Late stage breast cancer on the rise in younger women

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The incidence of metastatic breast cancer – the most advanced stage of the disease – is on the rise in younger women between the ages of 25 and 39, an analysis of breast cancer trends revealed.
However, the slight increase is unique to the younger demographic, as the rising trend does not correspond to the older female population.
Conducted by researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle and St. Charles Health System in Bend, Ore., the study reveals a bizarre anomaly in cancer rates, which could have serious implications for women in this age group.
“It’s a concern because of the poor survival of metastatic breast cancer compared to other stages,” lead author Dr. Rebecca Johnson, a pediatric oncologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and University of Washington, told FoxNews.com.  “…Between patients who were diagnosed with (metastatic) disease and patients diagnosed with either regional or localized disease, the difference in survival is around 55 percent.”
Metastatic breast cancer, also called stage IV or distant disease, refers to the stage of breast cancer in which the disease has spread to distant organs – most notably the bone, the brain and the liver. While prognosis estimates for metastatic breast cancer have improved greatly over the years, the five-year survival rate for this stage of breast cancer is still fairly low at 23.8 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Breast cancer at 27
While working with the Livestrong Young Adult Alliance, Johnson and her research team began looking at common cancers among adolescents and adults, hoping to tease apart the reasons why the cancers in these age groups are unique.  Her motivation for looking at breast cancer trends specifically was sparked by a personal experience in her own life.
“I had breast cancer when I was 27,” Johnson said.  “After that I had friends who were diagnosed and friends of friends who were diagnosed, and it seemed like there was a surprisingly large number of young women who were getting breast cancer.”
Johnson and her colleagues obtained breast cancer trend records from three National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries.  The data ranges were from 1973 to 2009, 1992 to 2009, and 2000 to 2009, and information included incidence trends, survival rates as a function of age and the stage of the disease at diagnosis.
The researchers found the incidence of metastatic breast cancer has been rising steadily in women between the ages of 25 and 39 over the past 30 years, increasing from 1.53 per 100,000 in 1976 to 2.90 per 100,000 in 2009.  The rise translates to a 2.07 percent increase over the 34-year period.
While the increase may seem small, Johnson said statistically the rate is larger than they imagined and shows no evidence for decelerating.
“It’s a concern because the rate is increasing so fast, and our data shows that the trend appears to be accelerating over time,” Johnson said.  “And it’s increasing even faster in the most recent era.”
While the research doesn’t explain why the trend is occurring, Johnson believes there is likely an external cause – perhaps a lifestyle change in the population of younger women that is predisposing them to breast cancer.
“Perhaps there is some exposure to an environmental toxin that has changed over time,” Johnson said.  “We tried to understand if there was one known risk factor that was changing at the same rate as the incidence change for metastatic cancer, and we didn’t find such a risk factor.  So, we think it’s most likely that either the risk factor that’s behind this trend has not yet been described or is perhaps multi-factorial – meaning it takes several risk factors to explain the change.”
In the meantime, Johnson hopes the research will educate the population about the rising risks, since younger women typically do not believe themselves to be in danger of contracting breast cancer.  According to the American Cancer Society Guidelines, yearly mammogram screenings are generally not recommended for women under the age of 40, and breast self-exams are often the preferred detection method for women in their 20s.  
With the knowledge that such advanced breast cancer is on the rise in the younger population, both doctors and women themselves can hopefully be more aware of what is happening and potentially diagnose or start medical intervention earlier, Johnson said.  She feels that such awareness could potentially save a number of lives.
“We don’t know actually for a fact that an increased awareness would change the rates,” Johnson said, “but for any given woman, it’s possible that presenting for medical care earlier might change her particular story.”
The study was published in the Feb. 27 issue of JAMA.

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global child dental fund newsletter

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SEAL CAMBODIA ProgressPhases 2 and 3 of our project to save Cambodian children’s teeth took place in December and January. Following the successful first phase, which focused on coordinating the activities of the 5 participating organisations, training and capacity building, it was exciting to finally start treating children. To date, the teeth of 815 children from 5 schools have been sealed. Capacity for treatment in larger numbers is building quickly and we expect to be working with over 1000 children each month very soon.

And more.....

 

 

 

Fluoride: Necessary or too much of a good thing?

What is your opinion?

