Alcohol Can Have Disastrous Impact on Oral Health

Alcohol Can Have Disastrous Impact on Oral Health

Written by Dentistry TodayThursday, 15 November 2012 16:37

It’s not a stretch for oral cancer to develop after excessive alcohol consumption.

The Finnish Dental Association recently issued a warning about the danger of drinking alcohol and the adverse effect it may have on one’s oral health. According to recent data, around 400,000 to 600,000 people in Finland consume too much alcohol. Alcohol and smoking are two of the top risk factors for oral cancer.

Oral cancer can be extremely serious. It kills more people than cervical cancer and Hodgkin’s disease.

Alcohol’s danger stems from the fact that it enables more tobacco to be absorbed into bodily systems, which obviously is not a good thing for the body. Therefore, people who drink and smoke are at a higher risk for developing oral cancer than people who don’t smoke or drink.

In Finland, dentists are advising people to only drink alcohol in moderation to lower the risk of mouth cancer.

Parents Pass Fear of Dentist onto Children

Parents Pass Fear of Dentist onto Children

Written by Dentistry TodayFriday, 16 November 2012 15:53

Children may be afraid to visit the dentist thanks to their parents.

A new study indicates that when a person fears a dental visit, his or her children will also develop that fear. The research at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid analyzed the role that parents played in some of the fears their children develop.

The study appeared in the International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry. It explored data from 183 children ages 7 to 12 and compared it to data from the children’s parents. The data confirmed the belief that the children had many of the same fears as their parents had.

The data showed that fathers play a large role in dental fears because they act as the mediating variable between the mother and the child. In other words, a child bases his or her dental fears on the way in which the father reacts to the situation. In this particular case, the transmission of fear from the mother to the child is impacted by the father’s reaction.

Based on this information, it would make sense to involve mothers and fathers in campaigns to prevent dental fears. It would also be key for a father to visit the dentist and show no signs of fear even if he is fearful.

When parents show composure regarding dental visits, they should have nothing to worry about when it comes time for their child to see the dentist

Disparity Exists in Dental Care in Taiwan

Disparity Exists in Dental Care in Taiwan

Written by Dentistry TodayMonday, 19 November 2012 16:35

People in rural locations often have more difficulty receiving dental treatment. That trend is happening at an alarming rate in Taiwan.

There are 13,000 dentists in Taiwan, with 2,800 practicing in Taipei. At the same time, there are 43 of 368 villages in the country that don't have a dentist.

The reason for this problem is simple: most dentists opt to stay in the more heavily populated areas. Roughly 20 percent of all dentists in the country are in Taipei.

A dentist in a rural area would have a disproportionate number of dentists when compared to a dentist in a more urban area.

Exacerbating the issue in the country is the fact that there are no age laws regarding retirement, so a dentist can work well into his or her 70s if he or she chooses to do so. The numbers indicate that roughly 300 dentists graduate from dental school each year while only 100 dentists retire. The impact could lower the quality of care in the sought-after urban dental practices.

The research also shows that more people in the country that are interested in a medical career are choosing dental school over medical schools because of the stabilized income, among other reasons.