GDC Expands Tooth Whitening Duties

By General Dental Council (UK)

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Dental hygienists and dental therapists can carry out tooth whitening on the prescription of a dentist if they have the necessary additional skills, says the GDC.

This clarification from the GDC follows its public consultation on the scope of practice of the dental team earlier this year. The consultation sought views on which groups of professionals should be able to do what, including tooth whitening. 

“This explanation should provide clarity to registrants who advised us that they wanted clearer guidance on which members of the dental team could carry out tooth whitening,” GDC President Hew Mathewson says.

“This clarification, however, does not alter the GDC’s position that tooth whitening carried out by non dental professionals is illegal,” he says.

The GDC also decided that taking impressions to a dentist’s prescription and making bleaching trays to a dentist’s prescription are within the scope of additional skills for dental nurses.

Essential Dental Treatment Safe for Pregnant Women

By American Dental Association

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Pregnant women can safely undergo essential dental treatment and receive topical and local anesthetics at 13 to 21 weeks gestation, says a study published in the June issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association.

Although obstetricians generally consider dental care safe for pregnant women, supporting clinical trial evidence has been lacking. To address this issue, researchers compared safety outcomes from the Obstetrics and Periodontal Therapy Trial in which pregnant women received scaling and root planing (deep cleaning) and essential dental treatment (defined as treatment of moderate-to-severe cavities or fractured or abscessed teeth).The researchers randomly assigned 823 pregnant women with periodontitis to receive scaling and root planing, either at 13 to 21 weeks’ gestation or up to three months after delivery. (Experts recommend that pregnant women defer elective care before eight weeks’ gestation and during late pregnancy.) The researchers determined that 483 of these women also needed essential dental treatment. Three hundred fifty-one of the women completed all recommended treatment.

Throughout the trial, obstetric nurses reviewed medical records to monitor subjects for serious adverse events. The authors defined these events as pregnancies that ended in a nonlive birth and other adverse events that did not result in pregnancy termination (including hospitalizations for more than 24 hours because of labor pains, hospitalizations for any other reason, fetal or congenital anomalies and neonatal deaths).

The results of the study showed that “periodontal treatment and essential dental treatment, administered at a time between 13 and 21 weeks’ gestation, did not significantly increase the risk of any adverse outcome evaluated,” the authors write. “Use of topical and local anesthetics for scaling and root planing also was not associated with an increased risk of experiencing these adverse events and outcomes.”

The research team was led by Dr. Bryan Michalowicz, professor of periodontics, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis

CHICAGO, June 10, 2008

Public Warned About Gum Disease and Cancer Link as Survey Finds 29% Have Bleeding Gums

By British Dental Health Foundation

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The British Dental Health Foundation has urged members of the public to ‘Brush for Health’ in National Smile Month after it was revealed that people with gum disease have a significantly higher risk of developing cancer.

According to the Foundation the combined results of two studies released this week show that people in the UK are increasing their cancer risk by failing to manage their oral health effectively.

This week a large scale study by Imperial College London has found that people with gum disease are 14% more likely to develop cancer, while the National Dental Survey 2008, conducted by the Foundation and Oral B, found that 29% of people suffer with bleeding gums.

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, commented: “Bleeding gums are caused by gum disease so it is a concern that such a large proportion of people experience this – especially with the cancer link.

“Gum disease has already been linked to a range of serious general health conditions including heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and premature births – but the news that it could increase a person’s cancer risk will still be a big concern for people.”

The Health Professionals Follow-up Study was carried out by experts at Imperial College London who analysed the questionnaire based data of more than 48,000 American males. Most of the subjects had filled in surveys every two years with questions relating to oral health, tooth loss, gum disease, lifestyle factors and new cancer diagnoses.

The survey found that people with gum disease were 36% more likely to develop lung cancer, 49% more likely to develop kidney cancer, 54% more likely to develop pancreatic cancer and 30% more likely to develop hematologic cancers such as leukaemia.

Dr Carter continued: “While further research is needed to confirm the link and to see if women are also at risk, these figures are undoubtedly a concern.

“The latest National Dental Survey has shown that people in the UK need to improve their oral healthcare routines – a worrying 15% brush less than twice a day while 29& brush for less than a minute and this will drastically increase their gum disease risk.

“A good oral healthcare routine should involve brushing for two minutes twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, cutting down how often you have sugary foods and drinks and visiting the dentist regularly, as often as they recommend. It can also be helpful to clean between the teeth daily using floss or interdental brushes.

“Oral health is often considered to be of secondary importance to general health but that is simply not the case. It is high time that people realised that the mouth and the body are part of the same system and so need to be considered accordingly.

“Remember your mouth and your body talk – so look after them both!”