Dentistry, along with banking, tax collecting and handing out parking tickets, is one of those professions where most people are just a little bit suspicious of you. Maybe that's because most of us remember, with a feeling of low dread, childhood trips to the dental practice. The whirring of drills, the numbing gels and the agony of fillings all compound to create a highly phobic environment for the average anxious person, and to be honest, no matter how good your dentist is, it's always a bit weird to have someone poking around the inside of your face with bits of sharp metal, no matter how good their intentions are.
Unfortunately for those in the business of providing oral care, a mysterious plague has broken out among them. Worst of all, nobody knows why dentists, in particular, have suddenly become so vulnerable to this mysterious illness.
The mysterious issue was first noticed by officials after the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention published the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, regarding a bizarre spate of cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis that had been identified in dentists at a Tertiary Care Centre in Virginia. Among the 894 patients treated for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at the hospital, nine patients were identified as being either dentists or dental hygienists. Seven of those nine patients died. Now that might not sound significant, but the report also noted that the figure for the health risk posed to dentists was approximately 23 times higher than expected.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a degenerative condition in which scar tissue slowly builds up in the lining of the lungs, making the tissue less stretchy. This means that the lungs are unable to fully inflate, and therefore the body loses oxygen overall. The scar tissue can also cover the bronchioles, which also limits the amount of oxygen which can diffuse into the bloodstream. The estimated average survival rate for an adult after an IPF diagnosis is between three to five years and it typically affects people in their old age. There is currently no known cure for the condition, and it can often prove fatal if particularly advanced. The CDC has been puzzled by the surprising find, but has a theory that the cases of IPF have been caused by the plaster and dust that dentists are routinely exposed to while drilling, in addition to the toxic substances they might inhale, which include silica, polyvinyl siloxane, alginate.
Dr. Randall J. Nett, lead author of the study, claims: "Dentists and other dental personnel have unique exposures at work. These exposures include bacteria, viruses, dusts, gases, radiation, and other respiratory hazards ... At this time, we do not know what caused this cluster of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cases in dental personnel ... More work has to be done before we can make any conclusions about the risk dentists or other dental personnel have. CDC will follow up on this newly recognized cluster."
VT spoke to Lorraine Henderson, who has practised as a dental hygienist for 20 years: "Most of these cases that have been reported are in older dental professionals. As one of these old-school workers, I can say that in the past we were not encouraged or taught to use respiratory or face protection and therefore we were all inhaling dust, silica and bacteria and viruses throughout our early careers."
She added: "Nowadays younger dentists are taught to protect themselves from this hazard. Unfortunately, dentists, nurses, dental technicians and dental hygienists have already been exposed. We don’t really know what risk we have exposed ourselves to but the damage has already been done, so all we can do is to wait and see."
So, if you are a dental practitioner, please take care not to expose yourself to harmful materials, and consult your GP if you are worried about your respiration. However, this isn't the first health crisis that we've covered after the CDC issued a public warning. You might have heard of the infamous tide pod challenge that's been doing the rounds online, but what's even more dangerous is the so-called "choking challenge" - which has already led to over 1,000 cases of accidental strangulation and asphyxiation.