February 5, 2010

Related topics: Nutritional lipids and oils, Bone & joint health

The dental health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids may include anti-bacterial effects, extending the benefits beyond inflammation, says a new study from the University of Kentucky.

Omega-3 fatty acids of marine and plant origin were found to have strong anti-bacterial activity against a range of oral pathogens, according to findings published in Molecular Oral Microbiology.

EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), as well as their fatty acid ethyl esters could inhibit the growth of oral pathogens, including Streptococcus mutans, Candida albicans, and Porphyromonas ginigivalis at relatively low doses.

“To date, this is the first study to demonstrate the significant antibacterial activity of omega-3 fatty acids and their esters against oral pathogens,” wrote Dr Brad Huang and Dr Jeff Ebersole from the Center for Oral Health Research at U of K’s College of Dentistry.

Talking to NutraIngredients, lead author Dr Huang said: “Most Omega-3 studies on oral health have been focused on the inflammation part; for some reason, the anti-bacterial activity has not mentioned or ignored, including a recent Japanese study. (To read NutraIngredients’ coverage of the Japanese please click here .)

“On the contrary, the anti-bacterial part of the omega-3 fatty acids could be very important.

“Certainly, it could be a potential new use of omega-3 fatty acids as the nutraceuticals in the future,” added Dr Huang.

The new study looked at the effects of EPA, DHA, ALA and their fatty acid ethyl esters, ALAEE, EPAEE, DHAEE on a range of oral pathogens. All the omega-3 compounds studies were found to exhibit strong antibacterial activity.

The study, sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health, found that all six compounds showed cent 50 per cent inhibitory activity for concentrations ranging from 1 to 10 micrograms per millilitre.

“Although our data support the in vitro effect, the in vivo effects would still need to be empirically determined,” wrote the researchers. “However, EPA and ALA had a much stronger antibacterial activity than DHA in vitro so it is expected that EPA and ALA will have stronger in vivo effects than DHA.”

Dr Huang confirmed that work in this area was ongoing and expanding. “We currently plan to explore this new activity and will try to translate this into products, such as chewing gum.

“Of course, we plan to study and answer those questions about the optimal dosages, pharmacokinetics, the delivery into the oral cavity, and what kind of in vivo dosage/effect to expect, and so on,” he added.

Bitesize look at omega-3 for oral health

Talking to NutraIngredients, Harry Rice, PhD, director, regulatory & scientific affairs for the omega-3 trade association GOED (Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s) said that the study of resolvins and protectins, which are metabolites of EPA and DHA, is much more advanced than the study of EPA and DHA.

“I think it’s worth separating the two groups (resolvins and protectins) versus (EPA and DHA) because of their classification as (pharmaceuticals) versus (foods and supplements) respectively. The majority of research on oral health (i.e. gingivitis and periodontitis) and the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, has been conducted in animals or in vitro.

“The science is promising and in time, I believe it will become more developed,” added Dr Rice.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Vitamin C from dietary sources, but not from supplements, is associated with a reduced risk of oral pre-malignant lesions in men, a new study indicates.

Dr. Nancy Nairi Maserejian, of New England Research Institutes, Watertown, Massachusetts, and colleagues examined intake of vitamins C, E, A and carotenoids in 42,340 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the occurrence of oral pre-malignant lesions. The men provided information on supplement use and diet every 2 to 4 years.

A total of 207 oral premalignant lesions were diagnosed between 1986 and 2002, the team reports in the International Journal of Cancer.

The risk of developing such a lesion was not significantly linked to total intake of vitamin C, vitamin A, or carotenoids. However, dietary vitamin C was significantly associated with a reduced risk of oral premalignant lesions: those with the highest intake had a 50 percent reduction in risk compared to those with the lowest intake.

The researchers found no clear relationship with beta-carotene, lycopene, or lutein/zeaxanthin. A trend for increased risk of oral pre-malignant lesions was observed with vitamin E, especially among current smokers and with vitamin E supplements. Beta-carotene also increased the risk among current smokers.

“It is possible that the protection that seems to be offered by dietary intake of vitamin C is actually partly due to some other component of vitamin C-rich food,” Maserejian said in an interview with Reuters Health.

“Although we do not yet know exactly what component — or interaction between components — is most important, a diet that includes vitamin C-rich foods as well as a variety of nutrients is likely to benefit most people,” she said.

“Our results also highlight the need to consider possible harmful effects of high doses of vitamin E supplements among smokers,” the researcher noted.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, March 2007.

Scientists at the 87th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, convening today in Miami Beach, report new studies on the connection between oral disease and systemic disease. A recurring theme is the relationship between periodontal (gum) disease and infant prematurity, diabetes, or stroke.

Studies reporting on the efficacy of treating periodontal disease to lower the incidence of infant prematurity worldwide may be conflicting when pregnant mothers with periodontal disease are treated with scaling and root planing (tooth cleaning above and below the gum line). While treatment of mothers with mild periodontal disease usually does not have an effect on infant prematurity, the greatest effect has been reported by scientists to be observed in mothers with generalized severe periodontal disease. A higher prevalence of premature births is found among African-Americans than among Caucasians in America or Europe. The reasons are not clear but warrant further study and, possibly, targeted preventive measures, including periodontal care.

In this age of tight resources for care, it was calculated that the treatment of over 1600 pregnant women with all levels of severity of periodontal disease could save nearly USD$14,000,000 (14 million).

The theme continues for the treatment of patients with diabetes or a history of cerebro-vascular accident (stroke). In a single year, patients with medical and dental coverage from a private single carrier exhibited average savings, in medical costs, of USD$10,142 per patient in the cerebro-vascular accident group and $1,418 per patient in the diabetes group.

Yes, indeed, your smile may be connected to your overall health.

Source: International & American Association for Dental Research

Even with the alcohol removed, red wine and white wine may fight bacteria that cause cavities, an Italian study shows.

Before you toast the findings, remember that the study was done in test tubes. So it’s too soon to count on a glass of wine to chase your cavities away.

The researchers, who work at Italy’s University of Pavia, included Gabriella Gazzani, PhD.

First, they went to a local grocery store, where they bought some valpolicella (an Italian red wine) and pinot nero (an Italian white wine).

Back at their lab, the researchers stripped the alcohol out of the wine. They did that to prevent ethanol from interfering with their lab tests.

Next, the researchers marinated cavity-causing streptococcal bacteria in the wines. Both types of wine countered those bacteria and other streptococcal bacteria that cause some cases of throat infection.

Red wine might have had more antibacterial properties than white wine, but that wasn’t certain, Gazzani’s team notes.

