BDA Warns that Deferring Dental Treatment Unwise

In accordance with a research made by the British Dental Association (BDA), nowadays English patients are pushed to cancel dental appointments and put off treatments they need because of the concerns about the economic climate. This unfortunate strong influence of these decisions leads to an increased number of patients presenting at surgeries requiring emergency treatment.

A research performed by the British Dental Association found that 59% of asked dentists had seen their patients cancel appointments, at the time when 68% reported that their patients defer treatment. Taking into account this stat, there is no surprise that more than one third of practitioners mentioned that they had seen "an increased demand for emergency treatment during the past year."

Chair of the BDA's Executive Board, Dr Susie Sanderson, stated that:

Orthodontic Treatment Changes Must Be Explained to the Public

The British Dental Association (BDA) stated that "changes to the future provision of Health Service orthodontic treatment have to be fully explained to patients waiting for care". In order to decide which cases should be funded by the Health Service, the General Dental Services will see the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). The new regulations will stipulate that Health Service orthodontic treatment will be restricted to patients who score 3.6 or more on the IOTN scale.

Peter Crooks, Chair of the BDA Northern Ireland Dental Practice Committee, stated that:

Less Calcium Means Fewer Teeth?

In accordance with a Danish study, low calcium intake is linked with having fewer teeth.

The study which involved 1,602 adults, ages 30 to 60, was made by researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital.

One part of people kept a week record of what they ate, at the time when others were interviewed about their food habits. This info was used for estimation of the amount of calcium each person took in through food and drinks.

It turned out that more than a half of adults did not receive the recommended amount of daily calcium: 45% of women and nearly 55% of men did.

Dental Anxiety Exaggerates Memories

A recent study shows that people with high dental fear have excessive memories of the pain mixed with fear which they feel during treatment.

The study was made by the researchers at the University of West Virginia. At the oral surgery clinic dentists surveyed 79 people who needed an emergency tooth extraction. Everyone in the study were asked about their fear and pain before, during and 2 weeks after the extraction.