Remember a few years back, when a new regulation came into effect that required us to ask our patients for a piece of ID when we wanted to prescribe something as common as Tylenol #3? Personally, I thought, “Oh sure, bring on more rules and restrictions!” Actually, it forced me away from prescribing opioids and … Read more
The Ontario Dental Association (ODA) reports it has made a formal request to the provincial government to invest $50 million to its dental program for children in support of Healthy Smiles Ontario (HSO), which provides care to kids under the age of 17 from low-income families. While 254,000 kids are currently treated by dentists under the program, … Read more
The American Dental Association has released an informational handout for dentists on the coronavirus disease, now named COVID-19. The handout covers strategies for helping prevent the transmission of suspected respiratory disease in the dental health care setting and answers frequently asked questions related to the virus, based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Patients with an … Read more
Stefan Ruhl, DDS, PhD, professor of oral biology in the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, was named the recipient of the 2020 International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Distinguished Scientist Award in Salivary Research. The award recognizes outstanding and innovative achievements that have contributed to the basic understanding of salivary gland structure, secretion … Read more
A dentist and researcher is working at the University of Saskatchewan to develop a test to detect the corona virus, now known as COVID-19, in saliva. Walter Siqueira, who is also the associate dean of the College of Dentistry, said he is hoping this test will provide a quick way to identify the rapidly spreading … Read more
You may recall in my blog last month, I discussed the importance of knowing and understanding your KPI’s (key performance indicators) in order to truly understand what is driving your practice. The unfortunate reality is that many dentists know little about KPI’s other than their top-line revenue. It is important to know how your revenue … Read more
Pot users have one more reason to flash those pearly whites. A study published in the January edition of the Cureus Journal of Medical Science, has concluded that specific cannabinoids found in marijuana — namely CBD, CBC, CBN, CBG and CBGA — were better at wiping out colonies of bacteria than Oral B, Colgate and Cannabite … Read more
The controversial re-introduction of fluoride will be delayed 12 months while experts operate a miniature mock-up of the water system to test for possible increased lead levels. The risk of lead leaching is very low, according to a consultant hired by Windsor Utilities Commission. But the 12-month pipe loop study was urged out of an … Read more
Mr. Kess Will Guide Nonprofit Think Tank’s Efforts to Improve Oral Health Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) today announced that Steven W. Kess, the Company’s Vice President of Global Professional Relations, has been named the President of the Santa Fe Group (SFG), a nonprofit think tank dedicated to improving oral health for the public. Mr. … Read more
The Royal College of Physicians concluded that vaping was 95% less harmful than tobacco. It is paramount that we, as a society, fully understand what this research means and how it addresses Canada’s leading cause of death – combustible tobacco. 95% less harmful is a percentage expression of vaping’s comparative toxicity relative to combustible tobacco, … Read more
A New Jersey oral surgeon had his medical license suspended for five years after bacterial endocarditis spread through his practice. Fifteen patients of Dr. John Vecchione, who ran the North Jersey Oral Maxillofacial Reconstructive Surgery LLC in Budd Lake, contracted bacterial endocarditis between 2012 and 2014 due to “breaches of infection prevention practices,” according to … Read more
CEO Stanley M. Bergman to Ring the Nasdaq Opening Bell With ADA President Dr. Chad Gehani Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) announced that it will ring the Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell tomorrow in celebration of Give Kids A Smile (GKAS), an American Dental Association (ADA) initiative that provides free oral health care to children … Read more
More and more dentists across Australia are seeing cases of oral cancer in patients who have brought the practice of betel quid chewing with them from their homeland, a practice which has the potential to affect thousands of migrants and new Australian populations. For World Cancer Day, 4 February, dentists are asking many new and … Read more
Simplifeye changes the chat game with an AI Speech Engine I begin with a personal thank you to Jillian Cecchini and Melissa Summerfield to give me an opportunity to talk to you each month. I have always been passionate about new technology both dental and consumer. On the consumer side, I read up to 17 … Read more
Are you compliant with the current regulated IPAC protocols in your clinic? By now, every dentist should be acutely aware that changes are necessary to traditional IPAC processes. All clinics must now follow the latest protocols created by the Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee (PIDAC) and the RCDSO Standards of Practice for Infection Prevention and … Read more
(Updated March 2020) The profession of dentistry in Canada, particularly in Ontario, has experienced some negative publicity in recent years as a result of practices that have been inspected and closed due to infection prevention and control breaches. In some of the cases, patients were notified that they may have been exposed to infectious diseases … Read more
The two most common methods for administering systemic medications to dental patients is by enteral (PO) or intravenous (IV) routes. In an emergency, the PO route has a slow onset of action. The drug, administered PO, needs to be absorbed before being systemically available.1 The IV route will offer faster onset, but IV access can … Read more
Current nil per os (npo) standards promote pre-operative fasting as an approach to reduce the volume and acidity of a patient’s stomach contents to reduce the risks of regurgitation and subsequent pulmonary aspiration. Pre-anesthesia fasting standards apply to any procedure where sedative medications reduce the protective airway reflex that under normal conditions prevent aspiration. The … Read more
Epistaxis (nasal bleeding) is a relatively common complication that may arise during a dental visit that utilizes sedation/anesthesia. While rarely fatal, appropriate and prompt management of peri-operative epistaxis is critical in order to prevent further harm. This article will discuss a case report of epistaxis encountered during dentistry under deep sedation. In addition, the anatomy, … Read more
All practitioners who deliver nitrous oxide to their patients should be intimately familiar with the relative and absolute contraindications to its administration. Relative Contraindications Nasal obstruction: Nitrous oxide sedation can proceed if despite some degree of nasal obstruction, the patient is still able to respire through the nares (or one naris) in such a way … Read more