As reported in the scientific journal, Bone [in press for Aug. 2014], a research team from New York University has confirmed what scientific developers at Intra-Lock^® International, Inc. have known for several years: the fractal, nano-rough OSSEAN^® surface developed for their dental implants actually changes the cellular genetic expression – or the fate of stem cells – at the nano-level, which in turn induces faster healing of implants.

In other words, the OSSEAN surface plays a critical role in healing at the DNA level. It was shown to favorably enhance osteoblast formation (new bone) and accelerate the mineralization on this newly formed bone.[1] This is the very first time such mechanism is described in-vivo (in a living host).

According to Thierry M. Giorno, DDS, director of research and development, and CEO of Intra-Lock^®, International, Inc., “We’ve suspected for many years that OSSEAN alters the genetic expression of stems cells, forcing them to differentiate into bone; we designed it with that intention. However, this report is very important because it gives us a third-party ‘why’ behind our unparalleled, accelerated healing outcomes.”

The Scientific “Why” for Accelerated Healing

Typically, when an implant is surgically placed, there is a period of cellular “confusion” and chaos around the implant, and usually a little bone resorbs before being formed again. The implant is then at risk from the moment it is inserted through the time when the bone is healed around it – a time period Giorno refers to as “the window of negative opportunity.”

However, the NYU researchers found that bone cells immediately start clustering around the OSSEAN implants and begin accelerated healing, with little confusion whatsoever.

This occurs primarily due to the biomimetic structure of the OSSEAN surface, designed and classified as nano-rough and fractal.[2] Mimicking nature at the nano-level, the OSSEAN surface repeats a similar structural pattern to that of natural bone over and over, essentially “tricking” the body into accepting the implant as a natural substance and igniting the healing process far sooner than would occur with an artificial substance, which is smooth at the nano-level and without natural-seeming pattern repetition.

Benefits to the Patient

Typically, with an implant of any sort, whether it’s a dental implant in your jaw or a titanium rod in your leg, several weeks will pass before the bone begins to grow around it. During this time lapse, known as the “catabolic phase,” there can be great risk and instability with the implant.

Naturally, compressing the healing time and accelerating the degree of osseointegration – the merging of implant and bone – are highly desirable outcomes, and implants with an OSSEAN can provide a faster healing process, which thereby provides for a higher potential for successful long-term results with the implant.

“If you’ve ever had dental implants, you can appreciate the outcomes the OSSEAN surface provides,” said Giorno. “The healing process has changed forever, and future patients with an OSSEAN surface implant can look forward to reduced complications, overall.”

Looking further into the future, Giorno said, “I believe the effects of OSSEAN can potentially revolutionize the implant industry beyond dentistry and into all types of orthopedics where patients must wait for their bodies to accept a foreign substance. With OSSEAN, the wait is over.”

For more information about OSSEAN^® or to request a copy of the Bone journal article, please email info@intra-lock.com or call (561) 447-8282.

References

[1] Paulo G. Coelho, Tadahiro Takayama, Daniel Yoo, Ryo Jimbo, Sanjay Karunagaran, Nick Tovar, Malvin N. Janal, Seiichi Yamano, Nanometer-scale features on micrometer-scale surface texturing: A bone histological, gene expression, and nanomechanical study. Bone, Issue 65, Aug. 2014.

[2] Dohan Ehrenfest DM, Del Corso M, Kang BS, Leclercq P, Mazor Z, Horowitz RA, Russe P, Oh HK, Zou DR, Shibli JA, Wang HL, Bernard JP, Sammartino G. Identification card and codification of the chemical and morphological characteristics of 62 dental implant surfaces. Part 4: Resorbable Blasting Media (RBM), Dual Acid-Etched (DAE), Subtractive Impregnated Micro/Nanotextured (SIMN) and related surfaces (Group 2B, other subtractive process). POSEIDO. 2014; 2(1):57-79.

Source: Intra-Lock^®, International, Inc.

The human body is comprised of roughly 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. In healthy people, these bacteria are typically harmless and often helpful, keeping disease-causing microbes at bay. But, when disturbances knock these bacterial populations out of balance, illnesses can arise. Periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease, is one example.

