Texas dental journal
-
Hookah smoking has recently emerged as a popular alternative to cigarette smoking, particularly among young adults. The perception that hookah smoking is cleaner and less harmful than cigarette smoking appears to be key to its increased use, although this is not the case. Hookah tobacco smoking delivers the powerful addictive drug nicotine, higher levels of carbon monoxide than a cigarette as well as many of the carcinogens in cigarette smoke. ⋯ Communal hookah use increases the risk of transmission of infectious diseases. Transition from social to individual hookah use is a critical step toward nicotine dependence as well as progression to cigarette use. Prevention and intervention in patients' tobacco use should include discussion of cigarette alternatives including hookah smoking.
-
Texas dental journal · Mar 2011
Summary of the new 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for Basic Life Support (CPR).
Approximately every 5 years, American Heart Association (AHA) experts review emerging scientific evidence and recent clinical experiences and update the AHA guidelines for basic and advanced life support procedures for in-hospital and out-of-hospital victims of life-threatening cardiac events. This article summarizes many of the 2010 changes in those guidelines as they apply to dental healthcare providers (HCP). More detailed information will be available in the near future as these guidelines are fully implemented and instructional materials are released by the AHA. Until they are trained in future AHA or American Red Cross (ARC) basic or advanced cardiac life support (BLS, ACLS) courses in 2011, dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, and office staff should continue to rely on the training and information they received in their most recent basic (and/or advanced cardiac) life support training course.
-
Texas dental journal · Feb 2011
The American Dental Association's Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry: a critical resource for 21st century dental practice.
Through its website (http:// www.ada.org/prof/resources/ebd/index.asp), the American Dental Association's Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry offers dental health professionals access to systematic reviews of oral health-related research findings, as well as Clinical Recommendations, which summarize large bodies of scientific evidence in the form of practice recommendations, e.g., the use of professionally-applied topical fluoride and pit-and-fissure sealants. Another feature of the site of great practical importance to the practicing dentist is the Critical Summary, which is a concise review of an individual systematic review's methodology and findings, as well as the importance and context of the outcomes, and the strengths and weaknesses of the systematic review and its implications for dental practice.