Do we need more dental schools? And, athletes have higher caries risk

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Does the U.S. need more dental schools? That was the topic of a debate between Dr. Dominick DePaola, dean of academic affairs at Nova Southeastern University's College of Dental Medicine, and Dr. David Nash, professor of pediatric dentistry at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, at the recent American Dental Education Association meeting.

The issue is more complicated than you might think, with those in favor arguing that healthcare reform will create more need for dentists to treat underserved populations, and those opposed contending that huge debt loads will prevent graduates from going where they're needed most. Click here to read more.

In other Practice Management Community news, Delta Dental of Minnesota has notified patients of the Smile Center dental clinics that personal information used in a lawsuit between the two companies has been compromised after a laptop computer and computer disk containing the data were stolen from an expert witness at the University of Minnesota. Read more.

Over in the Hygiene Community, a combination of dietary habits, sports drink consumption, and dehydration puts elite athletes at high risk of poor oral health, which could impact their performance, according to research from the University of Otago in New Zealand.

And in our latest Cosmetics Community feature, contrary to previous research findings, a group of cancer patients who took intravenous bisphosphonates while on chemotherapy did not develop osteonecrosis of the jaw. Was a dental exam prior to starting treatment the key? Read more about this new study, published in the May Journal of the American Dental Association.