Talk:Dental caries

Not doing this right

Im probably not doing this right, but on this part: Medicinal plants in the treatment of dental caries it lists a bunch of medicinal plants. Why is this listed? Wikipedia should not be giving medical advice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.161.105 (talk) 19:51, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Other Main Factors

It seems to me that there should be a source and quote for users of medical cannabis that also develop dry mouth and decreased saliva production. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Deftdrummer (talk • contribs) 07:16, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

on the subject of cannabis, is it accepted that specifically THC is responsible for reduced saliva? as there are other cannabinols that are associated with the narcotic effects and surely many more compounds that aren't, is there the evidence to suggest that this particular substance is responsible? also the link bewtween cannabis consumption and diets prone to elevated risk of caries should be seen to be anecdotal. even if studies have shown higher risks of caries, this doesn't support this link as other groups surely show both tendenciesDubfeather (talk) 15:17, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Regarding THC causing reduced saliva and this causing caries, these assertions should be sourced. Preferably, the source will show a strong correlation between THC use and frequency of caries. The amount and duration of decreased saliva caused by THC may be insignificant. 174.252.240.195 (talk) 12:55, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

I think the term "Xerostomia" should be featured in this section. This section lists the many possible causes of Xerostomia (dry mouth) quite well, but maybe could be organized a little better. I think that radiation induced xerostomia should be placed ahead of marijuana induced xerostomia. I believe there is a good deal of literature showing increased caries after radiation induced exerostomia, but little or no scientific literature on increased caries after marijuana induced xerostomia.

   As a practicing dentist, I have a strong clinical impression that marijuana use is indeed associated higher levels of tooth decay and the most logical explaination is transient dry mouth, (probably associated with "the munchies"--the tendency to eat snacky foods while under the influence). But we need to primarily focus on factors supported by the literature.
    Practicing dentists have many valuable insights worth sharing, but clinical impressions are not a good enough basis for inclusion in Wikipedia unless associated with a scientific article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by LFlagg (talk • contribs) 19:10, 7 January 2012 (UTC) 

GA Reassessment

This discussion is transcluded from Talk:Dental caries/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the reassessment.

GA Sweeps: On hold

As part of the WikiProject Good Articles, we're doing Sweeps to determine if the article should remain a Good article. I believe the article currently meets the majority of the criteria and should remain listed as a GA. However, in reviewing the article, I have found there are several issues that need to be addressed.

Citations

1. The "Other general descriptions", "Rate of progression", and "Affected hard tissue" sections are unsourced.
2. In the "Etiology" section, a Dr. Miller is mentioned for the first time. It would be beneficial to indicate the full name as well as cite the quote and three factors.
3. "Before the cavity forms, the process is reversible, but once a cavity forms, the lost tooth structure cannot be regenerated." This statement has been tagged since last month with needing a citation.
4. "The progression and loss of mineralization on the root surface is 2.5 times faster than caries in enamel."
5. "Intrauterine and neonatal lead exposure promote tooth decay." This statement is followed by seven citations. I don't think the statement is controversial, so a few of those could be removed (maybe for sourcing other material or for expanding on the topic).
6. "Occlusal caries accounts for between 80 and 90 percent of caries in children (Weintraub, 2001)" This should be converted to an inline citation similar to the style currently used for the majority of the article.
7. "Older people may also benefit from the use of tooth sealants, but their dental history and likelihood of caries formation are usually taken into consideration." This could use a cite to avoid OR.

Other issues

1. Although it is not required by GA criteria (so it will not be a requirement for the review), it would be beneficial to add alt text to the images. See WP:ALT for assistance.
2. There are multiple dead links that need to be fixed. The Internet Archive may be able to help.
3. There are a few dabs that need to be fixed.
4. "Moreover, sixty-three percent of the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States list dry mouth as a known side effect." Include a year here when this statistic was announced as medication likely changes from year to year.
5. "As of 2004, such a vaccine has been successfully tested on animals,[81] and is in clinical trials for humans as of May 2006." Has there been any updates for this?
6. I don't know if there are guidelines that recommend keeping the history section at the end of the article (if there are, ignore this), but it would probably be beneficial to include it towards the beginning of the article to provide the reader a better understanding of how long caries have around for.
7. The history section also ends around 1920. It would be beneficial to include breakthroughs in treating and understanding caries to be mentioned that have occurred within the last 90 years.

It's great to see the large amount of sourcing and so many free images within the article. I will leave the article on hold for seven days, but if progress is being made and an extension is needed, one may be given. If no progress is made, the article may be delisted, which can then later be renominated at WP:GAN. I'll contact all of the main contributors and related WikiProjects so the workload can be shared. If you have any questions, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. --Happy editing! Nehrams2020 (talk • contrib) 03:27, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

GA Sweeps: Delisted

The article has been on hold for a week and the issues were not addressed. As a result I have delisted the article as it still has a way to go before meeting the GA criteria. Continue to improve the article, addressing the issues above. Once they are addressed, please renominate the article at WP:GAN. I look forward to seeing the further improvement of the article, and don't hesitate to contact me if you need assistance with any of these. If you disagree with this review, a community consensus can be reached at WP:GAR. If you have any questions, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. --Happy editing! Nehrams2020 (talk • contrib) 00:01, 15 February 2010 (UTC)