Recently the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario chose to update the Standard of Practice for the Use of Sedation and Anaesthesia in Dental Practice. While this was a semi-scheduled review (the document is revised roughly every five years), the context for this latest revision is different from the others in recent memory. Caleb’s … Read more
The largest dental conference in North America is back this spring. Hosting at the Vancouver Convention Centre in British Columbia, the Pacific Dental Conference will have over 300 exhibiting companies and over 200 opportunities for hands-on courses and lectures. Over 150 sessions will keep you engaged in your area of choice, or allow you to … Read more
Alberta is one of just two provinces where dentists with specialized training both administer general anesthetic and perform a dental procedure on a patient, according to a CBC inquiry. The majority of provinces require at least two “operators” be present in accredited dental offices to do such work — one person to deliver the sedative drugs … Read more
Dentists and their team members throughout the country are invited to participate in an informative, live Town Hall teleconference ahead of the upcoming American Dental Association Annual Meeting in Denver. The Town Hall is being organized and will be hosted by distinguished researcher and dental educator Dr. Raymond A. Dionne, who has published more than … Read more
The Anesthesia Committee with the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners is meeting Friday afternoon to discuss possible changes when it comes to the permitting process for dentists who offer anesthesia for dental procedures. This committee only meets on an as needed basis. Earlier this year KXAN reported the Sunset Commission found 112 statewide complaints … Read more
Cantel Medical Corporation subsidiary, Crosstex, continues its’ market diversification and expansion with the acquisition of Accutron Inc., the industry leading manufacturer of “conscious sedation” nitrous oxide delivery systems and nasal masks. Conscious sedation in dentistry is used to put the patient in a relaxed state during a dental procedure and is currently used in more … Read more
The 2016 Pacific Dental Conference will once again be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre from March 17th-19th. The Pacific Dental Conference is one of the largest dental conferences in North America, offering a varied and contemporary selection of continuing education programs. With over 150 open sessions and hands-on courses and over 300 exhibiting companies … Read more
Digital radiography can improve our ability as clinicians to treat patients effectively, quickly and in a manner that leads to treatment allowing for less pain and recall. This article describes digital radiography techniques, which help with diagnosis for all aspects of dentistry and implant treatment planning. It describes procedures, which merge the use of CEREC, … Read more
Introduction Local anesthesia forms the backbone of pain control techniques in dentistry. Local anesthetics represent the safest (when used properly) and most effective drugs for the prevention and management of perioperative and post-operative pain. The first known injection of a local anesthetic (1885) was an inferior alveolar nerve block administered by the famed medical surgeon … Read more
Performing minimal oral (enteral) conscious sedation on a healthy adult patient with a benzodiazepine is a safe, cost-effective way to treat certain patients with dental anxiety. Go through the ten statements below with the intent of determining whether each presented statement is fact or fiction. NOTE: While many of the answers below make reference to … Read more
The term “creative destruction” was coined by Joseph Schumpeter in 1942.1 Schumpeter was an economist who was commenting on how capitalism evolves. Creative destruction in its original form refers to industrial mutations that revolutionize economic structures from within, creating a new structure. Put another way, it is the free market’s way of delivering progress.2 This … Read more
We have to register for a lot of things in Canada. We’re at the point where if we are asked to register for anything else, there is a good possibility that we will object. Take the recent debates about long-gun registration and long-form censuses as examples. The need for various professions and disciplines to be … Read more
Strictly speaking, “ethics” is a plural noun that is supposed to relate to moral principles. Try as we might to define ethics and to follow them in our personal and professional behaviours, we sometimes fail. This is because while our professional codes of ethics may be objective, ethics themselves are not. Context shouldn’t affect morals … Read more
Dental professionals have become highly proficient in providing local anaesthesia. Local anaesthesia reduces pain by blocking sodium channels, however, many patients find the injection process anxiety-inducing.1 It is not only just pain that makes many patients uncomfortable. The plethora of instrument sounds and smells, the violation of personal space, and experiencing unusual sensations, can make … Read more
Blood pressure (BP) measurement can be a difficult and time-consuming task in the dental office. Many general practitioners avoid measuring their patients’ blood pressures, and some wonder, “Why should I even measure blood pressure in the office?” However, there are many reasons why dentists should be cognizant of their patients’ blood pressures. First and foremost, … Read more
It has been estimated that seventy-five percent of adults experience an element of dental anxiety, and that in ten percent of patients, such fear can prevent them from making a visit to the dental office in the early phase of their symptoms.1 These patients quite often delay treatment until their disease process has progressed significantly … Read more
INTRODUCTIONThe hypothesis that articaine, a local anesthetic with well-established effectiveness widely used in dentistry, might have neurotoxic effects is continuously under intense discussion. A number of reports claim to provide a basis for the opinion that articaine is related to a higher frequency of neurologic adverse events like paresthesia, demanding a change in the recommendations … Read more
In health care dentists are often referred to as the local anaesthesia experts as we provide localized anaesthesia as an integral part of what is performed daily. When thinking of going to the dentist, this is the one aspect that most patients dread and often what prevents patients from seeking treatment. Local anaesthesia as it … Read more
Drs. Peter Nkansah and Randy Lang won University of Toronto Teacher of the Year awards at the Dental faculty recently. Dr. Nkansah won for 2nd Year and Dr. Lang won for 4th Year. Congratualtions to both of these editorial board members.
OrthoBanc, a risk assessment and payment management provider specializing in electronic payments for orthodontists has become an official corporate sponsor with the Smile for a Lifetime (S4L) Foundation, a national non-profit providing scholarships for free orthodontic treatment to under-served children. Bill Holt, President of OrthoBanc shares, “We are excited to support Smile for a Lifetime’s … Read more