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January 08, 2009
Garrett Scott on Flossing
What sort of man is Garrett Scott of Ann Arbor? An eccentric antiquarian bookseller (is there any other sort?) who describes his place of work as "central Washtenaw county's most semi-pleasant conditions for the casual browser of uncommon 19th century material."
An exorbitant gourmand of social media and microblogging who shares such pungent observations as "John Evelyn notes that macerating a pine nut three days in a child's urine "is of wonderful Effect" in getting it to sprout."
Why do we care? Well, Garrett Scott of Ann Arbor has just begun a one year meditation on oral hygiene, specifically the flossing of teeth.
Please, join us in following his amusing and erudite exploration of flossing at:
My year of flossing: http://interdental.wordpress.com/
Posted by pfa at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2009
Aphthous Stomatitis - is it really this easy?
You might be interested in this new article on aphthous stomatitis.
Volkov I, Rudoy I, Freud T, Sardal G, Naimer S, Peleg R, PressY. Effectiveness of Vitamin B12 in Treating Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 22 (1): 9-16 (2009).
http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/full/22/1/9
ABSTRACT:
Background: The frequency of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS), the most common oral mucosa lesions seen in primary care, is up to 25% in the general population. However, there has been no optimal therapeutic approach. Our objective was to confirm our previous clinical observation of the beneficial treatment of RAS with vitamin B12.
Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was done using primary care patients. A sublingual a dose of 1000 mcg of vitamin B12 was used in patients in the intervention group for 6 months.
Results: In total, 58 patients suffering from RAS participated in the study: 31 were included in the intervention group and 27 were included in control group. All parameters of RAS among patients in the intervention group were recorded and compared with the control group. The duration of outbreaks, the number of ulcers, and the level of pain were reduced significantly (P < .05) at 5 and 6 months of treatment with vitamin B12, regardless of initial vitamin B12 levels in the blood. During the last month of treatment a significant number of participants in the intervention group reached "no aphthous ulcers status" (74.1% vs 32.0%; P < .01).
Conclusion: Vitamin B12 treatment, which is simple, inexpensive, and low-risk, seems to be effective for patients suffering from RAS, regardless of the serum vitamin B12 level.
Posted by pfa at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)