With economic pressures affecting millions of Americans, dentists may have noticed a drop in patients opting for a brighter smile, but they are seeing another phenomenon: a rise in the number of teeth grinders. “I’m seeing a lot more people that are anxious, stressed out and very concerned about their financial futures and they’re taking it out on their teeth,” said Dr. Steven Butensky, a dentist with a specialty in prosthodontics (aesthetic, implant and reconstructive dentistry) in Manhattan. One of his patients lost hundreds of thousands of dollars invested with Bernard L. Madoff. Another reported that he had lost a job with a seven-figure salary. A third, a single mother with a floral design business on Long Island, said she was working twice as hard for half as much.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Education

Numerous dental implant company`s have sprung up over the last 3 years that aim to deliver either very similar designs or almost direct copies of established company`s design. These clone implants are often substantially less expense i.e. 1/4 the cost of full service dental implant company`s implants. In addition to mimicking the implant, they have also expanded into compatible prosthetic parts and coverscrews. Especially prominent clone makers Blue Sky Bio (Clone: Straumann, Nobel Biocare and Zimmer) and Dr. Niznick`s Implant Direct (Clone: Straumann, Nobel Biocare, Astra, Zimmer, 3i) are an attractive temptation during less sunny economic times. With some newer designs from the large manufacturers costing close to $500US for the implant and coverscrew, the $100US "out the door" pricing argument of the clone makers is compelling.
The Large Manufacturer`s Argument: We invest huge sums in R&D, Service and Support so we want a return on our investment.
The Clones` Argument: Marketing+Distribution+Recruitment of Opinion Leaders = 50% the cost of overhead - we dispense with that and pass on the savings to the dentist.
Both are reasonable arguments. One thing is for sure, competition is never a bad thing.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Dental Implant Industry

Anna Tampieri at the Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics, Faenza, and colleagues have turned wood into bone mimics that could be used to repair damaged limbs. The Italian scientists were inspired by nature`s highly organised hierarchial structures to make porous hydroxyapatite scaffolds with structures similar to that of real bone. The scaffolds `pave the way for realising prosthetic devices which could get closer to the extraordinary performance of human tissues`, they claim. The team heated the wood to decompose the organic parts that make up most of its weight, leaving behind the carbon template. They reacted the template first with calcium, then oxygen and then carbon dioxide to form calcium carbonate. Finally, they converted it to hydroxyapatite using a phosphate donor. The material keeps its original microstructure, exploiting the unique architectural properties of the wood`s cellular make-up, explains Tampieri. This means cells and blood vessels can grow through the structure and incorporate it into the original bone.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Bone Grafting

The New York Times health section recently published an informative article on the trend away from using bridges to replace missing teeth and toward replacement with dental implants. The comments section of this article is also particularly lively and well-worth reading.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Education

The Powertome 100S from Westport Medical is a powered periotome used in the extraction of teeth. It features a powered periotome blade that is precisely guided in the periodontal ligament by a microprocessor controlled, solenoid actuator. It features a footswitch activated handle similar to other dental hand pieces and the operation, actuation and sterilization are therefore intuitive.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Extraction

A former US Army orthropedic surgeon, Dr. Timothy Kuklo, previously accused of falsifying a study on a bone growth product used on severely injured Iraq war veterans has resigned his teaching position at Washington University in St. Louis. He was placed on leave earlier this year while the university investigated charges against him. Medtronic, a maker of the bone growth product Infuse, also suspended his consulting contract. The company paid him nearly $800,000 the last few years. An investigation last year by Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where Dr. Kuklo worked before joining the university, concluded that he had falsified parts of a study that claimed greater benefits than other Army surgeons reported for the Medtronic bone growth product. The Army reported its findings to the university and a medical journal. Dr. Kuklo was also found to have forged the signatures of four listed co-authors, who told Army investigators that they did not approve the study. The British Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery retracted the study earlier this year

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Tel Aviv University researcher Prof. Noam Eliaz of the TAU School of Mechanical Engineering has developed an electrochemical process for coating metal implants which vastly improves their functionality, longevity and integration into the body. "The surface chemistry, structure and morphology of our new coatings resemble biological material," explains Prof. Eliaz. "We`ve been able to enhance the integration of the coating with the mineralized tissue of the body, allowing more peoples` bodies to accept implants." His new coating resulted in a 33% decrease in the level of materials failure, or delamination, in these implants. The next-generation coating will include nano-particles to reinforce the coating. It will also have the potential to incorporate biological material or drugs during the process itself.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Implant Surface

Patients who subconsciously take out stress on their teeth at night is nothing new. But the recession is. A periodontist, Dr. David Samuels reports that he can practically see the impact of the economy in his patients’ X-rays. “On these films right here that we’re looking at, this area right here represents the top of the tooth – a fracture of the top of the tooth from clenching and grinding,” Samuels says. “You also see flattened surfaces on tops of the teeth. And then if you look down here below, you’ll see the bone loss associated with clenching and grinding. So even on the X-rays, you can see evidence, if you will, of increased stress in someone’s life. And we do see more of that now than we used to.” About twice as much. Samuels is also the head of the Massachusetts Dental Society. A survey of its 5,000 members reveals business from stress-related tooth injuries has generally doubled. The most common remedy for teeth grinding is a preventative bite guard. Generic ones you can buy a drugstore cost about $25. Samuels says they’re better than nothing. But he recommends custom-fit ones.

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Martin Jones, 42-year-old builder, was left blind after an accident at work more than a decade ago. After a remarkable operation in which part of his tooth was implanted in his eye, he can now regain some of his lost sight. The procedure involved taking a minute section of a patient`s tooth, reshaping and chiselling through to grip the man-made lens which was then placed in its core. It is implanted under an eyelid where it become covered in tissue. The process required a living tooth as an implant because doctors suggest there are chances the eye would reject a plastic equivalent. So a canine - which is the best option due to its shape and size - was taken out of Mr Jones` mouth. A patch of skin is then taken from the inside of the cheek and placed in the eye for two months, where it gradually acquires its own blood supply. The tooth segment is finally transplanted into the eye socket. The flap of grafted skin is then partially lifted from the eye and placed over its new sturdy base. Finally, surgeons cut a hole in the grafted cornea to let light through.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Implant Design

Manhattan Scientifics has announced that its NanoTitanium product has been approved by the FDA. The patented new form of titanium metal originally developed by Russian scientists in concert with scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is expected to significantly improve dental implants. Studies have shown that bone integrates with these new metals up to 20 times faster than with conventional metals. Patients should experience shorter post surgery healing times and a more reliable integration of these new implants into their body. NanoTitanium is highly compatible with bone and is thought to provide stronger, faster bonding with improved strength, biocompatibility, longer life and improved wear and tear. Founded in 2001, Metallicum (recently acquired by Manhattan Scientifics) has developed methods to modify the microstructure of metals by “nanostructuring” them. This procedure simultaneously increases the biocompatibility and strength of virtually any metal. For example, nanostructuring pure titanium (the material that is most commonly used in dental implants) can more than double its strength, making it stronger than most existing titanium alloys. The ability of bone cells to attach to nanostructured pure titanium surfaces at rates greater than 100% higher than with conventional alloys enables the development and marketing of a dental implant that can be fully integrated and useable with half the healing time of existing products.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Implant Design