The DMD Check-Up: Dentist Among 'Bachelor' Contestants

An Oregon dentist is among the women vying for “The Bachelor’s” heart in the latest rendition of the ABC reality TV show. That story tops this week’s DMD Check-Up. Also making the list: A look back at historic dental ads and a look forward to the future of fillings.

• Amanda Kremer, DDS—“The Bachelor” Contestant (ABC)

The network reality show, The Bachelor, (don’t laugh, it’s lasted 20 seasons) has a dentist, Amanda "Mandi" Kremer, as one of the female contestants this season. The Oregon Health and Science University dental grad “caught producers' eyes with a pretty hilarious audition tape.” The fellow doing the choosing from among 25+ women is Ben Higgins, a 26-year-old Denver software salesman.

• America’s Addiction Habit Hurts Business (New York Post)

A national high? The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence reports that “the chances are good that one or more of your fellow employees, or someone you supervise or hired, has a drug or drinking problem.” As a result, there’s an $80 billion annual loss for the economy.

• ODs Don’t Stop Patient from Getting More Drugs (The Hill)

A new survey in a major medical journal shows that “91% of people who survive an overdose on prescription opioid painkillers continued to receive opioid prescriptions despite their history.” And “many of the prescribers did not know about their patients’ overdoses.”

• Dentist Won't Be Charged in Herding Complaint (ABC News)

The Minnesota dentist who killed a famous lion in Zimbabwe just can’t seem to stay out the news. Insufficient evidence was the reason that illegal deer herding charges were dropped against Dr. Walter Palmer. Zimbabwean officials never prosecuted the dentist but he faced international scrutiny.

• 100-Year-Old Dental Ads (Examiner.com)

An interesting remember-when report regarding newspaper ads for dentist’s services dating back to New Year’s Day 1916. An Indiana dentist advertised gold crowns, bridgework and white crowns for $3. A dentist in Utah listed $1 for a filling, gold crowns for $8 and bridgework for $5. A Kansas dentist pledged a set of teeth, upper or lower, for $8.

• AAP Recommends Fluoride for Young Children (The Franklin News-Post)

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new preventive childcare guidelines advocating for the application of a fluoride varnish on the teeth of children ages 6 months to 5 years. “The varnish can help reduce cavities, the top chronic disease affecting young children.”

• Parents Want Practical Advice from Dentists (DrBicuspid.com)

A new study out of The Netherlands finds that “many parents know about the importance of oral health but want further practical advice from dental professionals.” Advice that they could apply immediately, like “using stickers as an incentive for children to brush their teeth or examples of healthy snacks.”

• ACP Guidelines for Patients with Dental Restorations (EconoTimes)

The American College of Prosthodontists is out with new dental care instruction. “Often patients are unaware of the required brushing and general maintenance needs when they have expensive implant restorations. The take home message from the systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines is that implant supported restorations require ongoing at-home maintenance and regular recalls for an enduring result," says the ACP president.

• Dentists Block Potential Source of Low-Cost Care (Seattle Times)

Here’s an uneven but detailed report on the state of dental practice in the Pacific Northwest—in Washington, which has “one of the nation’s lowest reimbursement rates for dental care provided through Medicaid.” Some see dental therapists as a way to less expensive care. Dentists say just pay them what they deserve and patient access would grow.

• Tooth Fillings of the Future … (Science Daily)

In a few years “millions of people might be walking around with an unusual kind of glass in their mouth, and using it every time they eat. Oregon State University engineers “have made some promising findings about the ability of bioactive glass to help reduce the ability of bacteria to attack composite tooth fillings.”

• How to Get Rid of Your Sweet Tooth (Time)

A new American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study “hints that it may be possible to tone down our taste for sugar.” It gets down to dietary tolerance—can we retrain the taste buds and quiet the demands of a sweet tooth?