DrBicuspid.com Hygiene Insider

Dear Hygiene Insider,

Now that the 2012 Summer Olympics have officially started, we spoke with British dentist Tony Clough, BDS, who was instrumental in setting up the dental care program for the games.

Dr. Clough discussed the facilities and services available at the dental clinic, the particular challenges of providing care at such an event, and the importance of oral health for athletes.

Read more in this latest Hygiene Insider Exclusive.

In other Hygiene Community new, the midlevel dental provider model is not economically realistic or sustainable, according to a series of reports released today by the ADA. But a Minnesota program that is tracking the productivity of its dental therapists begs to differ. Read more.

Meanwhile, the American Dental Hygienists' Association and its more than 150,000 members were up in arms over misleading statements made about the profession July 6 on a TV talk show -- namely, that you don't have to have a college degree to become a registered dental hygienist.

And a proposal in Virginia to allow dental assistants II to use high-speed instruments was turned down by the state dental board following heated debate in the dental community over concerns of patient safety. Click here.

In business news, Valeant Pharmaceuticals is acquiring OraPharma, makers of Arestin and other oral health products, from Water Street Healthcare Partners for approximately $312 million. The deal marks Valeant's first foray into the dental market. Read more.

Also, a physician, a nurse, and a dentist have joined forces to create a series of seminars aimed at getting dentists and physicians to better understand the need for a collaborative approach to screening patients at risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

On the clinical front, a study in the Journal of Periodontology has added clinical support to recent publications suggesting a need for standardized terminology when diagnosing periodontitis to improve treatment outcomes.

Also, studies examining the link between psoriasis and oral health have suggested there is a connection. But a new study in the Journal of Periodontology found no difference in the experience or risk of dental caries and periodontitis between those with or without psoriasis. Click here to read details.

And researchers from the University of New York at Buffalo have found that patients with a history of periodontitis who develop head and neck squamous cell carcinoma are more likely to have human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive tumors. Read more.

Meanwhile, a new study in Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology has found that excessive cellphone use can induce functional and volumetric changes in the parotid gland.

And two decades' worth of research has concluded that women are more sensitive to pain and experience more chronic orofacial pain, according to a clinical review in the July Journal of the American Dental Association. The question is, why?

Also, do children of unhappy couples have poorer oral health? Ongoing research being conducted at New York University suggests there is a correlation, and a new program seeks to prevent patterns of poor oral health maintenance from developing in these at-risk families.

Finally, a study published in the journal Circulation supports revised American Heart Association guidelines for who should and shouldn't receive preventive antibiotics prior to undergoing an invasive dental procedure. Read more.