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• Community water fluoridation has been around for more than 65 years, and although proponents cite many benefits, the practice has come under fire recently as critics are questioning the amount our children are consuming – and if it’s even necessary.  
  Touted as one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, community water fluoridation has been shown to significantly decrease tooth decay. Systematic reviews conducted by the Community Preventive Services Task Force found that tooth decay in children ages 4 to 17 years old declined by 29 percent as a result of fluoride in the water.

  
  
  Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/20/fluoride-necessary-or-too-much-good-thing/#ixzz2LxErLglg
   
  
  

 

How Sweet It Is: Genes Show How Bacteria Colonized Human Teeth

EVOLUTION

Science 22 February 2013: 

Vol. 339 no. 6122 pp. 896-897 

DOI: 10.1126/science.339.6122.896

1. Ann Gibbons

When humans invented farming 10,000 years ago, they weren't the only ones to get a boost from the new starchy diet. Some microbes that had lurked at low levels in the mouths of hunter-gatherers bloomed on the sugary films coating the teeth of farmers who munched cereal grains. Eventually the cavity-causingStreptococcus mutans, for o ne, took root. It adapted to the sweet life, multiplying like a weed and edging out many other species of bacteria. That leaves the modern mouth a depauperate ecosystem, according to two new genetic studies.

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Ancient Teeth Bacteria Record Disease Evolution

Released: 2/14/2013 11:00 PM EST
Embargo expired: 2/17/2013 1:00 PM EST
Source Newsroom: University of Adelaide

Newswise — DNA preserved in calcified bacteria on the teeth of ancient human skeletons has shed light on the health consequences of the evolving diet and behaviour from the Stone Age to the modern day.

The ancient genetic record reveals the negative changes in oral bacteria brought about by the dietary shifts as humans became farmers, and later with the introduction of food manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution.

An international team, led by the University of Adelaide’s Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) where the research was performed, has published the results in Nature Geneticstoday. Other team members include the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge (UK).

“This is the first record of how our evolution over the last 7500 years has impacted the bacteria we carry with us, and the important health consequences,” says study leader Professor Alan Cooper, ACAD Director.

“Oral bacteria in modern man are markedly less diverse than historic populations and this is thought to contribute to chronic oral and other disease in post-industrial lifestyles.”

The researchers extracted DNA from tartar (calcified dental plaque) from 34 prehistoric northern European human skeletons, and traced changes in the nature of oral bacteria from the last hunter-gatherers, through the first farmers to the Bronze Age and Medieval times.

“Dental plaque represents the only easily accessible source of preserved human bacteria,” says lead author Dr Christina Adler, who conducted the research while a PhD student at the University of Adelaide, now at the University of Sydney.

“Genetic analysis of plaque can create a powerful new record of dietary impacts, health changes and oral pathogen genomic evolution, deep into the past.”

Professor Cooper says: “The composition of oral bacteria changed markedly with the introduction of farming, and again around 150 years ago. With the introduction of processed sugar and flour in the Industrial Revolution, we can see a dramatically decreased diversity in our oral bacteria, allowing domination by caries-causing strains. The modern mouth basically exists in a permanent disease state.”

Professor Cooper has been working on the project with archaeologist and co-Leader Professor Keith Dobney, now at the University of Aberdeen, for the past 17 years. Professor Dobney says: “I had shown tartar deposits commonly found on ancient teeth were dense masses of solid calcified bacteria and food, but couldn’t identify the species of bacteria. Ancient DNA was the obvious answer.”

However, the team was not able to sufficiently control background levels of bacterial contamination until 2007 when ACAD’s ultra-clean laboratories and strict decontamination and authentication protocols became available. The research team is now expanding its studies through time, and around the world, including other species such as Neandertals.

Photo caption:
Teeth of late Iron Age/Roman woman showing large dental calculus deposit, from Cambridge area, UK. Photo by Alan Cooper, University of Adelaide

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Spontaneous Bisphosphonate Induced Osteonecrosis of a Mid-Palatal Torus: A Case Report

Dwight E. McLeod, D.D.S., M.S.^*, Medha Gautam, Ph. D.^†, Elio Reyes, D.D.S., M.S.D.^*, Cyril Pandarakalam, B.D.S., M.D.S^‡, Bradley A. Seyer, D.D.S.^‡

[...]

Clinical Advances in Periodontics

Posted online on 12 Feb 2013

1-6

DOI: 10.1902/cap.2013.120106

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Bisphosphonates are commonly used in the United States primarily in post-menopausal women with a history of osteoporosis. Bisphosphonate therapy may result in bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of jaw (BRONJ). BRONJ is described as exposed bone in the maxillofacial region persisting for more than eight weeks in a patient who is taking, or has taken a bisphosphonate and has not had radiation therapy to the head and neck. The prevalence of BRONJ seems to vary depending on the mode and frequency of administration, drug potency, duration of treatment, and other factors.

