It is a great privilege to have been invited to serve as the editor responsible for geriatric dentistry for the Oral Health Journal. The demographic landscape of Canada has undergone a notable shift in recent decades concurrent with the aging of the “Baby Boomers.” In the 1960’s, Canada’s population structure resembled a pyramid with youth … Read more
The internet, and more specifically the creation of the World Wide Web by CERN in 1989/90, transformed the world as we know it. It changed how we access and share information, how we invest our time, how we shop, and how we communicate. We are now spectators and participants, willing or unwilling, of the next … Read more
“Teamwork makes the dream work.” – John Maxwell Dentists practice in varied settings. They could be in the community or hospital, general or specialty, or individual or group practices. Regardless of the setting, each of us is called on to make decisions on the fly, manage complications, and deal with what may come, usually in … Read more
A “career” is an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.1 But how does one ensure not just progress but fulfilment and happiness? Having worked as an endodontist for more than 30 years and completed more than 50,000 treatments, I have evolved and expanded my approach and philosophy … Read more
What are you doing with your one and only life? Research has demonstrated that a strong sense of purpose protects your mortality and cognition. Having a passion, an overall arching set of values and drivers may even be more important as we age. Last fall I had the opportunity to be involved with the inaugural … Read more
Dental hygienists play a pivotal role in fostering oral health. Yet, the challenge lies in the stark contrast between the brief encounters in the dental hygiene operatory and the year-round responsibility patients bear for oral care. This article explores the complexities surrounding the guilt dental hygienists often feel when appointments extend beyond a single appointment … Read more
A dentist’s mind is always restless. Never enough patients to treat, profits to earn, trips to take, restaurants to try, tech and luxury items to own, movies and books to get into, or time to spend with family and friends. The mind is never content. Why? Because you think you’re only your “Person” (i.e. your … Read more
As dentists, when considering tooth replacement for our patients, dental implants are top of mind. They are a stable and durable treatment modality, considered the gold standard for tooth replacement. Dental implants have come a long way since the Toronto Conference in 1982 and the initial work of Dr. Brånemark. The variety in modalities, be … Read more
Wow… How time flies when you’re truly having fun! It’s so hard for me to believe that this is my 7th issue of the Aesthetics edition of Oral Health for so many reasons. By the time this issue hits the press, I will have just returned from my 3rd IDS show in Cologne, Germany. I … Read more
During the last two-and-a-half years, we have lived a huge sociological experiment that will be studied for decades to come. The impact of the COVID measures will be discussed and dissected ad nauseum, with no clear consensus likely as the outcome. What we do know is what we missed the most – the joy of … Read more
If your dental fairy godmother popped out of your compressor room tomorrow and granted you three dental hygiene-related wishes, what would they be? New instruments? An air-polishing device? Paid vacation time? Let’s assume the fairy godmother doesn’t exist, but those needs are still very significant to you. What would you do for them? Or would … Read more
It is truly an honour to introduce this special technology issue of Oral Health. Throughout my life, technology has guided me on a bullet-train journey of opportunity and discovery. It all started when I left my orthodontic practice in Boston to join a dental Internet company in Washington, DC, at a time when 56K was … Read more
Much has been discussed recently about the challenges of finding new team members and retaining current ones. The pandemic has shifted perspectives, and what teams needed in the past has now changed. Among the top stressors reported during the pandemic are finances, social isolation, and the health of family members. In any given year, 1 … Read more
A rainbow has arrived – no more fallow time! For years, dentistry has weathered the pandemic storm (“Hurricane”) of shut-down, isolation, cabin fever, new normal and re-build. It experienced waves of shock, fear, worry, paralysis, confusion, conflict, loss and change. It demanded us to work together, seek help and lead like never before, regardless of … Read more
There are times when tradition is to be embraced – a marriage ceremony, a parade or a graduation. And there are times when doing things the way they have always been done just doesn’t cut it. If you are a practising or retired dentist in Canada, there is good chance you are familiar with the … Read more
Doesn’t it feel great when patients come in with pain and, like a magician, we use our trained hands to get them smiling again? How about when we cannot get the patient out of pain? What if the condition is outside of the scope of dentistry? Is it out of our hands? Sadly, this is … Read more
The opportunity to learn many lessons has been hurled upon us over the last two and a half years. We have seen storms come and go and temperatures rise to new limits. We have also witnessed almost every aspect of our lives be disrupted by an infectious agent so small it cannot be seen by … Read more
In March 2022, the Edelman Trust Barometer provided a significant warning that eroding trust has harmed, and is likely to continue to damage, individual and public health outcomes in the post-COVID-19 era.1 More than 50 percent of those surveyed worry that science has become politicized. Fully 63 percent say that the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased … Read more
Each new grad enters the world of private practice with dreams and visions of maintaining that fresh and vital feeling of importance. As dental professionals, we are excited to deliver great dental healthcare experiences to happy, appreciative patients that value what we can do for them. Then, as patients arrive, the realities of private practice … Read more
I’m sitting at my desk on a Sunday afternoon in March, contemplating the past 24 months. It was around this time in 2020 that I travelled to Malaysia for an annual academic meeting at IMU, our partner university in Kuala Lumpur. I had a slight concern about a newly emerging respiratory virus but believed that … Read more