Dear DrBicuspid Member,
The new year has arrived and with it an opportunity to remind clinicians to be vigilant about infection control. An article in the Journal of the American Dental Association has outlined new screening guidelines and reiterated best practices for preventing the spread of dangerous viruses such as hepatitis C in dental settings. Read Rob Goszkowski's article here.
The seemingly simple question of "Do you take Medicaid patients?" starts many debates. In his latest column, Thomas Climo, PhD, analyzes the reasons why "numerous dentists" have told him they "wanted nothing to do" with a practice with a large Medicaid patient roll and why they might be wrong. Read more of his insights here.
In a first-of-its-kind study of leadership issues in dentistry, researchers from the University of Michigan found that for a large percentage of dentists, leadership within their practice is defined as providing the best care for their patients.
In an interview with DrBicuspid.com, the study's corresponding author, Dr. Marita Inglehart, talks about how dentists define leadership, what leadership means on a day-to-day basis in their practice, and how women entering dentistry might change the leadership of organized dentistry. Read more here.
DrBicuspid.com also spotlights a critical review published in the Journal of Dental Research that makes a contribution to one of the burgeoning issues in dentistry: when to extract and replace with an implant and when to try and save dentition. In the review, the authors explained the importance of reading into the nuances of studies trumpeting the success of dental implants. A success rate of more than 95% is frequently mentioned in implant discussions, but is it accurate?
The authors also compared long-term success rates of implants versus endodontic treatment gathered from different studies. Find out what the data show and what the authors recommend having examined dozens of studies on the subject at this link.
For those recovering from the weather issues on the East Coast and Midwest, we hope everyone is safe. We'd love to hear how you prepared and what stories you have from last week.