The researchers also isolated acids found in red wine and white wine and tested those acids against the same bacteria, which are called S. mutans and S. pyogenes.

The isolated acids were more effective against the bacteria than the wines. So the researchers reason that while wine fights S.mutans and S. pyogenes, wine also contains compounds that dilute those benefits, to some extent.

The study appears online in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The results of a small trial suggest that vitamin B12 is a safe, effective, and inexpensive treatment for repeat canker sores.

“The frequency of (repeat canker sores) is as much as 25 percent in the general population,” researcher Dr. Ilia Volkov, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, said in a statement.

The cause of recurrent canker sores is unknown. Over the years a variety of treatments, including adhesive pastes, antiseptics, vitamins, herbs, and steroids have been tested. Although these treatments may reduce pain or the number of lesions in the short term, very few have had any lasting beneficial effect.

Volkov’s team had already discovered that treating recurrent canker sores with vitamin B12 produced lasting results. In their most recent study, which involved 58 volunteers, they wanted to confirm the effectiveness of vitamin B12 by comparing results in treated patients to a comparison group that received inactive “placebo.”

The results of the study are reported in The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

Compared to placebo, treatment with vitamin B12 significantly reduced pain, the number of ulcers, and the duration of outbreaks at 5 and 6 months. Moreover, the improvements were not affected by what the patients’ blood levels of vitamin B12 were at the start of the study.

In the last month of treatment, 74.1 percent of vitamin B12-treated patients were free of canker sores compared with 32 percent of those given placebo.

Exactly how vitamin B12 achieves these beneficial effects is unclear, the authors acknowledge. The fact that the treatment worked equally well regardless of the initial vitamin B12 level suggests that the vitamin may possess some unrecognized functions.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, January/February 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Young adults who lose their teeth to cavities or gum disease may have an increased risk of dying from heart disease later in life, a new study suggests.

The findings, reported in the journal Heart, add to evidence linking oral health to heart health. A number of studies have suggested that gum disease may contribute to heart disease over time — though it’s still not clear that there is a cause-and-effect relationship.

This latest study involved more than 12,000 UK adults who were followed from college onward, for up to 57 years. Researchers found that those with a large number of missing teeth in young adulthood — nine or more — were one-third more likely to die of heart disease than their peers with fewer than five missing teeth.

The link remained when the researchers considered factors such as socioeconomic background and smoking, which harms both the teeth and gums and the heart.

Tooth loss is an indicator of poor oral health. Scientists speculate that the bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and gum disease may enter the bloodstream and either damage the blood vessel lining directly or trigger inflammation in the body that then contributes to heart disease.

The current findings do not prove that this is the case, according to the study authors, led by Dr. Yu-Kang Tu of the University of Leeds. But they do support a relationship between tooth loss and cardiovascular disease, Tu told Reuters Health. Unlike most other studies in this area, the researcher noted, this one looked at oral health early in life rather than in old age.

“Our study adds to the evidence that chronic infection — oral or elsewhere in the (body) — may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases,” Tu said.

The findings are based on 12,631 men and women who had medical and dental exams as college students in the 1940s through 1960s. They were then traced through the UK National Health Service until 2005, during which time 1,432 died.

Overall, men and women with the most severe tooth loss as college students were 35 percent more likely to have died from heart disease than those with four or fewer missing teeth.

It’s too soon to say that good oral hygiene will lower anyone’s risk of heart disease, according to Tu — particularly since this risk depends on multiple lifestyle and genetic factors. But, Tu added, it also won’t hurt people to take better care of their teeth.

The aloe vera plant has a long history of healing power. Its ability to heal burns and cuts and soothe pain has been documented as far back as the 10th century. Legend has it that Cleopatra used aloe vera to keep her skin soft. The modern use of aloe vera was first recognized the 1930s to heal radiation burns. Since then, it has been a common ingredient in ointments that heal sunburn, minor cuts, skin irritation, and many other ailments.

Recently, aloe vera has gained some popularity as an active ingredient in tooth gel. Similar to its use on skin, the aloe vera in tooth gels is used to cleanse and soothe teeth and gums, and is as effective as toothpaste to fight cavities, according to the May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal.

Aloe vera tooth gel is intended to perform the same function as toothpaste, which is to eliminate pathogenic oral microflora—disease-causing bacteria—in the mouth. The ability of aloe vera tooth gel to successfully perform that function has been a point of contention for some dental professionals. However, research presented in General Dentistry may alleviate that concern. The study compared the germ-fighting ability of an aloe vera tooth gel to two commercially popular toothpastes and revealed that the aloe vera tooth gel was just as effective, and in some cases more effective, than the commercial brands at controlling cavity-causing organisms.

Aloe latex contains anthraquinones, which are chemical compounds that are used in healing and arresting pain because they are anti-inflammatory in nature. But, because aloe vera tooth gel tends to be less harsh on teeth, as it does not contain the abrasive elements typically found in commercial toothpaste, it is a great alternative for people with sensitive teeth or gums.

But buyers must beware. Not all aloe vera tooth gel contains the proper form of aloe vera. Products must contain the stabilized gel that is located in the center of the aloe vera plant in order to be effective. Products must also adhere to certain manufacturing standards. Dilip George, MDS, co-author of the study, explains that aloe “must not be treated with excessive heat or filtered during the manufacturing process, as this destroys or reduces the effects of certain essential compounds, such as enzymes and polysaccharides.” Dr. George suggests that consumers consult non-profit associations such as the International Aloe Science Council to see what products have received the organization’s seal of quality.

Although there are more than 300 species of the plant, only a few have been used for medicinal purposes. “Thankfully, consumers with sensitive teeth or gums have a number of choices when it comes to their oral health, and aloe vera is one of them,” says AGD spokesperson Eric Shapria, MS, DDS, MAGD, MA. “If they are interested in a more alternative approach to oral hygiene, they should speak with their dentist to ensure that it meets the standards of organized dentistry, too.”

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Our modern dental woes have a lot do to with modern whole-body ills like heart disease and diabetes, according to the author of a review of decades’ worth of studies on diet and health.

The culprit in both cases? The so-called fermentable carbohydrates forming the foundation of the modern diet, says Dr. Philippe P. Hujoel of the University of Washington School of Dentistry in Seattle. These include sugars and starchy foods that break down into sugars in the mouth, as well as tropical fruits and dried fruits.

Hujoel argues in the Journal of Dental Research that gum disease and tooth decay should be seen as “alarm bells” that signal a person is at risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic health problems.

In recent years, Hujoel argues, fat has replaced fermentable carbohydrates as the enemy, which has led to the promotion of heavy carbohydrate consumption-and in turn the need for dental interventions like sealant and fluoride to prevent tooth decay.

