MALMÖ, Sweden: Radiographic diagnostics are widely used in healthcare as they provide diagnostically important information that can help improve treatment outcomes. For example, a CBCT scanning protocol is a valuable examination tool in oral and maxillofacial radiology and is readily available in dental offices because of its ease of use. However, a CBCT scan produces a relatively high radiation dose compared with other scanning protocols, and new research has shown that its effectiveness remains unchanged after reducing the radiation dose to one-fifth of the manufacturer-recommended level.
Understand the fundamentals of artificial intelligence in dentistry
BERLIN, Germany: Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently trending in dentistry, and key opinion leader and AI expert Dr Kyle Stanley says that the popularity that the technology is experiencing is warranted. Dr Stanley is inviting dental professionals to join a free live webinar on 9 November in which he will provide foundation knowledge of AI and its application in day-to-day patient care and practice management.
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Research finds link between competitive swimming and tooth staining
PERTH, Australia: Regular swimming can deliver a myriad of benefits that are important for cardiovascular and systemic health. One unintentional side effect that can occur, however, is tooth staining and discoloration. A research project conducted by a team of Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) students at the University of Western Australia in Perth has now found that children who swim competitively are significantly more likely to have stains or discoloration on their teeth.
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Interview: “Digital technologies are fundamentally changing the dynamics of our industry”
Stephan Kreimer is a master dental technician who runs a dental laboratory in Warendorf in Germany. Since he developed an interest in technology early on, Kreimer was always eager to integrate dental technologies into his workflow. Now, more than a decade later, innovative technologies such as CAD/CAM, CNC milling and 3D printing are shaping his work and offer increased efficiency. In this interview with Dental Tribune International, Kreimer shares his journey from a conventional to a digital laboratory and weighs up the advantages of investing in an in-house 3D printer.
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https://dentistintulum.com/?p=430
Gratitude: A gift to happiness
It’s almost the end of 2021 and a new year will soon begin. Looking back this past year, there’s so much that has happened. Specifically, in my life, I am very grateful for so much.
Dr. Nguyen
Dentistry is an interesting career – there are days where you have everything all set, everything seems to be smooth-sailing, and there are other days where Murphy’s law seems to be following you like a shadow chasing your own silhouette. In any event, there is never a dull moment in this profession.
During the holidays, I want to give thanks to those who I am truly and sincerely happy to have in my life.
Family/friends/loved ones: I would not be the person that I am today without my family and friends. The hugs, smiles, support, encouraging words and love that they have given me. They have been with me and helped me grow as a person. They taught me about empathy, compassion, patience, understanding, and love.
Work family: We spend over seven hours a day with these team family members, sometimes more often than our loved ones. They know your strengths and weaknesses and enhance our strengths, while supporting us on our opportunities. My work family are filled with loyal, kind, compassionate, and patient individuals. Without their support, I cannot do my job of caring for our patients each day. They bring me joy, laughter and provide levity throughout the day. Having a team like this makes my day better.
Mentors: Along the journey, I am blessed to meet so many new colleagues, and those that take the time to invest in me, help me grow, and succeed. Mentors are there to provide that positive, encouraging support. They know what it’s like to be in your shoes. I have had many mentors provide me advice/guidance to enrich my life to care for patients.
Patients: I love taking care of patients, just like any of us in the dental field. We are there to care for them. They have provided trust and shown us their vulnerabilities. Take the time to truly listen to them and their concerns – afterwards, make sure to find a solution to their concern – they want to feel heard.
I volunteer once a month in a dental clinic that provide no-cost dental care to those that may not be able to afford it. It warms my heart to give back to the community. It harkens to the time and effort that we spent in dental school providing our talent and hard work to those less fortunate than us. I chose dentistry to make a difference and to create life-changing smiles, one patient at a time.
I had an instance recently where one patient said she doesn’t smile because of the way her teeth looked. I used a soflex disc to refine the distal and mesial incisal edges to provide a softer look for the patient. When I provided her a mirror, she looked at her teeth and started to cry tears of joy. She told me, “It’s just in time for the holidays, now I can take pictures with my smile!” I am sure you all know this feeling. This is why we chose dentistry- to make a difference and an impact in someone’s life.
I am truly blessed and grateful to be a dentist. Yes, there are some days that are tough, but in the end, I keep on thinking of those positive days, when we are making patients smile, making them healthier and happier. Keep doing what you are doing. Love it to the point where you don’t roll out of bed, but hop out of bed instead, knowing this is what you have worked hard to achieve. Not everyone can be a dentist and can give the gift of creating smiles.
