University of Buffalo Receives NIH Grand for Women’s Health

The University of Buffalo recently received a $4 million National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to look at the oral health of women that are postmenopausal. The study will begin an ongoing project to research oral microbiome and the chronic diseases of aging. They are particularly interested in studying postmenopausal women and whether or not there is evidence of oral microbiome and periodontitis in women of this age. This research received such a large grant because it is really operating on the cutting edge of technology in science. There is no knowledge of the link between composition and the role of oral microbiome in our mouths. More specifically, they are studying the microbiome of the subgingival (under the gums) area of the mouth and most specifically between the gums and the basal part of the crowns of your teeth. The hypothesis of the researchers is that particular compositions of the microbiome will be connected to periodontal disease prevalence and how severe and progressive the disease is over time. The University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, the University of Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions, and the University of Buffalo’s New York State Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, as well as the new Genomic Medicine Network will conduct the study. With all of these departments working together, the project is interdisciplinary and should tackle the questions from as many angles as possible to make great strides in dental health for post-menopausal women. The chief investigator is Dr. Jean Wactawski-Wende who states, “to our knowledge, there is no prospective epidemiologic study as large and rich with available data resources that can address the cutting-edge questions we propose here on the oral microbiome and its relationship to periodontitis in postmenopausal women. We expect our results to lay the foundation for the study of the association of the oral microbiome to the development of other chronic diseases of aging.”

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Education Series Hopes to Improve Oral Health

The Oral Health Collaborative recently posted a study that had some shocking news about oral health care in Oregon. They determined that 77 people visit an emergency room in Oregon every day for easily preventable dental related issues. To combat this shocking fact in Oregon, reporters have launched a series of discussions about the issue called Oregon’s Oral Exam. There is also an even bigger effort that has been organized by the Oral Health Funder Collaborative and the Oregon Health Authority. This pair of organizations is hoping to tackle the shortage of oral health care professionals in thestate as well as providing oral health education to the younger generation so that they will establish healthy habits early. The role of the Oral Health Funders Collaborative is to develop the plan while the Oregon Health Authority oversees what they are doing. The role of Oregon’s Oral Exam is to talk to the public and note their concerns and communicate those with the other organization.

Among the problems that these organizations will face is that Oregon is a very low-income state. That is why not many dentists and dental hygienists want to work in the state because they can make more money working somewhere else. Also, those who are poorest in the state are uninsured so they are most likely to go to the ER for oral health treatments, where they are most likely to get painkillers and antibiotics and then be turned away. Also, dental benefits have not been required in the state that is why many are not insured. It wasn’t until 2014 that dental health benefits actually covered more than just emergency room care. Now that there is more coverage, the state of Oregon needs to work on getting enough dental professionals to keep up with demand so that their inhabitants are healthy.

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Red Wine Helps Dental Health?

Although some people avoid red wine because of surface stains on their teeth, it may be true that the fermented grape drink helps to prevent oral health issues. According to some media reports, different types of red wine actually inhibit dental caries. However, since the media frenzy over this fact, some dental professionals have moved in to disprove the media’s claims. Red wine has been proven, when consumed in moderation, to lower cholesterol, which then has a positive effect on the heart, controls blood sugar, and boosts brain activity. The new information stating that red wine can potentially help avert cases of dental caries was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Although the research suggested that there was potentially a link, media outlets like the Huffington Post and Medical News Today brought the hype to a new level touting Red Wine as a cavity fighter. The research shows that Red Wines and some Red Wines without alcohol slow the development of some kinds of bacteria in oral biofilm. However, the study showed that the Red Wine failed to have an effect on the growth of a bacteria known as S. mutans, which are actually related to dental caries. The study used five different oral pathogens made of biofilm: Streptococcus mutans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Stoptococcus oralis, Actinomyces oris, and Veillonella dispar. The real research shows, “that chlorhexidine gluconate (0.2%) was more effective than the other substances studied in reducing microbial levels. However, in clinical studies 0.5% to 1.0% clorhexidine gel or rinse is not very effective in caries prevention according to ADA Evidence-Based Dentistry Guidelines.”

The press releases that are encouraging using red wine for dental caries, dentists are evaluating the use. The studies that involve red wine, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic have conflicting results. This simply shows that in vitro lab testing is not perfect for forecasting studies or for predicting what will happen in clinical trials.

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Even with Judge Being Overruled, S.E.C. Agenda Changed

This week, Judge Jed S. Rakoff’s stand against Wall Street and the S.E.C.’s leniency was overruled. Judge Rakoff took squared up against the Securities and Exchange Commission when he rejected their settlement deal with Citigroup in 2011, believing that the agency was not being tough enough. This week a federal panel as part of the United State Court of Appeals overturned Judge Rakoff’s 2011 decision. However, even though the judge may have lost the battle, he is winning the war against Wall Street.

Since his 2011 ruling many have rallied behind Judge Rakoff. He has influenced other judges in their rulings and many have questioned various securities cases. Also, others who are critics of Wall Street have come to see Judge Rakoff as a leader trying to crack down on their wrongdoings. Rolling Stone magazine even called him “a sort of legal hero of our time.” The S.E.C. has also taken notice of Judge Rakoff’s critique of their policies via his ruling and the chairwoman, Mary Jo White has been working on changing some policies to come down harder on companies. Last year they ditched their policy that allows companies to neither “admit nor deny wrongdoing.” Now they have to own up to their actions.

