Dear Cosmetic Dentistry Insider,
After months of orthodontic treatment, your patient's teeth are straight and now it is mostly up to them to keep it that way. Unfortunately, you can give patients all the instructions you want about regular retainer use after treatment, but there is no way to guarantee compliance.
But a new study in the American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics has found that although compliance rates tended to decrease over time, most patients continued to wear their retainers at least one night per week. Read more in our latest Cosmetics Insider Exclusive.
Also in this issue: With access to care and healthcare reform such hot-button issues these days, a recent study in the Journal of the American Dental Association highlights another underserved population U.S. policymakers should pay more attention to: Medicaid patients with malocclusion. Click here for details.
In other Cosmetics Community news, many U.S. dental boards have condemned the practice of teeth-whitening services offered by nondentists; now the New Jersey Dental Association has filed a lawsuit against a tanning salon chain that offers the service. Read more.
On the clinical front, a single set of color difference standards is unlikely to work in dental prosthesis fabrication, so practitioners may need to take factors such as skin and gingival color into account, according to a new study in the Journal of Dental Research. Click here to learn more.
And while the science on the incidence of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw remains murky, researchers have found that occurrences of the condition may be rare in patients receiving once-yearly infusions of 5 mg of intravenous zoledronic acid. Read more.
Meanwhile, next time you are torn between recommending in-office or at-home teeth whitening for your patients, consider this: A new study concluded that both techniques produce satisfactory and long-lasting bleaching results.
Finally, the zinc-containing denture cream controversy has resurfaced as attorneys requested a delay in a lawsuit filed against GlaxoSmithKline and Procter and Gamble that alleges their denture adhesives can cause numerous health problems and that the manufacturers failed to properly warn consumers about the risks. Click here to read more.
And Align Technology is working to resolve issues with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after the agency sent a letter warning to the company stating that it had not complied with federal reporting requirements and had not disclosed enough information about patients who suffered serious side effects after using its clear aligner products. Read details from the letter, and Align's response, here.
