Word: dental
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...entire body to a powerful drug and have not always proved effective. Gum disease "behaves like a chronic type of inflammatory disease," explains Kenneth Kornman, a professor of periodontics at the University of Texas in San Antonio. "We have a hard time eliminating those bacteria." For that reason, dental researchers decided to concentrate the antibiotics' killing power by applying medication directly into infected areas...
...most promising of the new therapies, first available in Italy, is a product called Actisite. It looks something like dental floss but actually consists of an organic fiber coated with the antibiotic tetracycline. Packed deep in the gums, the medicinal thread remains in place for seven to 10 days. Thanks to a time-release formula, the antibiotic slowly diffuses through the infected area, attacking the gum-destroying germs. According to one study, Actisite delivers 300 times as much tetracycline to the crevice where the thread is placed as a gram's worth of pills would...
...apparently produce dramatic turnarounds. Rosie New, a 34-year-old Houston resident, was in danger of losing her front teeth when she received Actisite on an experimental basis. Two weeks later, the inflammation had disappeared. Her follow-up treatment included applying the powerful prescription mouthwash Peridex to her dental floss to make sure the bacteria did not reclaim any territory. "It's a major difference in what my gums were like," New says. The deterioration of her jawbone stopped, and her smile was saved. Says she: "It's scary, the thought of losing your front teeth...
...have Actisite and other new treatments not been approved for general use in the U.S.? "The FDA is burdened with life-or-death priorities like AIDS and cancer," says Michael Newman, a professor of periodontics at the UCLA School of Dentistry. "Dental products are low on the totem pole." Other dental researchers wonder whether acceptance of the therapies is being delayed by periodontists who don't want to lose part of their lucrative oral-surgery practice. "European countries are definitely more receptive," Loesche says. "Part of it is that they don't have a strong periodontal establishment...
Mary Cassesso, director of administration at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, says the dental school does not have any outside bank accounts that could be abandoned. However, a source at the dental school says the abandoned account was a $123 check from MIT that the Institute had never mailed to the school...