Dear DrBicuspid Member,
This week the focus has been on a series of oral healthcare studies published in the journal Health Affairs. We've brought you articles on such topics as the following:
- Are school-based sealant programs cost-effective?
- Would expanding hygienists' scope of practice improve the oral healthcare of adults?
- Are U.S. adults struggling to afford dental care?
- Will the total number of U.S. dental visits increase through 2026?
What's important about these studies is the recognition that oral healthcare needs to be part of the national healthcare conversation, not on the sidelines. The editors at Health Affairs are to be congratulated for their willingness to bring the issues you grapple with every day into wider recognition.
Also this week on DrBicuspid.com, dentists are increasingly finding themselves on the front line of obstructive sleep apnea detection and treatment, writes Dr. Joseph Krainin of Singular Sleep. He offers some advice on how to answer your patients' questions about the condition and sleep dentistry, and he also discusses what guidelines you should be familiar with. Read his insightful column here.
We introduced a monthly new-product roundup in early November, and this popular feature is back for December. The feature profiles new products introduced during the past month that range from a universal composite to a sealant and more. Read our roundup here.
Patti DiGangi is back in part two of her series on a new dental code for gingival inflammation. She offers case examples and discusses opportunities this code has for practices. She also writes that, in addition to helping your patients become healthier, the code can create greater connections with medical care providers for your practice and increase profitability. Read her column here.
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