Case Presentation: This paper reports on a case of bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis of a mid-palatal torus in a 77 year-old patient of African-European heritage who was previously treated for osteoporosis. The lesion appeared as a pustulated erythematous soft tissue mass with partially exposed bone covered in plaque. The lesion was surgically debrided using a modified flap procedure and sent for histopathologic analysis. Systemic antibiotics, pain medication, and antimicrobial mouth rinse were prescribed. The mid-palatal area healed without complications, and the histopathology was consistent with bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis with evidence of Actinomyces species.

Conclusions: With the widespread use of bisphosphonates and the prevalence of tori and/or exostoses, it is likely that clinicians may encounter a greater frequency of bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis of these poorly vascularized bony growths that may initiate from daily traumatic oral activities. Clinicians should communicate to their patients the potential dangers that necrosis may cause. Consequently, treatment should be decisive, urgent, and incorporate aggressive management.

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Are you protecting your license?

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by JOANN R. GURENLIAN, RDH, PhD

 

How many of us take the time to reflect on the value of our dental hygiene license and ensure its protection? We find ourselves working hard and sacrificing to successfully complete our dental hygiene education. We miss out on time with our family and friends to meet our requirements, stress over our national and regional board examinations, and Facebook our closest five hundred friends that we passed and have our dental hygiene license. It truly is a time for celebration.
Then, we get our clinical practice jobs, hang our license on a wall, and – what? Forget about it? Treasure it and everything it represents? Take it for granted?
Recently, I had the great joy of teaching an ethics and jurisprudence course to senior dental hygiene students. They understood key concepts, but were challenged by the idea that they could compromise their license. All too often they wanted to rely on their employers to make the tough decisions and to sacrifice their professional standards. It was a good learning experience for me to have to keep finding ways to reinforce the idea that their license would be in jeopardy based on their decisions.
Likewise, at a recent national conference, this issue was raised and our colleagues repeatedly seemed to want to rely on someone else to make decisions about periodontal treatment and prophylactic antibiotics. The discussion caused some concern because there was an over-reliance on others without taking professional responsibility. In addition, it appeared as though there was little recognition for the fact that our license has meaning for every patient, not just the ones that are medically complex or require antibiotic prophylaxis.
The reality is that when any person walks into the office, our license is on the line. If we neglect to provide a dental hygiene diagnosis and treatment plan with options, we are jeopardizing our license. If we do not offer our patients an informed consent and right of refusal, we jeopardize our license. If we shortchange our patients by providing less than our best in terms of professional standards, we jeopardize our license.
The time has long since arrived when we should stop taking a backseat to other health-care providers. We need to stand on our own two feet. We are quite capable of making important decisions on behalf of our patients. We can use the many guidelines that are available to us in conjunction with patient circumstances, confer with specialists as needed, and partner with our patients to discuss and arrive at appropriate decisions. Why then do we doubt ourselves? Why do we paint this picture of helplessness when we have the ability to be better?
I think there is an inherent quality among dental hygienists that can be disarming – we aim to please. In doing so, we often relegate our responsibilities to someone else. Many of us of a more “experienced” age grew up deferring. That might be the answer for some, but there was a time when we worked on being more liberated. Did we somehow forget to teach independence and critical thinking skills to our students? Did we not provide enough clinical experiences that challenged our students to think for themselves? Or are we fostering codependent behaviors? Are we still teaching our students to defer rather than assert? Are we still teaching students to rely on others to make decisions rather than themselves?
It may be time to reexamine how we teach professional skills to dental hygiene students. Imagine offering senior dental hygiene students the chance to create their own dental hygiene practices during their fall semester. They must identify their philosophy of practice, goals, and evaluation plan. During the spring semester, the students get to implement their practice models, testing their ideas, how they provide care to their patients, and assessing the effectiveness of what they do. They would bear the responsibility for the decisions they made throughout the process and be challenged to consider the scope of their responsibility, including ethical, moral, professional, legal, and practical issues. They would be asked to identify whether or not they protected their license or compromised it, and if they would do anything different in terms of care and documentation with each person treated.
While this concept may sound like a good idea in theory, don't be so quick to dismiss it as a reality. My colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University did this 20 years ago. We abandoned counting calculus (even though our accreditation consultants thought that was essential) and focused on giving the students an opportunity to develop decision-making and critical-thinking skills. We graduated skilled clinicians and professionals who could function and make sound decisions.
Now, let's take this idea one step further. Let's foster and support this level of growth and development among current practitioners. Let's change some of our professional education sessions so we can develop our own practice philosophies and practice parameters. Let's give ourselves the gift of meetings that focus on managing the challenges we face in practice that support our practice framework. Something tells me it would be a welcome change and well worth our time to invest in building confidence, solving professional issues, and helping us recognize our knowledge and abilities so we trust ourselves to be the decision makers for our clinical practice! RDH