Studies have shown development of gum disease within days of a person upping their sugar intake, which then improves within weeks of a person cutting out carbs. If such high-fermentable carbohydrate diets continue, Hujoel argues, their associated chronic illnesses take hold.

“Clearly, the dental alarm bell has an extremely low threshold for activation; the response occurs in days, weeks or, at most, years, as opposed to the decades it takes for systemic (diseases) to become clinically apparent,” he writes.

Hujoel calls for research to investigate the question of whether diets that are good for our teeth are also good for our overall health. If the answer is yes, he adds, “dental diseases could become increasingly regarded as the early marker of adverse lifestyle choices,” and could also offer clues to understanding other systemic illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease.

SOURCE: Journal of Dental Research, July 1, 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Young children given syrup containing the naturally occurring sweetener xylitol may be less likely to develop decay in their baby teeth, results of a study hint.

Early childhood cavities, also called baby bottle tooth decay or nursing cavities, are characterized by severe tooth decay early in life and remain a problem, Dr. Peter Milgrom from the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues note in a report published today. “Poor children experience rates twice as high as those of their more affluent peers, and their disease is more likely to be untreated,” they point out.

Xylitol, approved in the United States for use in food since 1963, has been shown to effectively prevent tooth decay by inhibiting the growth of bacteria that cause cavities. These previous studies have primarily involved chewing gum or lozenges used in school-age children with permanent teeth.

Milgrom’s team evaluated the effectiveness of using xylitol-containing syrup among 94 children, 9 to 15 months old, from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, where early childhood tooth decay is a serious health care problem.

“Our results suggest that exposure to xylitol (8 grams per day) in a twice-daily topical oral syrup during primary tooth eruption could prevent up to 70 percent of decayed teeth,” the investigators report.

After an average of 10.5 months, 8 of 33 children (24.2 percent) receiving two doses of xylitol per day and 13 of the 32 children (40.6 percent) receiving three doses of xylitol per day had tooth decay, compared with 15 of the 29 children (51.7 percent) in a control group.

The average numbers of decayed teeth were 0.6 in the two-dose xylitol group, one in the three-dose xylitol group and 1.9 in the control group.

“These results provide evidence for the first time (to our knowledge) that xylitol is effective for the prevention of decay in primary teeth of toddlers,” Milgrom and colleagues wrote.

“More research is needed to develop vehicles and strategies for optimal public health, but in populations with high rates of tooth decay, xylitol is likely to be a cost-effective preventive measure,” they conclude.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, July 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The National Institutes of Health has awarded $1.3 million to an interdisciplinary team that will investigate how people’s oral health might affect their memory, and vice versa.

Dr. Bei Wu, a gerontologist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, will lead the research, which will examine existing national and regional studies of thousands of people.

Research has already established a strong association between oral health and heart disease, stroke and diabetes, as well as Alzheimer’s disease. Yet there has been little study of how the state of an older person’s teeth and gums relates to their mental function, Dr. Richard Crout, who is participating in the new study, noted in an interview with Reuters Health. Nevertheless, he added, it’s becoming increasingly clear that “to have overall good general health you need to have good oral health.”

Crout is an expert on gum disease and associate dean for research in the West Virginia University School of Dentistry in Morgantown.

Last year, Drs. Wu and Crout and others reported a link between poorer oral health and lower brain function in older adults. The study, which is ongoing, includes 273 patients from West Virginia who underwent brain function testing, dental evaluations, and blood tests to check for inflammatory proteins associated with poor cognitive function.

In the new study, the researchers will use several existing data sets to further examine the relationship between oral health and cognitive function over a period of time. These large data sets will allow them to control for several factors that could affect both oral health and cognitive function, such as socioeconomic status and medical conditions including cardiovascular diseases.

“Out of this we are hopeful to have more evidence to support the tenet that oral health is also important for cognitive health and to increase our understanding of determinants of oral health among older adults,” Crout said. The study may also yield strategies for improving cognitive function by improving oral health.

The study, led by Dr. Shiela Strauss, Associate Professor of Nursing and Co-Director of the Statistics and Data Management Core for NYU’s Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, examined data from 2,923 adult participants in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who had not been diagnosed with diabetes. The survey, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States.

Using guidelines established by the American Diabetes Association, Dr. Strauss determined that 93 percent of subjects who had periodontal disease, compared to 63 percent of those without the disease, were considered to be at high risk for diabetes and should be screened for diabetes. The guidelines recommend diabetes screening for people at least 45 years of age with a body mass index (a comparative measure of weight and height) of 25 or more, as well as for those under 45 years of age with a BMI of 25 or more who also have at least one additional diabetes risk factor. In Dr. Strauss’s study, two of those additional risk factors – high blood pressure and a first-degree relative (a parent or sibling) with diabetes – were reported in a significantly greater number of subjects with periodontal disease than in subjects without the disease. Dr. Strauss’s findings, published today in the online edition of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry, add to a growing body of evidence linking periodontal infections to an increased risk for diabetes.

Dr. Strauss also examined how often those with gum disease and a risk for diabetes visit a dentist, finding that three in five reported a dental visit in the past two years; half in the past year; and a third in the past six months.

“In light of these findings, the dental visit could be a useful opportunity to conduct an initial diabetes screening — an important first step in identifying those patients who need follow-up testing to diagnose the disease.”

“It’s been estimated that 5.7 million Americans with diabetes were undiagnosed in 2007,” Dr. Strauss added, “with the number expected to increase dramatically in coming years. The issue of undiagnosed diabetes is especially critical because early treatment and secondary prevention efforts may help to prevent or delay the long-term complications of diabetes that are responsible for reduced quality of life and increased levels of mortality among these patients. Thus, there is a critical need to increase opportunities for diabetes screening and early diabetes detection.”

Dr. Strauss said that dentists could screen patients for diabetes by evaluating them for risk factors such as being overweight; belonging to a high-risk ethnic group (African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian-American, or Pacific Islander); having high cholesterol; high blood pressure; a first-degree relative with diabetes; or gestational diabetes mellitus; or having given birth to a baby weighing more than nine pounds.

Alternatively, dentists could use a glucometer — a diagnostic instrument for measuring blood glucose — to analyze finger-stick blood samples, or use the glucometer to evaluate blood samples taken from pockets of inflammation in the gums.

