April 17, 2020

Recent research shows that oral health is an essential prerequisite for people’s well-being and quality of life. In order to reach the global goals for oral health, the dental profession has a great responsibility to work with a preventive and health-promoting approach.

April 8, 2020

In our clinical practices, dentine hypersensitivity (DH) has always been a challenge. Our best approach was to suggest at-home solutions such as sensitivity toothpaste or mouthrinse, but often there was no significant relief experienced by our patients. Last year, we met Richard Whatley, CEO of BioMin Technologies, who gave us some samples of BioMin F toothpaste for provision of relief from DH, and he explained the technology behind the effectiveness of this novel bioactive glass-based toothpaste. The bioglass particles contained in BioMin F toothpaste adhere to dental hard tissue and then slowly dissolve in saliva to release calcium, phosphate and fluoride ions, which precipitate on nucleation sites as fluorapatite crystals to occlude open dentinal tubules.

June 2, 2014

Demand for dental treatment has been increasing in recent years as people have become more aware of their oral health and the benefits of good dental aesthetics. Maintaining and practising stringent cross-infection control procedures therefore have never been more essential to ensure the health and safety of dentists, dental hygienists and assistants, as well as other supporting staff who may be indirectly involved in the treatment process.

February 8, 2013

Implant dentistry has become more and more prominent in our everyday practice as patients are keen to have implant-borne prostheses than a conventional bridge work or removable dentures. One of the most important factors for long term success of dental implants is the maintenance of healthy peri-implant tissues.

August 4, 2009

NEW YORK, NY, USA: Your job as a dental hygienist is to help your patients maintain healthy teeth and gums. They also want to leave your chair with whiter teeth — in fact the whiter the better. Nobody wants discolored, dirty-looking teeth. As you know, the causes of tooth discoloration are many and varied. Some factors can be reduced by changes in patient behavior, while others causes are beyond the control of the patient. 

May 19, 2009

The title of this article inevitably bothers some hygienists. After all, hygiene school does not teach anything about the ‘business’ of hygiene, so many hygienists feel running a hygiene department as a business is wrong and impinges on the quality of care.

April 8, 2009

Mark Rutenberg wants you to look for this four-letter word: TEST. Rutenberg is the chairman/CEO of OralCDx, a company that provides the BrushTest, which can determine whether a patient has pre-cancerous or cancerous cells. He says his 'test' is different from others on the market because it’s the only minimally invasive diagnostic procedure that actually tests the tissue.

March 19, 2009

The television shows Grey’s Anatomy, ER, House M.D. and, in the late ’80s, Chicago Hope have used the image of a surgeon wearing loupes. What point are the producers of these shows trying to make? Most likely it is an attempt to make the show technically accurate. It may also be an effort to depict the doctor as a highly regarded professional, making use of the best equipment available in order to provide excellent care to the patient. Isn’t that what each hygienist strives for every day in the practice of dental hygiene? Some hygienists may worry about what patients will think when they begin to wear loupes. Those worries need to be put aside. Patients are very accepting of loupes, maybe because of the popularity of medical shows.