Cliff's Notes

Fluoride in Drinking Water, DNA Diagnostics in Dentistry!

Cliff’s Notes January 9, 2011

 

 

….. E-Blast…..

 

Cliff Marsh, Henry Schein ……Cell: 201-321-7494……Fax: 201-262-2210…..E-mail: cliff.marsh@henryschein.com

http://www.cliffsnotesblog.wordpress.com 

 

 

 

“Science does not know its debt to imagination.” 

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

In This Week’s Issue

·         The Debate on Fluoride in Drinking Water!

·         DNA Diagnostics in Dentistry?

·         Product Review – OralDNA Labs, The Bleeding Edge!

 

 

 

The Debate About Fluoride in Drinking Water!….

On Saturday, January 08, 2011, The Record published a front page article entitled “Fluoride’s Reputation Gets A Little Spotty”. Your patients have read it so be ready for the questions.

 

The following are excerpts from an Assoc. Press Report by written by Mike Stobbe:

 

Fluoride in drinking water — credited with dramatically cutting cavities and tooth decay — may now be too much of a good thing. Getting too much of it causes spots on some kids’ teeth.

 

Federal health officials plan to cut recommended fluoride levels in water after finding an increase in spotting on some kids’ teeth.

A reported increase in the spotting problem is one reason the federal government said Friday it plans to lower the recommended levels for fluoride in water supplies — the first such change in nearly 50 years.

 

About two out of five adolescents have tooth streaking or spottiness because of too much fluoride, a surprising government study found recently. In some extreme cases, teeth can even be pitted by the mineral — though many cases are so mild only dentists notice it. The problem is generally considered cosmetic.

 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is announcing a proposal to change the recommended fluoride level to 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. And the Environmental Protection Agency will review whether the maximum cutoff of 4 milligrams per liter is too high. The standard since 1962 has been a range of 0.7 to 1.2 milligrams per liter.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the splotchy tooth condition, fluorosis, is unexpectedly common in kids ages 12 through 15. And it appears to have grown much more common since the 1980s. That and other research issued Friday by the EPA about health effects of fluoride are sure to re-energize groups that still oppose adding it to water supplies.

 

The American Dental Association released a statement applauding the government announcement to change fluoride guidance. Fluoride is a mineral that exists naturally in water and soil. About 70 years ago, scientists discovered that people whose supplies naturally had more fluoride also had fewer cavities. Some locales have naturally occurring fluoridation levels above 1.2. Today, most public drinking water is fluoridated, especially in larger cities. An estimated 64 percent of Americans drink fluoridated water.

 

In the early years of fluoridation in the United States, the range of levels was created because people in warmer climates drank more water, therefore getting more fluoride than cooler regions. Over time, that difference leveled out with air conditioning, the senior administration official said.

 

Fluorosis has generally been seen as the primary down side of fluoride. According to the CDC, nearly 23 percent of children ages 12-15 had fluorosis in a study done in 1986 and 1987. That rose to 41 percent in the more recent study, which covered the years 1999 through 2004. “We’re not necessarily surprised to see this slow rise in mild fluorosis,” Dr. William Kohn, director of the CDC’s division of oral health, said in a recent interview. Health officials have hesitated to call it a problem, however. In most kids, it’s barely noticeable; even dentists have trouble seeing it, and sometimes don’t bother to tell their unknowing patients.

Too Much Fluoride Causing Splotchy Teeth

For the first time in nearly 50 years, the government is recommending lowering the fluoride in drinking water.

by Associated Press

NOTE: This is what your patients are seeing & hearing! Be Pro-active!

 

 

DNA Diagnostics in Dentistry?…………………….

In the movie “Jurassic Park” Dinosaurs clones were created by using prehistoric DNA. Well, it’s wasn’t science fiction, it was vision and technology. The average

Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, is a nuclear acid that contains the genetic used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms with the exception of RNA viruses. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints, like a recipe or a code, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.

The completion of a high-quality, comprehensive sequence of the human genome, in this fiftieth anniversary year of the discovery of the double-helical structure of DNA, is a landmark event. The genomic era is now a reality.

 

The genome revolution will lead to a second revolution, this one in medicine.  Rather than being a field in which physicians wait for symptoms and signs to develop, allowing us to react and treat them, we will know, through newborn or prenatal screening, which mutations and polymorphisms are present, giving us information about the likelihood of the development of disease later in life.  And rather than being reactive, medicine will become predictive, with physicians focusing on ways of manipulating the environment in order to prevent those alterations in the genes from manifesting diseases. 

 

Unfortunately, the lesson of the genome revolution has not yet broken through to medical school education committees.  The traditional way in which physicians are trained will soon become outmoded; we geneticists need to begin to lobby to change the curricula of medical schools now, so that the physicians who care for us tomorrow will have the necessary knowledge to be able to approach this brave new world of medicine

 

Product Review – As the leader in advancing wellness in dentistry through salivary diagnostics, OralDNA^® Labs, a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics^® Incorporated, is committed to providing diagnostic tests based on DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing using a simple oral rinse collection methodology for ease of use.

 

Dental professionals interested in learning more about the importance and benefits of incorporating salivary diagnostic tests into their practice are encouraged to log onto http://www.oraldna.com.

 

Currently, OralDNA^® Labs offers three non-invasive salivary diagnostic tests, all of which are quickly and easily administered at chairside:

Click on – MyPerioPath^® – Salivary DNA test that determines the cause of periodontal infections

Click on – MyPerioID^® PST^® – Salivary DNA test that determines increased risk for severe periodontal infections

Click on – OraRisk^® HPV – Salivary DNA test that determines who is at increased risk for HPV-related oral cancers

 

 

 

 

In this video, while the camera was panning, I noticed that there was a Velsope Unit in on the counter in the operatory. This dentist has more than just a “dental office”. He has an Oral Healthcare Practice. He is not just a dentist, he is a physician that specialize in the oral cavity.

 

As I have been saying for years, dentistry is the forefront of preventive medicine. If you want to grow your practice an continue exceeding your patients expectations, you need to embrace the “Diagnostic Era”.

 

 

 

Cliff Marsh

Henry Schein Dental

P.O. Box 663 / 45 Rt. 46 East, Suite 605

Pine Brook, NJ 07058

Cell: 201-321-7494

Fax: 201-262-2210

 cliff.marsh@henryschein.com 

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January 9, 2011 - Posted by Cliff's Notes Blog | Uncategorized