Healthy People 2030, a 10-year national plan to promote and improve public health and prevent disease, launched Aug. 18 via webcast with experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaking on health equity, well-being and business partnerships. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on June 12 approved the HPV vaccine Gardasil 9, produced by Merck, for the prevention of oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers.

The March issue of the Journal of the California Dental Association commemorates CDA’s 150th year with articles on the history of the organization and the roles medicine, technology, dental education and societal needs play in shaping the future of dentistry and oral health. The issue also features articles on the future of organized dentistry.

Dentists now have a new resource they can use to work with their physician colleagues to improve oral health. The American Academy of Pediatrics developed an Oral Health Prevention Primer to help pediatricians and other medical professionals identify patients with oral health needs in their practice, collaborate with oral health allies and advocate to prevent dental disease.

Maria Ladd can cite many examples of good patient outcomes from her eight years and counting as a registered dental hygienist in alternative practice, but she has a couple of favorites. One involves a first-time patient, age 80, who resided in an assisted living center. The patient’s daughter had contacted Ladd to request a teeth cleaning on her mother’s behalf.

A new guideline from the American Dental Association advises against using antibiotics to manage pain and swelling for most pulpal and periapical conditions in immunocompetent adults. The guideline, published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, recommends only the use of dental treatment for pulpal and periapical conditions. The new guideline comes at a time when antibiotics are under scrutiny.

The November issue of the Journal of the California Dental Association reviews the history of water fluoridation in California and preventive fluoride varnish applications for children. Other articles discuss pain assessment practices of pediatric dentists and three processing techniques for evaluating fracture strength of maxillary denture base.

In the days leading up to Halloween and on National Brush Day, Nov. 1, dentists and their staff can reinforce the importance of good teeth-brushing habits to help remove sugary candy residue and prevent oral disease.

A new law to ensure proper irrigation and disinfection of exposed pulpal tissue went into effect Jan. 1 of this year. As explained in a December 2018 Update article, the law states that water and other methods used for irrigation when performing procedures on exposed dental pulp must be “sterile or contain recognized disinfecting or antibacterial properties.”