CHICAGO—Consuming dairy products is vital to maintaining good overall health, and it’s especially important to bone health. But there has been little research about how dairy products affect oral health in particular. However, according to a new study published in the May/June 2013 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), consuming cheese and other dairy products may help protect teeth against cavities.

The study sampled 68 subjects ranging in age from 12 to 15, and the authors looked at the dental plaque pH in the subjects’ mouths before and after they consumed cheese, milk, or sugar-free yogurt. A pH level lower than 5.5 puts a person at risk for tooth erosion, which is a process that wears away the enamel (or protective outside layer) of teeth. “The higher the pH level is above 5.5, the lower the chance of developing cavities,” explains Vipul Yadav, MDS, lead author of the study.

The subjects were assigned into groups randomly. Researchers instructed the first group to eat cheddar cheese, the second group to drink milk, and the third group to eat sugar-free yogurt. Each group consumed their product for three minutes and then swished with water. Researchers measured the pH level of each subject’s mouth at 10, 20, and 30 minutes after consumption.

The groups who consumed milk and sugar-free yogurt experienced no changes in the pH levels in their mouths. Subjects who ate cheese, however, showed a rapid increase in pH levels at each time interval, suggesting that cheese has anti-cavity properties.

The study indicated that the rising pH levels from eating cheese may have occurred due to increased saliva production (the mouth’s natural way to maintain a baseline acidity level), which could be caused by the action of chewing. Additionally, various compounds found in cheese may adhere to tooth enamel and help further protect teeth from acid.

“It looks like dairy does the mouth good,” says AGD spokesperson Seung-Hee Rhee, DDS, FAGD. “Not only are dairy products a healthy alternative to carb- or sugar-filled snacks, they also may be considered as a preventive measure against cavities.”

To learn more about oral health, visit KnowYourTeeth.com.

The American Association for Dental Office Managers (AADOM) offers a free webinar called "The Dangerous Mind of the Dental Patient," worth 1 CE credit toward the AADOM's fellowship program. The event is 1 pm EST Wednesday. 

About the Program

Wish you could read a dental patient’s mind? Now you can. Join Fred Joyal, founder of 1-800-DENTIST, as he shares the findings from our exclusive 2013 nationwide patient survey. Learn the surprising secrets that maximize patient acquisition, retention and case acceptance. Register now for this all-new Webinar. Find out the hidden factors that attract new patients, what keeps them coming back and what drives them away. During the live Q&A session, Fred will discuss innovative strategies for applying this insider information to your practice.

Course Learning Objectives:

• Understand the seven hidden factors that cause patients to choose a dentist

• Avoid the simple appointing mistake that costs you more patients than you think

• Learn what strange thing patients infer about you from your website’s design

• Identify the one topic patients want you to be completely honest about

• Discover why online reviews and ratings are more important than ever

• Get real tips for using these patient secrets to your advantage 

REGISTER NOW

LANCASTER, Pa. /PRNewswire/ -- Dental patients hate leaving the dentist still feeling numb, and for some the lingering effects could disrupt their daily activities.

• For busy people, precious time can be hindered by the impaired ability to eat, drink and speak normally. Returning to their jobs or daily activities can be delayed after a visit to the dentist.

• Children can chew on their numb lips and cheeks causing oral hematomas.

• Diabetics may lose the ability to maintain their insulin levels by not being able to eat following a procedure.

OraVerse (phentolamine mesylate) is the first and only product to rapidly reverse the lingering numbness of the lip and tongue from local dental anesthetic. OraVerse cuts the patient's time being numb in half. It is administered by the dentist immediately following routine procedures such as a filling or crown prep, so the patient can return to their normal routine faster.

To find out more about OraVerse, visit www.OraVerse.com. The website also allows viewers to enter their ZIP code to find a local dentist that offers OraVerse. Note: OraVerse is not recommended for use in children less than 6 years of age or weighing less than 33 pounds.

COLUMBIA, Mo. –Stories often appear in health communication in order to encourage individuals to change behaviors, such as smoking or not wearing sunscreen. A University of Missouri researcher studied how stories influence patients’ decision-making when behavior change is not the desired outcome of the health communication.

“Patient stories can be very persuasive, and people tend to seek stories from others when they make health decisions,” said Victoria Shaffer, an assistant professor of health sciences and psychological sciences at MU. “We were concerned about whether stories were appropriate in patient decision aids because the goal of decision aids is to inform, not persuade.”

