Dental Research Can Be Easy to Access
By Debra Belt
Just about everyone knows the scenario. In the few extra minutes left
on your lunch break, you decide to do a quick Internet search. After conducting
a general search on a topic of interest you get 7,000 hits. Or zero hits.
Or you find a great site and it asks you to log in and "register"(i.e.,
fork over a Visa card number). Or you have to download software to be
able to access the site. By the time the software is half loaded, the
next patient is in the chair, and time is up.
The Internet can be a fabulous tool or a source of frustration. In helping make the World Wide Web more wonderful than worrisome, here are some easily accessible sites recommended by dental professionals. Especially useful are the journals listed in bold face. Their sites offer free full text of articles and provide a search mode for quick searches on specific topics.
Just a reminder that the site of your professional organization may easily yield that esoteric piece of information about infection control regulations or any other topic ranging from dental amalgam to current legislation. The Journal of the California Dental Association from January 1998 through the present and the CDA Update from January 1996 through the present are also available here. (Adobe Acrobat 3.0 is needed to view some older issues of the Update, and a link to download the software is provided.) Additional resource for the public including details on dental health topics such as fluoride, preventive care, baby bottle tooth decay, and care for seniors. Several reports are also in Spanish.
Includes a discussion forum for members, Washington weekly update, regulatory issues, current ADA News and free full text of Journal of the American Dental Association articles from 1998 through the present. Material for the public includes oral health topics, news and media.
http://www.nature.com/bdj/index.html
Direct link to the British Dental Journal, which offers content search and free full text of articles dating back to 1997. Also includes information on topics such as evidence-based dentistry.
http://www.cda-adc.ca/public/frames/eng_index.html
Site of the Canadian Dental Association and its Journal offering free full text of articles dating back to 1998. We did not detect a way to search articles, but journal indexes are listed by month. Looking for specific info on this site may take a little more time.
http://www.ihs.ox.ac.uk/cebd/dentlink.htm
Centre for Evidence Based Dentistry is associated with the Institute of Health Sciences in Oxford. This a great site for a plethora of dental links including dental associations around the world, association and dental schools as well as information on amalgam, implants, fluoride, cancer and evidence-based dentistry. Links to specialty journals include British Journal of Orthodontics, International Endodontic Journal, and Journal of Oral Rehabilitation.
For a lighthearted break, check out the home page of the tooth fairy. Written by an RDH, this site has tooth fairy FAQ (i.e. Q: How much money does the tooth fairy give for a baby tooth? A: One whole dollar. Baby teeth are precious even if they are tiny.), oral hygiene tips, tooth fairy tales, the brush-along song, and several links to other dental sites such as Virtual Periodontology.
http://www.fdi.org.uk/about/index.htm
Home page of FDI World Dental Federation. Links to FDI World Dental Press for books and to the International Dental Journal where abstracts of articles from 2000 can be viewed. This site also hosts the "ultimate dental events calendar" and details about the activities of the FDI, which cover every aspect of dentistry and take place all over the world.
http://www.harcourt-international.com
Link to Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery and British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (Go to Journals, search keyword dental) This site also allows perusal of health science and medical titles specific to dentistry.
http://www.nohic.nidcr.nih.gov/
National Oral Health Information Clearinghouse is a resource for special care patients includes an oral health database and special care publications.
Site of the National Academies, "Advisers to the nation on science, engineering and medicine," includes subject index on biology, chemistry and environmental issues. Access to periodicals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Issues in Science and Technology and Beyond Discovery: The Path from Research to Human Benefit. Search mode and free full text of current and archive articles.
Site of Nature Publishing Company is highly interesting, but takes a little bit of time to navigate. It provides links to a vast array of journals on genetics, molecular cell biology, biotechnology, and immunology. Visitors can view current journals, but archive searches require opening an account. This site also provides links to specialist journals such as the British Journal of Pharmacology and Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (registration required).
Dental Vaccine Shows Preclinical Success
Researchers at the Forsyth Institute have discovered a potentially important antigen for a vaccine against dental caries.
The antigen, reported in the July issue of Infection and Immunity, gives rise to greater immune response than do many previously tested antigens and strengthens an already powerful case for embarking on clinical trials for a caries vaccine.
The ultimate goal of the research team, led by Martin Taubman, DDS, PhD, and Daniel Smith, PhD, is to find a way to prevent tooth decay throughout life by administering an anti-caries vaccine to children aged 12 to 24 months.
