Multiple losses
As teeth and oral health are deeply ingrained in our social fabric, it is perhaps not surprising that there may be a link between tooth loss and memory loss. A study by psychologists and dentists from Sweden and Norway has suggested this following examination of 273 participants in a research study. After taking other factors into account they found that older people with most of their own teeth had on average a four per cent better memory than those without.
The scientists believe that losing teeth may lead to fewer sensory signals being sent to the hippocampus in the brain, a region central to memory formation and retrieval. Indeed, the Japanese have been working with similar projects in recent years linking lack of good occlusion with similar memory and cognitive function.
Could it also be that on a purely practical level it makes sense of why people with dentures are so often losing them? Where did I read that?
Lies, damn lies and social determinants
Apparently, the price of a dental check-up can vary by as much as 200 per cent across the UK. A report from a medical comparison website found that an average check-up can cost £68 in Cambridge but only £26 in ‘less-affluent’ Stoke-on-Trent. Additionally, by checking charges at over 11,000 private dental practices across the UK they found that the cost of an average check-up had risen 10 per cent from £36 to £39 in the past year. Are we surprised? It isn’t the most earth shattering of statistics is it? After all what would happen if you compared the cost of a three-course meal in Cambridge with one in Stoke-on-Trent, or any manner of other services that you could think of.
I couldn’t help coupling this with the news that medical schools could drop their grade requirements for students from poorer backgrounds in a scheme promising to help aspiring doctors from under-represented social and economic backgrounds. The Medical Schools Council will examine whether more use should be made of ‘contextual data’ - information on candidates’ school, ethnicity, postcode, family income and level of parental education to give students with lower grades a place. Perhaps a similar scheme for dental schools might ensure that future practitioners who have come from the geographic areas with the lowest check-up costs will go back there and help lower the price even more…or they might set up in Cambridge instead.
A dog’s life
With the announcement that scientists in Japan are close to developing an effective treatment using stem cells to restore teeth in a procedure that could replace fillings, root canal treatments and other restorative activities comes the prospect of dental unemployment queues lengthening.
The therapy which apparently regenerates the pulp and, consequently, totally restores the tooth’s previous healthy structure has proved successful in root canals in a group of 18 dogs, using a growth factor called granulocyte-colony stimulating factor which regenerated the pulp tissue and completely filled the dogs’ root canals. I suppose that is canine dentistry at its best.
June winner
The winner of the June prize is Nat Chamberlain of Prestwick for the caption: "Looks like those hygienists are going to have the shirt off my back soon, so im knitting myself a jumper!"