Background PANDAS is an acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infections. This is a condition that affects a small group of children resulting in a sudden and abrupt onset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms. In the late 1990’s, investigators at the US National Institutes of Mental Health, during a study of … Read more
Your three-pound brain is the CEO of your whole body’s operation. It’s the playmaker, manager and overseer. It keeps 2000 gallons of blood surging through your heart each day and throughout 63,000 miles of blood vessels. It has you place one foot in front of the other as you walk from patient to patient and … Read more
In the September 2016 issue of this journal, I shared information about how the dental professional can help patients with their general and oral health through the diagnosis of acid reflux, a condition that affects up to 50% of the population. In this article, I discuss bulimia, an eating disorder which in the early stages … Read more
Have you ever experienced listening to a grandparent, a parent or a spouse snoring so loud you couldn’t sleep? No matter how hard you tried to ignore it, that’s all you could focus on. Then suddenly, sweet silence! You breathe a sigh of relief because they stopped! However, the only thing that stopped was their … Read more
Sometimes it takes a village, sometimes a marriage of powerful forces to produce something meaningful and that is the case with the recently-released custom collaboration between Colgate and Scientific American Custom Media. “The Future of Oral Health, Global Challenges, Advances and New Technologies” is an important document introduced at the ADA’s annual meeting in Denver … Read more
The American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) has released a new white paper that underscores the ability of the dental hygienist to perform dental hygiene diagnosis as part of the oral care team working to ensure that every patient is evaluated and treated, based on their individual oral health needs. According to the ADHA paper, dental … Read more
Hu-Friedy, a global leader in the manufacturing of dental instruments and products, will honor dental hygienists across the country by wearing purple (the official color of dental hygiene) on October 19, 2016, the fourth annual #ShowUsYourPurple Day. Hu-Friedy created this event in 2013 as way of recognizing and celebrating hygienists during National Dental Hygiene Month. … Read more
On October 1, Canadians celebrated the older adults whose mentoring, leadership, and volunteerism have shaped the nation. National Seniors Day was also an occasion for dental hygienists to remind Canada’s seniors and their caregivers of the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene habits throughout the lifespan. “Thanks to healthier lifestyles and advances in oral and … Read more
Purchasing a new practice management software for a dental office is not a trivial task. There are a lot of different choices and packages offered by software vendors that confuse the buyer rather than help her/him. Each package has its own strengths and weaknesses. But what are the fundamental elements a dentist should look for … Read more
Dentistry is part art, part science, but all about people. In dental school, the people part of the equation was overlooked, and it takes a number of years in practice to realize its importance. Dentistry is a service business, and communication is paramount to success. Communication, by definition, is “the exchange of ideas, messages, or … Read more
No says the Ontario regulations, and those of many Canadian and US jurisdictions. Yes says a new study in Scotland which tested the ability of dental therapists to reliably diagnose dental decay, and then compared this ability to dentists. Indeed, the therapists were more consistent and accurate in their diagnosis of a cavity than the … Read more
American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) advocates for dental hygiene practice that is both evidence-based and patient/client-centered. ADHA’s newly revised Standards for Clinical Dental Hygiene Practice emphasize that the dental hygiene care plan be personalized according to the individual’s unique oral health needs, general health status, values, expectations and abilities. Not all adjunct devices are appropriate … Read more
When we graduate from dental hygiene school and enter the workforce, it is the skills that we attained and the desire to help people that drive us. We do not think when we meet a potential employer to ask about workplace dynamics, ethics, and values. We talk about office hours and salary. We do not … Read more
From Cleveland.com (not the online spin-off from Family Guy)… Biomedical engineering is fastest growing field; dental jobs offer many new spots for 2-year degrees 72 percent: Projected growth in jobs for biomedical engineers from 2008 to 2018, the fastest growing occupation. Education: bachelor’s degree. New jobs: 11,600. Median pay in 2008: $77,400. 53 percent: Projected growth in jobs … Read more
From RDH – by Karen Davis – karen@karendavis.net Front office administrators, dental assistants, dentists, and dental hygienists have one thing in common: Patients will approach any of them to ask about something they just read or heard on TV regarding how the oral cavity impacts the rest of the body. They don’t discriminate. We’re all … Read more
by Angie Stone,RDH,B – from Dental Tribune Patient after patient, hour after hour, day after day hygienists can be heard delivering oral hygiene instruction (OHI) to their patients. This task has the ability to become mundane. So mundane that other team members can repeat this conversation verbatim. Hygienists go into autopilot during the time allowed … Read more
In response to a high prevalence of neck and back pain among working dentists and dental hygienists, the dean of the University of Maryland Dental School Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, has launched an initiative to bring renewed attention to ergonomics into dental education. Image via Wikipedia Starting with the current semester, every incoming student … Read more