"Despite the great advances in caries research over the past few decades, dental decay remains the major infectious disease that affects children worldwide," according to Dominick P. DePaola, DDS, PhD, president and CEO of the Forsyth Institute. "A vaccine for caries would be extraordinarily exciting because it could free tens of millions of children from the ravages of dental disease."
The newly reported antigen is the key component in a new formulation of a mucosal vaccine that can be squirted into the nose, rather than injected or swallowed like some other vaccines. This vaccine and others developed at Forsyth have proved effective in preclinical trials.
The researchers have previously received approval to enter clinical trials and are currently seeking support or partners to produce the vaccine.
Study Says Laser Decreases Surface Cavities
Lasers used as an enamel and dentin "conditioner" in place of acid etching can provide additional protection against carious attack, according to a study in the American Journal of Dentistry, February 2001.
Researchers at the University of Granada in Spain and the University of Texas found that laser treatment showed a 56 percent decrease in coronal outer primary surface caries lesion mean depth, compared to acid etching.
The article notes that previous studies have shown that etched enamel margins followed by bonding and composite placement inhibits progression of secondary caries at the restoration interface. The researchers say that it may be possible that laser treatment affects lesion progression to a greater degree than acid-etched conditioning.
According to the authors, the exact mechanism of caries prevention with laser irradiation was not addressed in their study. They speculate that acid resistance might be caused by a reduction of enamel permeability and solubility.
They conclude that further studies are necessary to establish a definitive mechanism of caries resistance for laser-irradiated surfaces.
Acupuncture Can Control Gag Reflex
British dental researchers found success in controlling patients’ gag reflex using ear acupuncture, allowing treatment of patients whose reflex reaction has kept them from visiting the dentist, according to study results published in the June 9 issue of the British Dental Journal.
For the study, 10 people agreed to try ear acupuncture to control gagging during a dental treatment. Four of the patients had severe gag reflexes that made treatment impossible while the other six had reflex reactions severe enough to make treatment possible only under sedation.
Acupuncture needles were inserted into a specific "anti-gagging" point on each ear, adjusted briefly, and left in place during the dental procedure. Procedures ranged from tooth extraction to tongue biopsy.
With the help of ear acupuncture, all of the patients got through their dental procedures successfully, the researchers report. The acupuncture completely controlled the gag reflex in eight of the cases and partially controlled the reflex in the other two cases. The acupuncture procedure added just two to three minutes to the patients’ chair time.
How the acupuncture quells the gag reflex is unclear, according to the researchers. They said the needle stimulation may block certain nerve pathways. One of the main nerves involved in swallowing also supplies the part of the ear where the anti-gagging acupuncture point is located.
They also note that further research is needed to determine whether acupuncture's benefit could stem in part from the so-called "placebo effect," where the power of suggestion helps the patient psychologically overcome a problem.
Federation Changes Name to Special Care Dentistry
The Federation of Special Care Organizations in Dentistry has reorganized and changed its name. Now called Special Care Dentistry, the organization comprises the membership and resources of three former Federation subgroups: the American Association of Hospital Dentists, the Academy of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities, and the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry.
According to SCD officials, the reorganization will bring "a renewed focus to and address the significant oral health disparities between people with special needs compared to other the members of the population."
Dr. Ray A. Lyons, SCD president, says Special Care Dentistry’s new name reflects the board’s desire to create a new image for the organization.
Scientists Identify New Gene Tied to Oral Cancer
A newly identified gene appears to play a key role in the development of oral cancer, according to scientists at the University of Alabama’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The new oncogene, GKLF, shows only a limited expression in normal cells but is over-expressed in virtually all cancers of the oral cavity and 70 percent of breast carcinomas, the scientists said. Further research confirms the expression of GKLF is unique to cancers of the oral cavity and breast and not a general growth pattern in all types of cancer.
Working with a mouse model at the Cancer Center’s Transgenic Animal Facility, the scientists were also able to identify the cancer-causing role of the oncogene.
"When we caused the mice to over-express GKLF, their skin underwent increased cell proliferation, developed early changes of malignancy and finally overt cancer," says Dr. Michael J. Ruppert, who leads the team of researchers responsible for the discovery. "This animal model confirms the ability of GKLF to induce both early and overt cancer."
"Increased expression of specific oncogenes in tumor cells can result from genetic alterations of the oncogene or of the mechanisms that regulate its expression," Rupert says. "This new oncogene will be a therapeutic target for drug discovery and other treatment strategies."