Shaffer and her colleagues studied how stories included in decision aids, informational tools such as videos or brochures designed to help individuals make informed health decisions, affected individuals’ choices about medical treatments for early-stage breast cancer. Women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer can opt for either a lumpectomy, which involves removing a piece of the breast tissue, and radiation therapy, or a mastectomy, which involves completely removing the breast tissue. Both treatment options have similar survival rates, which makes choosing between the two options difficult and necessitates patient decision aids, Shaffer said.

“Physicians used to be more paternalistic and would tell patients exactly what they should do,” Shaffer said. “Now, health decisions more often are shared by medical providers and patients, and patients must digest a lot of complicated information in order to make the best decisions for their health. Understanding medical information can be especially challenging because much of it includes complicated terms and statistics as well as explanations of procedures.”

The researchers told more than 200 healthy women to imagine that they had just received a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer. Half of the women viewed an informational video about treatment options that included statistical information as well as stories from breast cancer survivors who had undergone lumpectomies and radiation or mastectomies. The other half of the women viewed the same video, except it omitted the patient stories. The researchers asked both groups of women to report which treatment option they would choose based on the video they watched.

“Interestingly enough, we found no difference in treatment preference between the two groups,” Shaffer said. “The stories didn’t make the women chose one treatment option over the other. However, women seemed to like the video with stories better, and the decision aid with stories was thought to be more trustworthy and more emotional.”

Shaffer said future research should examine the persuasiveness of individual stories and the contexts in which the stories appear.

“We’ve tried to dig deeper and characterize the particular elements of stories that might make them persuasive in one context and not persuasive in another,” Shaffer said. “Hopefully, the end result would be to characterize the different elements of patients’ stories and for what health communication purposes the stories should be used.”

Shaffer hopes her future work will lead to a “cheat sheet” for health communicators that would outline which types of stories to include in health messages depending on the context and communication intent.

Shaffer is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences in the MU School of Health Professions and in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science.

The study, “The Effect of Narrative Information in a Publicly Available Patient Decision Aid for Early-Stage Breast Cancer,” was published in Health Communication. Co-authors included Sara Tomek from the University of Alabama and Lukas Hulsey from Wichita State University.

/PRNewswire/ — New study results published online in the American Journal of Infection Control found that 93 percent of tested laundered towels used to clean hospital rooms contained bacteria that could result in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

Most people don’t expect to leave the hospital sicker than when they came in, but HAIs are a significant problem, with an estimated 1.7 million cases reported annually in the United Statesⁱ. While stringent disinfecting practices are in place to combat HAIs, study results show that traditional hospital laundering practices are not sufficient to remove all viable bacteria from the laundered towels. The study, “Microbial contamination of hospital reusable cleaning towels,” conducted by Charles Gerba, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology, University of Arizona, and colleagues from the University of Arizona, with support from Kimberly-Clark, found that:

• Laundering practices were insufficient for removing potentially harmful bacteria from reusable cloth and microfiber towels commonly used to clean hospital rooms.

• Of the total number of towels tested, 93 percent contained viable bacteria including E.coli (causes gastroenteritis), total coliforms (bacteria indicative of fecal matter) and Klebsiella (causes pneumonia, UTIs and other infections).

• Of the total number of soak buckets containing disinfectant, 67 percent contained viable bacteria, including spore-forming bacteria (causes botulism and tetanus) and coliform bacteria.

A second, separate companion study, “Decreased activity of commercially available disinfectants containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) when exposed to cotton towels,” also conducted by the team, found laundered cotton towels can reduce the strength of the hospital-grade disinfectants (QACs) by up to 85.3 percent.

“It is very concerning to think that the very process by which hospitals are trying to prevent the spread of bacteria, may actually be causing it,” said Dr. Gerba. “Whether alone or in combination, the presence of bacteria on the towels and the inactivation of the cleaning agent may increase the risk for transmission of pathogens in hospitals. These observations indicate the need to critically reevaluate current hospital cleaning practices associated with reuse of cloth towels.”

Rethinking Critical Processes

Proper cleaning practices in hospitals play a critical role in reducing the spread of bacteria that could cause HAIs and are especially important in the healthcare setting where patients with weakened immune systems may have a harder time fighting off germs.

Successful disinfection involves two major elements: germicide at the appropriate concentration and a delivery method that allows the germicide to reach the surface. In this study, housekeeping staff soaked cloth towels in the disinfectant (either QAC or bleach) until use, then wrung them out and used them to clean surfaces inside patient rooms. The towels were then either washed in-house or sent to a central laundering facility, and the laundered towels were then stored and reused in the same manner.

