Dental treatment facilities serving U.S. service members are set to undergo a closer review of their accreditation status after the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Dec. 17, advancing a provision backed by the American Dental Association (ADA). The annual defence policy bill — approved by the House of Representatives earlier … Read more
Anxiety, distrust and misinformation about dental care is abundant on social media, where posts containing false or out-of-context claims about dentistry can receive millions of views. The Canadian Press looked at several claims posted to social media in recent months that promote false, misleading or out-of-context information about dental care, and spoke to dentists about … Read more
Patients with dental pain and complex oral health needs are expected to find it easier to secure urgent appointments under sweeping reforms to England’s NHS dental contract, with dentists set to receive higher, more targeted payments beginning next year. The UK government confirmed Tuesday it will overhaul how NHS dentistry is paid and delivered following … Read more
In this dynamic and multifaceted marketing and communications environment, it is insufficient to understand the total number of visitors to your website at a given time, or to track your new patients solely. Those visitors only tell part of the story regarding the health of your website. Additionally, it is important to understand “where” your … Read more
Over the past two years, growth in total health spending has outpaced economic growth, pushing up Canada’s health expenditure-to-GDP ratio, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) says. CIHI’s National Health Expenditure Database (NHEX) includes finalized 2023 spending data and preliminary estimates for 2024 and 2025, based on public-sector main estimates and budgets. In 2025, … Read more
Australian researchers report that a wireless intraoral scanner resembling an enlarged electric toothbrush, paired with AI-assisted software, can identify early childhood tooth decay as accurately as standard visual exams. The study, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the University of Melbourne, evaluated 216 five-year-olds from the Melbourne Infant Study: BCG for Allergy … Read more
A new study in the International Dental Journal suggests patients who undergo bariatric surgery (BaS) face a significantly increased risk of periodontal and dental disease — prompting calls for integrated medical–dental aftercare. Although bariatric surgery is often hailed for dramatic weight loss and metabolic benefits, the authors note mounting evidence of unintended consequences for oral … Read more
King’s College London announced on Tuesday results of the 2023 Adult Oral Health Survey (AOHS), the first clinical survey of adult oral health in England since 2009. According to lead academic Jenny Gallagher MBE, the findings are alarming. Roughly 64 per cent of adults showed clinical signs of tooth decay — a largely preventable disease. … Read more
As of Monday, dental hygienists in the Northwest Territories now have the legal right to practise without supervision by a dentist, its government announced. Under the first phase of the newly enacted Dental Hygiene Profession Regulations — a change anticipated since 2023. Previously, all dental hygienists had to operate under the direction and control of … Read more
A new prospective study of more than 4,100 mother–child pairs suggests that maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy may play a significant role in shaping children’s early-life dental health — with low vitamin D linked to notably higher odds of early childhood caries (ECC). Researchers from Zhejiang University followed 4,109 pregnant women (enrolled between 2011 … Read more
New data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) suggest Canadians are retaining more of their natural teeth than they were 15 years ago, but indicators of gum disease have worsened sharply. The findings, released Monday by Statistics Canada, are based on the first set of clinical oral-health assessments collected since 2007–09. Cycle 7 of … Read more
The University of Alberta’s Access for All program — a non-profit mobile dental clinic that became an elective course for dentistry and dental hygiene students last year — has secured $2.6 million in federal funding to expand culturally grounded care in rural Métis communities. The funding, approved in July after a year-long competitive process, will … Read more
The New Brunswick Dental Society says staffing shortages are undermining the full impact of the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), with some patients now waiting up to 10 months for routine care. In an interview with local outlet Country94, executive director Paul Blanchard said about 85 to 90 per cent of dentists in the province … Read more
U.S. children exposed to fluoride concentrations typical of community water systems show “modestly better” cognitive performance in secondary school, according to a new national study. Published Nov. 19 in Science Advances, the study—“Childhood fluoride exposure and cognition across the life course”—examined data from the nationally representative High School and Beyond cohort, which followed 26,820 students … Read more
A coalition of nursing and other health care organizations are angry over a Trump administration plan that could limit access to student loans in some cases. Students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy, public health and some other fields would face tighter federal student loan limits under the plan because it doesn’t consider them … Read more
Health Canada has announced more than $35 million in funding for 30 projects across 22 post-secondary institutions to improve dental training, expand outreach and strengthen access to oral-health services nationwide. The funding—delivered over three years through the Oral Health Access Fund (OHAF)—is designed to support and complement the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) by improving … Read more
The British Dental Association (BDA) warned Wednesday that the decision by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ask the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) to probe private-dentistry pricing is “merely a fig-leaf” for the failure to properly fund the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Reeves, who is set to unveil her budget next week, wrote to … Read more
A Halifax provincial court judge on Thursday has acquitted the 83-year-old retired pediatric dentist Dr. Errol Gaum of assaulting four child patients for incidents alleged to have occurred in the 1970s and ’80s. The allegations gained public attention after former patients created a Facebook group titled The victims of Dr. ERROL GAUM (public), which had … Read more
Severe gum disease may significantly increase the risk of erectile dysfunction, adding to growing evidence that oral health is closely linked to overall wellbeing, according to new analyses highlighted by the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP). Periodontitis — an advanced form of gum disease — has long been associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis … Read more
A new U.S. study suggests the hormonal environment of late pregnancy may influence when babies cut their first teeth — a finding researchers say could help explain why eruption timelines vary so widely in early childhood. The prospective cohort study, published in Frontiers in Oral Health, followed 142 mother–child pairs from late pregnancy through the … Read more