After Drug Use Ends, Cocaine Craving Gets Stronger Over Time
Using an animal model of drug craving in laboratory rats, researchers at the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse have found that craving for cocaine seems to increase, rather than decrease, in the days and months after drug use has stopped.
"This phenomenon helps explain why addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease," says Institute Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner. "Craving is a powerful force for cocaine addicts to resist, and the finding that it persists long after last drug use must be considered in tailoring treatment programs."
The research team, which included Drs. Jeff Grimm, Bruce Hope, Roy Wise, and Yavin Shaham, published its findings in the July 12, 2001, issue of Nature.
In the study, the scientists found that sensitivity to drug-associated environmental cues that often accompany drug craving, and relapse increased over a 60-day withdrawal period. Cocaine craving was inferred from the behavior of rats trained to press a lever to receive intravenous cocaine injections. Once the animals had learned to associate the lever-pressing with receiving cocaine, they were tested under conditions where they could continue to press the lever, but no longer received cocaine.
In humans, drug-associated environmental cues often stimulate cocaine craving and accompany relapse to drug-using behavior. The NIDA investigators wrote in their report to Nature that "The data from this study suggest that an individual is most vulnerable to relapse to cocaine use well beyond the acute drug withdrawal phase."
Quitting Smoking Harder for Women Than For Men
A review of numerous research studies focusing on smoking cessation has concluded that while women may suffer greater relative risks of smoking-related diseases than do men, they tend to have less success than men in quitting smoking.
Dr. Kenneth A. Perkins from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine conducted the review and offers several reasons for this disparity in a paper published in the May 2001 issue of CNS Drugs.
These research-based findings include:
* Nicotine replacement therapy may not be as effective for women.
* Women smokers are more fearful than men of gaining weight if they quit.
* Medications to aid smoking cessation are not recommended for pregnant women.
* A woman’s menstrual cycle affects tobacco withdrawal symptoms, and responses to antismoking drugs may vary by cycle phase.
* Husbands may provide less effective support to women who are trying to quit smoking than wives give to husbands.
"According to the recent report on women and smoking by the surgeon general, 3 million women have died from smoking-related diseases since 1980. Currently, women suffer 39 percent of all smoking-related deaths," says Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. "Given the greater relative risk of women to incur smoking-related diseases, it is clear that we must find better approaches to help women break their nicotine addiction."
Perkins says that one of the intriguing observations that emerged from his review is that some forms of nicotine replacement therapy may not be as effective in women as in men. In some of the studies he reviewed, women had less treatment success using nicotine gum or nicotine patches than did men.
In contrast, other stop-smoking medications may more effective in women than in men. Because negative mood is more likely to precipitate smoking relapse in women than in men, Perkins suggests that use of antidepressant medications for smoking cessation could be more effective in women than men.
Perkins concludes that developing smoking cessation interventions that address the gender-specific concerns of women smokers could increase the success rate among women who are trying to stop smoking.
Upcoming Meetings
2001
Sept. 6-9 American Academy of Pain Management Annual Clinical Meeting, Arlington, Va., (209) 533-9744, www.aapainmanage.org
Sept. 14-16 CDA Scientific Session, San Francisco, (916) 443-3382, Ext. 4470
Sept. 27-Oct. 1 FDI World Dental Congress, + 44 207 935 7852, www.fdi.org.uk
Sept. 30-Oct. 3 Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Annual Session, Honolulu, (800) 445-8667
Oct. 5-7 Hispanic Dental Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, (800) 852-7921
Oct. 6-10 American Academy of Periodontology Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, (312) 573-3210
Oct. 13-17 ADA Annual Session, Kansas City, (312) 440-2500.
Nov.3 Association of Managed Care Dentists Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, (310) 453-3439. www.amcd.org
Nov. 4-10 U.S. Dental Tennis Association Annual Meeting, Palm Desert, Calif., (800) 445-2524
2002
April 4-7 CDA Scientific Session, Anaheim, (916) 443-3382, Ext. 4470
April 12-14 International Dental Exhibition and Meeting, Singapore, 212 -974-8835, www.idem2002.com
Sept. 27-29 CDA Scientific Session, San Francisco, (916) 443-3382, Ext. 4470.
Oct. 19-23 ADA Annual Session, New Orleans, (312) 440-2500.
To have a meeting included on this list, please send the information to Upcoming Meetings, CDA Journal, P.O. Box 13749, Sacramento, CA 95853 or fax the information to (916) 443-2943.