“The oral blood sample would arguably be more acceptable to dentists because providers and patients anticipate oral intervention in the dental office,” Dr. Strauss noted. In an earlier study involving 46 subjects with periodontal disease published in June 2009 by the Journal of Periodontology, an NYU nursing-dental research team led by Dr. Strauss determined that the glucometer can provide reliable glucose-level readings for blood samples drawn from deep pockets of gum inflammation, and that those readings were highly correlated with glucometer readings for finger-stick blood samples.

Source: New York University (news : web)

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Biopsies could soon be a thing of the past for detecting one of the deadliest types of cancers. Researchers have successfully identified markers of oral cancer in patients’ saliva.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, measured microRNA levels in 100 patients, half healthy and half with oral squamous cell carcinoma. A microRNA is a cell produced molecule that can simultaneously control activity and assess the behavior of multiple genes. Approximately 50 microRNAs were detected. Two in particular, miR-125a and miR-200a, were present at considerably lower levels for patients with oral cancer compared with the healthy patients.

“It is a Holy Grail of cancer detection to be able to measure the presence of a cancer without a biopsy,” Jennifer Granis, M.D., professor of otolaryngology and pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Cancer Institute, was quoted as saying. “So it is very appealing to think we could detect a cancer-specific marker in a patient’s saliva.”

Experts say future research is needed before saliva tests can be offered to the public.

Oral cancer kills one person every hour, 24 hours per day, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation.

SOURCE: Clinical Cancer Research, journal of the American Association for Cancer Research

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) — Dental researchers say a specific protein may help a component of cavity-ridden teeth grow back, potentially preventing the need for root canals.

The findings are preliminary, and the synthetic protein, known as Dentonin, hasn’t reached the required third level of testing, so it may be years before it gets approval to reach the market.

Still, Dentonin seems to have possibilities, said David Rosen, vice president of research and development at Acologix, the Hayward, Calif., company developing the product. “It’s such a novel approach,” he said. “There really isn’t anything like it.”

Dentonin is designed to help the teeth rebuild dentin, a bone-like hard tissue that forms between the outer enamel and the inner pulp, Rosen said.

When someone has a deep cavity, a dentist will drill through the enamel and dentin, Rosen said. In some cases, this causes sensitivity to hot and cold, and a root canal may be necessary because the nerve is exposed. Over time, the tooth dies and a dental implant may need to be inserted, he said.

In the new study, researchers from Acologix, the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Connecticut studied 35 patients scheduled to undergo at least two extractions of third molars. The researchers placed Dentonin on some of the soon-to-be-extracted teeth and a placebo compound on the others.

An analysis of the extracted teeth showed that Dentonin appeared to stimulate formation of new dentin. No side effects were reported. Apparently, the treatment stimulates cells in the pulp, which then produce dentin, Rosen said.

The researchers were to report their findings Thursday at the 84th general session of the International Association for Dental Research, in Brisbane, Australia.

“We’re hoping we could use it in a situation when a dentist sees a cavity of any kind,” said Rosen, adding that the protein may be most effective when someone has a deep cavity that threatens to expose the nerve.

However, the researchers still have to launch a larger phase III study to confirm that the treatment works. And Rosen cautioned that the new study doesn’t prove that Dentonin could prevent root canals, although researchers hope it could at least prevent tooth sensitivity.

Dr. Dan Meyer, an associate executive director at the American Dental Association who’s familiar with the study findings, said Dentonin “shows promise” as a way to regenerate dentin in a “healthier way.”

“There’s a long way to go yet, but hopefully this will pan out to be a very good product,” he said.

Other dental products aim to help regenerate teeth that have been damaged by decay, he added.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Severe gum disease is associated with increased health care costs for not only dental care but also inpatient hospital care, according to a team of Japanese researchers.

Their study findings were presented recently during the 84th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, held in Brisbane, Australia.

Periodontal disease is one of the most common chronic diseases, yet researchers had not previously determined whether it is also associated with increased inpatient, outpatient and other health care costs.

To investigate, Dr. R. Ide and colleagues from the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, in Kitakyushu, Japan, examined health insurance claims and other information from the health and dental examinations of 4,285 civil officers, aged 40 to 59. They divided the officers into moderate, severe, or no gum disease groups and assessed their medical and dental costs during the following 3.5 years.

The investigators found that overall costs were 21 percent higher for men and women with severe gum disease than for those with no gum disease.

Participants with severe periodontitis were also more likely to be admitted to the hospital than those with less severe gum disease, study findings indicate. For men in particular, annual hospital costs were 75 percent higher for those with severe periodontal disease than for those with no sign of gum disease.

For subjects with severe gum disease, annual visits to the dentist were twice as common among men with and nearly 50 percent more common among women than for counterparts, the researchers note. Further, the costs associated with these visits increased along with the increased severity of gum disease.

“Periodontal disease impacts health care cost increases through not only dental care costs but also inpatient care costs, especially in males,” the researchers conclude.

According to Dr. Kenneth A. Krebs, president of the American Academy of Periodontology, “it’s not surprising that periodontal diseases may be associated with increased health care costs and dental costs because periodontal disease may be linked to general health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, pre-term low birthweight and respiratory disease.”

“That said, one might suppose that early detection and treatment of periodontal diseases may help reduce healthcare costs,” he told Reuters Health.

“Good at-home oral hygiene and routine professional care, including regular periodontal examinations, can go a long way toward preventing periodontal diseases and/or catching and treating them in the early stages,” he added.

“Prevent periodontitis; if you have it already, get treatment and maintain good oral hygiene,” said Mine Tezal, D.D.S., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo, and NYS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences at the University of Buffalo. She is also a research scientist in the Department of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Prosthetics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, which is where the study was conducted.

Results of this study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Chronic periodontitis is characterized by progressive loss of the bone and soft tissue attachment that surround the teeth. The researchers assessed the role of chronic periodontitis on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, as well as the individual roles on three subsites: oral cavity, oropharyngeal and laryngeal. They used radiographic measurement of bone loss to measure periodontitis among 463 patients; 207 of whom were controls.

Findings showed that chronic periodontitis might represent a clinical high-risk profile for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The strength of the association was greatest in the oral cavity, followed by the oropharynx and larynx, according to Tezal.

When they stratified the relationship by tobacco use, they found that the association persisted in those patients who never used tobacco. The researchers did not expect the periodontitis-head and neck squamous cell carcinoma association to be weaker in current smokers compared to former and never smokers, according to Tezal. However, this interaction, although statistically significant, was not very strong.

“Confirmatory studies with more comprehensive assessment of smoking, such as duration, quantity and patterns of use, as well as smokeless tobacco history are needed,” she said.

