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Regular checkups and cleaning can save money in the end by heading off problems early. Nevertheless, when times get tough and people start losing their jobs, preventive dental care can be one of the first things to go.

However, the correlation between rising unemployment and a drop in preventive dental care is not necessarily due to people being short of cash, according to a new study appearing in the online edition of Health Services Research.

“We see that high community-level unemployment exacts a psychological toll on individuals,” said lead study author Brian Quinn. “Even for people who are working, or who have a working partner or spouse, there might be an impact if they’re stressed about themselves or their significant others losing their jobs.”

apping into the desire to have an attractive smile is the best motivator for improving oral hygiene, and new immigrants are the most receptive to oral health messages, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Authors Shuili Du (Simmons College), Sankar Sen (City University of New York), and C.B. Bhattacharya (Boston University) evaluated the effectiveness of an oral health outreach program in disadvantaged communities. They found that focusing on the social benefits of having a beautiful smile was the most effective strategy for improving dental hygiene habits among participants.

“Our findings suggest that, among children from less acculturated families, participation in this oral health program leads to not only more favorable beliefs about the health-related (preventing cavities and gum diseases) and psychosocial (beautiful smile and self-confidence) benefits of oral care behavior, but also an increase in oral care behavior such as brushing, flossing and dental checkups,” write the authors.

Dental caries afflict at least 90% of the world’s population at some time in their lives. Detecting the first signs of this disease, which can be lethal in extreme cases, just got easier thanks to work by researchers in India discussed in the latest issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

R. Siva Kumar of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, at RMK Engineering College, in Tamil Nadu, explains that dental caries, known colloquially as tooth decay or dental cavities, is an infectious disease which damages the structures of teeth. The disease causes toothache, tooth loss, infection of the jawbone and beyond, and in severe cases, death.

Caries are caused by acid-producing bacteria that feed on fermentable carbohydrates including sucrose, fruit sugars, and glucose. The higher level of acidity in the mouth due to this bacterial activity effectively dissolves the mineral content of the tooth. In the USA, dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease, being at least five times more common than asthma. It is the primary cause of tooth loss in children, while between a third and two thirds of people over 50 years experience caries too.

Masha is a dental patient. Her oral health problems continue to change as she meets new Case Western Reserve University student dentists in Second Life’s virtual dental office.

The middle-aged avatar is an integral part of a new research project of the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences department of communication sciences to teach and give students practice time to communicate with mock patients.

Not only do findings from the study have potential to revolutionize dental education but also to change the way national testing is done for patient-side communication skills.

Are feelings of depression overwhelming you? Is your self-esteem an issue? Having problems advancing in life or your career? Maybe you feel nervous or self conscious in social settings? Do you avoid social settings all together? Check your smile; tooth loss could be the culprit and you’re not alone. Nearly 20 million teeth are extracted each year leaving scores of people to deal with the psychological affects of a less than perfect smile. However, during the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) 56th Annual Meeting & Exhibits in Orlando, Fla., July 16-20, H. Asuman Kiyak, PhD, will address the psychological issues affecting people who must deal with the loss of a tooth, as well as explain how this loss can affect the quality of life.

In Dr. Kiyak’s course, “Enhancing the Oral Health and Quality of Life for Partially Edentulous or Fully Edentulous Patients: The Importance of Communication,” she will reveal the post traumatic effects a patient endures after the loss of a tooth and will also pinpoint ways a doctor can communicate with a patient to help them cope with and understand their options for restoring their smile.

“The major impact of tooth loss is on the appearance and social relations component of quality of life because people cannot change their appearance with missing teeth,” says Dr. Kiyak.

As part of the ritual of going back to school, parents will no doubt buy their children new clothes and supplies, and take them to the pediatrician for their annual check up. But Mark Helpin, D.M.D., acting chair of the department of pediatric dentistry at Temple University’s Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry, says that this is also the perfect time to schedule a dental check-up.

“So much of dental care is reactionary; parents will bring their children in only if there’s a problem. But it’s highly unusual for a parent to wait until the child is sick to take him or her to the pediatrician,” said Helpin. “Just as you schedule well baby visits and health check-ups with a pediatrician, you should also schedule oral health check-ups with a dentist.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tooth decay is the most chronic childhood disease in the U.S. – five times more prevalent than asthma and seven times more prevalent than hay fever. Yet it is a condition that is entirely preventable.