Consider reading: How dental hygienists should plot their 2013 goalshttp://www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-33/issue-1/coumns/how-dental-hygienists-should-plot-their-2013-goals.html
Consider reading: What is an ideal dental practice?http://www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-32/volume-12/columns/ideology-to-reality.html
Consider reading: Yes, we can! http://www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-32/issue-10/columns/yes-we-can.html

JOANN R. GURENLIAN, RDH, PhD, is president of Gurenlian & Associates, and provides consulting services and continuing-education programs to health-care providers. She is a professor and interim dental hygiene graduate program director at Idaho State University, and president-elect of the International Federation of Dental Hygienists.

Association Between Maternal Use of Folic Acid Supplements and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children

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Pål Surén, MD, MPH; Christine Roth, MSc; Michaeline Bresnahan, PhD; Margaretha Haugen, PhD; Mady Hornig, MD; Deborah Hirtz, MD; Kari Kveim Lie, MD; W. Ian Lipkin, MD; Per Magnus, MD, PhD; Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud, MD, PhD; Synnve Schjølberg, MSc; George Davey Smith, MD, DSc; Anne-Siri Øyen, PhD; Ezra Susser, MD, DrPH; Camilla Stoltenberg, MD, PhD

 

Importance  Prenatal folic acid supplements reduce the risk of neural tube defects in children, but it has not been determined whether they protect against other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Objective  To examine the association between maternal use of prenatal folic acid supplements and subsequent risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) (autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified [PDD-NOS]) in children.
Design, Setting, and Patients  The study sample of 85 176 children was derived from the population-based, prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The children were born in 2002-2008; by the end of follow-up on March 31, 2012, the age range was 3.3 through 10.2 years (mean, 6.4 years). The exposure of primary interest was use of folic acid from 4 weeks before to 8 weeks after the start of pregnancy, defined as the first day of the last menstrual period before conception. Relative risks of ASDs were estimated by odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs in a logistic regression analysis. Analyses were adjusted for maternal education level, year of birth, and parity.
Main Outcome Measure  Specialist-confirmed diagnosis of ASDs.
Results  At the end of follow-up, 270 children in the study sample had been diagnosed with ASDs: 114 with autistic disorder, 56 with Asperger syndrome, and 100 with PDD-NOS. In children whose mothers took folic acid, 0.10% (64/61 042) had autistic disorder, compared with 0.21% (50/24 134) in those unexposed to folic acid. The adjusted OR for autistic disorder in children of folic acid users was 0.61 (95% CI, 0.41-0.90). No association was found with Asperger syndrome or PDD-NOS, but power was limited. Similar analyses for prenatal fish oil supplements showed no such association with autistic disorder, even though fish oil use was associated with the same maternal characteristics as folic acid use.
Conclusions and Relevance  Use of prenatal folic acid supplements around the time of conception was associated with a lower risk of autistic disorder in the MoBa cohort. Although these findings cannot establish causality, they do support prenatal folic acid supplementation.

Quantum dots deliver vitamin D to tumors for breast cancer treatment

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06 February 2013

Scientists have recently uncovered an experimental approach to fighting inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a very rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.

The new approach uses the active form of vitamin D3, calcitriol, which is delivered by quantum dots to IBC tumors in mice. Quantum dots are engineered, miniscule delivery vehicles which can maneuver directly to a tumor site.

Past epidemiological research show that women with low vitamin D levels at the time of breast cancer diagnosis are 94% more likely to experience cancer that spreads to other parts of their body, compared to women with adequate vitamin D status.

The latest discovery shows quantum dots can quickly transport high concentrations of calcitriol to targeted tumor locations, as well as through the lymph system where the cancer spreads.