In a new study, University of Pennsylvania researchers show that bacteria responsible for many cases of periodontitis cause this imbalance, known as dysbiosis, with a sophisticated, two-prong manipulation of the human immune system.

Their findings, reported in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, lay out the mechanism, revealing that the periodontal bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis acts on two molecular pathways to simultaneously block immune cells’ killing ability while preserving the cells’ ability to cause inflammation. The selective strategy protects “bystander” gum bacteria from immune system clearance, promoting dysbiosis and leading to the bone loss and inflammation that characterizes periodontitis. At the same time, breakdown products produced by inflammation provide essential nutrients that “feed” the dysbiotic microbial community. The result is a vicious cycle in which inflammation and dysbiosis reinforce one another, exacerbating periodontitis.

George Hajishengallis, a professor in the Penn School of Dental Medicine’s Department of Microbiology, was the senior author on the paper, collaborating with co-senior author John Lambris, the Dr. Ralph and Sallie Weaver Professor of Research Medicine in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. Collaborators included Tomoki Maekawa and Toshiharu Abe of Penn Dental Medicine.

Work by Hajishengallis’s group and collaborators had previously identified P. gingivalis as a “keystone pathogen.” Drawing an analogy from the field of ecology, in which a species such as a grizzly bear is thought of as a keystone species because of the influence it has over a number of other species in the community, the idea suggests that, although P. gingivalis may be relatively few in number in the mouth, their presence exerts an outsized pull on the overall microbial ecosystem. Indeed, the team has shown that, although P. gingivalis is responsible for instigating the process that leads to periodontitis, it can’t cause the disease by itself.

“Scientists are beginning to suspect that keystone pathogens might be playing a role in irritable bowel disease, colon cancer and other inflammatory diseases,” Hajishengallis said. “They’re bugs that can’t mediate the disease on their own; they need other, normally non-pathogenic bacteria to cause the inflammation.”

In this study, they wanted to more fully understand the molecules involved in the process by which P. gingivalis caused disease.

“We asked the question, how could bacteria evade killing without shutting off inflammation, which they need to obtain their food,” Hajishengallis said.

The researchers focused on neutrophils, which shoulder the bulk of responsibility of responding to periodontal insults. Based on the findings of previous studies, they examined the role of two protein receptors: C5aR and Toll-like receptor-2, or TLR2.

Inoculating mice with P. gingivalis, they found that animals that lacked either of these receptors as well as animals that were treated with drugs that blocked these receptors had lower levels of bacteria than untreated, normal mice. Blocking either of these receptors on human neutrophils in culture also significantly enhanced the cells’ ability to kill the bacteria. Microscopy revealed that P. gingivalis causes TLR2 and C5aR to physically come together.

“These findings suggest that there is some crosstalk between TLR2 and C5aR,” Hajishengallis said. “Without either one, the bacteria weren’t as effective at colonizing the gums.”

Further experiments in mice and in cultured human neutrophils helped the researchers identify additional elements of how P. gingivalis operates to subvert the immune system. They found that the TLR2-C5aR crosstalk leads to degradation of the protein MyD88, which normally helps clear infection. And in a separate pathway from MyD88, they discovered that P. gingivalis activates the enzyme PI3K through C5aR-TLR2 crosstalk, promoting inflammation and inhibiting neutrophils’ ability to phagocytose, or “eat,” invading bacteria.

Inhibiting the activity of either PI3K or a molecule that acted upstream of PI3K called Mal restored the neutrophils’ ability to clear P. gingivalis from the gums.

“P. gingivalis uses this connection between C5aR and TLR2 to disarm and dissociate the MyD88 pathway, which normally protects the host from infection, from the proinflammatory and immune-evasive pathway mediated by Mal and PI3K,” Hajishengallis said.

Not only does the team’s discovery open up new targets for periodontitis treatment, it also suggests a bacterial strategy that could be at play in other diseases involving dysbiosis.

Additional co-authors included Jennifer L. Krauss and Ravi Jotwani of the University of Louisville, who were former members of the Hajishengallis lab; Martha Triantafilou and Kathy Triantafilou of Cardiff University School of Medicine; Ahmed Hashim and Michael A. Curtis of Queen Mary University of London; and Shifra Hoch and Gabriel Nussbaum of Hebrew University. 

