adam, Author at IAOMT Library

Alveolar osteonecrosis

We appreciate being given an opportunity to respond to the concerns expressed by Dr. Marilyn Moffat, President of the American Physical Therapy Association. Dr. Moffat takes us to task for having conducted a strict review of the literature in which we included only those studies that used control groups. We were surprised at Dr. Moffat’s comments, as our mandate was to present “the results from rigorous and methodologically sound clinical trials and studies published in peer reviewed journals.” This was explained very clearly by James Lipton in the introduction to this series of articles,
which were part of the Health Technology Assessment Conference on Management of Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD), sponsored by the National Institute of Dental Research and the National Institutes of Health Office of Medical Applications of Research.

By Bouquot JE, McMahon RE|2018-08-25T00:19:19+00:00January 1st, 1997|Other|

On the instability of amalgams.

In this web-document by Ulf Bengtsson you will learn more about the background, and you will find a description of an experiment performed in 1986 with thorough pictorial documentation, including a QuickTime movie showing how the mercury droplets form on the surface of non-gamma-two amalgams. All fully referenced. When you look at these droplets you actually look at something the establishment of the dental and medical communities don’t want to see, and also have gone into considerable efforts not to be made seen by others. What you see is a real phenomenon.

By Bengtsson UG.|2018-07-18T21:21:26+00:00January 1st, 1997|Mercury|

Symptoms and differential diagnosis of patients fearing mercury toxicity from amalgam fillings.

Clinical signs, somatic symptoms reported by patients, and mercury excretion in urine were studied for 348 patients selected by odontologists or internists as amalgam-free referents, or as subjects with unexplained clinical findings or who were self-selected due to their fear of mercury intoxication from their amalgam fillings. Sixty patients were excluded because other explanations could be given for their complaints. The age distribution was bimodal, with peaks between 30 and 35 years and between 45 and 50 years. Mercury was determined in a morning urine sample and 30 minutes after the injection of 300 mg of 2,3 dimercapto-1-propane sulfonic acid (DMPS), a mercury-chelating agent. The patients were followed for 1-3 years. Among the patients there were 26 who had had their amalgam fillings removed and who, at the time of the follow-up, were subjectively cured. When the patients were classified according to the excretion of mercury after the DMPS challenge, those who belonged to the upper quartile had an odds ratio of 7.2 (95% confidence interval 3.1-15.2) for becoming cured after amalgam removal. The symptoms of the cured patients had been predominantly mental. No consistent clinical picture could, however, be found among the other patients, as various types of mental and physical distress were reported.

By Stenman S, Grans L. S|2018-07-31T21:12:44+00:00January 1st, 1997|Mercury|

Human hapten-specific lymphocytes: biomarkers of allergy in man

Environmental pollutants and other chemicals may have increasing impact on the immune system of human beings. Disregulation of the immune system by chemicals may be one of the reasons why the frequency of allergies and autoimmune diseases increases. Human hapten-specific memory lymphocytes can be detected in the blood of patients with drug-induced immunologic side effects but not in similarly exposed healthy individuals. The immune reactivity of human lymphocytes in vitro to white coloring agent—titanium dioxide (TiO2), and mercurial conservatives thimerosal and phenylmercury—has been studied. It was found that out of 650 patients tested, 3% reacted to titanium dioxide. The percentages for phenylmercury and thimerosal were 14% and 7%, respectively. Human memory cells can be used as markers of susceptibility in future choices of appropriate additives in pharmaceutic products.

By Stejskal VD.|2018-07-31T20:59:58+00:00January 1st, 1997|Mercury, Other|

Heterozygosity for the Leiden mutation of the factor V gene, a common pathoetiology for osteonecrosis of the jaw, with thrombophilia augmented by exogenous estrogens.