“Our study also suggests that chronic periodontitis may be associated with poorly differentiated tumor status in the oral cavity. Continuous stimulation of cellular proliferation by chronic inflammation may be responsible for this histological type. However, grading is subjective and we only observed this association in the oral cavity. Therefore, this association may be due to chance and needs further exploration,” Tezal added.

Andrew Olshan, Ph.D., said these results lend further support to the potential importance of poor oral health in this form of cancer. Olshan is professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“The study of poor oral health including the possible carcinogenic role of microorganisms is part of a rapidly growing interest in how a community of microbes that live in the various environments of the human body can affect health,” Olshan said. “Although the study is comparatively small, the researchers were able to also see an association between bone loss and the risk of head and neck cancer.”

Source: American Association for Cancer Research (news : web)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In middle-aged adults, gum disease goes hand in hand with the metabolic syndrome, UK researchers report.

“Further studies are required to test whether improvements in oral health could affect the onset/progression of the metabolic syndrome or vice-versa,” Dr. Francesco D’Aiuto of the UCL Eastman Dental Institute in London, one of the researchers on the study, told Reuters Health.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes — including high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides (another type of blood fat). The syndrome is usually diagnosed when a person has three or more of these traits.

Several studies have suggested links between periodontitis, an infection of the tissue supporting the teeth seen in up to 40 percent of adults, and system-wide problems such as low grade inflammation and a reduced ability to metabolize glucose (sugar), D’Aiuto and his team note in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

People with periodontitis are also at about 20 percent greater risk of heart disease. As both periodontitis and the metabolic syndrome have been linked to inflammation and resistance to insulin, they sought to determine whether the two might be directly related.

To investigate, they looked at 13,994 men and women participating in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who had undergone periodontal exams.

Thirty-four percent of people with moderate periodontitis and 37 percent with severe periodontitis had the metabolic syndrome, the researchers found, compared to just 18 percent of people with no gum disease or only mild periodontitis.

The likelihood of being diagnosed with metabolic syndrome rose with the severity of bleeding in the gums, as well as the proportion of periodontal pockets, or abnormally deep spaces between teeth and gums. The relationship was especially strong among people 40 and older.

After adjusting for factors that might influence the results, adults older than age 45 suffering from severe periodontitis were 2.3-times more likely to have metabolic syndrome than unaffected individuals.

It’s still not entirely clear how gum disease and heart disease might be related, D’Aiuto and his colleagues at University College London note, although they point out that they recently found treating severe periodontitis resulted in better blood vessel function six months later.

Regardless, D’Aiuto said, the findings underscore the importance of oral health to general well being, adding that everyone should take care of their gums and teeth and be sure to see a dentist regularly.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Among nursing home residents, having a nursing aide help them maintain good oral hygiene lowers the odds of them dying from pneumonia, a study suggests.

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in elderly nursing home residents, Dr. Carol W. Bassim and colleagues point out in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. “Several studies have shown that poor oral hygiene or inadequate oral care are also associated with pneumonia,” they add.

Bassim, now at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in Bethesda, Maryland, and her associates studied the impact of enhanced oral hygiene care for residents in two wards at a Florida nursing home compared with residents in two other wards.

Initially, there was no difference in the mortality rate from pneumonia between the two groups. However, patients in the oral care group were older and more disabled than those who did not receive oral care, and once this was taken into account the risk of dying from pneumonia was more than three times higher in patients who did not receive oral care.

Pneumonia in the elderly is often triggered by aspirating saliva or food. It is likely that the risk of pneumonia “depends on the quality and the quantity of the oropharyngeal contents of a patient at the time of respiratory inoculation or introduction,” Bassim and colleagues explain.

“The quantity of saliva inhaled and a predisposition to gross aspiration events may not be modified through oral care,” they add, “but this study indicates that oral care may be involved in significantly reducing the harmful quality of the intra-oral environment, reducing the risk of a patient dying from pneumonia.”

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, September 2008.

Dental researchers say they’ve developed a new “smart” antimicrobial treatment that’s programmed to search out and destroy cavity-causing bacteria.

The approach does not harm beneficial bacteria in the mouth, according to a team from the U.S. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

The experimental treatment is called a STAMP (“specifically targeted antimicrobial peptide”). STAMPS have a two-sided structure. On one side is the short homing sequence of a pheromone, a signaling chemical that tells the STAMP which kind of bacteria to seek and destroy. The second side of the structure is a small antimicrobial “bomb” that kills targeted bacteria.

In initial laboratory tests, the first-generation STAMPS proved effective. They eliminated the cavity-causing oral bacterium Streptococcus mutans within 30 seconds without causing any harm to nearby harmless types of bacteria.

The research was published online in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

“We’ve already moved the S. mutans STAMP into human studies, where it can be applied as part of a paste or mouth rinse,” senior author Dr. Wenyuan Shi, a scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Dentistry, said in a prepared statement.

“We’re also developing other dental STAMPs that target the specific oral microbes involved in periodontal disease and possibly even halitosis (bad breath). Thereafter, we hope to pursue possible medical applications of this technology,” Shi said.

Surprisingly, the use of full dental prosthesis was not associated with oral cancer, although bleeding gums and failure to have dental visits were also strongly associated.

In another study, at the Division of Restorative Dentistry in Bristol, U.K., researchers found that use of low pH mouthwashes cause erosion of dental enamel that is directly correlated to sensitivity in teeth. People with less enamel complained of much greater tooth sensitivity to hot and cold.

The study measured both in situ and in vitro erosion by three low pH mouthwashes. Results showed that enamel loss in situ and in vitro was progressive over time with all three mouthwashes. The team recommended that low pH mouthwashes should not be considered for long term or continuous use and should never be used prior to brushing.

Low pH indicates high acidity levels. Most common mouthwash products sold at traditional retail outlets are highly acidic. Listerine has a pH of 4.3, and Scope has a pH of 5.0. Neutral pH is 7.0 with declining values indicating increased levels of acidity. Healthy body saliva has a pH of 6.4 to 6.8.

Most people use mouthwash to eliminate bad breath caused by food stuck between the teeth and bacteria which feed off this accumulation of food. But experts say that mouthwash doesn’t live up to its reputation. It works for a short period of time by killing lots of germs. But this is followed by the high alcohol content drying out the mouth. When saliva glands are dry, they are unable to help wash away bacteria, so it flourishes and causes even more bad breath. This is why babies always have sweet smelling breath since they produce so much saliva and drool a lot.

So, mouthwash may make your breath smell better for a short period of time, but what have you done to your immune system, esophagus and stomach lining? And what about that chemical soup your liver is required to detoxify? Do you really need to add more chemicals to the toxic overload your body has to cope with daily?

