Gum Disease Linked To Higher Premature Birth Rates

Dental News

The International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, BJOG, reported that a strong link has been found between successful gum disease treatment and the likelihood of giving birth prematurely.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Dental that women with untreated gum disease were roughly 8 times more likely to have a premature baby than those women who received successfully treated for gum disease via scaling and root planning (cleaning above and below the gum-line). However, the study's results also suggest that pregnant women who were resistant to scaling and root planning were significantly more likely to deliver preterm babies than those where it was successful.

Septra

Septra

Generic Name: sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim (sul fa meth OX a zole and trye METH oh prim)

Brand Names: Bactrim DS, Septra, Septra DS, SMZ-TMP DS, Sulfatrim Pediatric

What is Septra?

Septra is an antibiotic combination containing sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim and it works by killing sensitive bacteria. Both ingredients are antibiotics that treat different types of infection caused by bacteria.

Septra is used to treat ear infections, urinary tract infections, bronchitis, traveler's diarrhea, and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

Septra may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Milk: It Does A Tooth Good

Your mother may have told you some white lies, including that breaking a mirror is seven years bad luck or that if you keep picking your nose it would get stuck that way, but one thing that she did get right is that drinking milk will probably help your teeth out.

Studies have found that drinking milk and eating cheeses, especially cheddars, with or after a meal can help increase the pH level of your mouth (for us non-scientists out there, this means that it will lower the acidity level) thereby limiting the damage that certain foods can do to your enamel.

To avoid having to purchase the best dental coverage available just so you can afford to fix your kid's teeth later in life, make sure to include a little milk and cheese with their meals, particularly with acidic meals such as pastas with red sauce, to help protect them from cavities.

Pharmacists, dietitians to gain greater powers

Health professionals such as pharmacists, dietitians and midwives will gain greater powers under proposed legislation to be unveiled today.
Physiotherapists able to order x-rays, midwives who can put a breathing tube in the mouth of a struggling newborn, and, pharmacists able to refill prescriptions without first checking with a doctor could soon be commonplace in Ontario if the legislation passes.
Nurse practitioners will be able to order bone density tests and scans such as MRIs, set or cast a fracture or dislocation of a joint and apply specific forms of energy such as diagnostic ultrasounds.
The scope of practice changes are part of a Liberal government initiative to ease long wait times in doctors offices and hospitals and to improve patient access to healthcare, Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters this morning.
But Ontario's nurses say the changes stop short of doing what's truly needed to ease patient flow in overcrowded hospitals by failing to give them the power to prescribe more drugs and to admit or discharge patients.
"No one professional can possibly meet all a patients needs," said McGuinty. "The next best thing is to ensure we minimize the number of stops a patient makes while travelling through the healthcare system."
Under the proposed changes, McGuinty said regulated health professionals will get enhanced power to do more for patients. Dietitians could prick skin to check a patient's blood levels for diabetes control, midwives would be able to tell patients their diagnosis, and, medical radiation technologists could, on the order of a doctor, give needles if needed.
But while the provincial government repeatedly claims they are moving to improve access to medical care, they continue to deny nurse practitioners the ability to prescribe a variety of drugs, said Doris Grinspun, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario's executive director. Nurse practitioners have more education and training than registered nurses. In other provinces and countries they have greater prescribing practices, said Doris Grinspun, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario's executive direction. "Still we are needing to fight, in committee now, for open prescribing," Grinspun said, adding she hopes the proposed legislation can be amended at the committee stage before it is passed into law.