Ky. clinic improves HNC care; no link between obesity, periodontitis?

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Kentucky has a higher rate of head and neck cancer (HNC) than the U.S. average, and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville is among a growing number of facilities working to improve care for HNC patients through a collaborative approach that emphasizes patients' quality of life during and after treatment.

Click here to read more about the center and some of its unique treatment approaches, which include intraoral radiation shields and surgical obturators.

Meanwhile, in Hygiene Community news, an analysis of data from a Canadian health survey did not find a significant association between obesity and periodontitis, which is in stark contrast to previous studies that found at least a 35% increased risk for periodontitis among obese individuals. Read more about this study, which was presented last week at the University of Toronto Dental Research Institute's 2013 Research Day.

Finally, over in the Cosmetics Community, a 69-year-old New York woman has succeeded in her efforts to hold Merck, makers of the osteoporosis drug Fosamax, accountable for her osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and related health issues. This is only the second of seven Fosamax/ONJ lawsuits in which Merck has not triumphed.