“Could there be any correlation between the use of mouthwash and an epidemic known as acid reflux disease?” asks Crusador columnist Greg Ciola who realizes much more study is needed in this area.

There are some new products on the market that help solve a bad breath situation in a health promoting manner. Spry and Peelu are two companies that each make a line of products sweetened with xylitol that includes chewing gum, toothpaste, oral rinse, and mints. These companies cite studies that have shown xylitol to help reduce the occurrence of cavities and improve overall oral health as well as sweeten breath. They are available in health food stores and online from such retailers as Lucky Vitamin and Vitacost.

What your child eats may be as critical as a toothbrush, toothpaste and a good dentist when it comes to a healthy smile.

In short, paying attention to your kid’s diet can make a difference in dental health, recent research has confirmed.

And it’s not just the obvious calls, such as limiting sugary snacks. Children who don’t eat breakfast every day have higher levels of tooth decay, the study found, as do those who don’t eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

“Kids who don’t eat breakfast tend to snack more,” explained Dr. Jonathan D. Shenkin, a pediatric dentist and co-author of the study, published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Dental Association.

Shenkin and his colleagues used data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted from 1988 to 1994, to investigate the relationship between healthful eating practices and tooth decay in more than 4,000 preschoolers, aged 2 to 5.

The odds of decay in baby teeth were greater in the children with poor eating habits, the study found.

Dental experts have long known dental decay is more likely among minority children in lower socioeconomic groups. But the latest study showed poor eating habits are also associated with tooth decay in children who aren’t poor.

Dental health education should include encouraging parents to help their children eat better, the researchers concluded. Habits such as eating breakfast daily are associated with other healthy habits. Besides snacking less, “kids who eat breakfast tend to drink milk,” Shenkin pointed out, and calcium is good for the teeth.

Cutting down on juice intake is also wise if you want to prevent cavities, Shenkin said. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends fruit juice intake among 1- to 6-year-olds be limited to four to six ounces a day. But more than 10 percent of preschoolers in the United States consume at least 12 fluid ounces of fruit juice a day, the study reported.

“I have parents telling me their children drink 40 ounces of juice a day,” he added.

The sugar in sweetened liquids feeds bacteria harbored in the mouth. Those bacteria can then produce acids that corrode tooth enamel, according to the American Dental Association (ADA).

Good dental health habits must start early, stressed Dr. Richard Price, a spokesman for the ADA who practiced dentistry for 35 years before retiring recently. “Once the baby is born, dental health starts,” he said.

“For infants, that means wiping the baby’s gum pads once a day with sterile gauze,” he said. Once a baby’s first teeth appear, usually by 6 months of age, the child is susceptible to decay, according to the ADA. Babies should never be put to bed with a bottle of milk or juice because it can cause decay.

Ideally, a baby should first be seen by a dentist when the first tooth erupts, but certainly no later than the first birthday.

Some parents need to be educated about the importance of baby teeth, Price said. Some feel they aren’t important because they eventually fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth.

“Baby teeth are important. Baby teeth help your child chew food, speak properly and save room for permanent teeth,” he explained.

While the number of cavities in baby teeth have been decreasing during the past 20 years in children aged 5 to 9, it has remained unchanged among those aged 2 to 5 since the 1970s, the study authors noted.

Healthnotes Newswire (July 31, 2003)—People with cancers of the head and neck undergoing radiation therapy may reduce their risk of developing painful mouth sores by regularly ingesting honey, according to a preliminary study in Supportive Care in Cancer (2003;11:242–8). This novel treatment may also help prevent unwanted weight loss that often occurs in those receiving radiation treatments.

Cancer of the head and neck affects more than 500,000 people worldwide each year. Treatment for these types of cancer often includes radiation therapy, which can produce many harmful side effects, such as the development of painful mouth ulcers. The inability to eat and drink without pain is the most common reason radiation treatment is discontinued. Various attempts at preventing the development of mouth sores, including using a lead shield to protect the mouth and throat, spreading out treatments, and lowering the amount of radiation given per treatment, have been unsuccessful.

In the new study, 40 people with cancers of the head and neck (mouth, throat, thyroid, and others) were assigned to receive radiation therapy alone or radiation therapy with the addition of honey treatment for seven weeks. Those in the honey group took 20 ml (4 teaspoons) of honey 15 minutes before their radiation therapy and again 15 minutes and six hours following the treatment. The severity of mouth sores was monitored weekly using a scale from 0 to 4, where 0 reflected no symptoms and 4

The severity of mouth sores in the group taking honey was significantly lower than in those receiving radiation therapy only. More than 75% of the individuals in the radiation-only group had grade 3 or 4 mouth sores, compared with only 20% of those taking honey. No one in the honey treatment group experienced grade 4 mouth sores, whereas 20% of those in the radiation-only group developed these severe sores. Weight increased or remained stable in 55% of those treated with honey, while only 25% of those in the control group had this benefit. This finding suggests the reduction in mouth sores leads to improved food intake and better overall nutrition.

Honey has been shown in several studies to be an effective treatment for burn wounds, surgical wounds, and mouth infections. In the new study, it appears to protect the lining of the mouth and throat from damage caused by radiation. Scientists also believe honey limits the growth of bacteria in the mouth that ordinarily exacerbates the radiation-induced mouth sores. While honey has been shown to be safe and effective in conjunction with radiation therapy for head and neck cancers, it is unknown whether honey can prevent damage to other mucous membranes, such as the lining of the intestinal tract or stomach, which are also prone to irritation or ulceration after radiation therapy. More research is necessary to clarify this issue.

Darin Ingels, ND, MT (ASCP), received his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and his Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. Dr. Ingels is the author of The Natural Pharmacist: Lowering Cholesterol (Prima, 1999) and Natural Treatments for High Cholesterol (Prima, 2000). He currently is in private practice at New England Family Health Associates located in Southport, CT, where he specializes in environmental medicine and allergies. Dr. Ingels is a regular contributor to Healthnotes and Healthnotes Newswire.

Copyright © 2003 Healthnotes, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of the Healthnotes® content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Healthnotes, Inc. Healthnotes Newswire is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional. Healthnotes, Inc., shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Healthnotes and the Healthnotes logo are registered trademarks of Healthnotes, Inc.

Healthy teeth and gums are more common in active people who eat nutritiously and aren’t overweight, a new study shows.

The study appears in the Journal of Periodontology. It was conducted by researchers including Nabil Bissada, DDS, chairman of the periodontics department at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.

