Dear Cosmetic Dentistry Insider,
White-spot lesions (WSLs) are a common complication of orthodontic treatment but their presence can result in a negative perception of the treating orthodontist by the patient's general dentist, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Dental Association.
The study authors surveyed 191 general dentists and 305 orthodontists and found that 69% of general dentists had treated WSLs during the previous year and 37% of orthodontists had removed braces because of patients' poor oral hygiene.
Read more results in this latest Cosmetic Dentistry Insider Exclusive.
In other Cosmetics Community news, has the overwhitening phenomenon reached the kindergarten set? A recent encounter with a young patient and his overzealous parents prompted DrBicuspid.com columnist Sheri Doniger to wonder what oral hygiene lessons they are teaching. Click here to read more.
Meanwhile, the America Medical Association filed a legal brief on May 17 challenging the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's antitrust enforcement action against the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners regarding nondentists offering teeth-whitening services. Read more.
Also, television personality Brooke Burke is teaming up with Dreyer's ice cream for the new Reason to Smile campaign, launched June 6 to raise awareness and funds for Operation Smile.
In business news, MoGo Sport, which last year launched a line of colorful flavored mouthguards for athletes of all ages, has now introduced a line of flavored laminates specifically for dental offices to create custom mouthguards for their patients. Click here.
And Swiss dental implants maker Straumann spent $277 million for a 49% stake in Brazil's Neodent to expand into the booming South American market for cosmetic surgery. Read more.
On the clinical front, at-home bleaching using 6% hydrogen peroxide is effective in removing stains caused by coffee or cigarette smoke, according to a study in the Journal of the American Dental Association. But some restaining potential remains, the researchers noted.
And a team of German researchers has identified seven quantifiable parameters that can be used for the assessment of dentofacial aesthetics, according to a literature review in the Journal of the American Dental Association that looked at how aesthetics can be evaluated in restorative dentistry.
Finally, the effect of bleaching on tooth enamel has been widely studied and reported, but not the quantification of mineral loss in vivo. A new study found that bleaching gels do not alter calcium and phosphorus concentrations on the enamel surface. Read more.