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, European Commission and Medical Research Council.

Source: Penn News

Dentists could soon be giving your teeth a mild ‘time warp’ to encourage them to self-repair, thanks to a new device being developed by dental researchers. Reminova Ltd, a new spin-out company from King’s College London, aims to take the pain out of tooth decay treatment by electrically reversing the process to help teeth remineralize.

With 2.3 billion sufferers annually, dental caries is one of the most common preventable diseases globally. Tooth decay normally develops in several stages, starting as a microscopic defect where minerals leach out of tooth. Minerals continue to move in and out of the tooth in a natural cycle, but when too much mineral is lost, the enamel is undermined and the tooth is said to have developed a caries lesion (which can later become a physical cavity). Dentists normally treat established caries in a tooth by drilling to remove the decay and filling the tooth with a material such as amalgam or composite resin.

Reminova Ltd takes a different approach – one that re-builds the tooth and heals it without the need for drills, needles or amalgam. By accelerating the natural process by which calcium and phosphate minerals re-enter the tooth to repair a defect, the device boosts the tooth’s natural repair process. Dentistry has been trying to harness this process for the last few decades, but the King’s breakthrough means the method could soon be in use at the dentist’s chair.

The two-step method developed by Reminova first prepares the damaged part of the enamel outer layer of the tooth, then uses a tiny electric current to ‘push’ minerals into the tooth to repair the damaged site. The defect is remineralized in a painless process that requires no drills, no injections and no filling materials. Electric currents are already used by dentists to check the pulp or nerve of a tooth; the new device uses a far smaller current than that currently used on patients and which cannot be felt by the patient.

The technique, known as Electrically Accelerated and Enhanced Remineralisation (EAER), could be brought to market within three years.

The company is the first spin-out from the King’s College London Dental Innovation and Translation Centre which was launched in January 2013. This centre was formed to take research and novel technologies and turn them into products, change practice and inform policy which will improve health and healthcare internationally.

Reminova Ltd will be based in Perth, Scotland to benefit from the strong life sciences and dentistry base. It will commercialise the work of Professor Nigel Pitts and Dr Chris Longbottom, based in the Dental Institute at King’s College London. With a combined 80 years’ experience in dentistry they have previously brought dental devices to market to detect tooth decay. The company was formed in collaboration with Innova Partnerships, who commercialise healthcare and life science enterprises.

The company is currently seeking private investment to develop their remineralization device.

Professor Nigel Pitts from the Dental Institute at King’s College London said: “The way we treat teeth today is not ideal – when we repair a tooth by putting in a filling, that tooth enters a cycle of drilling and re-filling as, ultimately, each “repair” fails.

“Not only is our device kinder to the patient and better for their teeth, but it’s expected to be at least as cost-effective as current dental treatments. Along with fighting tooth decay, our device can also be used to whiten teeth.”

King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre is one of the founders of MedCity, launched by Mayor of London Boris Johnson in April this year to attract investment and promote entrepreneurship in the London-Oxford-Cambridge life sciences “golden triangle.”

Congratulating Reminova, Kit Malthouse, Chair of MedCity and London’s Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise, said: “It’s brilliant to see the really creative research taking place at King’s making its way out of the lab so quickly and being turned into a new device that has the potential to make a real difference to the dental health and patient experience of people with tooth decay.

“Increasing the rate at which we can turn great ideas into successful medical and healthcare companies is one of the key aims of MedCity, and will have huge benefits for the UK’s health and well-being, as well as its economy.”

Source: King’s College London

Scientists have announced results from a large-scale study that uses saliva as a tool for identifying children who are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. This team of investigators found significantly altered levels of salivary biomarkers in obese children. By testing this non-invasive approach to the study of metabolic diseases, the researchers hope to develop simplified screening procedures to identify people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. This work provides the first step in the development of early diagnosis and prevention strategies.

Around the world, obesity and related health conditions have a serious health concern. Currently, diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The prevalence of pediatric obesity is also on the rise. However, little is known about the relationship between childhood obesity/metabolic syndrome and adult onset of the disease. Additionally, it is not known if prevention measures during childhood can halt the progression of disease.