IBC is especially aggressive and difficult to treat. It has a five year survival rate of 40% compared to 87% for all other breast cancers. A large factor which makes it difficult to catch and fully treat is its aggressive growth pattern. Past treatment options such as a combination of radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery have not significantly improved IBC survival rates.

“New IBC therapies are urgently needed, which is why the goal of my work is to find a successful treatment for inflammatory breast cancer, especially one with fewer side effects," author Anja Nohe concludes.

Sources

Nohe A, et al. Using calcitriol conjugated quantum dots to target inflammatory breast cancer tumors and metastasis in vivo. Presented at the 57^th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting.

Weiss ER. Quantum dots deliver vitamin D to tumors for possible inflammatory breast cancer treatment. Eurek Alert. Feb 2013.

Page last edited: 06 February 2013

Eggs: With or without vitamin D?

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Posted on February 8, 2013 by John Cannell, MD

The best and most natural way to get vitamin D is by sunbathing, or, when that is not possible, by taking supplements. However, most people will do neither and are thus severely vitamin D deficient. For that reason, enhanced dietary forms of vitamin D are desperately needed for the masses.
Wild-caught fatty fish, such as salmon and sardines are rich in vitamin D, although at about 700 IU per serving, one would have to eat about seven servings of fish per day to get enough vitamin D. Reindeer meat, sea gull eggs, and lichen are also rich sources of vitamin D, but they are not on many menus.
That brings us to food fortification. Many public health officials have contended that we need to have more foods enriched with vitamin D, especially when you consider how deficient some groups of people are in vitamin D.
One barrier to improving vitamin D status this method is that it is simply not possible to put large amounts of vitamin D in any one food, as safety issues arise for those consuming large quantities of that particular food. Thus increasing enrichment of a large variety of foods is important. For instance, several years ago, the idea of adding more vitamin D to cereal-grain products was recommended.
Newmark HL, Heaney RP, Lachance PA. Should calcium and vitamin D be added to the current enrichment program for cereal-grain products? Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Aug;80(2):264-70.
Another strategy is to try and increase the amount of vitamin D in foods that already have some vitamin D in them, naturally. Eggs are often listed as a rich source of vitamin D. Is that true?
According to the USDA, one large egg, which weighs about 50 g, contains approximately 50 IU vitamin D3, which is concentrated in the yolk. Dr Linxing Yao and colleagues of Iowa State University decided to see if they could increase the amount of vitamin D in eggs by feeding the chickens more vitamin D and see that fortification affected egg quality or palatability.
Yao L, Wang T, Persia M, Horst RL, Higgins M. Effects of Vitamin D(3) -Enriched Diet on Egg Yolk Vitamin D(3) Content and Yolk Quality. J Food Sci. 2013 Jan 18.
They conducted a 40-wk experiment using laying hens to investigate the impact of feeding various vitamin D3 enriched diets. Feeds were enriched with four different amounts of vitamin D3, about 9,700, 17,000, 25,000, and 100,000 IU/kg of chicken feed. The control diet, the amount given chickens today, was 2,200 IU D3/kg feed. The chickens tolerated the higher D3 doses without any side effects.
Eggs from each of the four vitamin D enriched diets were collected and analyzed over the 40 weeks of the experiment. The peak D3 concentrations in egg yolk occurred at week 3 and were between 200 IU/egg to about 8,000 IU/egg, depending on the amount of D3 given the hen.
The high D3 diets used demonstrate that up to 160 times higher D3 concentration than that of typical eggs can be obtained through safely feeding chickens a more vitamin D3-enriched diet. The scientists also checked many different indicators of egg quality, such as taste tests and palatability. The high D3 did not adversely affect any measure of egg quality.
Look for vitamin D3 enriched eggs to be in the supermarket soon. I hope we also see more vitamin D enriched cereal-grain products. It may be that only increasing fortification of a wide variety of foods can we improve 25(OH)D levels of the most deficient Americans.

