First evidence of pre-Hispanic dentistry in South America - Insights from Cusco, Peru.

Intentional dental modification (IDM) derived from archeological or ethnographic contexts has been extensively documented across the globe. Despite the wealth of information on IDM for personal ornamentation and ritualistic purposes, evidence of IDM for therapeutic reasons among early Native Americans is poorly known and limited to a handful of cases. We report two upper canines from two pre-Hispanic individuals dated to the Late Horizon Period from Cusco (Peru), each showing a conical perforation on its incisal surface. Analyses were performed using traditional radiography, computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy. The depth and symmetrical location of the perforations at the center of the crown suggest that these two teeth were artificially drilled, rather than affected by taphonomic factors. The poor oral health of the individuals, the location of the perforations on the incisal surface, and evidence of intentional manipulation of the pulp chambers (as supported by their overall morphology and presence of striations and deep marks along the walls of the perforations) provide a strong case for the occurrence of prehistoric dentistry in the New World. The two canine teeth reported here represent the first pre-Columbian examples of IDM likely performed to ameliorate a dental pathology (presumably associated with the infection of the dental pulp) found in Peru and in the rest of South America.

Fauchard y Black: dos cierres / Fauchard and Black: two closures

Se relata el cierre de dos prestigiosas instituciones dentales: una en EE.UU. y la otra en Francia. La de EE.UU., con el nombre del padre de la operatoria dental. La de Francia, con el del padre de la odontología moderna.

Local anesthetics, pulpal blood flow and C. Edmund Kells.

Historically there was an attempt by many dental practitioners to implicate anesthetic solutions in the death of the dental pulp. However, their implications may or may not have been valid, as damage to the dental pulp may have resulted from excessive and deleterious restorative procedures on teeth that were anesthetized. Unfortunately little was known about the anesthetic solutions at that time, their composition, which included vasoconstrictors, and their potential to alter pulpal blood flow. This paper will explore both the historical perspectives and concerns regarding the impact of anesthetic solutions on the dental pulp through the eyes of Dr. C. Edmund Kells, along with the contemporary perspectives and realities through the eyes of science, sound research data and clinical practice.

Sumter S. Arnim, D.D.S., Ph.D.: Texas leader in evidence-based dentistry.

Many lessons can be learned from the career of Dr. Sumter Arnim, chief among them that we have a professional obligation to apply scientific knowledge to the practice of dentistry and to involve our patients in their dental care, and to share this translational knowledge with one's colleagues. Arnim's work was an honor not only for the University of Texas Dental Branch (now, The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston), but for every school and student with whom he interacted. Our profession is better for having had Sumter Arnim as one of its members, and he can be credited with having played a leadership role in what is now known as evidence-based dentistry in Texas, the United States, and beyond. One of the authors of this paper (JVJ) had the opportunity to be a student at the University of Texas Dental Branch during the time that Dr. Sumter Arnim was faculty member. Dr. Arnim was deservedly respected by his students and faculty colleagues alike, due in no small part to his dedication to dentistry. This dedication to the profession was well known, as Dr. Arnim had been accepted to Yale University Medical School, but soon after enrollment there, he elected to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Pathology, rather than M.D. Dr. Arnim constantly stressed the bacteriologic nature of dental disease and the value of prevention to his Dental Branch students, serving as Director of the Postgraduate School with great distinction. His steadfast belief in the biological basis of dentistry was manifest in his frequent admonition to the student body: "You can either be doctors or hardware merchants." Finally, it is ironic that in 2011, the American Dental Association has reiterated some of Arnim's career themes in its current publication on barriers to oral health in the United States, with primary messages that include, "Prevention is essential. A public health model based on the surgical intervention in disease that could have been prevented after that disease has occurred, is a poor model," and, "Treating the disease without educating the patient is a wasted opportunity."