The main gift of all: Time. We are given 24 hours in a day, 525,600 minutes in a year, and so on. We are given the choice of what to do with this time. I wake up thanking the Heavens that I have a brand-new day breathing, a chance to make someone’s day, smile, and make someone feel happier than before I met them.
Make sure you catch up and check in on your loved ones and those that mean so much to you. Life is short, we’re given a short amount of time and the choice of what to do with it. How will you spend your gift of time?
I thank you all for being dentists out there. It’s not an easy career, but an email from another dentist who told me that there are more good days than bad. I think of that message and it keeps me going. Thank you, Doctor. Without dentists, there fewer smiles, fewer healthy mouths, and fewer life-changing experiences. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you.
Dr. Jessica Nguyen is graduate from the University of Minnesota-School of Dentistry. Dr. Nguyen is as an associate general dentist in Forest Lake, Minnesota. She enjoys spending time with her family, singing, trying new foods with her friends, and playing sports. Dr. Nguyen connects with others by learning from their stories because she believes each person has a life lesson that one can learn from. She is passionate about volunteering and helping others by giving advice to pre-dental students, dental students, and sharing positive, uplifting, inspirational stories to guide others to become successful, achieve their dreams, and live life to the fullest. Any questions/comments and please reach her at: [email protected].
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Dentsply Sirona launches partnership with Women in DSO
CHARLOTTE, N.C., U.S.: For years, Dentsply Sirona has been committed to promoting women in dentistry, supporting the professional development of female dentists and dental technicians through various programs, such as its Smart Integration Award. Now, the company has announced its founding partnership with Women in DSO (WinDSO), a dental service organization (DSO) founded last year whose mission is to highlight the achievements of women in dental service organizations and empower women leaders.
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https://dentistintulum.com/?p=394
Rapid Shape evaluates medical device applications in bioresorbable 3D-printing resins
HEIMSHEIM, Germany/BIRMINGHAM, UK: Rapid Shape is evaluating a partnership between its vat polymerisation 3D-printing technology and a new class of bioresorbable materials trademarked 4Degra from 4D Biomaterials.
What does it mean to be a dentist?
A little over a month ago I left working full time at a Federally Qualified Health Center.
Dr. Simpson
I have spent the last six years of my career working in public health, and the first three years were a couple of short stents working in mobile dentistry visiting nursing homes, a couple of different private practices, “Medicaid offices” and suburban offices with all the latest technologies. Out of all of those, public health was my favorite.
However, I knew from dental school that at some point I would want to end up in academia. I used to daydream about someday becoming a “dental school counselor”: having students come to my office to vent about the stressors of school. I would think about all my favorite professors and how their concern for me buoyed me through school, and I wanted to do that for future students.
I knew academia was my goal, but I also love patient care. There is a moment, right before you hand a patient a mirror to see your handiwork in creating their new smile, when you know they are going to be so happy. I loved hearing patients say, “No one has ever explained it to me like that” or, the ultimate, “I didn’t even feel the shot!” I loved all that.
But as I walked to my car on my last day at my previous job, I felt a finality that I wasn’t expecting to feel. It was a feeling I hadn’t experienced before: relief.
I cried the whole way home talking to my significant other about how I was going to miss my coworkers, the best team I had ever worked with, how I was going to miss the feel of the drill in my hand, and how I wasn’t sure that entering into academia, even though it was what I thought I always wanted to do, was going to be what I was imagining.
Was it going to be a situation of thinking that the grass would be greener on the other side only to be be disappointed?
In patient care, the buck stops with us. The decisions rest on our shoulders. The Yelp reviews reflect us, no matter who in the office it might have been about. Our assistants make sure things are set up the way we want them. We are in control. We love to help our patients. We get a lot of glory and respect (sometimes undue) out of it. I was scared of losing that glory. I was going to miss having my assistants have things ready for me and set up the way I like. I was going to miss feeling like the queen bee. Yes, I said it.
As much as we talk about how a career in dentistry affords us so many options, most of us pretty much end up doing the same things: full-time patient care. There seems to be a formula coming out of school: work as an associate for a large practice for a couple of years, and then go into private practice without really thinking if that really is what is best for us, our personalities and lifestyles.
In a previous job I was an adjunct faculty for a dental school. It wasn’t uncommon to hear graduating seniors talk about going into private practice by being someone’s associate first and eventually buying the practice. I feel like I can safely say, this is all we think there is or maybe specializing (and opening our own practice). Even when meeting people outside of work, upon finding out that I am a dentist they will inevitably ask, “Do you have your own practice?”
Of course we go in to dentistry to do dental work BUT, what actually makes you a dentist?
I was talking with a friend one day recently and asked, “Am I still a dentist or am I a professor now?” I pictured filling out paperwork in some random situation, and in the section where it asks “occupation” I thought “I don’t think I can put dentist anymore.”
