Pain relief | A message from the Dean
One of the main reasons I sought out a career in dentistry was because of pain. In particular, the pain that so many people experience from oral disease or the oral manifestation of other disorders. Unfortunately, pain is sometimes the key driver for people to seek dental care, whether that be in our clinics or in the emergency room. It is suggested that 40% of Americans experience some form of oral pain each year, and that 20% of the world’s population are affected by chronic pain. Sickle cell disease, which is estimated to affect 100,000 Americans and 8 million people worldwide, causes people to experience episodes of sudden pain, or vaso-occlusive crisis. Sickle cell patients may also suffer from pathological changes to oral structures and be predisposed to developing caries.
Over the past few years, several School of Dentistry researchers, led by Dr. Don Simone, have been working with a group of researchers from the University of Minnesota and across the country to better understand potential useful approaches for managing pain in these patients. This work has led to new grant funding and a publication in Blood, a high impact journal. Slava Viatchenko-Karpinski, a member of Dr. Simone’s lab, is the lead author on the manuscript and a pivotal player in advancing this work.
Another interesting focus of this work is the exploration of liquid nitrous oxide impact on providing relief to the vaso-occlusive crisis experienced by these patients. These crises consume a large portion of sickle cell patients’ lives. In a recent article, Dr. Simone stated, “we can help these patients not only alleviate their severe pain but reduce the time they have to spend in the hospital.” Novel analgesics like liquid nitrous oxide provide alternatives to opioids for pain relief. If found to be effective, this research offers alternatives for post dental surgery pain management.
Kudos to all of you who contribute to the discovery of innovative ways for us to advance health for all communities.