By Lisa Collier Cool
Feb 15, 2013

Yahoo Health

As Maine and other states are voting to ban BPA from baby food and formula, worry has surfaced about the effects of the now-notorious toxin in children’s dental fillings – BPA and sealants.

A new study—the first to analyze the effects on dental fillings on children’s mental health–links a widely used type of filling that contains BPA to worse behavioral and social functioning in kids five years after the filling is placed, compared to children whose cavities were treated with other materials.

The researchers found that kids ages 6 to 10 who received dental  fillings – BPA with the BPA-based material had drops in behavioral scores on measurements of such issues as depression, anxiety, acting out, paying attention, attitudes towards teachers, and self-esteem. However, the decrease in behavioral scores after dental work was small.

Should parents worry about these fillings? To find out more, I talked to Jonathan Shenkin, DDS, MPH, a faculty member in health policy and pediatric dentistry at Boston University and a spokesperson for the American Dental Association (ADA).

What Fillings Contain BPA?

There are two main types of fillings: metal ones known as amalgam and tooth-colored fillings called composites, that are made from glass or quartz filler and bonded into cavities. Because composites match the color of the patient’s teeth, they’ve become very popular, says Dr. Shenkin.

In the study, the problematic dental fillings – BPA were a type of composites that include the resin bis-GMA, which can contains small amounts of BPA (bisphenol-A), used in the manufacturing process. This dental material is also used in sealants (a protective covering that’s applied to kids’ teeth to reduce risk for cavities).

What Are the Health Risks of BPA?

BPA was banned from baby bottles and sippy cups last year because it mimics the effects of estrogen, and may harm health. (The FDA expressed concern about the potential effects of BPA on the prostate glands, brains and behavior of infants and young children.)

Used to make plastics, BPA is found in some food packaging, which can include food or beverage cans. A recent study linked prenatal exposure to hyperactivity and anxiety, especially in girls. In addition, exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, including BPA, may be associated with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, according to a literature review of 17 studies.

Children with higher levels of BPA in their urine were more likely to be obese, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year. BPA exposure in kids has also been tied to higher risk for kidney and heart problems.

How Much BPA Do Kids Get from Dental Treatment?

The amount of BPA in composites is very small, says Dr. Shenkin. “The amount in dental material is only a fraction of what’s found in food containers. Usually, there’s only a one-time exposure to traces of BPA residue when the cavity is filled.”

According to the ADA, if a child gets six dental sealants containing bis-GMA, the estimated one-time exposure is about 5.5 micrograms, which is two to five times lower than the estimated daily exposure to BPA from food and environmental sources.

Another type of composites, which contain bis-DMA (which also uses BPA as a starting ingredient during manufacture), can cause ongoing exposure to BPA since salvia can break down that type of resin. However, bis-DMA composites are rarely used in dental practice, says Dr. Shenkin.

How Was the Study Conducted?

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at data collected from 534 children aged six to 10 in six different dental clinics between 1997 and 2005. (434 children were observed during the follow-up phase of the study.)

Kids with cavities were randomly assigned to be treated with amalgam (metal) or composite fillings, then were tracked via reports from their parents using checklists to rate emotional symptoms and psychological adjustment.

Compared to kids who received metal fillings, those treated with composites had:

A higher rate of problem behaviors (16.3% versus 11.2 percent)

More difficulties with social relationships (13.7 percent versus 4.8 percent)

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How Much Effect Did Composite Fillings Have on Kids’ Mental Health?

“On average, the difference in social behavior scores were very small and would probably not be noticed for each individual child,” lead study author Nancy Maserejian, ScD told HealthDay. “But imagine a huge group of children around the country; you’d probably notice a difference.”

The behavioral problems were associated most strongly with higher exposure to BPA, and fillings in the back of the month. This may be because these fillings suffer the most wear and tear when kids chew their food. As the fillings wear down, they may release chemicals that are swallowed.

However, there could be another explanation for the findings, says Dr. Shenkin. “Typically, kids who get cavities drink a lot of sugary beverages, such as soda, from cans that can contain BPA, so if this chemical causes anxiety and other behavioral problems, the culprit could be the kids’ diet.”

The researchers didn’t measure BPA levels before and after the fillings.

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What About Metal Fillings?

Amalgam fillings are generally considered safe. Although they do release some mercury vapor, these levels are widely believed to be low enough to avoid brain and kidney damage, linked with higher amounts of the vapor. Therefore, there’s no need to replace this type of filling, a practice that’s grown in popularity due to fears about mercury.

“Removing sound amalgam fillings results in the loss of healthy tooth structure, and exposes you to additional mercury vapor released during the removal process,” the FDA explains on their website.

Prevention Is Key

The best way to avoid having to make decisions about which fillings to use is to take steps to prevent cavities:

Limit sugary snacks and beverages—including fruit juices.

Makes sure that your child brushes with fluoride toothpaste twice a day and flosses once.

Get regular dental care, starting when your child reaches age one.

The post Do Dental Fillings – BPA Negatively Affect Children’s Behavior ? appeared first on Dr. Ari Greenspan Dentist.

All too often we are not careful about how we take care of our teeth. There are many ways which we can cause broken teeth and fractured teeth. Being careful of some basic behaviors can save us lots of pain and suffering later on.

