A review from the USAF Dental Evaluation & Consultation Service of a recent article in the Journal of the American Dental Association that pertains to infection control and dental impression guns.
A World Health Organization (WHO) committee recently called for a global reduction in the use of dental amalgam in order to reduce the flow of mercury into the environment. WHO has released its long-awaited 2009 meeting report entitled Future Use of Materials for Dental Restorations. This is in preparation for the third of five Intergovernmental Committee deliberations that are expected to lead to the adoption of a treaty on mercury by 2013. Click herefor more information.
National health policy advisors recently called for a new government initiative "to help improve the oral health of the nation." The report issued by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) was directed specifically to government agencies requesting the study, but more broadly to public and private sector health policymakers and the US Congress.Learn more.
New Guidelines Regarding Antibiotics to Prevent Infective Endocarditis
The American Heart Association recently updated its guidelines regarding which patients should take a precautionary antibiotic to prevent infective endocarditis (IE) before a trip to the dentist.
The guidelines, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, are based on a growing body of scientific evidence that shows that, for most people, the risks of taking prophylaxis antibiotics for certain procedures outweigh the benefits. These guidelines represent a major change in philosophy.
The new guidelines show taking preventive antibiotics is not necessary for most people and, in fact, might create more harm than good. Unnecessary use of antibiotics could cause allergic reactions and dangerous antibiotic resistance.
Only the people at greatest risk of bad outcomes from infective endocarditis — an infection of the heart's inner lining or the heart valves — should receive short-term preventive antibiotics before common, routine dental and medical procedures.
Patients at the greatest danger of bad outcomes from IE and for whom preventive antibiotics are worth the risks include those with -artificial heart valves -a history of having had IE -certain specific, serious congenital (present from birth) heart conditions, including: - unrepaired or incompletely repaired cyanotic congenital heart disease, including those with palliative shunts and conduits - a completely repaired congenital heart defect with prosthetic material or device, whether placed by surgery or by catheter interventions, during the first six months after the procedure -any repaired congenital heart defect with residual defect at the site or adjacent to the site of a prosthetic patch or prosthetic device -a cardiac transplant which develops a problem in a heart valve.
A World Health Organization (WHO) committee recently called for a global reduction in the use of dental amalgam in order to reduce the flow of mercury into the environment. WHO has released its long-awaited 2009 meeting 
government initiative "to help improve the oral health of the nation." The report issued by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) was directed specifically to government agencies requesting the study, but more broadly to public and private sector health policymakers and the US Congress.