There were others that agreed with Judge Rakoff on the Citigroup case. After his ruling, in 2012 a federal jury rejected an S.E.C. case against a midlevel Citigroup employee. The jury’s main concern echoed that of Judge Rakoff, prompting them to ask the questions, “Why didn’t they go after the higher-ups rather than a fall guy?” This was not Judge Rakoff’s first attempt at trying to get the S.E.C. to stand up against Wall Street. He also rejected another S.E.C. deal with Bank of America. After several attempts to get the deal passed, he finally allowed it, but publically pronounced it was “half-baked justice at best.”

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What is Evidence-Based Dentistry?

The American Dental Association (ADA) recently sponsored a conference titled Evidence Based Dentistry (EBD) Champions 2.0: Implementing Science in Practice. The overall goal of the conference was to help the participants learn about advanced concepts and how to implement Evidence Based Dentistry. They divided EBD into some key areas of focus like clinical practice, policy and education and how to broadly deliver EBD to patients. The main spokesperson for the ADA and EBD is Jane Gillette, DDS.

Dr. Gillette stresses that EBD is important to understand to “keep practitioners current with changes in treatments and products. It is similar to Continuing Education (CE) but more structured. It involves asking a focused question, doing a literature search to find manuscripts to answer questions posed by the clinician and evaluating the evidence for scientific rigor and bias, consistency of results, and volume of evidence.” There is also the belief throughout the ADA that dental hygiene programs should also be teaching EBD as well as Dental schools. If more dental professionals have a formalized course in EBD they will know how to more efficiently find resources and how to teach EBD. The ADA Center for Evidence Based Dentistry is filled with resources for dental professionals to access. To more efficiently disseminate information about EBD, Dr. Gillette recommends creating an EBD learning environment by creating a team of EBD experts to get the information out to public health, private practice, education, and corporate sectors. She stresses that the key to creating a team like this is to find like-minded dentists and dental hygienists to get together and formulate questions and do research together with excellent resources to answer the questions you may have. It may be helpful for your group to first focus on questions that you usually get from patients. If you prefer to work by yourself rather than in a group there are plenty of resources available. Note, the workbook available on Amazon, Evidence-Based Decision Making and on online course at dentalcare.com titled, Evidence-Based Decision Making; Introduction and Formulating Good Clinical Questions.

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Welcome to iOS8

Last year marked the biggest change for mobile devices with the introduction of a new iOS system. Many had been using the operating system that they were used to for many year and the introduction of a new system took some adjusting and getting used to. Nowit seems that the evolution of iOS is on a fast track. So, what is better about iOS8 that we didn’t have with iOS7? Apple has yet to introduce all of the new features of the operating system, but here is what they have revealed so far.

First, the notifications center has changed. There is an interactive notifications feature. This allows you to do new things like swiping down to quickly reply to a message, even from the lock screen. These types of interactive notifications are very similar to those found in OS X Mavericks. Other features in the interactive notifications section include quickly favorite-ing contacts simply by double-tapping to multitask. In Safari, with this new OS you can look at multiple tabs by simply clicking “tab view,” which is on the top right corner of the iPad. This feature is also available on the brand new Yosemite OS X. Other features include a Mail change where you can use a swiping gesture to go straight from a message you’re writing to your inbox and then easily pop back to the drafted message.

These changes are exciting and usually make things easier, if you are able to adapt and know how to use them. Other new features in iOS8 include a new version of the keyboard. This change is known as Quick Type. It is advanced enough to suggest keywords and it is context and person sensitive. It recognizes other words you type and suggests words appropriate to that conversation. It also looks at who you are talking to or messaging and suggests words that are most appropriate to that conversation.

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Grass Eating Bacteria Produce Biofuel

Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Georgia have successfully engineered bacteria that eat switchgrass and convert it into ethanol by digesting it. This process is much faster and cheaper than any other method of producing biofuel. It is a wonderful re-producible resource, but has been much more expensive than other fuels, making biofuel largely economically impractical. The creation of the bacteria changes the game because it is cheaper than crude oil. The only issue is that it is not known if biofuel is any better for the environment that traditional fossil fuels. Although we are able to reproduce it and the source is plant matter, burning it may be just as harmful on the environment, so it doesn’t solve too many problems in that respect. However, the researchers ability to create the bacteria is a triumph and a stepping stone for other projects.

The next phase of this idea is taking place at Arizona State University. Here synthetic biologists are working on generating bacteria that can turn carbon dioxide into crude oil. If this process is successful it could change the world. One of the researchers on the project, Joel Garreau states that the chemical process to turn Co2 into crude oil takes 27 steps. They have a biotechnology lab where they are growing algae “and taking these 27 chemical steps and stitching them together in one organism.” It seems that our energy future lies in creating bacteria to make fuel for us. Using the power of bacteria’s biological process can quickly and cheaply create fuels like ethanol and crude oil. While the Co2 eating bacteria is still in the works, the grass eating and biofuel producing bacteria is a reality. The researchers are now mass producing the bacteria to get them up to an economically viable scale to work on larger scale production.