Vitamin D status and autoimmunity in celiac disease

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Posted on February 11, 2013 by Rebecca Oshiro

A new study from researchers out of Columbia University have found those suffering from celiac disease and vitamin D deficiency may be at higher risk for psoriasis.
A cross-sectional study in The Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology looked at vitamin D levels in patients with celiac disease (CD) to determine if there was a connection between having CD and being diagnosed with another autoimmune disease.
Tavakkoli A, Digiacomo D, Green PH, Lebwohl B. Vitamin D Status and Concomitant Autoimmunity in Celiac Disease. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2013; Jan 16.
CD is an autoimmune disease that most commonly affects the gastrointestinal tract. It is induced through the consumption of gluten, a protein found in wheat and related grains. CD can also cause iron-deficiency anemia, osteoporosis, and dermatitis herpetiformis, an itchy skin rash.
Recent research has shown that individuals with CD are anywhere from three to ten times more likely than non-CD sufferers to have another autoimmune disease, such as autoimmune thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes, and psoriasis.
Some, but not all, research has indicated that the longer a person with CD is exposed to gluten, the more likely he or she is to develop another autoimmune disease. Because vitamin D deficiency is associated with numerous other autoimmune disorders, researchers wanted to see if there was any relationship between having low vitamin D levels and developing other autoimmune diseases after a CD diagnosis.
They analyzed the blood work of 530 CD patients and divided them into three groups:

• Serum 25(OH)D levels >30 ng/mL
• Serum 25(OH)D levels >20 ng/mL but <29 ng/mL
• Serum 25(OHD) levels <20 ng/mL

The researchers found no difference in the overall prevalence of other autoimmune disorders between groups. However, there was an association between psoriasis and low vitamin D levels. Patients with CD whose vitamin D levels were less than 20 ng/mL were more than twice as likely to have psoriasis than those with vitamin D levels above 20 ng/mL.
There was also an association between iron deficiency anemia and low vitamin D levels, which prompted the authors of the study to recommend screening for vitamin D deficiency in anemic CD patients. Notably, 60% of patients in the study were either vitamin D deficient or insufficient.
Thus, it appears that CD patients are yet another group of people likely to have low vitamin D levels. Screening for and treatment of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is warranted for this group of patients.

Polishing. How abrasive is your prophy paste?

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AUTHOR: Michele Darby, RDH, MS

AUDIENCE: Dental Hygienists; Dental Assistants

ABSTRACT: This course explores one of the most common procedures in the practice of dental hygiene—coronal polishing—from a contemporary, evidenced-based perspective. Based on current literature, it is recommended that clinicians educate their patients on both the benefits and risks associated with coronal polishing, since little scientific evidence has been found to support its therapeutic purpose. Overall, the clinician should always use the best research evidence, clinical expertise and professional judgment (in conjunction with the values of the patient) to determine if professional polishing should be incorporated in the dental hygiene care plan.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Identify goals, indications, precautions and techniques for both air and rubber-cup polishing.

• Differentiate various techniques currently being used and/or considered in modern hygiene practice.

• Review different abrasive agents, and how they rank on the Mohs Hardness Scale for abrasiveness.

• Compare other abrasive qualities (particle size, shape, quantity, and contact time) for each agent.

CE ACTIVITY: Self-Instructional

CE CREDITS: 2 Credits

COST: $20.00

PUBLISH DATE:  May 25, 2012

EXPIRATION DATE: May 25, 2015

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Antonio Banderas stars in Wrigley ad

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11th Feb 2013

New ad campaign launched by Wrigley on 14 February is encouraging consumers to chew sugarfree gum after eating and drinking

A new national TV advertising campaign launched by Wrigley on 14 February is encouraging consumers to chew sugarfree gum after eating and drinking, especially when they are on-the-go. Its theme – ‘Break Up With Lingering Food’™ – focuses on how the foods we eat linger in the mouth and can threaten oral health, with an amusing encounter between celebrity Antonio Banderas and the ‘Food Gang’ – a group of mischievous creatures that represents some of the foods that linger longer. 

Independent research shows that chewing sugarfree gum for 20 minutes after meals and snacks can help teeth healthy* because the increased production of saliva helps clean the mouth and neutralize the plaque acids that may damage tooth enamel.  The new high profile campaign is part of Wrigley’s increased commitment to promoting the proven benefits of chewing sugarfree gum to consumers as an effective part of their oral healthcare routine in a world where snacking and ‘grazing’ are on the increase.

Louisa Rowntree, Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme Manager in the UK says: 'Wrigley is spreading the message to UK consumers that chewing sugarfree gum benefits oral health, especially for people who are busy and eating and drinking on-the-go. The Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme supports this through our work with dental professionals, to help them understand and educate their patients about the benefits of chewing and encourage them to Eat, Drink, Chew.'

The proven benefits of chewing sugarfree gum provide a strong reason for dental professionals to recommend chewing to their patients.

For more information about the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme please visit the dedicated site for dental professionalswww.wrigleyoralhea