The initial study found that exposure of QAC disinfecting cleaners to laundered towels for as little as 30 seconds rendered the cleaning agent ineffective as defined by Environmental Protection Agency criteria. Microfiber towels were found to have especially high levels of bacteria due to their high absorbency. Previous studies of microbial survival in towels have indicated that the more absorbent a cloth towel, the longer the microorganisms can survive. Studies have also found that Staphylococcus can survive for 19-21 days in cotton cloths.ⁱⁱ

“A major cornerstone for the successful reduction of healthcare acquired infections is the cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces such as those found in patient rooms and various areas of the hospital,” said David Koenig, Ph.D., Research Technical Leader in Corporate Research and Engineering, Kimberly-Clark Corporation. “As a best practice, it is recommended that hospitals either use a sterilization process to clean re-usable cloth and microfiber towels or switch to disposables, hence decreasing the probability of transferring bacteria to surfaces that patients and employees may come in contact with.”

Testing Results & Methodology

Ten hospitals in Arizona were selected at random and three clean cloth or microfiber towels were obtained from each location. Samples were also collected from the inside surface of the bucket used to soak the towels in disinfectant at each hospital. Viable bacteria were detected on 93 percent of the towels tested and on 67 percent of the soak buckets swabbed. From the towels tested, spore-forming bacteria were isolated from 56 percent, coliform bacteria from 23 percent, E. coli from 3.3 percent, and mold from 13 percent. Spore-forming bacteria were isolated from 44 percent of the soak buckets swabbed and coliform bacteria from 12 percent of the soak buckets swabbed.

Survey Results & Methodology

A survey of cleaning practices was also conducted and included questions about the protocols used for cleaning rooms, towel use, and laundry procedures. Questions involved the disinfectant(s) used, whether the towels were soaked or sprayed in the disinfectant, exposure time, frequency of disinfectant changes, fabric content of the cleaning towels, towel washing and drying practices, and towel storage conditions. Eight of the 10 hospitals reported using cotton towels, and the other two reported using microfiber towels. Two hospitals sent their linens to be laundered in a central facility, and the others laundered their towels in-house. All but one of the hospitals reported a QAC as their disinfectant of choice; the lone exception was a rehabilitation hospital that reported using bleach for terminal cleaning under all circumstances. In addition, all but one of the hospitals reported soaking their cleaning towels in a bucket with disinfectant.

ⁱCDC: https://www.cdc.gov/HAI/pdfs/hai/infections_deaths.pdf

ⁱⁱ AJIC study: Neely AN, Maley MP. Survival of enterococci and staphylococci on hospital fabrics and plastic. J Clin Microbiol 2000;38:724-6

The deadline for awards nominations from The American Dental Assistants' Association is coming up soon--June 30. Below is a list of the awards available. 

New Member Involvement Award — To a member who has shown the most outstanding achievement in promoting the objectives of ADAA. 

ADAA President's Award of Excellence - To a member who has shown the most outstanding achievements in promoting ADAA (underwritten by Henry Schein) $500. 

Loyal Assistant Award - To a member who has demonstrated loyalty as well as longevity in service to their employer; need not be present to win. 

ADAA/Sunstar Americas Pride Awards - Presented to a member who believes in loyalty to self as well as the profession of dental assisting, Categories include: Clinical Assistant, Business/Administrative Assistant, Educator and Federal Services; $250 plus a donation of $250 to the ADAA Foundation in the name of the recipient. 

For complete details and guidelines on all awards, visit: https://www.dentalassistant.org/Content/Details/ADAA-Awards

The Oklahoma governor is considering a bill that would create the first oral surgery dental assistants permit in the country and would require all dental assistants to have permits. The bill, coming after oral surgeon Dr. W. Scott Harrington used unsafe practices that led to exposing patients to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, is being given a normal review process. To read more, please click here. 

Using germ-killing soap and ointment on all intensive-care unit (ICU) patients can reduce bloodstream infections by up to 44 percent and significantly reduce the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in ICUs. A new Department of Health and Human Services-funded study released today tested three MRSA prevention strategies and found that using germ-killing soap and ointment on all ICU patients was more effective than other strategies.

“Patients in the ICU are already very sick, and the last thing they need to deal with is a preventable infection,” said Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “This research has the potential to influence clinical practice significantly and create a safer environment where patients can heal without harm.”

The study, REDUCE MRSA trial, was published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine and took place in two stages from 2009-2011. A multidisciplinary team from the University of California, Irvine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) carried out the study. A total of 74 adult ICUs and 74,256 patients were part of the study, making it the largest study on this topic. Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of three MRSA prevention practices: routine care, providing germ-killing soap and ointment only to patients with MRSA, and providing germ-killing soap and ointment to all ICU patients. In addition to being effective at stopping the spread of MRSA in ICUs, the study found the use of germ-killing soap and ointment on all ICU patients was also effective for preventing infections caused by germs other than MRSA.