"The importance of prevention is obvious, and to truly be preventative, we must focus on children," said Dr. Max Goodson, Senior Member of Staff in the Department of Applied Oral Sciences at The Forsyth Institute and Director of the Kuwait Healthy Life Study. "This study is exciting because non-invasive methods are critical when dealing with children. Salivary diagnostics could provide a more acceptable alternative, which could create a new paradigm for research in preventive health."

Overview of Study

This study, "Metabolic Disease Risk in Children by Salivary Biomarker Analysis," recently published in the PLOS ONE, is available at: https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098799. The team of researchers evaluated metabolic differences in 744 11-year old children who were a combination of normal weight, underweight, overweight and obese. Saliva samples were taken after fasting and analyzed for 20 biomarkers. Four salivary biomarkers were found to change significantly with increasing obesity: insulin, c-reactive protein (CRP), adiponectin and leptin. These results suggest that obesity may be characterized and classified by salivary biomarker concentration. Use of these relatively non-invasive markers, particularly in longitudinal studies, to investigate the development of metabolic diseases in children and to evaluate therapeutic interventions, could be used to develop prevention strategies.

This study was led by Dr. Max Goodson, Senior Member of Staff at The Forsyth Institute. The work was done in collaboration with colleagues in the Forsyth Department of Applied Oral Sciences including: Drs. Pramod Soparkar, Alpdogan Kantarci, Mor-Li Hartman, Hatice Hasturk, Xiaoshan Wang; MaryAnn Cugini, RDH, MHP; Tina Yaskell, BS, Biology; Danielle Stephens, MS, Biomedical Forensic Sciences; and Jorel Vargas, BS, Behavioral Neuroscience; Dr. Francine Welty, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Dr. Gerald Denis, Boston University; Dr. Roula Barake, Dr. Kazem Behbehani and Dr. Osama Alsamada, the Dasman Diabetes Institute of Kuwait; Dr. Sabiha Al-Mutal and Dr. Jitendara Ariga, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health; and Dr. Jawad Behbehani, Kuwait University.

Dr. Goodson leads The Kuwait Healthy Life Study, (KHLS), a longitudinal cohort investigation of more than 8,000 children. The KHLS builds upon Forsyth's 30-year partnership with Kuwait that helps to provide dental care to approximately 225,000 schoolchildren. Responding to a concern that originated from leaders in Kuwait, this KHLS was designed to capture all the essential data needed to predict those children at greatest risk of developing metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes using saliva as a blood surrogate and tablet computers as data capture devices. This program, which also includes research and education, offered an ideal setting for a longitudinal health study which is now entering its fourth year.

Source: EurekAlert!

Journal of Oral Implantology – Oral implant surgery is complex and not without complications, one of which is an implant periapical lesion (IPL). If the lesion site becomes infected, it can lead to an abnormal growth, persistent inflammation and tenderness. However, a procedure that allows complete bone-regeneration at the implant related lesion site shows promise in treating the resulting bone defect and infection.

IPL develops rapidly after implant surgery and is treated with a second reparative surgery, in combination with antibiotic use. Surgeons have tried various treatments, such as using hand tools to enucleate the lesion, placement of bovine bone mineral to replace the diseased bone, and using an enamel mixture to help strengthen the surrounding tissues. Results from these treatments have been mixed.  Some treatments have been successful, while others resulted in the lesion progressing, and in others the implant was lost.

In a Journal of Oral Implantology case study titled “Active implant periapical lesion: a case report treated via guided bone regeneration with a 5-year clinical and radiographic follow-up,” surgeons reported on using guided bone regeneration (GBR) principals to completely remove the lesion and any subsequent infections.

A 43-year-old female presenting with a symptomatic left, first premolar was a candidate for dental implant treatment and scheduled for an immediate implant placement following tooth extraction. After surgery she was prescribed antibiotics. She was seen 3 months later due to pain at the implant site, which revealed a sinus tract related to the implant.  Additionally, there was a “soft spot” due to edema and bone loss. She was prescribed another course of antibiotics and returned in 4 days. At that time, a tetracycline paste was created and placed on the defect and around the implant for 3 minutes, then removed. In 2 months a transitional crown was placed, with placement of the final 6 months later. At the subsequent 1-, 2-, 6-month, 1- and 5-year appointments, no pain was reported and complete bone fill in to the previous lesion area was stable.