We assessed whether heterozygosity for the thrombophilic Leiden mutation of the factor V gene (MFV) was pathogenetic for alveolar osteonecrosis of the jaw and chronic facial pain (neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis (NICO)) in 89 patients with NICO. A second specific aim was to assess for thrombophilic synergism between exogenous estrogens and MFV for development of osteonecrosis of the jaw. MFV was found in 24% of the patients, 16 (21%) of 76 women and 5 (39%) of 13 men. The mutation was much less common in healthy normal controls: 3 (3%) of 101 women (chi2 = 14.8, p = 0.001) and 4 (3.7%) of 108 men (chi2 = 20.4, p = 0.001). Patients with and without MFV did not differ in tissue plasminogen activator activity, plasminogen activator inhibitor activity, proteins C and S, lipoprotein (a), or anticardiolipin antibodies (p > 0.05). Use of standard-dose oral contraceptives and/or postmenopausal estrogens before the development of NICO was more common in female patients with MFV (13 (81%) of 16) than in those without it (23 (38%) of 60; chi2 = 9.33, p = 0.002). When the thrombophilic effects of such exogenous estrogens were superimposed on the familial resistance to activated protein C associated with MFV, thrombophilia was augmented and the risk of osteonecrosis was increased. Since heterozygosity for this mutation occurs in at least 3% of unselected, healthy women, measurement of resistance to activated protein C and MFV would identify women at high risk for venous thrombosis and osteonecrosis, in whom use of oral contraceptives or postmenopausal estrogens might be contraindicated, while identifying a much larger group of women (approximately 97%) without the mutation whose risk from exogenous estrogens would be low.

By Glueck CJ, Mcmahon RE, Bouquot JE, Triplett D, Gruppo R, Wang P.|2018-08-25T20:53:25+00:00January 1st, 1997|Periodontal Disease|

Mercury exposure from dental amalgam fillings: absorbed dose and the potential for adverse health effects.

This review examines the question of whether adverse health effects are attributable to amalgam-derived mercury. The issue of absorbed dose of mercury from amalgam is addressed first. The use of intra-oral Hg vapor measurements to estimate daily uptake must take into account the differences between the collection volume and flow rate of the measuring instrument and the inspiratory volume and flow rate of air through the mouth during inhalation of a single breath. Failure to account for these differences will result in substantial overestimation of the absorbed dose. Other factors that must be considered when making estimates of Hg uptake from amalgam include the accurate measurement of baseline (unstimulated) mercury release rates and the greater stimulation of Hg release afforded by chewing gum relative to ordinary food. The measured levels of amalgam-derived mercury in brain, blood, and urine are shown to be consistent with low absorbed doses (1-3 micrograms/day). Published relationships between the number of amalgam surfaces and urine levels are used to estimate the number of amalgam surfaces that would be required to produce the 30 micrograms/g creatinine urine mercury level stated by WHO to be associated with the most subtle, pre-clinical effects in the most sensitive individuals. From 450 to 530 amalgam surfaces would be required to produce the 30 micrograms/g creatinine urine mercury level for people without any excessive gum-chewing habits. The potential for adverse health effects and for improvement in health following amalgam removal is also addressed. Finally, the issue of whether any material can ever be completely exonerated of claims of producing adverse health effects is considered.

By Mackert Jr JR, Berglund A.|2018-07-25T20:05:26+00:00January 1st, 1997|Mercury|

Thrombophilia and hypofibrinolysis: pathophysiologies of osteonecrosis.

In 31 patients with osteonecrosis (primarily of the hip), 74% had 1 or more primary coagulation disorders. In 18 patients, 15 (83%) who had coagulation disorders, the osteonecrosis was initially identified as idiopathic and was not associated with known underlying drugs (glucocorticoids) or diseases (alcoholism, sickle cell disease, Gaucher’s disease). In 13 patients, 8 (62 %) who had coagulation disorders, the osteonecrosis was initially identified as secondary, and was associated with glucocorticoids in 12 patients, and with alcoholism in 1. The coagulation disorders included thrombhophilia (increased tendency to intravascular thrombosis) and hypofibrinolysis (reduced ability to lyse thrombi). Of the 18 patients initially thought to have idiopathic osteonecrosis, thrombophilia alone was found in 12% (resistance to activated protein C in 6%, low protein C in 6%), hypofibrinolysis alone was found in 50% (high lipoprotein(a) in 44%, low stimulated tissue plasminogen activator activity was found in 6%), and mixed thrombophilia hypofibrinolysis was found in 22%. Resistance to activated protein C was more common in these 18 patients than in healthy controls (11% versus 0%), as was high lipoprotein(a) (67% versus 20%). Of the 13 patients with secondary osteonecrosis, thrombophilia alone was found in 8% (low protein C), hypofibrinolysis alone was found in 30% (high Lp(a) in 15%, low tissue plasminogen activator activity in 15%), and mixed thrombophilia hypofibrinolysis was found in 23%. Low tissue plasminogen activator activity was more common in the 13 patients with secondary osteonecrosis than in controls (27% versus 7%), as was low protein C (23% versus 0%). In aggregate, these findings lead us to the speculation that primary, heritable thrombophilia or hypofibrinolysis causes thrombotic venous occlusion in the head of the femur, leading to venous hypertension and hypoxic death of bone (osteonecrosis).

