Archive for May, 2012

The Benefits of Intravenous Anesthesia

Until the advent of local anesthetics, surgery was a very traumatic and painful experience. The very best surgeons were by no means the gentlest; they were the fastest. General “ether” anesthetics helped alleviate pain but were very dangerous to administer and unpredictable in the dosing. The advent of local anesthetics truly revolutionized in-the-office surgery, particularly […]

Saving Lives One Oral Cancer Screening at a Time

Oral cancer remains the 6th deadliest cancer, with 35,000 cases discovered yearly in the United States alone, and only half of those patients surviving 5 years post-diagnosis. The high death rates for oral cancer are contributed to the fact patients do not generally detect signs or symptoms until it has advanced and further metastasizes. Fortunately, […]

The Current State of Laser Treatment of Chronic Periodontitis

The use of lasers in periodontal practice has become a desirable alternative to traditional scalpel surgery; however, a deficiency in published evidence supporting the efficacy of such treatment exists. A recent review by Cobb, Low, and Coluzzi (2010) presents the current peer-reviewed evidence on the use of the most commonly used dental lasers over the […]