IPL is a rare disorder, affecting approximately 0.26% of the population receiving implants. There are varying reasons for its cause, and it can sometimes be misdiagnosed or confused with retrograde peri-implantitis. The combination of antibiotics and GBR principals has shown to be an effective way of treating IPL, keeping the implant intact, and creating a complete bone fill at the lesion site. This case study appears to be the first of its kind, so further research will be needed to confirm findings.

Full text of the article, “Active implant peri-apical lesion: a case report treated via guided bone regeneration with a 5-year clinical and radiographic follow-up,” Journal of Oral Implantology, Vol. 40, No. 3, 2014, is available at https://www.joionline.org/doi/full/10.1563/AAID-JOI-D-11-00214

Dr. Brian Schmidt and Dr. Donna Albertson and their team look at shifts in the composition of the oral microbiome, to potentially be promoters or causes of oral cancer

Each year, approximately 22,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cancer. The 5-year survival rate of 40% in the US is one of the lowest of the major cancers, and it has not improved in the past 40 years. More people die each year in the US from oral cancer than from melanoma, cervical, or ovarian cancer. Worldwide, the incidence of oral cancer is increasing, particularly among young people and women, with an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

“The major risk factors, tobacco and alcohol use, alone cannot explain the changes in incidence, because oral cancer also commonly occurs in patients without a history of tobacco or alcohol exposure,” said Dr. Brian Schmidt, professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery and director of the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research at the NYU College of Dentistry (NYUCD).

Changes in the microbial community are commonly associated with dental diseases such as periodontal disease, which is most likely a poly-microbial disease characterized by outgrowth of certain pathologic organisms, and chronic periodontitis has been reported to be a risk factor for oral premalignant lesions and cancers.

“We know that other cancers, including gallbladder, colon, lung and prostate, have been associated with particular bacterial infections, so we hypothesized that shifts in the composition of the normal oral cavity microbiome could be promoters or causes of oral cancer,” said Dr. Albertson.

Drs. Schmidt and Albertson and their team profiled cancers and anatomically matched contralateral normal tissue from the same patient by sequencing 16S rDNA hypervariable region amplicons. The team’s findings, “Changes in abundance of oral microbiota associated with oral cancer,” published on-line in the journal POLS ONE (June 2, 2014), begin to develop a framework for exploiting the oral microbiome for monitoring oral cancer development, progression and recurrence.

In cancer samples from both a discovery (n=5) and a subsequent confirmation cohort (n=10), abundance of Firmicutes (especially Streptococcus) and Actinobacteria (especially Rothia) was significantly decreased relative to contralateral normal samples from the same patient. Significant decreases in abundance of these phyla were observed for pre-cancers, but not when comparing samples from contralateral sites (tongue and floor of mouth) from healthy individuals. Using differences in abundance of the genera Actinomyces, Rothia, Streptococcus and Fusobacterium, the team was able to separate most cancer samples from pre-cancer and normal samples.

“The oral cavity offers a relatively unique opportunity to screen at risk individuals for (oral) cancer, because the lesions can be seen, and as we found, the shift in the microbiome of the cancer and pre‑cancer lesions compared to anatomically matched clinically normal tissue from the same individual can be detected in non‑invasively collected swab samples.” said Dr. Schmidt.

Non-invasively sampling the microbiome of oral lesions and corresponding normal tissue opens the possibility to not only detect cancer‑associated changes at one time point, but the relative stability of the adult oral microbiome also offers the opportunity to monitor shifts in bacterial communities over time.

“Here we observed changes in the microbiome, which, in future larger studies, may be confirmed as a potential biomarker of oral cancers or pre‑cancers, and may even have utility to discriminate patients with lymph node metastases,” notes Dr. Albertson. “In addition, there are other challenges in clinical management of oral cancers that would benefit from better diagnostic tools.”

Oral cancer patients are also at risk of second primary cancers and recurrences. The microbiome may provide signatures that can be used as a biomarker for monitoring field changes associated with the high rate of second primary oral cancers and recurrences. The team also notes the possibility of medically modulating the oral microbiome for treatment of oral pre-cancers and damaged fields (field cancerization).

