they could, were severely curtailed in the treatments they could offer patients.

The Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), which was introduced in 2014 replacing the Medicare Teen Dental Plan, is currently undergoing its fifth legislatively mandated review with the Minister for Health  seeking ways to improve this valuable program.

Up to 30 June 2022, the CDBS has delivered more than $2.6 billion in benefits to 3.2 million Australian children aged 2-17 years whose parents satisfy the eligibility criteria.

The result of a joint collaboration between the FDI World Dental Federation (FDI) and the Indian Dental Association (IDA), the Mumbai Declaration on Sugary Drinks and Healthy Food seeks to achieve real and important improvements in oral health in the face of current oral health challenges and opportunities in India.

The declaration is a tangible outcome of the first in a series of the Capacity Building Workshops which are being held in line with FDI’s Vision 2030 report, which aims to turn the oral health challenges confronting dentistry over the next decade into “into opportunities to improve oral health, reduce oral health inequalities, and contribute to reducing the global burden of oral diseases”.

Vale Dr. Herb Hammer - 25th March 1924 to 4th July 2022

Dr Herbert Irving Hammer was born in Chicago, USA on 25th March 1924 to a Canadian father of Norwegian descent and an American mother who had a small farm not far from Chicago.

Growing up during the great Depression of the 1930s life was tough and Herb told of how he would help at the local church to compile hampers to give to the poor folk in the neighbourhood, and one day he was surprised to find one of these hampers on their doorstep – heck! thought Herb, we must be poor too. 

For Dental Health Week (1-7 August), one of the key findings from the Australian Dental Association’s (ADA) annual Consumer Survey of 25,000 Aussies, is that one in three people postponed dental treatment in the last 12 months due to COVID-related concerns.

Of those that postponed, this included 23% of 18-24s rising to 41% of 65-74s, with more women than men putting it off across all age ranges.

ORAL HEALTH HABITS ON TRIAL

Failing to floss and visit our dentist - and only brushing half as much as we should be. 

Poorly funded and promoted dental schemes, long waiting lists for public dentistry, price rises in private health insurance premiums and the destructive forces of the pandemic…. a perfect storm for a dramatic decline in Australia’s oral health. 

Dental diseases such as dental caries and periodontal disease are highly prevalent conditions with broad impacts on individuals and the community. In 2019-2020 the combined expenditure on dental disease in Australia was almost 10 billion dollars. The individual and societal costs of dental disease are staggering given that dental disease is largely preventable.

A report in New Atlas has revealed that scientists at the Indian Institute of Science have created nanobots which, steered by a magnetic field, "kill bacteria with heat, offering a safe and potent way to improve the success of standard root canal treatments."

The development of the microscopic robots was a byproduct of a project that sought to find “new and improved” ways of dealing with the bacteria that reside in dentinal tubules, some of which evade standard root canal treatments.

The FDI World Dental Federation has released a presentation that aims to raise awareness of the effects of untreated periodontal disease.

Based on its White Paper on Prevention and Management of Periodontal Diseases for Oral Health and General Health, the slide presentation highlights how largely preventable oral diseases places a significant burden on many countries throughout the world.

A born and bred Queenslander and principal dentist at More Smiles Dental Practice on the Sunshine Coast, Dr Julee Birch has invested her time and energy into dental volunteering for 10 years now and is now the Queensland Chair of the Australian Dental Health Foundation (ADHF). Here, she tells us what life is like when volunteer work is so effectively incorporated into practice life.

To get the best results when you brush your teeth, toothpastes contain abrasives, which are added to help with tooth cleaning and stain removal. In this article, Dr Elizabeth Milford looks at how abrasives achieve plaque removal, and learn about the testing that ensures that toothpastes can be both effective and safe.

Step 1: Reaching out

“Thank you for calling Dental Practitioner Support — a national support service for dental practitioners providing confidential advice and referrals for issues related to their health. If you are a dental practitioner or student seeking advice on an issue related to your health or a colleague’s, please press 1.”

Continuing a tradition that began in 1975, this year's The Queen's Birthday Honours List recognises the significant contribution made by members of the dental profession and industry.  
  
The ADA warmly congratulates everyone honoured and thanks them for their ongoing service to the profession and to the people of Australia. 

A research project out of the Indiana University School of Dentistry, led by Dr Thankam Thyvalikakath, used data from US general dental practices to deepen insights about how long teeth survive after root canal therapy.

