Scientists discover new layer of the masseter muscle – study

Source: www.jpost.com Author: Aaron Reigh Do humans have a body part that has never been seen before? According to this academic study, the answer is yes. This jaw-dropping discovery focuses, fittingly enough, on the jaw – specifically the masseter: a muscle in the lower jaw that is essential for chewing. If you place your fingers on your cheeks and clench your teeth, you would feel the masseter tightening. While our current scientific understanding of the human anatomy had, until now, known that the masseter has a deep layer and a superficial layer, this new study, published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Annals of Anatomy, has revealed the existence of a third layer in the middle. The existence of a third layer was noted by the 38th edition of Gray's Anatomy – the British anatomy reference book written in 1858 by Henry Gray, not the similarly named American medical drama series. However, this merely referenced an even older observation, made in the 1784 German text Grundriss der Physiologie für Vorlesungen. Nonetheless, it had never been properly identified, and whether it existed at all in humans wasn't considered. But the researchers behind the study sought to clarify the masseter structure and resolve the inconsistencies in the scientific literature. So they began investigating. The scientists had taken 12 human heads from corpses that had been preserved in formaldehyde in order to dissect them. Further, they examined 16 fresh corpses through the use of a CT scan. Finally, they looked at a living subject [...]

2021-12-27T07:47:20-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Resident launches campaign after lack of access to NHS dentists leaves him with cancer

Source: www.winsfordguardian.co.uk Author: Jessica Farrington A Winsford resident who was diagnosed with tongue cancer after being unable to access NHS dentistry has launched a campaign to improve local services. Philip Carden faced ‘unacceptable barriers’ when trying to get an NHS dentist appointment within his hometown. The 60-year-old was eventually diagnosed with cancer of the tongue following months of infection, pain and delay and does not want this to happen to anyone else. This lack of accessibility locally pre-dated the Covid dentistry crisis as Philip had been unable to access NHS dentistry within Winsford prior to the first lockdown. In the end, it was a doctor who saw Philip, after he was given no other option, other than travelling on 12 different buses to be seen by an NHS dentist. Philip said: “I was trying to find a dentist in the town – I had broken my tooth and it hit my tongue. “I went to the doctors and they saw me straight away. “The doctor had a look and she was shocked, she said it looked like a tumour. “I was very, very lucky. “The doctors helped me out but it shouldn’t have been through them.” Philip approached local councillor Mandy Clare to help him launch a public campaign, who took advice from the British Dental Association. Councillor Clare said: “The UK Government must urgently address the NHS dentistry crisis for everyone and they must also ensure equality of access to those on low incomes. “It’s not fair that being [...]

2021-12-25T08:06:21-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

The ‘big three’ causes of mouth cancer

Source: www.hippocraticpost.com Author: staff By knowing the causes of mouth cancer, we can take positive steps to reduce our own level of risk, says a leading health charity. The Oral Health Foundation is raising awareness about the causes of mouth cancer, following new research that shows far too many people remain unaware of the main risk factors. The number of people diagnosed with mouth cancer in the UK has doubled in the last 20 years, with tobacco, drinking alcohol to excess and the human papillomavirus, being the considered the most common causes. However, new data shows that awareness into the three big risk factors is as low as 15%. With more than half of all mouth cancer cases linked to lifestyle factors, the charity along with Denplan, part of Simplyhealth, are using November’s Mouth Cancer Action Month to shed light on the biggest risks factors associated with the disease. Tobacco Smoking tobacco increases your risk of developing mouth cancer by up to ten times. This includes smoking cigarettes, pipes or cigars. Around two-in-three mouth cancers are linked to smoking. Dr Nigel Carter, Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation says: “Despite the number of smokers continuing to fall, it remains the leading cause of mouth cancer. Our focus must be on providing smokers with the support and information they need in order to kick tobacco for good. It’s never too late to quit and by making this positive step, the health of your mouth and body will see both instant [...]