Bad Habits

Many people have developed oral habits that can cause broken teeth. For example, chewing on hard items like pencils do great damage. Since these behaviors are unconscious much of the time, they go on for extended periods of time. Biting like this will cause micro fractures that can damage the enamel making it more susceptible to breaking. Some people eat things like sun flour seed and always break them with one of their front teeth. Over the years that can cause an unsightly groove in the tooth.

Another prime source of broken teeth is chewing on ice. While it might be fun, the hard ice itself can break a tooth. But less well known is the fact that the freezing ice causes an internal stress in the tooth itself which can weaken the tooth by creating microscopic internal fractures.

Sports And Tooth Danger

Of course contact Sports are a constant concern for teeth. We all know of the hockey players missing their front tooth, but damage can happen when you least expect it. So many times as the summer arrives, I have patients who dived off the diving board into the pool  and did not realize that they were headed right for the floor of the pool. They hit their tooth on the floor and it breaks. Bike riding is another prime source for tooth damage. See this picture of a child who broke their front teeth. There is a characteristic breakage pattern of an angled break. One way to prevent these concerns is to have a child wear a sports guard when they are involved in an activity that can hurt their teeth.

The post Preventing Broken Teeth and Fractured Teeth appeared first on Dr. Ari Greenspan Dentist.

How Ebola and Dentistry affect each other is now a topic that must be thought about. With the recent outbreak of Ebola virus in West africa, we face the concern of a patient with Ebola possibly visiting the dentist. As such Ebola and Dentistry must be evaluated in terms of safety to patients and dental staff.

The Ebola Virus

This virus is part of a class of viruses called hemorrhagic fevers. Once it is acquired, the patient begins a rapid process of disease culminating in massive internal bleeding and bleeding from bodily orifices. It has a death rate of 50%-90%.  Until this present outbreak, Ebola appeared in remote parts of Africa , and it killed who it was able to but due to the  isolated area, it rarely spread. What makes this outbreak so dangerous is that it has now found its way to population centers and from there it can travel via an infected patient on a plane to other parts of the world. It is only transmitted by direct fluid exchange. Ie, blood, semen,sweat,saliva. It is not transmitted via the air.

Signs and Symptoms of Ebola

In any discussion of Ebola and Dentistry,, we need to understand the disease. The American Dental association in conjunction with the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) list the following.

The post Ebola and Dentistry appeared first on Dr. Ari Greenspan Dentist.

Many people drink sugar free sodas hoping that the are healthier than regular soda. Regular soda is definitely not good for your teeth. As a boy I once did a science project and put extracted teeth into different liquids for varying amounts of time to see what would happen. The teeth that were put into a sugary soda like Coke, had large cavities within 2 weeks. Regular sodas have a lot of sugar. A single can of Coke has 39 grams of sugar.  But sugar is not the main problem. The main issue is the acidity of sodas. sugar free sodas are as acidic as sugar full soft drinks.

Sugar free sodas and how they hurt teeth

The enamel of a tooth is made up of an inorganic matrix. The inner section of the tooth is organic as well and it is when the bacteria penetrate the inorganic outer layer that we have problems and a cavity begins that will continue to grow and damage the tooth. Anything that weakens that outer layer will make it easy for a cavity to begin. Acid is what will weaken this enamel layer and it is actually how the bacteria make their cavity.

The sugar in food is the energy for bacteria but it is the acid that does the damage. So when we drink sugar free sodas, we actually are taking in as much acid as a regular soda. In fact people tend to drink much more sugar free soda thinking that it is healthier. We all know that feeling of grittiness when we drink a soda that the teeth seem not to slide so smoothly across each other. That is the  acid removing a micro layer of tooth structure.

Conclusion

Tray and avoid drink any soda because the extreme acidity of the citric acid component will be very aggressive to your teeth.

The post Are Sugar Free Sodas Bad For Your Teeth appeared first on Dr. Ari Greenspan Dentist.

We have one autoclave running at all times for your safety. Our dental sterilization protocol is rigorous and completely sterilizes all bacteria.
Cleanliness  and infection control of our office for all dental equipment is one of the most important aspects of what we do to protect you.

What is Autoclave Sterilization and infection control ?

Autoclave usage is the heart of our infection control system. An autoclave is a machine that uses high temperature and steam pressure (up to 270 F) to kill bacteria effectively. The autoclave heats items above the boiling point for a time until the equipment is clean and free of germs.

Autoclaves are designed for safety, and due to the heavy pressure built up inside the machine , it has an auto-lock mechanism when it is turned on and unlocks when sterilization is finished. Dr. Greenspan is exceptionally diligent in proper dental office procedures to ensure your safety. Just come into our office and ask us to show you how careful we are in this matter of infection control

Every item we use is either disposable or goes through an infection protocol. We wear disposable cloaks and go through hundreds of pairs of gloves a day in the course of treating our patients

We are always donning fresh gloves , masks and wearing safety glasses.
As you can see Dr.Anderkvist and his staff go to great lengths to be certain your visit to our office is not only enjoyable, but also SAFE!

Clean and Dirty

The CDC (centers for disease control) suggests having an area for dirty and clean (not yet sterilized equipment. We adhere to this and go to extreme lengths to guarantee your safety in our office.

Where items can not go through an autoclave without being destroyed we employ liquid sterilization.

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