I find it really strange that dental care is excluded from health insurance, including commercial and government programs. It’sincreasinglyuntenable in my view. Why?Neglect of dental issues due to lack of coverage causes higher medical expenses, for example as dental infections spread to other parts of the bodyHospital emergency rooms are seeing many dental cases (representing [...]

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) on Monday dealt with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall of a battery problem in one of its drug delivery pumps. On the same day, it announced a new set of screws and products for bone grafts and other kinds of cosmetic dentistry.The FDA announced a Class I recall of the SynchroMed [...]

Teeth whitening is growing in popularity but the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners wants to make sure only dentists perform the procedure. A lawsuit filed against the Federal Trade Commission says the federal agency can’t stop them from cracking down on kiosks, salons and spas that offer whitening services.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulators last year said fillings that included mercury-based metals were safe. Now the FDA will hold public meetings to further probe the issue, focusing particularly on children and pregnant women.

Leveraged buyout company The Riverside Co. has purchased an Indiana-based maker of orthodontics equipment. Riverside has made 48 healthcare acquisitions since its founding in 1988, but the G&H deal marks its first foray into orthodontia.

AstraZeneca plc (NYSE:AZN) is shopping around its Astra Tech business.The pharmaceutical giant said it’s begun a review of “strategic options” for its Swedish dental and medical device unit and hired JP Morgan Chase to help with the review.Various news outlets reported that AstraZeneca is looking for about $2 billion for the business, [...]

The Tooth Fairy would be impressed. BioMatRx Inc. is developing technology that uses stem cells to repair and regrow diseased teeth, especially in older patients. The startup, based in Edina, Minnesota, recently won the lifescience category in the annual Minnesota Cup and could win the entire competition next week.

GeoDigm Corp. has been raking in some serious cash. The company, based in Chanhassen, Minnesota, raised $75 million from the sale of equity and debt, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.GeoDigm netted $48.9 million from selling equity and $26.1 million from peddling debt, the documents say. Combined with the $40 million GeoDigm collected from investors last year, the company has raised a whopping $115 million in just under two years.

For children, and more than a few adults, the mere thought of the dentist might inspire apprehension or even outright dread. But for building owners these days, a dentist’s office never seemed so heavenly.Faced with stubbornly high vacancy rates and depressed commercial property values, developers and landlords are furiously courting dentists, offering generous leases and [...]

Angeline M. Marano has left her position as chief operating officer for the MetroHealth System “to pursue other opportunities” less than a year after being appointed as the Cuyahoga County hospital system’s first COO in at least a decade.MetroHealth’s Department of Dentistry chair, Dr. Edward R. Hills, will serve as interim operating chief, said MetroHealth [...]