232 teeth pulled from Indian teenager

MUMBAI -- Surgeons in Mumbai have removed 232 teeth from the mouth of an Indian teenager in what they believe may be a world-record operation, the hospital said Thursday.

Ashik Gavai, 17, sought medical help for a swelling on the right side of his lower jaw and the case was referred to the city's JJ Hospital, where they found he was suffering from a condition known as complex odontoma, head of dentistry Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar told AFP.

"We operated on Monday and it took us almost seven hours. We thought it may be a simple surgery but once we opened it there were multiple pearl-like teeth inside the jaw bone," she said.

After removing those they also found a larger "marble-like" structure which they struggled to shift and eventually had to "chisel out" and remove in fragments, she added.

The youngster's father, Suresh Gavai, said that the family had been worried that Ashik's swelling was a cancerous growth.

"I was worried that it may turn out to be cancer so I brought him to Mumbai," Gavai told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper.

Dhivare-Palwankar said the literature they had come across on the condition showed a maximum of 37 teeth being removed in such a procedure, whereas she and her team had counted more than 232 taken from Gavai's mouth.

"I think it could be a world record," she said.

Gavai's jawbone structure was maintained during the operation so it should heal without any deformities, the surgeon added.

source: interaksyon.com

Eating nuts caused tooth decay in hunter-gatherers - study

WASHINGTON DC - Eating nuts and acorns may have helped hunter-gatherers survive 15,000 years ago in northern Africa but the practice wreaked havoc on their teeth, researchers said Monday.

Fermented carbohydrates in the nuts caused cavities, tooth decay, and bad breath, said the study led by British scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a US journal.

The findings offer the earliest evidence of nut harvesting and storage among African hunter-gatherers, and are based on dozens of hole-riddled dental remains found in Morocco's Taforalt Cave.

Dental woes have long been believed to originate in later farming cultures some 10,000 years ago, when people began eating processed foods on a wide scale.

Toothaches were presumed rare among hunter-gatherers. But this research suggests they arose earlier than previously thought by several thousand years.

The study pointed to an "exceptionally high prevalence of caries," or dental disease, found in 51 percent of teeth among the adult remains.

That is far higher than the rate of tooth decay generally seen in hunter-gatherers, which has ranged from zero to 14 percent, and much closer to the level seen in prehistoric farmers, said the study.

"The majority of the people's mouths were affected by both cavities in the teeth and abscesses," said co-author Isabelle DeGroote of Liverpool John Moores University.

"They would have suffered from frequent tooth ache and bad breath."

The latest analysis was done on a total of 52 adults whose remains were found in the 1950s as well as during more recent excavations that were begun in 2003.

Scientists used accelerator mass spectrometry to date the remains and potent microscopes to identify the fossils of plant material which included acorns, pine nuts, juniper berries, pistachios, and wild oats.

There were so many remnants of acorns that researchers came to the conclusion that they must have been harvested and stored for eating as a staple food all year long.

Long esparto grasses were also identified in the excavation, and were likely used to weave baskets for carrying nuts, storing them and even cooking them, the study said.

"This is the first time we have documented this set of behaviors in the Iberomaurusian," a distant culture that thrived in the Maghreb, said lead author Louise Humphrey of The Natural History Museum of London, in an email to AFP.

"It is the earliest documented evidence of systematic exploitation of wild plant resources in hunter-gatherers from Africa."

Iberomaurusian people inhabited Taforalt some 13,000 to 15,000 years ago.

They are described as "complex hunter-gatherers" who performed elaborate burials of their dead, used grindstones to prepare food and engaged in harvesting and storage of wild nuts, the study said.

 source: interaksyon.com

Oral care: Window to overall wellness

MANILA, Philippines - Dr. Steve Mark Gan, one of the Philippines’ most respected dentists, opted to establish a dental practice here instead of in the USA where he had pursued advanced studies in Prosthodontic and Implant Education. One of the compelling reasons why he did so was to promote much-needed dental care and share his knowledge and skills with his fellow Filipinos.

“Dental health is still not a priority in our country. It was number 35 in terms of priority, based on studies conducted several years ago, compared to the USA, for instance, where it is always in the top 10,” says Dr. Gan.

Compounding the challenge was the state of dental healthcare when he first came back. “The standards of hygiene, like correct sterilization, were not being followed by some dental practitioners,” explains Dr. Gan, who founded the state-of-the art clinic Gan Advanced Osseointegration Center (GAOC).

This prompted him to ally with the government and his fellow practitioners in the mission to improve the state of dental healthcare in the country. Dr. Gan was the former chairman of the Board of Dentistry and former president of the Philippine Academy of Implant Dentistry (P.A.I.D.) under the Philippine Dental Association.

It has also led him to pursue his “SerbisyongBayan” advocacy, where he has embarked on projects to reach out to the grassroots level by organizing monthly dental missions and educate  people on the value of dental care. “Proper oral hygiene plays a significant role in life. Statistics show that 98% of the nation’s youth has dental caries, dental decay, or missing teeth. What people might not be aware of is that oral health can serve as a window to one’s overall wellness.”

Dr. Gan, also known as the “Dentist to the Stars” due to his high-profile, celebrity clientele, also debunks some myths surrounding dental care.





“People generally think that the harder you brush, the better — when in fact, harder tooth brushing only leads to abrasions and gum recession. It is also not true that going to the dentist means setting yourself up for pain.”

On the topic of proper oral care, he touches on the subject of mouthwashes with a “sting.” “More often than not, mouthwashes with a stinging effect due to high alcohol content are detrimental to the health of the gums and to the health of the oral mucosa in the long run,” he points out. “Also, dark mouthwashes should be used sparingly as these mouthwashes have been known to stain the teeth.”

It is important, therefore, to be discerning when choosing a mouthwash. OraCare, for instance, has a no-alcohol formulation with Stabilized Chlorine Dioxide, a breakthrough active ingredient and antibacterial agent that gently cleans without the stinging sensation. It neutralizes odor-causing volatile sulfur compounds in the mouth, working continuously to eliminate bad bacteria that cause plaque buildup, gum disease, and tooth decay.

To know more about OraCare’s gentle yet effective anti-bacteria action, check out www.oracare.com.ph.

source: philstar.com