A Dentist’s Guide: Oral Pathology of Vesicular Ulcerative Conditions
Explore a variety of vesicular ulcerative conditions of the oral cavity including common conditions such as Herpes, Syphilis, Aphthous Stomatitis, and Squamous Cell Carcinomas, and rare oral diseases such as Pemphigus Vulgaris, Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid,...
The Dentist’s Guide: Obstructive Sleep Apnea & Sleep Disorders
Dr. Glenn Clark, DDS developed this content for his Systems Physiology, Sleep, Motor Disorders Course for Dental Residents of the Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine master's program at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC. Why is sleep a concern for dentists?...
Why Patients with Chronic Pain Seek Chiropractic Care
Many people who suffer from chronic pain seek the assistance of health professionals. While some turn to traditional medical doctors, others opt for chiropractic care. For many, the allure of chiropractic care is in the idea that they try to use alternative...
Zweig elected vice president of the American Association of Endodontists
BY JILLIAN CARMENATE ’22 Stefan Zweig DDS ’86, ENDO ’92 has been elected vice president of the American Association of Endodontists. The AAE is a global resource for knowledge, research and education for the profession. The Ostrow clinical associate professor...
Oldak named Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science
BY YASMINE PEZESHKPOUR MCM ’19 Professor Janet Oldak has been selected as a Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The prestigious honor is bestowed upon members through nominations by their AAAS peers. Oldak has been...
Non-Pharmacological Interventions to Help Older People with Chronic Pain
Pain is something that most of us feel at one time or another. It may come and go for most, but for millions of people it’s persistent. When it sticks around, it becomes chronic pain, which is something that is common among older people. Knowing the best ways to...
Roseann Mulligan earns 2020 Gies Award for Achievement for Dental Educators
BY JOHN HOBBS MA ’14 Associate Dean of Community Health Programs and Hospital Affairs Roseann Mulligan MS ’87 has been awarded a 2020 Gies Award for Achievement for Dental Educators from the ADEAGeis Foundation. This prestigious award is meant to pay...
Six faculty members honored with chair, professorship appointments
Such appointments are the highest honor a university can bestow. BY JOHN HOBBS MA ’14 Six Ostrow faculty members are slated to be inducted into chair and endowed professorships at an official ceremony taking place in early 2020. “Endowed faculty positions represent...
Management of Dry Mouth in Older Patients
The management of dry mouth includes two aspects: attempts to affect a change in the causative factors of the condition; and, the prevention of any potential or worsening of existing consequences of dry mouth on oral health. Diagnosis Directed Management In order to...
Reducing Fear in Individuals with Chronic Low Back Pain
According to the National Institutes of Health, around 80 percent of adults experience low back pain at some point. There are many reasons that they can experience the low back pain. Most people only have the low back pain for a short period of time, ranging from days...
Other Conditions Affecting Salivary Glands
Systemic Diseases Many systemic diseases are reported to cause or be associated with salivary gland hypofunction as mentioned in Table 1 [29], [64]. Of these systemic diseases, Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is the most common disease that causes both xerostomia and salivary...
How to Diagnose and Manage Fibromyalgia
How many people have heard this, or a similarly disempowering conclusion from their doctors? “Your pain is all in your head” “I think you’re just depressed” “We’ve done all of the tests, there’s nothing wrong with you” For most people with fibromyalgia (FM), it takes...
How to Treat Dry Mouth in Older Patients
There are many diseases such as Xerostomia and Salivary Gland Hypofunction, radiation therapy in the head and neck area, and medications that cause dry mouth. In this article, we present several treatment options for older patients experiencing dry mouth. Sections...
New Treatments for Chronic Migraines are on the Horizon
Those who suffer from chronic migraines know all too well how debilitating the condition can be. Migraine headaches leave people in severe pain, often feeling nauseous and vomiting, and experiencing sensitivity to light and sound. It’s a condition that can leave...
Dry Mouth: Medications and their Effect on Saliva
By far, the most common cause of long standing dry mouth particularly in older adults is the use of xerogenic medications [30]. There are now projected to be over a thousand medications associated with subjective and/or objective oral dryness either by interfering...
Diagnosing Xerostomia and Salivary Gland Hypofunction (SGH)
There are numerous questionnaires used to assess dry mouth symptoms, including various quality of life scales and some specific instruments such as the Xerostomia Questionnaire (XQ) [22] and the Xerostomia Inventory (XI) [47], [48]. An extensive discussion of the...
Dental Care for Geriatric Patients: Xerostomia in Elderly Populations
Salivary Gland Hypofunction in Aging Epidemiology Epidemiologic studies have revealed increases in the prevalence and incidence of dry mouth with age [29], [30]; however, in most studies aging per se is not indicated as the cause or a major risk factor for dry...
Geriatric Dental Care: Older Adults and Oral Conditions
Older Adults and Oral Conditions The proportion of older adult people in developed countries has increased considerably during the last few decades and is expected to increase further in the next years. This is a result of what has been called the “demographic...
Dental Erosion from Abrasion & Abfraction
What is dental abrasion? Unlike dental attrition, abrasion is the loss of tooth structure by mechanical forces from a foreign element. If this force begins at the cementoenamel junction, then the progression of tooth loss can be rapid since enamel is thin in this...
What is Dental Attrition?
The definition of dental attrition is the mechanical wearing of the incisal or occlusal surfaces of teeth as a direct result of functional or parafunctional tooth-to-tooth contact. The process is usually slow and rarely results in pulpal disease as secondary dentine...
What is Tooth Erosion? Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment
What is tooth erosion? Erosion is the wearing away of the tooth surface by an acid, which dissolves the enamel and the dentine. There are a variety of ways that tooth structure is lost. Food-based dental erosion was first described in 1892 among Sicilian lemon...
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Questionnaires for Dentists
When dentists need to test for Obstructive Sleep Apnea or hypersomnolence, sleep-related questionnaires can be of help. The following post explores some of the interview questions clinicians use in their assessment. Best Dental Questionnaires for OSA In addition...
Dental Exam Guide for New Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Learn how to conduct a comprehensive dental exam of a new patient who might be suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Comprehensive Dental Exam for New OSA Patients Below are the elements of a physical examination that should be conducted when assessing a possible...
5 Steps to Accurately Diagnose Chronic Trigeminal Neuropathy
Accurately diagnose the cause of neuropathic pains occuring in the trigeminal region such as atypical odontalgia, phantom tooth pain, burning mouth syndrome. Chronic Trigeminal Neuropathy Symptoms Pain that is continuous or burning Pain that does not have a clinically...