The DMD Check-Up: Bin Laden's Dental Conspiracy Theory

Infamous terrorist Osama bin Laden apparently thought his wife's dentist was part of a plot to track him down. That story tops this week's DMD Check-Up. Also making the headlines this week: A plan to allow dentists to prescribe medical marijuana, and a call for more female dental leaders.

• Osama bin Laden Feared Wife’s Tooth Tracker (KTAR News)

The paranoid rantings of 9/11 terrorist attack villain—he feared an Iranian dentist had planted a tracking device in his wife’s tooth—were among the information in thousands of pages of documents seized by Navy SEALs during the 2011 deadly raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

• ADA President Wants More Women Dental Leaders (DrBicuspid.com)

"There are needs that are unique to women; there are differences between men and women dentists," explains Carol Gomez Summerhays, DDS. “We really need to get more women in the pipeline for leadership positions.” Overall good profile of the 152nd president of the American Dental Association.

• Dentist Invents Method to Get Kids off Pacifiers

(WKRC)

As a pediatric dentist and mother, Dr. Alene D'Alesio knew how bad the long term effects of pacifier usage can be for youngster’s teeth, so she came up with the Lily Method. It’s a series of five color-coded pacifiers that gradually get smaller and smaller. Until the child is “pacifier-free in just five days.”

• 9 Things the Happiest People Never Do (Inc.)

Dentistry has one of the highest burnout rates of all professions. So it should help to know that “the happiest people focus a lot more on what they do, not on what they have.” Also: “They don't compare themselves to other people” and “They aren't afraid to be themselves” and more …

• Harry Potter Author Wanted to Be a Dentist (The Sun)

JK Rowling, one of the world’s most successful authors (the Harry Potter brand is worth $15 billion+), “has revealed she would have had a career in dentistry—but didn’t get the grades.” Her career choice came up during an online discussion among top writers.

• Kentucky’s Oral Health Struggles Persist

(89.3 WFPL)

The Center for Health Workforce Studies finds that Kentucky “is second in the nation in the incidence of oral and pharyngeal cancers and fifth highest for adults 65 or older who have had all their natural teeth extracted.” Causes include remote geography, low education and oral health literacy, and poverty.

• Maryland Dentists Could Prescribe Medical Marijuana (Cumberland Times-News)

A bill that would allow state dentists (along with nurses, midwives, and podiatrists) to prescribe medical cannabis has passed the Maryland House of Delegates. “These additional practice groups are trusted and in a position to make that call for their patients,” said a legislator. The bill now moves to the state senate.

• The Role of Tiny Bubbles in Teeth Cleaning (Medicalxpress.com)

“Research into the science behind ultrasonic scalers used by dentists to remove built up plaque, has identified that the formation of tiny bubbles around the head is key to the cleaning process.” The findings published in PLOS ONE “will help to make the tools as effective as possible.”

• 2016 CDS Midwinter Meeting (CDS.org)

The Chicago Dental Society just completed it 151st Midwinter Meeting last week. Nearly 7,000 dentists attended the annual show. Here’s the CDS website which offers meeting highlights, photos, and info about the 2017 gathering.