Dutch legislation allows paramedics to perform certain dental treatments. At least an important part of the dentists and paramedics in this study does not meet the legal conditions for bringing in paramedics into daily dental practice. As the relevant Dutch law on this subject makes it possible to prosecute both the dentist and the paramedic who goes beyond their professional competence, it is advised to consult the law before exploring the possibilities of the team concept.

Eight different electrical dental appliances were tested at different intervals for their ability to interfere with the function of a contemporary cardiac pacemaker. The normal atrial and ventricular pacing was inhibited by an ultrasonic bath cleaner at a distance of less than 15 cm. In contrast, a dental chair, an electrosurgical unit, an ultrasonic tooth scaler, 2 handpieces, and 2 amalgamators failed to produce electromagnetic interference at the minimum distance of 2.5 cm. In conclusion, the results suggest that normal clinical use of dental electrical equipment does not have any significant effect on the cardiac pacemaker tested.

Many orthodontists were thinking during a long period of time that orthodontics should only be carried out by orthodontists. However, orthodontic treatments have been simplified by the great technical advancement in orthodontics. Consequently, orthodontists became frightened of redundancy of the specialty orthodontics. Nevertheless, it is very doubtful that general practitioners are educated satisfactory for carrying out orthodontic treatments. It is suggested to establish a strong collaboration between orthodontists and general practitioners in order to define the working field of orthodontists and general practitioners appropriately.

In 2004 and 2005 the journals Science and The Lancet published articles based on, looking back, falsified or fictitious data. In an editorial in The Journal of the American Dental Association, the consequences of scientific fraud are described. Scientific publications in a journal are assigned some authority and fellow-researchers will quote the articles. Reviewers and editors are incapable to examine articles for fraud, since they have no access to the original research data. Consequently, a chance of publishing fraudulent articles can not be precluded. If fraude comes to light, it is not only harmfull for the reliability of science, but also patients can be mislead while hoping for recovery of an illness. Several measures are suggested to prevent scientific fraud as much as possible, for instance by examining the original research data by independent researchers. Editorial boards could impose sanctions on fraudulent authors.

The Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb received 14 reports on drugs which had teeth grinding as a side effect. The majority of reports (12) concerned selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors. Several case reports in the literature support the association between using selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and bruxism. Bruxism can be explained by the effect of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors on the central dopamine pathway. Because bruxism can cause serious dental attrition, it is important to ask in diagnosis about the use of antidepressants and more specifically about serotonin re-uptake inhibitors.

Saliva is well known for its role in the digestion process and plays an important role in oral health as well as in the immune system. The Dutch Institute for Salivary Research is a research and diagnostic institute for patients with saliva-related problems as well as a knowledge bank of saliva-related diseases. The Institute’s website is useful for general dental practitioners and deserves frequent visits.