Product Update: Listerine Smart Rinse

LISTERINE® SMART RINSE™ is a post-brush anticavity fluoride rinse for kids six and up that helps clean and protect teeth beyond brushing alone. The MAGNETIC CLEANING ACTION™ attracts particles, showing kids what brushing may have missed.

http://www.listerine.com/product-smart-rinse.jsp

Arizona Dental Facts & Demographics

According to research conducted by Oral Health America in 2002, Arizona ranked low at 44 out of 50 states for the ratio of dental providers to people. Arizona has one dentist for every 2,520 residents, while the group reported a sufficient ratio is one dentist to 2,000 people. In addition, there also is an uneven distribution of providers in urban areas compared with a less than sufficient number of oral healthcare providers in rural areas of the state.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizonans have a higher rate of oral disease than the national average. Both Arizona children and seniors are part of the growing underserved indicated by alarming statistics, including:
31percent of Arizona children have never had a dental check-up.
43 percent of Arizona children ages 6 to 8 have untreated tooth decay, compared to the national average of 31percent .
65 percent of Arizona children between the ages of 11 to 13 have had tooth decay.
42 percent of Arizona seniors have bleeding gums and/or calculus present requiring professional care.


U.S. employment projections through 2014:

For every three dentists that retire, only two dentists enter the profession

Demand for dental care will be strong as generations age while retaining their teeth longer, which increases demand for complex dental work and preventive care Median Salary (2003):
$177,340 General Dentist
$300,200 Specialist

Product Update: MI Paste

Teeth need calcium, phosphate and fluoride. Healthy saliva contains these minerals, and in conjunction with certain salivary proteins is able to deliver bio-available calcium and phosphate to the tooth surface during the demineralization/remineralization process. Calcium and phosphate are known to help:

Strengthen tooth enamel
Reduce sensitivity
Buffer plaque acid

MI Paste contains RECALDENT™ (CPP-ACP). This technology has a unique ability to deliver bio-available calcium and phosphate when they are needed most. MI Paste binds calcium and phosphate to tooth surfaces, plaque and surrounding soft tissue. The RECALDENT™ (CPP-ACP) technology releases the calcium and phosphate when a patient’s saliva is acid challenged by the normal digestive process.

The Children's Dental Health Project

Why should we advocate for children's oral health? Promoting oral health for children, especially children under the age of three, is key to preventing chronic oral disease. Although most American's do not view oral disease as a disease similar to diabetes or heart disease, oral disease is the number one childhood chronic condition - five times more common than asthma and seven time more common than hay fever. Dispelling the myth that oral health is strictly a cosmetic issue is important to children's future, especially to spare them from a life-long struggle with chronic disease and pain. Addressing oral health as part of a broader health policy or children's agenda allows for a greater focus on understanding and influencing the infrastructure or systems that affects many, not just one individual at a time.

http://www.cdhp.org/

National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center

The purpose of the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) is to respond to the needs of states and communities in addressing current and emerging public oral health issues. OHRC supports health professionals, program administrators, educators, policymakers, and others with the goal of improving oral health services for infants, children, adolescents, and their families. The resource center collaborates with federal, state, and local agencies; national and state organizations and associations; and foundations to gather, develop, and share quality and valued information and materials.

http://www.mchoralhealth.org/default.html

Bright Futures

Bright Futures is a national health promotion and disease prevention initiative that addresses children's health needs in the context of family and community. In addition to use in pediatric practice, many states implement Bright Futures principles, guidelines and tools to strengthen the connections between state and local programs, pediatric primary care, families, and local communities. Whether you are a health care or public health professional, a parent, or a child advocate, Bright Futures offers many different resources for your use in improving and maintaining the health of all children and adolescents.

For more info click below:
http://www.brightfutures.aap.org/

Cleft lip/palate repair

Treatment

Cleft lip and palate is very treatable; however, the kind of treatment depends on the type and severity of the cleft.
Most children with a form of clefting are monitored by a pedistric dentist with a craniofacial team through young adulthood. Care can be lifelong. Treatment procedures can vary between craniofacial teams. For example, some teams wait on jaw correction until the child is aged 10 to 12 (argument: growth is less influential as deciduous teeth are replaced by permanent teeth, thus saving the child from repeated corrective surgeries), while other teams correct the jaw earlier (argument: less speech therapy is needed than at a later age when speech therapy becomes harder). Within teams, treatment can differ between individual cases depending on the type and severity of the cleft.

Cleft lip treatment

Within the first 2-3 months after birth, surgery is performed to close the cleft lip. While surgery to repair a cleft lip can be performed soon after birth, the often preferred age is at approximately 10 weeks of age, following the "rule of 10s" coined by surgeons Wilhelmmesen and Musgrave in 1969 (the child is at least 10 weeks of age; weighs at least 10 pounds, and has at least 10g haemoglobin). If the cleft is bilateral and extensive, two surgeries may be required to close the cleft, one side first, and the second side a few weeks later.
Often an incomplete cleft lip requires the same surgery as complete cleft. This is done for two reasons. Firstly the group of muscles required to purse the lips run through the upper lip. In order to restore the complete group a full incision must be made. Secondly, to create a less obvious scar the surgeon tries to line up the scar with the natural lines in the upper lip (such as the edges of the philtrum) and tuck away stitches as far up the nose as possible. Incomplete cleft gives the surgeon more tissue to work with, creating a more supple and natural-looking upper lip.

Cleft palate treatment

Often a cleft palate is temporarily closed using a palatal obturator. The obturator is a prosthetic device made to fit the roof of the mouth covering the gap.
Cleft palate can also be corrected by surgery, usually performed between 6 and 12 months. Approximately 20-25% only require one palatal surgery to achieve a competent velopharyngeal valve capable of producing normal, non-hypernasal speech. However, combinations of surgical methods and repeated surgeries are often necessary as the child grows. One of the new innovations of cleft lip and cleft palate repair is the Latham appliance. The Latham is surgically inserted by use of pins during the child's 4th or 5th month. After it is in place, the doctor, or parents, turn a screw daily to bring the cleft together to assist with future lip and/or palate repair.
If the cleft extends into the maxillary alveolar ridge, the gap is usually corrected by filling the gap with bone tissue. The bone tissue can be acquired from the patients own chin, rib or hip.