dentist

Improving the Mental Health of Oral Surgeons

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Before on this site mental health of dentists has been discussed and particularly addressing mental health issues early on such as during dental education see for example the posts A Counseling Model for Dental Students, Designing a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum To Help With Therapy Issues such as Stress Management and Suicide Prevention, and Medical Students Are At Risk For Suicide. However, many oral surgeons are still afraid to own up to any mental health issues they may have. This is discussed in the editorial titled “Time to change the narrative” appearing in Oral Surgery in 2018 (vol. 11, pp. 97–97). The editorial discusses how oral surgery is increasing a stressful profession. This is because of increasing threats of litigation along with patients increasing having higher expectations of surgical outcomes. The traits that define a good surgeon are those who put … Read more

Changes in Dental Anxiety over Time

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An interesting article titled “Changes in dental anxiety among 15‐ to 21‐year‐olds. A 2‐year longitudinal analysis based on the Tromsø study: Fit futures” written by Nermo et al. appears in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology (vol. 47, 2019, pp. 127-133). The article sought to explore the continuation of high dental anxiety over 2 years. In the article the authors explored data from The Tromsø Study conducted in Norway. The authors explored data from participants who were under the age of 18 at baseline data collection and also had data collected two years later. This lead to 685 participants with 377 females and 308 males. Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale was used to measure dental anxiety on a score from 4 to 20 with higher scores indicating more anxiety. Those scores that were 13 and higher were determined to be in dentally … Read more

The Real Truth About Dentistry

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An intriguing long form piece appears in the May 2019 issue in Atlantic titled “The Truth About Dentistry: It’s much less scientific—and more prone to gratuitous procedures—than you may think,” written by Ferris Jabr, see https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/05/the-trouble-with-dentistry/586039/. This article has a lot of people talking including dentists, physicians, and patients who have experience with dentists throughout the Internet on forums and Twitter (see https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/the-truth-about-dentistry-critical-longform-piece-in-the-atlantic/). The main shortcoming with this article in the Atlantic is it relies on an anecdotal story which forms the basis of the entire article. There are several themes to the article that will be discussed below along with additional themes not mentioned that are involved to form the real truth about dentistry. 1. Dentistry is a Business and some Dentists, just like in other Professions, are Bad Apples. The article describes a dentist Lund who overtreats patients … Read more

Oral Surgery: Prepare Yourself for Post-Surgery Complications

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Do you need oral surgery? You have to prepare yourself before undergoing any oral surgery procedure to avoid complications. By preparing yourself, you can get the advantage of a speedy recovery. Oral surgeries involve a local or general anesthetic. These outpatient surgeries require you to consult top oral surgeons such as a teeth removal doctor in Dallas – Fort Worth. Before surgery, you have to make several preparations. Strictly following post-operative guidelines will help you avoid any post surgical complications and decrease the chances of infection. Discuss with Your Dental Doctor People often ignore the importance of meeting an oral surgeon before surgery. This meeting is necessary to understand the dental procedure. Carefully listen to his/her instructions about recovery time, anesthesia, and operation. You should discuss any undergoing medical procedure or a current health condition with your surgeon. He/she should … Read more

A Counseling Model for Dental Students

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An interesting article titled “The Embedded Counseling Model: An Application to Dental Students” written by David Francis Adams appears in the January 2017 edition of the Journal of Dental Education (vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 29-35). The article discusses a study performed at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry to study the impact of a counseling program. The study was motivated by prior studies that have shown that high rates of stress, anxiety, and mood problems are prevalent among dental students and and can lead to health issues and substance abuse. Similar types of issues were previously addressed in the post titled Designing a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum To Help With Therapy Issues such as Stress Management and Suicide Prevention. In the article, at the University of Iowa collaboration occurred between the dental school and the university counseling service that … Read more