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ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- Federal health officials are again examining what's known - and what's still to be learned - about the safety of a mercury mixture that's stirred controversy since dentists began using it to fill cavities in the 1800s. A joint panel of outside experts voted Thursday to reject a draft report that concluded that dental fillings used by millions of people are safe. Yet the panel did not go so far as to declare the mercury-laden amalgam a danger, only that more study is needed because of the risk it poses to some groups. "For the general...

AUSTIN, Texas, July 17 (UPI) -- A Texas company has reportedly started freezing stem cells taken from baby teeth pulp tissue in hopes the cells might some day lead to disease treatments. BioEden Inc., which opened for business last week, told the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, it's betting the science eventually will catch up with its aspirations. "We are absolutely confident this will work," Jeff Johnson, president of Austin's BioEden, told the newspaper. "All indications are this is a wonderful source of stem cells." The company said it expects baby teeth stem cells might eventually be used for bone, teeth nerve...

Snaggle-toothed hockey players and sugar lovers may soon rejoice as Canadian scientists said they have created the first device able to re-grow teeth and bones. The researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton filed patents earlier this month in the United States for the tool based on low-intensity pulsed ultrasound technology after testing it on a dozen dental patients in Canada. "Right now, we plan to use it to fix fractured or diseased teeth, as well as asymmetric jawbones, but it may also help hockey players or children who had their tooth knocked out," Jie Chen, an engineering professor...

ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO -- Two long-awaited, government-funded studies found no evidence that dental fillings containing mercury can cause IQ-lowering brain damage or other neurological problems in children. Children with such fillings were no more likely than other youngsters to suffer such problems, the researchers found. Some experts found the findings powerfully reassuring. But the studies are unlikely to end the fierce debate over the long-term effects of what are known as amalgam fillings, and some advocates bitterly accused the researchers of conducting unethical experiments on children. Amalgam fillings, also called silver fillings, are made of mercury and other metals and...

New York - January 16, 2006 - Fluoride, added to water supplies, is touted as a tooth decay preventive. Science increasingly shows fluoridation is ineffective, harmful and a waste of money. But the politics of organized dentistry keeps fluoridated water flowing. Last year, 2005, was a very successful year for the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) and their affiliated groups for getting the truth out and bringing negative fluoride science to the media’s attention. Voters rejected fluoridation in at least nine referenda including Bellingham, Washington, where fluoridationists spent $260,000 to lose against a small group of volunteers armed with the truth...

A two-year study in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Dentistry found that CaviStat, a calcium/arginine-based product, was more effective than fluoride in fighting tooth decay when used in toothpaste form. The study, involving 726 children, found the group using CaviStat had 58 percent fewer cavities than those using over-the-counter fluoride toothpaste.

PRODUCTS on sale over the counter that promise to whiten teeth can exacerbate gum disease and are illegal under European law, the British Dental Association (BDA) said yesterday. An increasing number of people want to polish their stained teeth to achieve whiter, brighter smiles. Private dental clinics are also smiling as the market for cosmetic dentistry in Britain has grown over a decade to be worth a reputed £1 billion. But products that contain high levels of peroxide dye can make teeth and gums painfully sensitive, the BDA warned consumers. Do-it-yourself tooth-whitening kits are available in high street pharmacies and...

STANTON, Ky. - With a silvery Airstream trailer as a dental office, Dr. Jeff Bailey goes about his work, brightening the often gapped smiles of people in a part of the country with the highest rate of toothlessness in America. Bailey, one of many volunteers who are bringing free mobile dental care to poor people in the hills and hollows of Appalachia, sees case after case of severe tooth decay and gum disease — the consequences of sugary foods, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, a lack of fluoridated water, and simple neglect.

Put a guy in a dental chair, and he turns into a wimp.In a new survey of 171 Chicago area dentists, 49 percent said males are more anxious when it comes to dental appointments, while only 15 percent thought females were the scaredy-cats. The survey is being released at the Chicago Dental Society's annual meeting at McCormick Place. "The bigger they are, the more they fear," said Niles dentist Alice Boghosian, who recalled one man who came in with a broken tooth. CHICAGO'S TOP SMILES Dentists chose the best smiles from a list of five local celebrities. Oprah Winfrey: 49...

A toothpaste has been developed that can rapidly and seamlessly fix little cavities without need for drilling. Dental paste of synthetic tooth enamel could revolutionise treatment of tiny early lesions, says the study published today in the journal Nature by Dr Kazue Yamagishi, of the FAP Dental Institute, Tokyo. Tooth decay is normally treated by removal of the affected part, then filling the hole with a resin or metal alloy. This is less than ideal because a lot of healthy tooth must be removed to make the fillings stick. Dr Yamagishi and colleagues developed a crystalline white paste of modified...

D.J., a hulking 25-year-old Chicago construction worker, has six new gold teeth in his mouth. No, make that eight teeth --- six gold and two platinum ones. Cost: $1,300. In hip hop parlance, they are called "grills" and "fronts" --- a fashion statement and a state of mind where the more the merrier and the gaudier the better. From Birmingham, Ala., to the Bay Area in California, multiple gold teeth are popping up in the nation's mouths --- to the delight of some, the dismay of others and the confusion of many. Once the province of moneyed rappers like Master...