Dental Did you Know: Cocaine and Anesthesia

Hi all,

Yes it's true, Cocaine was the first local anesthetic (discovered in 1860).

Source: Becker D and Reed K, Essentials of Local Anesthetic Pharmacology, Oral Health, Feb 2007, Vol 97 No 2, pg 17-34.


Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100

Del.icio.us Website Tags on the Blog

Hi all,

We've added del.icio.us bookmark tags to the right hand column of the blog. What is del.icio.us? Simply put, it is an online storage area for web bookmarks. Every website that I consider useful and would like to share is listed here. The latest five sites are noted under "My Cool del.icio.us Dental Sites". Enjoy!

Take care!


Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100

Great Story: The War on Poverty and its Effect on Dentistry

Hi all,

Here is a great series of stories in the Toronto Star on how poverty can have a disastrous effect on the oral health of young people. Here's the preamble from the Toronto Star (Feb 10th, 2007)

Jason Jones is a natural for a sales job. Trouble is, many people can't see past his mouth. Painful rot forced him to pull almost all of his teeth. This is the state of dental care for our working poor

The first story was on Feb 10th, 2007, with a happy ending revealed in the Feb 13th issue.

Sources: The Toronto Star Online Edition on the respective days noted above.


Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100

Cool Dental Website: Chief Dental Officer of Canada

Hi everyone,

I received information on this website from a CDA (Canadian Dental Association) email bulletin. It is the Government of Canada's website (reliable info) of the Chief Dental Officer (Part of Health Canada). To be honest, I've never heard of this particular area of Health Canada, but I am pleased that the government is promoting oral health and research. Here's how they describe themselves:

The Office of the Chief Dental Officer (OCDO) was created in October 2004 to improve the oral health status of Canadians and to increase awareness about the prevention of oral diseases.

The Office works to:

• Provide evidence-based oral health perspectives on a wide range of health policy and program development issues


• Provide expert oral health advice, consultation and information


• Integrate oral health promotion with general health (wellness) initiatives


• Assist in gathering epidemiological information for program planning on federal/provincial/community levels and establish priorities for research


• Develop integrated collaborative approaches to preventing and controlling oral and associated diseases


• Provide a point of contact/liaison with professional associations, provinces, academic institutions, and other non-government organizations on oral health issues

Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100

Cool Website: Dentistry Canada Fund

Hi all,

Just another cool site to mention. The Dentistry Canada Fund website funds a number of great areas related to the field of oral health. Their mission is stated below.

DCF Mission: to mobilize and allocate resources for the advancement of oral health in Canada through education, research and public outreach.

Take care,

Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100

Dental Historic Facts: Crest and Colgate Fluoride Toothpastes

Crest toothpaste was the first commercially available fluoride-containing dentifrice in the United States. It was first available in 1955 and originally contained stannous fluoride.

Colgate with MFP (monofluorophosphate) was first marketed in 1967.

Source: Adair S, Evidence-based use of Fluoride in Contemporary Pediatric Dental Practice, Oral Health, Vol 97, No 1, pg 44-60.

Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100

Cool Dental Website: Medline Plus Dental Health

Here's a great site for patients from both the US National Institutes of Health and the US National Library of Medicine. Great organization of topics in an easy to read format from a trusted source.

Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100

Dental Web Link: AGD Dental Terms Page

Hi all,

This page from the Academy of General Dentistry(AGD) gives concise definitions of a few dental terms. Not comprehensive by any stretch of the imagination, but decent starting point.

Hans Skariah, B.Sc., DMD
Promenade Court Dental Health Group in Mississauga
2233 Hurontario St., Mississauga, ON, Canada
(1/2 km north of the QEW in the Dome Building)
(905) 273-7100