The Morning Drill: June 3, 2011

A collection of dentistry and health related links/comments to start your day.

Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez picks up the save a day after having oral surgery at dentist

Don't judge Francisco Rodriguez's successful closing effort Thursday as poor because he gave up a run before notching the save in the 9-8 win over the Pirates. The righthander was pitching barely 24 hours after having emergency surgery to extract two teeth.

K-Rod, the right side of his face swollen, came in to protect a two-run lead and gave up a leadoff triple to Xavier Paul, who ultimately scored, but he secured the victory and his 16th save. And he did it without pain medication and while focusing through the throbbing of the stitched tooth sockets in his mouth.

"That was not fun at all. Right now I am going through really, really tough pain," said Rodriguez, who has converted his last 16 save opportunities. "I was trying to concentrate in the game but it was getting to the point where your heart rate gets higher and it starts to (throb)."

Rodriguez lost two crowns on Sunday night, found no dentists on call at his hospital on Memorial Day and then couldn't have the procedure Tuesday when he discovered anesthesia was required. He had the teeth pulled Wednesday, and when he got to the ballpark that night, told manager Terry Collins that he could pitch. But looking back after Thursday's outing, he's glad he didn't have to.

Public health jobs help dental students repay loans

Student loan repayment programs that offer up to $170,000 are attracting dentists and hygienists to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), but good salaries and the satisfaction of providing care for the underserved are keeping many at public health clinics long past their initial commitments.

While it is generally acknowledged that certain U.S. populations face challenges when it comes to access to care, there is less consensus on how to persuade new dental professionals to go where they're needed most: rural areas or inner-city clinics that treat Medicaid patients. New graduates leave dental and hygiene schools with such huge debt loads that they often simply cannot afford to work in public health clinics that treat underserved populations.

The average dental school student graduates with $170,000 worth of loan debt, according to the ADA.

But now, more and more dentists and hygienists are signing up for multiyear contracts with the NHSC for its tax-free loan repayment programs, which offer up to $60,000 for two years of service and up to $170,000 for a five-year service commitment. And continued service provides the opportunity to pay off all student loans.

Smile Brands Inc. Rebrands Midwest Dental Offices From Monarch Dental to Bright Now! Dental

Smile Brands Inc., the nation's top provider of business support services to dental groups in the United States, today announced the rebranding of its Midwest cities (Dayton, OH and Indiana) offices from Monarch Dental to Bright Now! Dental in an effort to simplify their brand structure. The rebranding process will begin rolling out over the next few weeks and all twelve Monarch Dental offices in the Midwest region will be operating under the Bright Now! Dental brand by June 17, 2011.

A total of eight offices in the Dayton, OH market and four offices in the greater Indianapolis market will assume the Bright Now! Dental brand. The Springboro, OH and the Indianapolis-SE St. offices will also be relocating to new, more modern facilities in their regions.

"We are excited to introduce the Bright Now! Dental brand to the Midwest region," said Steve Laudicino, Smile Brands Inc. Vice President, East Area Operations. "Streamlining our brands will help us to better communicate with our existing patient base and leverage new growth within this market, making it much easier for us to deliver on our mission of Smiles for Everyone!"

Why Some People Never Get Tooth Decay or Gum Disease

How many adults and children in the USA are immune to tooth decay based on what they eat--or on not eating sweets or drinking too much milk? In the early 1930s anthropologists, dentists, and physicians visited the  Maya of Yucatan and found they were almost totally immune to tooth decay on their diet of beans, corn, with some vegetables and fruit.

These isolated peoples had not eaten a western diet or sugar. Anthropologists such as Morris Steggerda and others visited the Maya. At the other end of the planet, the Arctic peoples studied had almost no contact with vegetables and fruits, eating fermented or raw seafood and seal meat, fat, and liver. If you look at the USA before the Gold Rush era, the Native Americans living here did not have much tooth decay. See, Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans.

Enjoy your morning drill!