Terry Leonard

A simple liquid can stop cavities without drilling, major study confirms | University of Michigan, ScienceDaily A cavity doesn't always have to mean drilling, injections, or an uncomfortable visit to the dentist. A major clinical trial has confirmed that a simple, inexpensive liquid can stop tooth decay in young children, potentially preventing painful infections and the need for dental surgery. The treatment, called silver diamine fluoride (SDF), takes only seconds to apply to each affected tooth. Rather than removing damaged tooth material and placing a filling, a dentist uses a tiny sponge tipped applicator to paint the liquid directly onto the cavity. The process requires no drilling, injections, or sedation. The findings could have enormous implications for childhood dental care. Every year, thousands of young children in the United States visit emergency departments because of untreated cavities. Emergency physicians generally cannot provide the dental procedures needed to address the underlying problem, leaving some children with ongoing pain and infections. Others ultimately need dental surgery under general anesthesia, which makes them completely unconscious during the procedure. Now, researchers led by the University of Michigan have produced compelling evidence that a much simpler approach can stop many cavities from getting worse. Major Clinical Trial Confirms Silver Diamine Fluoride Works Published in JAMA Pediatrics, the Phase III clinical trial included 830 children younger than 6. Participants were recruited through dental clinics, pediatric medical practices, and Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Michigan, New York, and Iowa. Head Start and Early Head Start are federally supported programs that provide early childhood education and related services to eligible families. The results showed that a solution containing 38% silver diamine fluoride successfully stopped decay in more than half of the affected baby teeth when treatment was provided at six month intervals. Dentists refer to this as arresting tooth decay, meaning the damaged area stops deteriorating. Unlike a traditional filling, the treatment does not replace lost tooth structure. Instead, it helps prevent existing decay from progressing. SDF works through the combined effects of silver and fluoride. Silver helps combat bacteria associated with tooth decay, while fluoride helps strengthen the mineral structure of teeth and resist further damage. "This is a very effective and safe treatment -- even in children as young as 1," said Margherita Fontana, professor of dentistry at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and the study's lead investigator. A Simple Treatment Could Help Millions Avoid Dental Pain Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease among children, affecting more than 40% of American children. Although cavities may initially cause few noticeable symptoms, untreated decay can eventually lead to severe toothaches, infections, problems eating and sleeping, missed school days, and repeated medical appointments. For young children, conventional dental treatment can also be particularly challenging. Some are too young to remain still throughout a procedure, while others experience significant fear or anxiety. SDF offers an alternative for many of these patients because it can be applied quickly without the equipment and procedures required for a traditional filling. Fontana said the benefits could extend well beyond young children. Older adults, people with developmental or physical disabilities, individuals with severe dental anxiety, and patients who have difficulty obtaining conventional dental care could also benefit. There is, however, one important tradeoff. SDF permanently turns the decayed portion of a treated tooth dark, which can be especially noticeable on front teeth. The discoloration is primarily cosmetic, but it may influence whether patients and families choose the treatment. For many people, avoiding pain, drilling, or more invasive procedures may outweigh that drawback. Why This Decades-Old Treatment Could Soon Reach More Patients Silver diamine fluoride is not a newly invented substance. Dentists have successfully used it to manage cavities in numerous countries for decades. In the United States, the FDA approved SDF as a medical device for treating tooth sensitivity in 2014. Dentists have also used it off-label to stop cavities, meaning they apply an authorized product for a purpose beyond its original approved indication. What has been missing is large-scale clinical evidence from U.S. populations establishing its safety and effectiveness for treating tooth decay, a key step toward obtaining FDA approval for that specific use. The University of Michigan trial was designed to help fill that gap. "If we want more children and families to benefit from this treatment, we need rigorous evidence showing both that it works and that it's safe. From a public health perspective, if we want broader implementation across the United States, including in medical settings, we need carefully collected data in U.S. populations, and we now have that," Fontana said. The investigation began in 2018 and continued despite the major disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers believe stronger clinical evidence could make SDF more widely available, including in pediatric medical settings where children often receive care long before their first dental appointment. "In medicine, clinicians want high-quality evidence before changing practice," Fontana said. "It is important to have data they can refer to because young children often see pediatricians years before they ever visit a dentist, broader acceptance could allow many more cavities to be treated while a referral to a dental home is successful, and before they become painful, infected or require surgery." A dental home refers to an ongoing relationship with a dental care provider who can deliver preventive care, treatment, and follow-up services. Expanding access to SDF could allow more children to receive early intervention before relatively manageable cavities develop into serious dental problems. FDA Approval Could Expand Access to Cavity Treatment The trial brought together researchers from the University of Michigan, New York University, the University of Iowa, and Indiana University. