Doctors

Are Dentists Not Busy Enough?

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An interesting article titled “Solving dentistry’s ‘busyness’ problem” appears in the August 2015 edition of JADA and written by Marko Vujicic. The author states that nationally (U.S.) around 1 in 3 dentists say they are not busy enough. This differs by state and whether or not the dentist accepts Medicaid. The author states that the number of working age adults who have seen a dentist within 12 months has been declining over the past 10 years. In addition, inflation adjusted dental spending has been flat for several years. So the demand for dentistry is declining. The author also states that the number of dentists has increased over the last 10 years. So decreasing demand and increasing supply creates a problem for dentistry. Even so the author feels that dentist utilization by seniors will increase over the coming years and dentist utilization … Read more

The Benefits of CAD/CAM Technology in Dentistry

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This is a sponsored post designed to get you excited about CAD/CAM technology in dentistry. In today’s world, CAD/CAM technology has made it very easy for dental patients. CAD stands for Computer aided designing and CAM stands for computer aided manufacturing. The technology has been implemented recently into dental laboratories and made it smooth and simple for dentists to treat their patients within the shortest period of time. In this way, CAD/CAM Technology has gained a lot of popularity. This technology is utilized the best due to the less amount of time used for the procedures. The prosthesis can be designed and developed on the same day itself. A digital impression is taken by the dentist after correcting the particular teeth. The picture is created in the computer and then accordingly the manufacturing unit receives the information in the form … Read more

Influencing Government: Perspectives from U.S. Oral Surgeons

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As has been discussed before on this site and blog, The Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is published on behalf of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). They of course have their own interests and seek to help get candidates elected in government with positions favorable to theirs. This is described a bit in the article Influencing Your Government by James R. Hupp  appearing in the January 2015 issue of The Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (vol. 73, issue 1). The article discusses how voting in an election is only part of the story and advocacy stronger than one’s vote at the ballot box. The author states “Advocacy can take many forms. The one that comes to mind for most people is campaigning for someone running for office. Similarly, one can donate to a candidate’s … Read more

Case Reports Serve a Place in Dentistry

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An interesting article titled “CASE REPORTS HAILED” appears in JADA in September 2014, written by Enihomo Obadan, Elsbeth Kalenderian, and Rachel B. Ramoni. The article discusses an article in an earlier 2014 JADA article that featured an interesting case report. The authors state “Almost becoming a lost art in the biomedical literature, case reports still hold tremendous opportunities for learning in dentistry. In addition to the obvious learning potential for the individual dental professional, the entire professional body advances in giant strides when there is cross-organizational learning among dental clinics through information sharing.” The authors then discuss how adverse dental events being reported by dentists would help make dental treatments safer for all. The authors feels this helps promote a culture of safety, as long as there is no fear of retribution when the report occurs by the dentists. The … Read more

How to Address a Patient who Had an Interrupted Treatment Plan

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An interesting article titled “Following up with a patient whose treatment has been interrupted” appears in the November 2014, JADA, and written by Michael H. Halasz. The article discusses a patient who received a complex treatment from a military dentist. The treatment started but because of deployment of a large number of troops in Iraq the treatment was interrupted so that the dentists could attend to other troops. The article addresses if the patient was abandoned during this time. The American Dental Association Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct states “Once a dentist has undertaken a course of treatment, the dentist should not discontinue that treatment without giving the patient adequate notice and the opportunity to obtain the services of another dentist. Care should be taken that the patient’s oral health is not jeopardized in the process.” The … Read more