Month: October 2017

The Rise of Foreign Trained Dentists in the U.S.

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An interesting article titled “Will we see more foreign-trained dentists in the United States?” appears in the July 2017, issue of JADA written by Marko Vujicic (issue 7, pp. 538-540). The article explores the H-1B program with a focus on dentistry. The article presents a figure which shows the number of dentists practicing in the U.S. who received a foreign degree is rising. The article states “Across all US dental schools, there were 896 foreign nationals admitted in 2016, representing approximately 14% of total admissions. “ The article later says that around 1,165 H-1B applications for dentists were received in 2016 which is up from 414 H-1B applications in 2011. The article states “The top 3 companies applying for H-1B visas for dentists were Jefferson Dental Clinics, Western Dental, and Kool Smiles. Combined, these 3 companies account for 12% of total … Read more

The ethics of a fair and honest treatment plan

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An interesting article titled “The ethics of presenting a fair and honest treatment plan,” is written by Marvin Elwood Rice, appearing in JADA, April 2017, vol. 148, issue 4. The article discusses a dentist who has had numerous occasions in which a relative, past patient, or a new patient has called for a second opinion because of what another dentist has shown them on the oral camera screen. These are patients who take care of their teeth and are familiar with their conditions. In each instance, the patient was in a panic because the dentist enlarged his or her teeth on the overhead screen and pointed to a dark developmental groove or a stained pit and tried to convince the patient that they had a cracked tooth and needed a crown or that the stained areas were active carious lesions and they … Read more

How to Cope with Dental Fear

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An interesting article titled “Coping skills for facing dental fears” appears in the February 2017, issue of JADA, vol. 148, issue 2. The article discusses some things you can do if you are afraid of the dentist to help you get through the entire appointment. The first thing the article suggests is to speak up and let the office and dentist know you have dental fear. You can address any coping skills you have used in the past and the dental team may suggest new coping skills that can be tried. You ask the dentist to talk you through what is going to be done for your treatment prior to him or her doing it to help further put your mind at ease. If you need to take a break during treatment you can agree on a signal to use … Read more

Synthetic Tooth Enamel May lead to Resilent Structures

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Unavoidable vibrations, such as those on airplanes, cause rigid structures to age and crack, but researchers have found that if you design them more like tooth enamel, it could lead to more resilient structures such as flight computers. Most materials that absorb vibration are soft and don’t make good structural components such as beams, chassis or motherboards. Artificial enamel is better than solid commercial and experimental materials that are aimed at the same vibration damping, as it’s lighter, more effective and less expensive. Researchers from the University of Michigan examined many structures in animals that had to withstand shocks and vibrations: bones, shells, carapaces and teeth. These living structures changed from species to species and over the eons. Tooth enamel told a different story. Under an electron microscope, it shared a similar structure whether it came from a Tyrannosaurus, a … Read more