When it comes to pharmacologic agents and their mechanisms of action, the line that divides “natural” and “unnatural” has always been somewhat…artificial. Consider medieval apothecaries. These equivalents of today’s drugstores and pharmacies once sold medicinal infusions, powders, tinctures, compresses, potions, and unguents to physicians and patients alike. But the medicines themselves? Those were prepared from wines, herbs, and spices. They …
She’s Never Felt Pain or Anxiety and Heals Like a Superhero. It’s FAAH-OUT
Would you believe me if I told you a sort of “Wonder Woman” has been living on the shores of Loch Ness for 71 years…and for some reason, even though scores of amateur sleuths have been combing that area looking for something else out-of-the-ordinary, nobody ever noticed? It sounds like something out of science fiction or fantasy, but it’s not. …
FDA Issues e-Cig Special Announcement: Seizures Reported after Vaping
It took decades to convince most Americans that smoking was harmful, but as health care professionals, we seem to have finally broken through the barriers and convinced most people that inhaling the incinerated byproducts of the tobacco plant directly into delicate lung tissue is a bad idea. If you want to see the evidence, check out this nationwide this Gallup …
Fine, I’ll just vape without the nicotine.’ Not so fast! E-cig flavorings may cause damage all by themselves
Early last year, we got our first confirmation that vaping—once touted as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for smokers—isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. That confirmation came in the form of a 600+ page report that comprehensively analyzed 800 peer-reviewed studies. It concluded that the available evidence supports far more caution should be exercised with regard to vaping …
Aspirin: Lower Cardiac Risk, Higher Bleeding Risk
In 1973, Woody Allen amused audiences by presenting a dialogue between two doctors discussing the curious case of newly-awakened Miles Monroe, a refugee from the twentieth century who had just been revived from a coma in the 22nd century. Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called “wheat germ, organic honey and tiger’s milk.” Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, …
No More Horse Pills? Intranasal Non-Opioid Pain Relief For Dental, Orofacial, & Endodontic Pain
As dental professionals seek non-opioid alternatives to help patients control and manage moderate to severe pain, researchers and pharmacists are reaching deeper into their pharmacologic bag of tricks to find combinations that can offer patients quick, meaningful relief. Those measures—speed of relief and meaningful relief¬—were two of the measures evaluated in a recent double-blind evaluation of Ketorolac, a nonsteroidal analgesic …
Cannabis & Oral Health: What You Need to Know
(source: Wikipedia: Legality of cannabis by U.S. jurisdiction) Is your state of practice any shade of green? If so, you may be seeing more and more patients who are (legally!) using cannabis products in the dental practice, and that means it’s time to bone up on the potential effects of smoked, vaped, edible, and topical cannabis products on oral health. With …
Teens Who Abuse Alcohol and Other Substances May Neglect Their Teeth
Raising adolescents (even under the best of circumstances) can be difficult. So, the results of a new study out of Brazil, published in December 2018, may come as no surprise. Parents, teachers, community advocates, social scientists, and health care professionals have bemoaned the influence of a “bad crowd” on teens since the dawn of time. However, science relies on data, not “common …
Psoriasis Linked To Periodontal Disease in New Study
Studies observing a stark and compelling correlation between periodontitis and dental bone loss in individuals suffering from psoriasis—an autoimmune disorder characterized by thick, red, itchy, scaly skin plaques—are not new. As early as 2013, Scandinavian researchers, working with a wealth of data from the groundbreaking US-based retrospective longitudinal Nurses’ Health Study, noted and remarked on an unusual correlation between the …
Ibuprofen & Nitrous Oxide May Dull Pulpitis Pain in Kids
By: Theresa Pablos, associate editor, DrBicuspid.com A combination of nitrous oxide and ibuprofen may help dull the pain of children undergoing vital pulp therapy for irreversible pulpitis. A new study found that the combination significantly bolstered children’s pain relief compared with those who received ibuprofen alone. Pain management for irreversible pulpitis in children’s permanent teeth can be difficult, but it …