Is Dentistry in an Uphill Battle Against Dr. Google?

During the February 2022 Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting Dr. Gregory Psaltis gave an interesting talk titled “Dealing with Dr. Google.” Dr. Psaltis presented how nowadays patients are turning to internet searches to seek information on scientific topics and in particular their dental treatments. Based on what the patients find online this can cause them and their parents to challenge any recommendations. In the talk Psaltis said how parents of young dental patients these days are arriving at dental practices and don’t agree with the recommendations the dentist suggests. He presented four such scenarios including that parent’s do not want x-rays for their child, that parent’s do not want flouride for their child, that parent’s only want tooth-colored crowns—not silver (stainless steel) for their child, and that parent’s only want only fillings for large lesions and never any crowns for … Read more

Orthodontist Sentenced to Prison for Public Corruption Scheme with Former State Senator

A former Arkansas dentist who served as an orthodontist, who has since resided in Florida, has been sentenced to one year plus one day in prison and a $157,500 fine for Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Fraud. This was due to the orthodontists involvement in a public corruption scheme that involved a former state senator in the state of Arkansas. The former orthodontist entered into a plea agreement where he plead guility and admitted to hiring the former state senator to influence and request official action to benefit his dental clinics. The orthodontist owned and operated several orthodontic clinics in Arkansas. He found himself in trouble in 2013 when he was accused by state regulators of allowing his dental hygienists to provide services to patients who were not receiving any orthodontic treatment. At the time a state law known as … Read more

Dentists and staff should wear protective eyewear and disinfect between patients

An interesting article titled “Blood and saliva contamination on protective eyewear during dental treatment,” written by Nora Bergmann and et al. appears in the 2022 edition of Clinical Oral Investigations (Feb. 14, 2022). The article sought to explore the amount of aerosols, blood and saliva splashes on protective eyewear worn during dental treatments. The authors also looked at the effectiveness of disinfection of the eyewear. In the study the authors used forensic techniques to analyze 53 protective eyewear shields worn by dental staff during aerosol-producing dental treatments. The protective eyewear were worn during dental treatments like supragingival cleaning, carious cavity preparation, and subgingival periodontal instrumentation. To detect blood contamination, luminol was applied on the surface of the eyewear shilds. The authors found that a macroscopically detectable amount of contamination was found on 60.4% of the protective eyewear shields that had … Read more

Choosing the Right Dental Office in Jacksonville FL

Choosing the right dental office can sometimes be difficult. Whether it is for you or someone you know, you have to ensure that the one you pick is the most suitable. There are a lot of factors that need to be considered for one to make the right choice. It is also important to note that a lot has changed during this COVID-19 pandemic. Clinics have had to change the way they dispense services in order to be able to adapt to the situation. Here is more information that can help you including how to get a top rated Jacksonville FL dentist. What are the different types available? Dentistry is a wide field of medicine hence it is divided into different categories according to specialization. It includes: Pediatric This caters to the needs of children. The practitioners are well-trained and … Read more

Dental Practitioners – Some Distinctions Between Pediatric Dentists and Other Types of Dentistry

All dental practitioners deal with oral health issues. While this is true, the practice is further divided into many fields that one can specialize in. As such, they perform different duties depending on the specialization. This creates various types of practitioners such as cosmetic, pediatric, and general dentists. The latter provides generalized oral healthcare services and is at the very basic level of dentistry. They can also do referrals where special care is needed. This article serves to highlight the differences between pediatric and other types of dentistry. For more details, you can for example visit a pediatric dentist in Roanoke and get your questions answered. What is the level of training? In general, all practitioners must acquire a bachelor’s degree from certified institutions and then proceed to attend and graduate from a legitimate dental school. This equips practitioners with … Read more