2021-12-22T13:06:29-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

I know how lobbyists make sure Americans don’t get dental care–I was one of them

Source: Fortune Date: November 19th, 2021 Author: Wendell Potter As Members of Congress continue their debate on the Build Back Better Act, it’s distressing to see House Democrats ignoring what Americans say they want most out of the legislation: adding dental coverage to Medicare. If the dental benefit isn’t put back into the bill, lawmakers will have shown once again that they listen more to two powerful trade groups in Washington–America’s Health Insurance Plans(AHIP) and the American Dental Association (ADA)–than to their constituents. As someone who has been on both sides, writing talking points for insurers and, more recently, fighting the ADA’s efforts to kill other bills to expand access to dental care, I know these organizations well. And they usually get their way. A recent Morning Consult poll found that the number one thing Americans say they want out of the reconciliation bill is Medicare dental coverage. That’s no surprise when you consider that millions of seniors lack dental coverage. Many suffer quietly with often excruciating pain caused by untreated–and often lethal–oral health disease. The main reason Medicare hasn’t covered dental care since its inception in 1965 (except when oral health problems become so severe they require hospitalization) is that organized dentistry staunchly opposed it. The dental lobby insists that any additional dental coverage should be restricted to the poorest Medicaid recipients. However, its main concern–as it was 56 years ago–is that Medicare would not reimburse dentists to their satisfaction. The ADA’s lobbyists, in essence, are placing the financial [...]

2021-12-21T12:29:10-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

The HPV Vaccine Prevents Cancer, but Most Kids Don’t Receive It

Source: The New York Times Date: December 13th, 2021 Author: Jane E. Brody Cover image courtesy of The New York Times The human papillomavirus vaccine can prevent six potentially lethal malignancies, but inoculation is meeting with rising resistance from parents. Vaccine hesitancy is hardly limited to shots against Covid-19. Even the HPV vaccine, which can prevent as many as 90 percent of six potentially lethal cancers, is meeting with rising resistance from parents who must give their approval before their adolescent children can receive it. The Food and Drug Administration licensed this lifesaving vaccine in 2006 to protect against sexually transmitted infection by HPV, the human papillomavirus. Most of us will get infected with HPV during our lifetimes, certain strains of which can lead to cancers of the cervix, vagina and vulva in women; cancers of the anus and back-of-the-throat in both women and men; and penile cancer in men. HPV can also cause genital warts. But the vaccine only works if it’s administered before people become infected by the virus. And that often means getting vaccinated before teens and young adults have any form of sexual activity, including oral sex and skin-to-skin contact without penetration. More than half of adolescents ages 15 to 19 report having had oral sex, and one in 10 say they have had anal sex. Unless they are vaccinated, more than 80 percent of women become infected with HPV by age 50. And while most infections clear on their own, enough persist to cause many [...]

2021-12-17T11:53:24-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Achieving an 80% HPV vaccination rate could eliminate nearly 1 million cases of male oropharyngeal cancer this century

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston A nationwide effort to adequately vaccinate 8 in 10 adolescents against the human papillomavirus (HPV) could prevent 934,000 cases of virus-associated, male oropharyngeal cancer over this century, reported investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) School of Public Health in The Lancet Regional Health—Americas. At the start of each decade, the Healthy People program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services establishes goals to reduce the most significant preventable threats to health, which include an 80% target for the HPV vaccination program. However, in the U.S., just 54% of adolescents and only 21% of young adults were adequately vaccinated as of 2019. To gage the effect of accomplishing an 80% target on male oropharyngeal cancer, the most common cancer caused by HPV, UTHealth Houston researchers created a simulation model to project the development of this cancer over a lifetime and to measure the impact of the HPV vaccination. "Our study is the first to develop and validate a comprehensive mathematical modeling framework of the natural history of oral HPV infection and its progression to oropharyngeal cancer," said Ashish A. Deshmukh, Ph.D., MPH, the study's senior author and an associate professor in the Department of Management, Policy and Community Health and associate director of the Center for Health Services Research at UTHealth School of Public Health. "Achievement of the 80% goal by 2025 and maintaining it could lead to the prevention of [...]

2021-12-16T08:47:19-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

The first 3D printed implant approved by Health Canada

Source: bobrtimes.com Author: Tailor Stone Health Canada has approved a first 3D printed implant by the 3D Anatomical Reconstruction Laboratory (LARA 3D) located in the Investissement Québec facilities. This is the first time that a Canadian organization has obtained authorization to produce a 3D printed implantable medical device in Canada. The 3D Specifit mandibular bar, custom-made for each patient, will be used to reconstruct the jawbone of people with oral cancer, LARA 3D explained in a statement. Launched last year , this anatomical reconstruction laboratory has held “ISO 13485” certification since April 2021, which confirms that the manufacturing process of its medical devices meets the strictest quality management requirements. 3D printing is revolutionizing the manufacture of medical implants since surgeons are no longer forced to adapt the patient's physiology to prostheses whose dimensions are predetermined. They will now be able to manufacture to measure, before surgery, implants modeled from the patient's internal imaging and according to the unique contours of the bone to be repaired. At LARA 3D, biocompatible metals are used for 3D printing by powder bed fusion by laser or electron beam. The use of custom metal prostheses, printed rather than manufactured in the traditional way, will lead to an improvement in the quality of care in Quebec thanks to the reduction in surgery and recovery time for patients with, as a result, an improvement in their quality of life. Video (in French) The approval of a first 3D Specifit product is also recognition of Quebec expertise in [...]