“CDC invested in these advances in order to protect patients from deadly drug-resistant infections,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “We need to turn science into practical action for clinicians and hospitals. CDC is working to determine how the findings should inform CDC infection prevention recommendations.”

MRSA is resistant to first-line antibiotic treatments and is an important cause of illness and sometimes death, especially among patients who have had medical care. Three-quarters of Staphylococcus aureus infections in hospital ICUs are considered methicillin-resistant. In 2012, encouraging results from a CDC report  showed that invasive (life-threatening) MRSA infections in hospitals declined by 48 percent from 2005 through 2010.

“This study helps answer a long-standing debate in the medical field about whether we should tailor our efforts to prevent infection to specific pathogens, such as MRSA, or whether we should identify a high-risk patient group and give them all special treatment to prevent infection,” said lead author Susan Huang, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the UCI School of Medicine and medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine Health. “The universal decolonization strategy was the most effective and the easiest to implement. It eliminates the need for screening ICU patients for MRSA.”

REDUCE MRSA trial was conducted through AHRQ and CDC research programs. The research was conducted in partnership with the HCA and nearly four dozen of its affiliated facilities.

Reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), such as MRSA, is a priority for the National Quality Strategy a plan that aligns national efforts to improve the quality and safety of care. HHS-wide efforts to reduce HAIs are outlined in its National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: Roadmap to Elimination. 

HAIs are also an area of focus for the Partnership for Patients, a national, public-private partnership of hospitals, employers, physicians, nurses, consumers, state and federal governments and other key stakeholders that aims to reduce preventable hospital-acquired conditions that harm patients. Together, with incentives created by the Affordable Care Act, these efforts represent a coordinated approach to making care safer for patients.

Awareness of anti-smoking messages on television, radio, or billboards, or in newspapers or magazines, significantly increased the odds that current smokers intend to quit in 14 of 17 countries surveyed, according to a study released in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  These findings from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) support previous research showing antismoking campaigns encourage smokers to quit. The study, “Anti-Smoking Messages and Intention to Quit—17 Countries, 2008–2011,” contain data from the following 17 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay and Viet Nam. The full study is available at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/.

In concert with other proven tobacco control strategies, efforts like CDC’s Tips from Former Smokers, tobacco education ad campaign are needed to counter the nearly $1 million an hour spent on marketing cigarettes in the United States. The Tips campaign is responsible for sharp increases in calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a toll-free quitline number, and visits to www.cdc.gov/tips in 2012 and 2013. Both resources offer smokers free help quitting.

In January 2014, the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. report linking smoking and lung cancer, the Surgeon General will release a new report on smoking and health, reviewing progress, releasing new findings on health effects of smoking, and outlining how we can end the continuing epidemic of tobacco-related deaths and diseases. 

Indiana University researchers found that a simple program that uses pedometers to monitor how much people move throughout the day was effective at increasing physical activity, decreasing sitting time, a particular problem for office workers, and helping participants drop some pounds.

"Even if somebody works out 30 minutes a day, the fact that they're sitting and not moving for long periods of time for the rest of the day is in and of itself detrimental to their health and well-being, physiologically," said Saurabh S. Thosar, an associate instructor at the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington and one of the study's researchers.

The study, discussed Thursday afternoon at the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in Indianapolis, was the first to use pedometers to monitor and reduce sitting time and the first to examine the amount of physical activity versus structured exercise people experience throughout the day.

Four men and 22 women between the ages of 40 and 66 completed a 12-week program in which participants wore a pedometer every day and received emails twice a week offering nutritional and exercise tips.

The pedometer, called an Omron, monitors physical activity, which accounts for any type of movement involving the lower legs. The pedometer, which costs about $30 and can be carried in a backpack, also allows people to hook it up to a computer and look at a graph of the amount of steps taken as a function of time.

The participants were also encouraged to be active during the hours for which they had zero steps, such as when they watched TV or worked at a desk, and to download the data from the pedometers once a week.

The researchers found a significant decrease in sitting time and a significant increase in physical activity as a result of the program. The mean weight of participants dropped by almost 2.5 pounds.

"This is a very simple intervention that can reach a large number of people at a low cost," said Jeanne Johnston, co-author of the study and clinical associate professor in the School of Public Health's Department of Kinesiology. "As companies and communities develop programs to increase physical activity and positively impact health parameters such as weight, there is a need to think of the associated costs."

Johnston is presenting the findings of this study, "Multifaceted pedometer program results in favorable changes in sitting time, physical activity, and weight," during a poster presentation from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday in Hall C. Co-authors include Sylvanna Bielko, adjunct lecturer in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington's Department of Kinesiology.