dentistry

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

Can Dentistry Learn from the National Basketball Association (NBA)?

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An interesting article titled “What the ADA can learn from the NBA” appears in the July 2015 issue of JADA by Marko Vujicic. The article discusses how the National Basketball Association (NBA) implemented some changes that are relevant to health care workers. What the NBA did was start reviewing and evaluating all referee decisions during the last 2 minutes of any close games. The NBA wanted to be more transparent, more accountable, and show that most calls by a referee are correct. The NBA publicly discloses the results of their review of the calls of any close games. No longer do they wait until controversy causes them to act and instead are proactive instead of reactive. The author of the article feels “…that the underlying trends toward increased transparency, accountability, data-driven metrics, and emphasis on quality and outcomes that drove the NBA’s decision are precisely the … 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

What to Do about Patients Who Call After Hours Wanting Prescription Drugs

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An interesting article titled “Addressing after-hours requests for prescription drugs,” appears in the April, 2014, issue of  JADA written by G. J Muller II (vol. 145, no. 4, pp. 389-390). The article discusses how the oral and maxillofacial surgeon has had several instances of after hours or weekend phone calls from people claiming to be current or past patients who have had a sudden onset of a toothache and want narcotic pain medication. The surgeon says that the people always agree to be seen in his office the next day or following Monday if it is a weekend. However, often the person will not follow up with the surgeon and not show up for the appointment after having received the medication. The surgeon says occasionally he checks if the person is a patient of record and sometimes the person is not, … Read more

Bringing Rapid HIV Testing to Dentistry

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An interesting study has been performed by the University of Sydney in 2014, looking at the possibility of using rapid HIV testing before dental surgery. The study assessed 521 Sydney based dental patients and their willingness to undergo rapid HIV testing in dental settings, their preference for HIV testing type, and their willingness to pay for the HIV test. More than 80% of the patients in the study were found to be willing to undergo rapid HIV testing before a dental procedure. The technology behind a rapid HIV test has been around for more than a decade but it not currently available in dental settings. The test can be done as a finger prick or a saliva swab. The results of the HIV test can be determined within 20 minutes. The Australian Federal government announced in July 2014, that they … Read more