2021-12-16T08:39:02-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

When a dentist dies from oral cancer

Source: www.dentistrytoday.com Author: Dr. Parul Dua Makkar & Dr. Sanjukta Mohant Dr. Manu Dua, a dentist practicing in Calgary, Alberta, discovered a lesion on his tongue around his 33rd birthday. He showed a photo of it to his sister, Parul, who is a dentist practicing in New York. “Get it biopsied,” she pleaded. He replied, “It can’t be cancer. I’m too young.” Less than 2 years later, Dr. Manu Dua died from oral cancer. He was 34. Manu had no risk factors for oral cancer. He was young and didn’t smoke. He only had an occasional drink. He was athletic and had a healthy diet. No one would suspect that the lesion on his tongue was cancer, not even him, not even the oral surgeon who thought it was lichen planus and prescribed him a steroid. His symptoms worsened: trouble speaking, pain on eating, and difficulty sleeping. Then came the devastating biopsy result – Stage 2 squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. The cancer was treated by removing the left half of Manu’s tongue and the lymph nodes from the left side of his neck. His tongue was repaired using the radial artery from his left arm and skin from his right thigh. He had to learn to speak, chew and swallow again. He recovered quickly and returned to the dental office that he recently opened. Less than a year later, he noticed swelling on the left side of his neck after he had a restoration. The cancer was back. [...]

2021-12-15T16:57:01-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Mayo Clinic researchers find new treatment for HPV-associated oral cancer

Author: MAYO Clinic Source: EurekAlert!   ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have found that a new, shorter treatment for patients with HPV-associated oropharynx cancer leads to excellent disease control and fewer side effects, compared to standard treatment. The new treatment employs minimally invasive surgery and half the standard dose of radiation therapy, compared to current treatments. The new treatment also lasts for two weeks, rather than the standard six weeks. Results of a study of the new treatment were presented Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's Annual Meeting. "Throat cancer caused by HPV is one of the fastest-growing cancer types in the United States," says Daniel J. Ma, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic and the study's author. Dr. Ma says that while the standard treatment for this type of cancer leads to high cure rates, it may also result in many short-term and long-term treatment toxicities, including dry mouth, problems swallowing, neck stiffness and jawbone problems. "Many of these side effects are directly linked to the amount of radiation used for treatment," says Dr. Ma. Dr. Ma and his colleagues developed an initial clinical trial looking at a new treatment using minimally invasive surgery and half the standard dose of radiation. The initial clinical trial demonstrated that well-selected patients could have excellent disease control with much lower toxicity using the new treatment. "Our findings suggest that in select patients with HPV-associated oropharynx a shorter course treatment, compared to the standard of care, yields a similar [...]

2021-12-08T13:54:50-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

When A Dentist Dies from Oral Cancer

Date: December 2nd, 2021 Authors: Dr. Parul Dua Makkar & Dr. Sanjukta Mohanta Source: Dentistry Today Featured Image courtesy of Dentistry Today: Dr. Manu Dua Dr. Manu Dua, a dentist practicing in Calgary, Alberta, discovered a lesion on his tongue around his 33rd birthday. He showed a photo of it to his sister, Parul, who is a dentist practicing in New York. “Get it biopsied,” she pleaded. He replied, “It can’t be cancer. I’m too young.” Less than 2 years later, Dr. Manu Dua died from oral cancer.  He was 34. Manu had no risk factors for oral cancer.  He was young and didn’t smoke. He only had an occasional drink. He was athletic and had a healthy diet.  No one would suspect that the lesion on his tongue was cancer, not even him, not even the oral surgeon who thought it was lichen planus and prescribed him a steroid. His symptoms worsened: trouble speaking, pain on eating, and difficulty sleeping. Then came the devastating biopsy result – Stage 2 squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. The cancer was treated by removing the left half of Manu’s tongue and the lymph nodes from the left side of his neck. His tongue was repaired using the radial artery from his left arm and skin from his right thigh. He had to learn to speak, chew and swallow again. He recovered quickly and returned to the dental office that he recently opened. Less than a year later, he noticed swelling on the left [...]

2021-12-06T12:39:42-07:00December, 2021|Oral Cancer News|
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