Funding: This work was supported in part by an award of a GS Junior 454 Sequencing run from Roche, the National Center for Research Resources, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, through University of San Francisco (UCSF)---CTSI grant number UL1 RR024129, and individual investigator awards from the National Cancer Institute grant (R01 CA131286, R21 CA 941186215) and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (R01 DE019796). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Authors and affiliations: Brian L. Schmidt, Bluestone Center for Clinical Research, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA. Justin Kuczynski, Bioinformatics Department, Second Genome, San Bruno, CA, USA. Aditi Bhattacharya, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Current address, Department of Diagnostic Sciences Texas A&M HSC Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas, TX, USA. Bing Huey, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Patricia M. Corby, Bluestone Center for Clinical Research, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA. L. S. Queiroz, Bluestone Center for Clinical Research, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA. Kira Nightingale, Bluestone Center for Clinical Research, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA. A. Ross Kerr, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA. Mark D. DeLacure, Departments of Otolaryngology and Plastic Surgery, New York University, New York, NY, USA. Ratna Veeramachaneni, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Adam B. Olshen, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Donna G. Albertson, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Current address, Bluestone Center for Clinical Research and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA. Corresponding author: Donna Albertson, da66@nyu.edu

Source: New York University College of Dentistry

Putnam Valley, NY. (June 5, 2014) – Scientists in Taiwan have found that intravenous injections of stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous tooth pulp (SHED) have a protective effect against brain damage from heat stroke in mice. Their finding was safe and effective and so may be a candidate for successfully treating human patients by preventing the neurological damage caused by heat stroke.

The study is published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation and is currently freely available online as an unedited early e-pub at: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-CT1100Tseng.

"Heat stroke deaths are increasing worldwide and heat stroke-induced brain injury is the third largest cause of mortality after cardiovascular disease and traumatic brain injury," said study lead author Dr. Ying-Chu Lin of the Kaohsiung Medical University School of Dentistry, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. "Heat stroke is characterized by hyperthermia, systemic inflammatory response, multiple organ failure and brain dysfunction."

To investigate the beneficial and potentially therapeutic effects afforded by the protective activities of self-renewing stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth, the scientists transplanted SHED into mice that had suffered experimental heat stroke.

According to the research team, these cells have "significantly higher proliferation rates" than stem cells from bone marrow and have the added advantages of being easy to harvest and express several growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and they can promote the migration and differentiation of neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs).

"We observed that the intravenous administration of SHED immediately post-heat stroke exhibited several therapeutic benefits," said Dr. Lin. "These included the inhibition of neurological deficits and a reduction in oxidative damage to the brain. We suspect that the protective effect of SHED may be related to a decreased inflammatory response, decreased oxidative stress and an increase in hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis activity following the heat stroke injury."

There are currently some drawbacks to the experimental therapy, said the researchers. First, there is a limited supply of SHED. Also, SHED transplantation has been associated with cancer and immune rejection.

"Further studies are warranted to determine the precise mechanism or production of SHED-mediated growth factors in our heat stroke model," concluded the researchers.

"This study provides the first step towards a potential therapy for the treatment of heat stroke" said Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, professor of Neurosurgery and superintendent at the China Medical University Hospital, Beigang, Taiwan and Coeditor-in-chief of Cell Transplantation. "The use of SHED is an intriguing approach which requires further study to elucidate the cellular and secretory factors necessary for benefit."

Public awareness of head and neck cancer (HNC) is low, with few Americans knowing much about risk factors such as tobacco use and human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a study published by JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. The research, which was authored by Alexander L. Luryi, BS, of the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., was an online study of 2,126 adults conducted in 2013.

HNC is the tenth most common cancer in the United States. It is a potentially preventable disease with about 75% of cases caused by tobacco use. In recent years, HPV has been established as a risk factor for HNC. Increased public awareness of HNC and its risk factors could help improve outcomes.

About 66% of the participants were "not very" or "not at all" knowledgeable about HNC. Smoking and chewing or spitting tobacco were identified by 54.5% and 32.7% of respondents as risk factors for mouth and throat cancer, respectively. Only 0.8% of respondents identified HPV as a risk factor.

