Oral medicine

Dental extraction before cardiac surgery may not be as benign a procedure as some clinicians might think, with review findings showing that it is associated with major adverse outcomes.

Researchers from China have found that patients with gingivitis and periodontitis are more likely to have Fusobacterium nucleatum carrying the novel Fusobacterium adhesin A than periodontally healthy people.

A complex picture has emerged of changes in oral-health-related quality of life after at-home dental bleaching, with some measures improving and others deteriorating after the treatment, a Brazilian double-blind randomized clinical trial has shown.

Scientists have detected significant differences in the cytokine and chemokine make up of gingival crevicular fluid taken from chronic periodontitis patients with uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes and those without.

Dental assessment of young adults in Brazil has linked posterior restoration of cavities to an increased risk for gingival bleeding and dental calculus.

People with dental caries have a reduced risk for developing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a large case-control study has found.

Periodontal disease caused by Porphyromonas gingivalis infection can induce the autoimmune response that characterizes rheumatoid arthritis, a pilot study indicates.

Headache and orofacial pain have a surprisingly high prevalence in the general Brazilian population, affecting more than half of 890 people interviewed in a study.

Findings from a US study suggest that improving oral hygiene could reduce rates of pneumonia in community-dwelling older adults.

An algorithm-based quantitative approach is the best means of caries risk assessment in preschool children, suggests research published in the Journal of Clinical Dentistry.

Parents should be warned about the impact of diet on teeth, say Australian researchers who found at least one in six children show signs of tooth wear.

Over 40 million hours are lost each year due to dental problems and their treatment in the Canadian population, study findings indicate.

Performing tonsillectomy before radiotherapy in patients with stage I/II tonsil cancer is associated with improved survival, an analysis of US data indicates.

Elderly individuals with tooth loss could lower their risk for mortality if they practice good oral hygiene, report researchers.

Consumption of tea and coffee is inversely correlated with the risk for cancer of the oral cavity, a large population-based study suggests.

Infection with human papillomavirus type 16 has an important role in the etiology of oropharyngeal cancers, results from a large case–control study indicate.

Tooth sensitivity is a common but short-lived side effect of bleaching with hydrogen peroxide, a study by Turkish researchers indicates.

Irsogladine maleate is a promising drug for the management of oral mucositis in patients undergoing 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy, results of a randomized placebo-controlled trial indicate.

The use of light activation does not appear to enhance the effectiveness of tooth whitening, but is associated with greater sensitivity immediately after treatment, results of a clinical study show.

There is a strong association between Type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic periodontitis, say researchers, who call for greater awareness of this link among healthcare practitioners and patients.