Urine for a shock
Although summer time is usually dubbed the silly season as far as the media are concerned, I have to say that this year hasn’t been too bad, although there have been one or two ‘real’ stores that have bordered on the far-fetched if not actually silly.
For example the Cell Regeneration Journal reported that scientists in China claim to have successfully grown a human tooth using stem cells taken from urine. The research team extracted the cells which would normally be passed from the body, and managed to coax them into becoming stem cells. They then used these to implant the teeth-like structures in mice, and said the resulting bundle of cells eventually contained ‘dental pulp, dentine, enamel space and enamel organ’.
Stranger things do happen but it also reminds me of a story about a very elderly man who claimed that his longevity was at least partly down to drinking his own urine every morning. Nothing particularly funny in that but it was the comment of a health correspondent who said that he found it ‘very hard to swallow’, that brought a smile to my face.
Who’s laughing now?
Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, has been associated with dentistry for well over a century and is still widely used in sedation. But it seems it is also now experiencing a renaissance in terms of its popular image.
Annual figures on drug misuse show that six per cent of all 16-24 year-olds reported using nitrous oxide, which is technically legal, in the last year. This made it second only to cannabis as this age group’s most popular drug. The figures confirm anecdotal reports that sniffing balloons full of the gas has become the summer recreational drug of choice, particularly for festival goers. At £1.50 a hit and provoking uncontrollable laughter and hallucinations, it is regarded a cheap way of getting high. Do we need to diversify?
Supermarket good, supermarkets bad
Supermarkets; we spend oodles of time in them, loads of our money in them and countless hours debating their pros and cons but like it or not supermarkets are a varied fact of life.
They have been having a tough time lately in terms of oral health as a renewed campaign has sought to encourage them to remove unhealthy snacks (mainly of the sugary variety) from near check outs or at eye level for little hands to grab them.
Meanwhile, a Tesco store in Bedford has become the first in the chain to include a dental practice. Seemingly popular with customers, the practice receptionist reports that they are signing up five to 10 new patients a day, while the chief executive of the corporate involved says that relocating to a supermarket means ease of access for patients and reduced likelihood of missed appointments. Sadly, to date, there have been no reports of new check-out lanes for ‘three fillings or less’. I warned you about the silly season.
July Winner
There was no winner for the July issue.