"Awareness of HNC is low compared with other cancers, which is concerning given the importance of risk factor avoidance and modification, as well as early patient detection, as drivers of prevention and improved outcomes," according to the report.

(JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Published online June 5, 2014. doi:10.1001/.jamaoto.2014.867.)

Kenneth B. Chance, DDS, professor and chief of endodontics at the University of Kentucky, will succeed Jerry Goldberg as dean of Case Western Reserve University’s School of Dental Medicine. Chance, who was chosen after a national search, has been a member of Case Western Reserve’s board of trustees since 2005. He will resign his board seat later this month.

President Barbara R. Snyder announced Monday that the 1979 alumnus of the School of Dental Medicine will become its next dean July 1.

“I am excited and honored by the opportunity to return to this campus at a pivotal time for the school and for health care nationally,” said Chance in a news release. “Jerry’s tenure has been transformative, and I look forward to building on his legacy and accelerating our momentum.”

Goldberg, meanwhile, has served 17 years as dean. Under his leadership, the school has expanded its research portfolio and, in recent years, dental students have begun to work more closely with their peers in nursing, medicine and social work. 

Chance earned his undergraduate degree at Fordham University and earned his DDS at Case Western Reserve. He completed a general practice residency at Jamaica Hospital in Jamaica, New York, followed by an endodontic postgraduate residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey, which is now part of Rutgers University.

In 1997, Chance became dean of the dental school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. He eventually went on to the University of Kentucky, where he has been active in faculty development and interprofessional education initiatives.

CHICAGO (June 2, 2014) – The American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) invites all dental professionals to attend its 100^th Annual Meeting at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco from September 19-22, 2014. The special anniversary celebration will highlight achievements in periodontics over the past century and provide insight to the future of periodontal care. 

Since the group’s inception in 1914, the AAP has been committed to advancing the science and practice of periodontics while promoting awareness of periodontal health. The organization has proudly grown to more than 8,300 members, representing 76 nations worldwide.

“With the Academy’s rich history, the 2014 Annual Meeting is one not to miss,” says Stuart Froum, DDS, president of the AAP and clinical professor and Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Periodontics and Implant Dentistry at New York University Dental Center. “Attendees can expect exceptional hands-on workshops presented by the specialty’s experts and thought leaders, and several in-depth educational sessions that range from how to more efficiently treat patients to how to grow your practice. I look forward to gathering with my dental colleagues to commemorate the AAP’s centennial and look toward forward to the future of periodontology.”

The 2014 AAP Annual Meeting will feature over 50 educational and scientific sessions with several options for continuing education credits. Attendees will be able to choose from a diverse selection of programming, including:

- CE courses covering the latest information in current periodontal topics such as imaging and emerging technologies, regeneration and tissue engineering, and dental implants.

- Corporate Forums featuring presentations from fifteen leading dental product manufacturers and services

- Hands-on workshops covering groundbreaking techniques in periodontal procedures such as vertical ridge augmentation and maxillary since augmentation.

- A unique clinical interactive forum on growth patterns that can affect the esthetics and function of implant-supported and tooth-supported restorations – with expert discussion of treatment options

This year’s meeting also features a Dental Hygiene Symposium, an enhanced Student Event, a special Centennial Tribute Event, and a dental industry exhibition.

Annual Meeting attendees can personalize their meeting experience by downloading the AAP Annual Meeting mobile app. The app provides up-to-the-minute information, a customizable schedule, real-time alerts, built-in Twitter feed, exhibitors’ locations, suggestions for local dining, entertainment and attractions, and other handy features.

The Academy, which was originally founded as the American Academy of Oral Prophylaxis and Periodontology, was launched in May 1914 by Drs. Gillette Hayden and Grace Rogers Spalding. In 1919, the Academy changed its name to the American Academy of Periodontology and, in 1924 adopted its current logo. Visit the online 100th anniversary dashboard on Perio.org, which includes an interactive timeline, guestbook and archival photos.

To register for the 2014 Annual Meeting or for more information visit: https://www.perio.org/meetings/AM2014.htm, call 800-282-4867 x3213, or email meetings@perio.org.