Bulletin of Dental Education

A formal merger of ADEA Corporate Member The Procter & Gamble Company and Gillette has been completed.

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded three grants, totaling $75 million, that establish regional practice-based research networks to investigate with greater scientific rigor everyday issues in the delivery of oral health care.

Green tea seems to help protect the body from autoimmune disorders, according to a Medical College of Georgia oral biologist. Dr. Stephen Hsu, a researcher in the MCG School of Dentistry, has amassed a large bank of research helping document green tea’s health benefits in everything from oral cancer to wrinkles. The benefits spring from compounds in green tea called polyphenols, which help eliminate DNA-damaging free radicals. As an added benefit, a green tea-induced protein called p57 protects healthy cells as polyphenols target cancer cells for destruction.

Always eager to encourage students to consider careers in dentistry, the American Dental Education Association has become a member of the Ventures Scholars Program, a national membership program designed to promote equity in and access to higher education. The Ventures Scholars Program (VSP) identifies high-achieving historically underrepresented and first-generation college-going students interested in pursuing math- and science-based careers and provides academic recognition, information, and resources needed for them to successfully reach their career goals.

The FDA has approved the use of oral fluid samples with a rapid HIV diagnostic test kit that provides screening results with over 99 percent accuracy in as little as 20 minutes. Until now, all rapid HIV tests required the use of blood in order to get such rapid results.