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, provided more than $12 million in funding. The product tested was Advantage Arrest 38% SDF, supplied by Elevate Oral Care. The findings provide clinical trial evidence that the manufacturer can use in an application seeking FDA approval of SDF as a drug for arresting dental caries, the medical term for tooth decay. Amr Moursi, a professor of pediatric dentistry at New York University College of Dentistry and a co-principal investigator, emphasized the potential importance of that regulatory change. "Our results support FDA approval of SDF for managing arrest of tooth decay in young children. Removing SDF from off-label status would be an important innovation which could lead to increased utilization by providers, enhanced payments by insurers and more consistent product quality," said Moursi, a co-principal investigator on the study. For some children, receiving another application of SDF every few months could be sufficient to keep a cavity under control until the affected baby tooth naturally falls out. Adults could also benefit, either by using SDF to manage decay over a longer period or as a temporary solution until a filling or another restorative procedure becomes affordable or practical. The treatment is not suitable for every cavity, and stopping decay does not necessarily eliminate the need for future dental work. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that a procedure requiring only seconds to perform could help many patients avoid more complicated treatment. "For almost anyone, this can arrest the decay and stop the infection and the pain it causes," Fontana said. "This could benefit many people." Read more: sciencedaily.com/releases/20…

Secret Strategy Meeting With Chicago Teachers Union Brass and French Rioters Confirms Conspiracy | Stephen Kruiser, PJ Media A secretly taped video meeting between American teachers union brass in Chicago and the French communist revolutionaries tearing Paris apart confirms what we've long said about Antifa and other revolutionary communist groups causing violence and mayhem from Portland to Sweden: they're connected and part of a conspiracy. Karlyn Borysenko, a researcher and content creator who holds a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology, "infiltrated and recorded" a video meeting between Chicago teachers union leaders that "actively coordinat[ed] with the unions in France," including union vice president Jackson Potter. The call coordinating and strategizing with rioters was a "call of solidarity" that pumped up the rioters to foment more violence. Borysenko says the unionists alluded to previous meetings between the two groups in France. Union officials and students spoke with counterparts in France to strategize. The teachers in the USA are actively coordinating with the unions in France. These are the things Alex Jones will never show you, because they didn't mention working with Muslims (they actually made fun of that idea a few times). The truth matters. Here are the primary source receipts. The Chicago Teachers Union and school nurse Dennis Kossuth, who said that everything nice in the U.S. was done by people "rising up" and not "the 1%," initiated the call. About Time: French Police Are Doing to Antifa Rioters What We've All Been Dreaming About for Years He explained that there's an "international system" that "wants to put the needs of the 1% over the needs of the 99%." The French protest on Saturday showed that "We outnumber them." he said. I don't know about you, but do you suppose Occupy Wall Street Part Infinity is about to launch in America? Sounds like it. And apparently it will include bloodshed this time, not just rape tents and whackos next time around. Union VP Potter called for "solidarity with our siblings in France" over the rise of "extreme of right wing populism in the United States" — that's you and me. Potter mocked Mississippi test scores outperforming other states and posed this non sequitur: "what they don't tell you is that they have the highest informant [sic] mortality in the nation." He went on to deride kicking fraudsters off healthcare programs as "denying people food assistance." "[W]hat France is showing us, and others, Spain, and Belgium, when we build deeper, broader movements for the common good" that change can be made," Potter added The French participants were graying men, middle-aged union instructors, and aging college students. Three younger French students, presumably high school students, eventually showed up in the stream to urge revolution or something. The spokeswoman was speaking rapid French. A man said the police brutalized rioters during arrest, not mentioning whether injuries resulted from resisting and fighting with law enforcement. Perhaps the most quotable was Caitlyn Savato, a Chicago native, "community organizer," and college student at the University of Southern California. She told the French students and professional protesters on the call that the U.S. must fall in order for there to be "freedom" for all. She said rioters needed to decide if they were willing to kill or be killed. Sounds like incitement. Our challenge will be getting people to move the way that you all are moving in France. It will be getting people completely destructive and to allow our fellow Americans to understand that in order for there to be freedom; in order for there to exist liberation, in order for their to exist the things that we now need — the things that they're now targeting in our own humanities; in order for us to receive those things, the United States government must fall. There must be destruction to the material world that they built. There must be a willing [sic] to kill and be killed — all of the things that the Black Liberation movements have taught Americans for years. ...[I]t is now time to engage in that understanding that it is a matter of life and death and it is the matter of what you are willing to do and what you are willing to die for. She doesn't care about what she'll do after college as much as she cares that USC gives her the tools for "revolution." Can someone DM the admissions folks over at USC and have a word? She told the French rioters that she felt all Americans are part of the bourgeoisie and "need to be reflecting on the efforts of you all in France [including] what are we physically willing to engage in? It is the physical and material of society that is sustaining the American Empire." Conspiracy: The Real Target of the Paris Riots Comes Into Focus — and It's Not 'School Funding' We're ruining everything in the world, she concluded. The group promised a wild 2028 May Day; that's the communist high holy day. Lots of bashed-in Starbucks windows, looting, and Bank of America ATMs smashed up as acts of worship. Borysenko says the discussion alluded to previous meetings between Chicago teachers union members in France to coordinate unionist riots. As I pointed out in The Real Target of the Paris Riots Comes Into Focus — and It's Not 'School Funding,' this isn't about dissatisfaction with schools anymore, if it ever was. To call it seditious conspiracy or insurrection might be an understatement. Some of the worldwide unrest is coordinated by an organization in Sweden. I talked with independent reporter Christian Peterson, who detailed that organization. He's also responsible for tracking down the founders of Portland's Rose City Antifa hiding in Sweden. This is no coincidence. Read more: pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/20…