An article by Dental Tribune noted that this study is one of a “small proportion of [studies that] have analysed these outcomes outside of an academic clinical setting”, drawing on de-identified data from a network of community dental practices across the United States, making it the first study of its kind to do so.

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which oversees an extensive range of programs for veterans including one specifically designed for dental treatment, employs fully qualified and credentialed health professionals, which include dentists, who are employed to help veterans and families receive the health care and services they need in line with the DVA’s treatment and funding arrangements. 

There is every reason to be optimistic that the new Labor government will work with the nation’s peak dental body to fix the broken dental system for people in aged care.

Labor promised in a letter written before polling day, that it would work with the Australian Dental Association (ADA) to improve training for aged care workers, so it includes an oral health component.

A new study examining the consumption of free sugars by British children showed that many children aged four and over are taking in more than the recommended target for optimal health. 

The study, conducted, according to a report on medical.net, as part of SWEET, a European Commission Horizon 2020 funded research program, “suggests that children in the UK start consuming free sugars (those added to foods and drinks and those occurring naturally in fruit juices, honey and syrups) at a very young age, and that many toddlers' sugar intake exceeds the maximum recommended amount for children aged 4 and older.” 

The 2021 FDI World Dental Federation (FDI) Annual Report highlights that, despite the challenges of the pandemic, there have been exciting developments in the area of global health. 

Pushed to innovate to respond to a range of unprecedented issues, FDI strengthened their governance systems, launched a range of new projects

The Australian Dental Association has congratulated the Greens for addressing the seismic inadequacy in our dental health system.

But it says that Adam Bandt’s dental pitch which will cost $8 bn a year or $77bn over a decade to provide Medicare funded dental services, will be a challenge for any government to implement.

There is no denying the fact that the COVID pandemic disrupted a great deal of what we once considered normal activity.

With the end of the three-month extension of image-based prescription arrangements on 31 March this year, electronic prescriptions are being encouraged by the Department of Health and the AMA instead of paper-based prescription options. 

For specific information in your location, go to “Prescriptions via telehealth – state and territory rules”

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has joined the Rethink Sugary Drink partnership, of which the ADA is a longstanding member, which is focused on reducing the consumption of sugary drinks in Australia. 

Associate Professor Deborah Cockrell AM and Dr Rachel Martin have been appointed as directors to the ADRF which plays a critical role in building dental research capability in Australia.

To learn more about the ADRF, visit Australian Dental Research Foundation.

Researchers from the University at Buffalo in New York have revealed findings from a study that explored the links between obesity and periodontal disease which affects roughly half of all U.S. adults over 30 with Australia's Adult Oral Health Tracker showing that almost 29% of Australian adults 15-and-over have periodontal pockets greater than 4mm.

To read more on this story, go to "New study explains link between obesity and periodontal disease"

Dental Practitioner Support contributes to better health and wellbeing for dental practitioners, and to safer healthcare. The service also provides support to students, educators, employers and concerned family members.

This article by Erica Hwin first appeared on dpsupport.org.au and is reproduced with their permission.

An initiative of the Dental Board of Australia (the Board), Dental Practitioner Support is a free 24/7 confidential national telephone service providing health support to dental practitioners across Australia. Independent of the Board, the service is administered by Turning Point, a leader in the delivery of telehealth services.

Dental practitioners who call the telephone service can talk to experienced counsellors who can help with a wide range of health and wellbeing related issues that may be affecting their practice.

Obesity is an increasing issue across the world with over 50 percent of people estimated to be overweight, a condition which increases a person’s risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Given the increasing prevalence of obesity-related health issues, a new study out of Loughborough University in the UK is exploring the role dentists might be able to play in providing weight management interventions to their patients.

The FDI World Dental Federation’s Global Periodontal Health Project (GPHP), launched in October 2015, is dedicated to raising the profile of periodontal health which world dentistry’s peak body admits “is often overlooked during daily oral health routines."

50% of the global adult population suffer from periodontal diseases, including gingivitis and periodontitis, making them among the globe’s most common health conditions.

A report in Science Advances has discovered that odontoblasts are responsible for sensing cold, a finding which researchers say could play a role in the inhibition of dental pain. 

The discovery is important, notes an article in News Medical: Life Sciences, because it provides insight into an area of dental study which comes with certain challenges.....