Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome (Temporomandibular Disorders)

Temporomandibular disorder(s) (TMD), or temporomandibular joint syndrome, is the most common cause of facial pain after toothache. In the past, many physicians called this condition TMJ disease or TMJ syndrome. TMD was previously known under the eponymous title of Costen syndrome, after Dr. James Costen, who elucidated many aspects of the syndrome as it relates to dental malocclusion. Today, a much more comprehensive view of this condition exists, and the term temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is the preferred term according to the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) and most other groups who sponsor studies into its origins and treatment.

Interestingly, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) puts TMJ and TMD together and refers to them as temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD). However, the term TMD is preferred and used in this article.

How to have a beautiful smile without pain?

Many people want to be beautiful and look pleasant. To achieve this pleasant look, many focus on their smiles. The best part of a beautiful smile is beautiful teeth. Beautiful teeth start by being healthy. To keep teeth healthy, one should pay attention to overall oral health.
Where would one go for assistance with oral health problems or to obtain oral health? To the dentist, of course. But some people are afraid to do so. They have variety of reasons why. Some are rational but slightly fearful, while others have high anxiety and some have dental phobia.

 People can take care of their oral health themselves, but it's very important to have expert guidance in doing so. People should not let their fear get in the way of having good oral health. A skilled sedation dentist can help patients who are afraid of the pain from dental procedures. With this, pain is no longer an accompaniment of dental procedures.

How To Whiten Your Teeth At Home?

Beautiful smile – is, first of all, healthy, white teeth. Modern successful person must have beautiful white teeth – it is an axiom!Tooth whitening – a procedure that is often used as smokers and coffee lovers, as habits lead to yellowing of the teeth. The color of the enamel and also affects the quality of daily cleaning of teeth, many of us do it hastily, and as a result of not fully cleaned enamel also becomes yellow. Dentists recommend brushing for at least three minutes. After cleaning the surface quality should not be flying food (most often it remains at the bottom of the teeth, gums near), which leads to the appearance of stone and yellow enamel.

Contrary to popular belief, white teeth – not a sign of increased calcium content and oral health, and genetic predisposition. Achieve whiteness of teeth can also be regularly using whitening toothpaste. It is interesting to learn that the most robust and rich in calcium enamel, in fact, has a yellowish tint.

Dental Management of the Organ Transplant Patients

Every year, more than 28,000 transplantation procedures are performed in the United States to replace solid organs, including the heart, intestine, kidney, liver, lung, and pancreas. Patients with conditions including end-stage renal disease, severe diabetes, advanced heart disease, and liver disease may undergo transplant procedures. Because advances in medical techniques and drug therapy have extended lives of organ transplant recipients, you may treat some of these patients in your practice.

 Organ transplant patients need specialized dental care. The compromised health and immune system of patients place them at increased risk for systemic as well as oral infections. This fact must be considered when planning dental treatment before and after transplantation and requires consultation with your patient’s physician.

Tooth Infection Kills Unemployed Man!

An unemployed man died last week because he couldn't afford treatment for his infected third molar, according to news reports.
Citing physicians and family remembers, Cincinnati's WLWT television station said the infection killed 24-year-old Kyle Willis when it spread from his tooth to his brain.
Dentists advised Willis, the nephew of funk bass player Bootsy Collins, to have the tooth extracted 2 weeks earlier, but Willis had no insurance and decided to wait, according to the report.

"He should have gone to the dentist to take care of the toothache, and it wouldn't have escalated to this. It's a lesson learned by all," said Willis' aunt, Patti Collins.
Suffering from headaches and swelling, Willis later visited an emergency department, where he got prescriptions for antibiotics and analgesics.

Rinse By Chlorhexidine Do Not Help Caries

Chlorhexidine and thymol in a varnish can prevent root caries, but chlorhexidine rinse is probably useless against caries of all kinds. This finding is perhaps the biggest surprise in a comprehensive review of nonfluoride caries-preventive agents performed by a panel of the American Dental Association (ADA) and published in summary in the September issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, with a more detailed report available on the organization's Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry Web site.

"We are moving toward management of caries as a chronic condition, rather than putting in a filling and watching until it breaks," Michael Rethman, DDS, lead author of the review and vice president for scientific research at the ADA foundation.

Neurological Effects of Dental Amalgam Tooth Restorations

The research, conducted by researchers from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the University of Washington, Seattle, studied the possible neurological effects of dental amalgam tooth restorations.

Dental amalgam contains elemental mercury combined with other metals such as silver, copper, tin and zinc to form a safe, stable alloy. For generations, it has been used to fill decayed teeth that might otherwise have been lost.

In the seven-year long study, the researchers studied 507 children aged 8 through 12 years who received either amalgam or resin-based composite fillings.

The research team conducted routine clinical neurological examinations to assess two types of neurological signs: hard (indicating damage to specific neural structures) and soft (subtle signs of central nervous system dysfunction that likely point to immature sensory-motor skills rather than to any structural damage in the brain).