Modern Periodontics Blog

Monthly Archives: March 2015

Dollars and sense: Saving teeth vs. placing implants

Interesting article found here:

Although implants have typically enjoyed high long-term survival rates,7 their associated initial financial impact is much higher than that of saving the natural dentition.8 Conservative valuations place start-up costs for implant treatment around two to three times higher than saving natural dentition via periodontal therapy (Table 2). In addition, implants are not without complications, and both biologic and/or mechanical complications can be associated with additional treatment costs to the patient. Recently, the literature has been replete with discussion of biologic complications in the form of peri-implant disease. Peri-implant diseases fall into two categories: peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis.

http://www.dentaleconomics.com/articles/print/volume-105/issue-2/science-tech/dollars-and-sense-saving-teeth-vs-placing-implants.html

Effect of natural sweetener xylitol in preventing tooth decay still unproven

Xylitol is a popular sugar substitute in sweets and it is already known to cause less damage to teeth than sugar. It has also been suggested that the addition of xylitol to products may help to prevent tooth decay by stopping the growth of decay-producing bacteria. However, according to new evidence published in the Cochrane Library there is little high quality evidence that it is beneficial in the fight against tooth decay, which affects up to 90% of children and most adults worldwide.

 

Read the rest: here

Environmental tobacco smoke is associated with periodontitis in US non-smokers

Periodontitis affects approximately 47% of adults in the United States and the U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that cigarette smoking is one of its causes. Despite numerous adverse health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), an association between periodontitis and this “second-hand smoke” in non-smokers remains questionable. In this study, the researchers aimed to investigate the association between serum cotinine and periodontitis among U.S. non-smokers.

More here:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150313083627.htm