TV show disses hygienists; do cellphones hurt salivary glands?

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

The American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) is firing back at a major television network over misleading comments made about hygienists on the ABC show "The View."

In a segment about employment opportunities that aired July 6, a financial reporter "grossly misrepresented" the educational requirements and annual salary of dental hygienists, ADHA President Susan Savage wrote in a July 9 letter to the show's producers.

Click here to read what the reporter said and to view a clip of the show, which has prompted hundreds of angry comments from hygienists on the ADHA Facebook page and show's message boards.

In other Hygiene Community news, excessive cellphone use can induce functional and volumetric changes in the parotid gland, according to a study in Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology -- lending clinical support to the long-running debate about the negative effects of cellphone usage on the human body.

And researchers are calling for more standardized terminology in the assessment and diagnosis of periodontal disease, saying it could improve treatment outcomes and potentially reduce healthcare costs. Read more.

Finally, some fun summer reading, with a dental twist: Two Years Before the Mast, a classic tale of life on the high seas in the early 1800s that includes a detailed account of the author's two-week-long toothache, long before the days of aspirin and antibiotics.