Healthy Body, Healthy Mouth

Data came from a national health survey of more than 12,000 people. The findings:

(HealthDay News) — Cavities are holes that form in the teeth, and can cause pain until they are filled by a dentist.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine suggests how to help prevent cavities:

* Practice good oral hygiene, which means flossing each day, brushing at least twice daily and getting a professional teeth cleaning twice a year.
* If you want something sticky, sweet or chewy, eat it with other foods as part of a meal instead of alone. Brush your teeth or rinse your mouth with water afterward.
* Minimize snacking, which increases acid production in the mouth.
* Avoid high-sugar drinks, chewing gum with sugar, or sucking on sugary candy.
* Consider getting a dental sealant applied to your molars to help prevent cavities.
* Use mouth wash and toothpaste with fluoride.

(WebMD) Gum disease can more than double a person’s risk of pancreatic cancer, a Harvard study shows.

In addition, people with a history of gum disease, plus recent tooth loss, have a 2.7-fold higher risk of this fatal cancer than people without gum disease or tooth loss.

Previous studies have linked gum disease to pancreatic cancer. But those studies could not control for smoking, which contributes to both gum disease and cancer.

That was not a problem for Dominique S. Michaud, ScD, and colleagues at Harvard School of Public Health. The researchers analyzed data from 51,529 male health professionals — a large number of whom were nonsmokers — who were followed for 16 years.

Michaud’s team found that, overall, study subjects who reported gum disease were 64% more likely to have pancreatic cancer.

Among nonsmokers, those with gum disease were more than twice as likely to have pancreatic cancer.

The worse the gum disease, the higher the risk. Tooth loss greatly increased cancer risk for the men with periodontal, or gum, disease.

It is not clear why gum disease is linked to cancer risk.

Michaud and colleagues suggest that long-standing gum infections trigger a body-wide immune response: inflammation. Inflamed tissues give off chemical signals that promote tumor growth.

The findings appear in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

TUESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) — There may be another good reason to floss each day: A new study finds that gum disease could raise the risk for cancer.

“Men with history of periodontal disease had a 14 percent higher risk of cancer than those who did not have periodontal disease, and the increase persisted among never smokers,” said lead researcher Dominique Michaud, a cancer epidemiologist at Imperial College London, in the U.K.

People with gum infections do have an increased amount of inflammatory markers circulating in their blood, and inflammation has been linked to cancer, experts say. But the exact link, if any, between gum disease and cancer remains unclear.

This new finding needs to be examined in other populations and among women, but it at least suggests that oral health may have some impact on cancer risk, Michaud said.

“If other data can support this association, then it will have implications for prevention and may provide some new clues on the role of the immune function in cancer development,” Michaud said.

The report is published in the June edition of the journal The Lancet Oncology.

In the study, Michaud’s team collected data on more than 48,000 American men who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-Up study, which included health professionals aged 40 to 75.

During an average of 17.7 years of follow-up, 5,720 cancer cases were reported. These cases excluded non-melanoma skin cancer and non-aggressive prostate cancer. The most common cancers reported were colorectal, melanoma, lung and bladder and advanced prostate cancer, Michaud’s group found.

After taking into account other risk factors, such as smoking and diet, the researchers found that men with a history of gum disease had a 14 percent higher risk of developing cancer compared with men did not have a history of the condition.

While the overall risk was 14 percent, the risk for specific cancers was typically higher. Compared to men with healthy gums, men with a history of gum disease had a 36 percent increased risk of lung cancer, a 49 percent hike in risk of kidney cancer, a 54 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer, and a 30 percent increased risk of white blood cell cancers.

In addition, men who had fewer teeth at the beginning of the study had a 70 percent increased risk of developing lung cancer, compared with men who had 25 to 32 teeth, Michaud’s team found.

However, the association between gum disease and lung cancer disappeared among men with gum disease who had never smoked, the team noted. Men with gum disease who did not smoke still had a 35 percent increased risk for blood cancers, however, and a 21 percent overall increased risk for cancer.

One expert believes that the increased risk found in the study is too small to conclude that gum disease is a major risk factor for cancer.

“I am not very impressed with the finding,” said Dr. Eva S. Schernhammer, an assistant professor, medicine and public health at Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health. “It’s a really modest increased risk. I am not sure I would make too much out of it,” she said.

“If this is a true association, it could be a marker of socioeconomic status, or a marker for some inflammatory process that leads to cancer,” Schernhammer reasoned. “Given the small increase in risk, I’m not sure it would lead to major, dramatic changes in anything” in terms of public health policy, she said.

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A cup of green tea per day may help keep gum disease at bay, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among middle-aged Japanese, the odds of having gum disease declined as the men’s intake of green tea rose.

For each daily cup they drank, the risk of having signs of gum disease — including receding, easily bleeding gums — inched downward, the researchers report in the Journal of Periodontology.

The findings do not mean, however, that green tea is a substitute for seeing the dentist. The relationship between green tea and lower odds of gum disease was fairly weak, Dr. Yoshihiro Shimazaki, one of the researchers on the study, told Reuters Health.

Good overall oral care, Shimazaki said, is what’s most important.

For the study, Shimazaki and his colleagues at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, examined 940 men between the ages of 49 and 59 for signs of gum disease. The men also completed a questionnaire on smoking and drinking habits, tooth-brushing habits and green tea intake.

In general, the study found, the odds of gum disease declined as green tea intake climbed, even with the other lifestyle factors considered. The researchers did, however, lack information on the men’s overall diet, and past studies have suggested that certain foods and nutrients — like whole grains, fiber and vitamin C — may protect against gum disease.

If green tea itself does combat gum disease, it may be because of its concentration of antioxidant compounds called polyphenols, according to Shimazaki.

Gum disease arises from bacterial infection, and lab research suggests that green tea polyphenols can inhibit those germs and the damage they cause.

SOURCE: Journal of Periodontology, March 2009.

Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

(NaturalNews) For the first time, the FDA has issued a warning that the mercury contained in silver dental fillings may pose neurological risks to children and pregnant women.

“Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses,” reads a statement that has been added to the agency’s Web site. “Pregnant women and persons who may have a health condition that makes them more sensitive to mercury exposure, including individuals with existing high levels of mercury bioburden, should not avoid seeking dental care, but should discuss options with their health practitioner.”

The warning was one of the conditions that the FDA agreed to in settling a lawsuit filed by several consumer health groups.

“Gone, gone, gone are all of FDA’s claims that no science exists that amalgam is unsafe,” said Charles Brown, a lawyer for Consumers for Dental Choice, one of the plaintiffs.

“It’s a watershed moment,” said Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy Project, another plaintiff.

Mercury is a well-known neurotoxin that can cause cognitive and developmental problems, especially in fetuses and children. It can also cause brain and kidney damage in adults.

