Runners more prone to dental problems

Runners are more prone to serious dental problems than the rest of the population. A study of almost 300 athletes at the 2012 Olympics in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reported that a majority displayed “poor oral health”. A fifth of the athletes surveyed indicated that their oral health damaged their training and performance. An athlete’s diet is the cause of all these problems. The diet of a runner is vitally important as it helps them to perform and recover, but there can be major issues with what they consume. Many of the energy drinks and gels runners use have incredibly high levels of sugar, which causes tooth decay, so by using them runners are at a higher risk of developing decay. Another big problem that runners face is the acids in their diet, which have a terrible effect on teeth. You don’t want to expose your teeth to acid, but by using these drinks that is exactly what is happening and it leads to tooth erosion. Runners are also heavy breathers. This can have a negative effect on their oral health as they’re gasping for oxygen. Breathing rapidly through the mouth reduces the saliva flow leading to dry mouth, which is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Runners should try to avoid consuming sugary or acidic foods and drinks wherever possible, but sometimes this may be unavoidable. A focus then needs to be on neutralising the effects of the sugar and acids as quickly as possible.

From: www.runnersradar.com

New research uses squid ink to check for gum disease

A new dental imaging method to examine the health of patients’ gums. A mixture of squid ink, water and cornflour is applied to the gums and examined using light and ultrasound. The development team from the University of California, San Diego believe the new method could be less invasive, more comprehensive and more accurate than anything else. Dr Jesse Jokerst, senior author of the study, said: “The last time I was at the dentist, I realised that the tools that are currently being used to image teeth and gums could use significant updating”. The usual way of checking pocket depth for any signs of gum disease is with a periodontal probe, and can be invasive and uncomfortable for some patients and measurements can vary greatly between dentists. For the new method, the mouth is first rinsed with a paste made of commercially-available food-grade squid ink, water and cornflour. The rinse serves as a contrast agent for an imaging technique called photoacoustic ultrasound. This involves shining a light signal onto a sample which heats up and expands, generating an acoustic signal that researchers can then analyse. Squid ink naturally contains melanin nanoparticles, which absorb light, and during the oral rinse, these are trapped in the pockets between the teeth and gums. When lit with a laser, the paste heats and swells, creating pressure in the pockets that is detected with ultrasound. This is what enables researchers to create a full map of the pocket depth around each tooth.

From: http://www.dental-tribune.com

Study suggests link between verbal bullying and bruxism in adolescents

Verbal bullying at school can negatively impact an adolescent’s mental health, causing distress and anxiety. A Brazilian study has shown that this stress may be reflected in oral health too and possibly result in nocturnal bruxism (teeth grinding). A case-control study by a research team led by Prof. Junia Serra-Negra at the Federal University of Minas Gerais suggests that possible sleep bruxism in young teenagers is associated with a history of verbal bullying at school as victims, perpetrators or both. Some 103 school pupils in the city of Itabira between the ages of 13 and 15 with possible sleep bruxism, and a control group of 206 adolescents without bruxism, were recruited for the study. All of the participants answered a questionnaire on their involvement, if any, in verbal school bullying episodes, based on the national school-based health survey, and an evaluation of their socioeconomic class according to the criteria of the Brazilian association of research companies. Pearson’s chi-squared test, the McNemar test and conditional logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between possible sleep bruxism, verbal school bullying and socioeconomic class. Among the participants, 134 (43.3%) reported involvement in verbal school bullying episodes as victims, perpetrators or both. The vast majority (90.3%) of them were male. These teenagers were found to be four times as likely to suffer from sleep bruxism (65%), compared with those who were not involved in verbal school bullying (17%). The study was published in the May issue of the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation. .

From www.dentaltribune.com