We really celebrate the dentists who have lucrative practices. We celebrate the dentists who have huge staffs, multiple locations, and the latest technology. We don’t celebrate (as often), the dentists who go into public health. We don’t celebrate the dentists who work in prisons. We don’t celebrate the dentists who go into radiology or oral pathology. We don’t celebrate the dentists who go into academia. We don’t celebrate the dentists who are associates for the span of their career.
One of my mentors, whom I worked for one summer after my freshman year of college, had her own practice for years. She ended up selling it to become an associate for another dentist part time. She also worked in a prison part time, stating that she was tired of the business side of dentistry.
I met a dentist who practiced for a few years after graduation and realized she didn’t like patient care. She now works for Crest and loves it. How can a new grad/young dentist explore the options of their career if we keep holding the successful private practices up as the pinnacle of success for our profession?
Full-time in-patient care is not for everyone. I fear for dental students who come out of school, get a job as an associate in an office that just isn’t a good fit. Maybe the next office isn’t either, and begin to feel like something is wrong with them. They then scroll through social media and see how well their classmates appear to be doing and feel worse.
I look at myself as an example in my newly burgeoning career in academia and think “am I still a real dentist?”
I recently was looking through a dental magazine with the eponymous “40 under 40.” There were a few dentists who were lauded for their success in the public health setting but the vast majority were private practice owners.
To be honest, I had a fleeting moment where I thought, “I’ll never be that.” And yet, in my heart I love what I do; I am proud of the choices I have made in my career, but the list made me feel less than for a few minutes.
New dentists: the degree and the diploma are what make you the dentist, and unless you have some heinous/grave issue that comes up, you will always be a dentist. You get to decide the trajectory of your career. If you have been out and don’t like patient care, do something else. Please don’t look at your colleagues and feel like you are beholden to the full-time private practice, eventual practice owner path to be the definition of success.
Let us truly celebrate the options in our career. Spend some time alone. Maybe this means not talking to dental friends and colleagues, or maybe getting off social media for a little bit. Take a hard look at your life and career to figure out who you are, what your needs are, and what you really want out of life and your career. How much money do you really need to be happy and to live the life you want?
I had no idea how much patient care was affecting me until I was at the dental school on the clinic floor, working with students, and I realized I didn’t have a million thoughts swirling around in my head. I didn’t how it was affecting me until I realized that I felt physically lighter and unburdened. Like I said, I LOVED being in patient care.
For me, that old adage of “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” came true when I started in academia. I don’t feel like I’m at work. I would even go so far as to describe the feeling as, when I’m on the clinic floor, at peace.
People tell you to open your own practice to be able to do things “your way” and to not have to answer to anyone. That is fine. We are not all built to carry the weight of stress that comes with being a practice owner, and that’s OK.
Life is short, but you don’t know until something comes along to show you how short it is. A classmate of mine passed from cancer last year in his early 40s. Can you imagine if he had spent his years practicing unhappily because of feeling like his career should have looked a certain way? You are the captain of your ship. Make it a ship that fits your individual journey.
Let us truly celebrate our career and all the options and versions of success it provides us.
Dr Elizabeth Simpson is a general dentist from Indianapolis, Indiana. She attended Tufts University School of Dentistry for her dental education. After graduation, she did a one-year General Practice Residency at Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry. She is now a clinical assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Dentistry. She is a member of the American Dental Association Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention, on a diversity task force with the Indiana Dental Association, and a guest blogger with the ADA New Dentist Now Blog.
Oral Health Foundation appoints new president Mhari Coxon
Mhari Coxon has been revealed as the new president of the Oral Health Foundation.
Mhari has worked in dentistry from 1992-2010, with a portfolio of career progression across dental practices, associations, faculties, and hospital environments.
Mhari remains a registered dental hygienist, moving to a second career in healthcare marketing in 2010, and is currently Healthcare and Prescription Marketing Strategy Lead for Northern Europe at Johnson & Johnson. Mhari is also a member at the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
With a longstanding passion for oral healthcare, Mhari was officially appointed on 6 December when the board of trustees met at the Royal Society of Public Health.
Mhari believes the charity continues to have a key role helping to create healthier communities and reduce to harm caused by dental disease.
Mhari says: “In the past two years, the way in which we view our health has changed drastically, yet rates…
Poor glycaemic control results in tooth loss in middle age, study finds
ŌTSU, Japan: In the largest study of its kind, researchers in Japan have analysed glycaemic control and natural tooth retention to investigate the association between the two. They have uncovered evidence that people with higher haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and elevated fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, indices of poor glycaemic control, have poorer tooth retention.
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