By Glueck CJ, Freiberg R, Tracy T, Stroop D, Wang P.|2018-08-25T19:52:55+00:00January 1st, 1997|Other|

Occurrence of invading bacteria in radicular dentin of periodontally diseased teeth: microbiological findings.

Bacterial invasion in roots of periodontally diseased teeth, which has been recently documented using cultural and microscopic techniques, may be important in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the occurrence and the species of invading bacteria in radicular dentin of periodontally diseased teeth. Samples were taken from the middle layer of radicular dentin of 26 periodontally diseased teeth. 14 healthy teeth were used as controls. Dentin samples were cultured anaerobically. The chosen methodology allowed the determination of the numbers of bacteria present in both deeper and outer part of dentinal tubules, and the bacterial concentration in dentin samples, expressed as colony forming units per mg of tissue (CFU/mg). Invading bacteria was detected in 14 (53.8%) samples from periodontally diseased teeth. The bacterial concentration ranged from 831.84 to 11971.3 CFU/mg (mean+/-standard deviation: 3043.15+/-2763.13). Micro-organisms identified included putative periodontal pathogens such as Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Bacteroides forsythus, Peptostreptococcus micros and Streptococcus intermedius. These findings suggest that radicular dentin could act as bacterial reservoir from which periodontal pathogens can recolonize treated periodontal pockets, contributing to the failure of therapy and recurrence of disease.

By Giuliana G, Ammatuna P, Pizza G, Capone F, D'Angelo M.|2018-08-25T18:05:53+00:00January 1st, 1997|Periodontal Disease|

Fluoride: Risks and Benefits? Disinformation of the big industry.

Promoters of water fluoridation offer the lure of strong, healthy teeth and reduced dental bills as inducements for communities to fluoridate their water. Fluoride is also promoted for other tooth-related uses. However, even the promoters have scaled down the benefits claimed for water fluoridation and admitted the danger of fluorosis from toothpaste. For every study by promoters over recent years repeating old messages that claim undisputed water fluoridation benefits—particularly reduction of cavities, there are equally reputable studies showing little or no effect on cavity rates. Studies in mainstream peer-reviewed medical journals and government reports now document the fact that serious harms are associated with exposure to small amounts of fluoride—including hip fracture, cancer, and intellectual impairment.

By Hill D.|2018-07-23T17:35:55+00:00January 1st, 1997|Fluoride|

Experiences from the amalgam unit at Huddinge hospital—somatic and psychosomatic aspects.

The “amalgam unit” at the Huddinge University Hospital in Sweden examined 379 of 1300 patients referred for health problems which the patients related to amalgam tooth fillings. Toxicologic, clinical, odontological, and psychiatric examinations were performed. More than 30% had medical causes for their complaints; 7% had severe diseases which had been unrecognized. The most common symptoms were diffuse pain, general weakness, fatigue, headache, and difficulties in concentrating. Anxiety and depression were the most prevalent psychiatric complaints. The psychological examination revealed a high prevalence of somatization. The treatment was information about mercury and amalgam, appropriate odontological routines without removal of intact amalgam fillings, medical therapy when necessary, and strengthening of the patients’ social networks. Ninety percent were satisfied with the treatment. The results indicate that there are various explanations for the complaints of patients fearing “amalgam disease”. No cases of mercury intoxication were found.

By Langworth S.|2018-07-25T16:46:07+00:00January 1st, 1997|Mercury|

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About Bouquot JE, McMahon RE