So-called dental amalgams, or fillings made with a mix of mercury and other metals, have been used since the 1800s. Although it is known that small amounts of mercury are vaporized (and can be inhaled) when the fillings are used to chew food, and though Canada, France and Sweden have all placed restrictions on the use of mercury fillings, the FDA has always insisted that amalgams are safe.

Dental amalgams are considered medical devices, regulated by the FDA.

Even the FDA’s new warning stops short of admitting that dental amalgams are dangerous for the general population. Instead, it focuses on the same population that has already been warned to limit mercury exposure by consuming less seafood: children and pregnant women. The FDA says it does not recommend that those who already have mercury fillings get them removed.

Millions of people have received amalgam fillings, although their popularity has dropped off in recent years. Currently, only 30 percent of dental fillings contain mercury – the rest are tooth-colored resin composites made from glass, cement and porcelain. These alternative fillings are more expensive and less durable than amalgam, however.

In 2002, the FDA began a regulatory review of amalgam that was expected to be complete within a few years. In 2006, with the review still incomplete, an independent FDA advisory panel of doctors and dentists rejected the agency’s position that there is no reason for concern about the use of amalgam. While the panel agreed that the majority of people receiving such fillings would not be harmed, panel members expressed concern for the health of certain sensitive populations, including children under the age of six.

The panel recommended that the FDA conduct further studies on the risks to children from dental amalgam, and that it consider a policy of informed consent for children and pregnant: that is, warning those groups of the risks associated with the fillings before installing them.

Part of the lawsuit centered on the FDA’s failure to respond to these recommendations in a timely fashion.

“This is your classic failure to act,” federal judge Ellen Segal Huvelle told the agency.

As part of the lawsuit settlement, the FDA must reach a final decision on the regulation of amalgam by July 28, 2009.

“This court settlement signals the death knell for mercury fillings,” Brown predicted.
But J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Ipsita Smolinski disagreed, saying that the FDA is unlikely to ban amalgam entirely

“We do believe that the agency will ask for the label to indicate that mercury is an ingredient in the filling, and that special populations should be exempt from such fillings, such as: nursing women, pregnant women, young children, and immunocompromised individuals,” Smolinski said.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Gum disease may increase the risk of developing deadly pancreatic cancer, even among those who have never smoked, according to research reported today in Boston at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Meeting.

Two previous studies found positive associations between tooth loss or periodontitis (inflammation of the gums around the teeth) and pancreatic cancer. However, “residual confounding” by smoking and other known risk factors may have accounted for the findings.

To investigate further, Dr. Dominique S. Michaud of Harvard School of Public Health, Boston and colleagues analyzed 16 years of health data on nearly 52,000 male doctors in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. This ongoing study, initiated in 1986, is looking at lifestyle factors related to cancer and other chronic diseases.

A total of 216 men developed pancreatic cancer during follow-up. After factoring out smoking, diabetes, obesity, physical activity, diet and other potentially confounding factors, men with a history of gum disease had a 63-percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer relative to men without periodontal disease.

Never smokers with gum disease fared even worse; “they had 2-fold increased risk in developing pancreatic cancer,” Michaud told a gathering of reporters Monday.

“This is an important finding,” Dr. Scott Lippman of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston said, noting that there have been a couple of small reports that “just dismissed” the gum disease/pancreatic cancer link as potentially related to smoking, given that smoking increases the risk of pancreatic cancer.

“This (new) study is the first clearly establishing the increased risk of pancreatic cancer with periodontal disease,” regardless of smoking history, Lippman said.

Michaud’s team also found that men with gum disease and recent tooth loss had a 2.7-fold increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with those who reported neither gum disease nor tooth loss.

Periodontal disease may boost the risk of pancreatic cancer through “plausible mechanisms,” Michaud and colleagues point out in meeting materials.

Gum disease results in chronic inflammation over many years, they explain, and people with gum disease harbor high levels of harmful bacteria in the mouth and gut and tend to have higher amounts of cancer-causing nitrosamines.

Pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of death from cancer death in the United States, is one of the most deadly cancers, largely because it is often not detected until it has spread beyond the pancreas. Only about five percent of pancreatic cancer patients survive the first five years after being diagnosed.

(NaturalNews) The use of mouthwashes that contain alcohol as an ingredient can drastically increase a person’s risk of cancers of the mouth, head and neck, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Australia’s University of Melbourne and University of Queensland School of Dentistry.

Researchers studied use of mouthwash among 3,210 people and compared it with rates of mouth, head and neck cancers.

“We see people with oral cancer who have no other risk factors than the use of [mouthwash containing alcohol], so what we’ve done is review all the evidence,” said lead researcher Michael McCullough, chair of the Australian Dental Association’s therapeutics committee,

The researchers found that all participants who used an alcohol-containing mouthwash at least once per day had a significantly increased risk of cancer, independent of other risk factors such as smoking or drinking alcoholic beverages. Among those who both used alcohol-containing mouthwash and regularly drank alcoholic beverages, the risk of cancers of the larynx, pharynx or oral cavity was five times that of people who drank but did not use mouthwash. The risk of cancer in people who smoked and used alcohol-containing mouthwashes was an astonishing nine times that of non-mouthwash-using smokers.

“Since this article, further evidence has come out,” McCullough said. “We believe there should be warnings. If it was a facial cream that had the effect of reducing acne but had a four to fivefold increased risk of skin cancer, no one would be recommending it.”

The body breaks down alcohol, also known as ethanol, into a carcinogenic compound called acetaldehyde. The researchers note that due to the way that mouthwash is swished around, acetaldehyde may thereby accumulate in the oral cavity.

In addition, the researchers believe that alcohol makes mucus membranes more permeable to other chemicals, allowing nicotine and other carcinogens increased access to the body’s tissues.

They found that giving zinc orally to zinc-deficient rats reversed the development of precancerous conditions in the esophagus and on the tongue, and also reversed high expression of the enzyme cox-2. The study results suggest that zinc supplements may help prevent oral and esophageal cancers.

It was already known that a rise in the expression of cox-2 is connected with oral and esophageal cancers, which are associated with a lack of zinc in the diet. Zinc deficiency is especially prevalent in developing countries.

It’s estimated that up to 2 billion people in developing nations are zinc-deficient, compared to up to 10 percent of Americans. Red meat and seafood provide the majority of zinc in the diet.

“Zinc treatment restores many systems affected by the lack of zinc. Zinc deficiency upregulates cox-2. Zinc replenishment restores it to near normal levels,” study author Louise Fong, an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, said in a prepared statement.

The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.