Dear DrBicuspid Member,
Are some dental students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham playing video games and going to the beach during clinic rotations instead of getting much-needed hands-on training with patients? That's what a recent report by the dental alumni association contends.
The association's Dental Oversight Committee surveyed and interviewed dental school faculty and students last fall and came away with what it calls "sobering" and "disturbing" conclusions about morale, organizational problems, and unproductive clinic rotations. Click here to read more, including what administrators are now doing to improve the situation.
In other news, given the dramatic rise in dental malpractice lawsuits stemming from missed oral cancer diagnoses, dental practitioners should make oral cancer screenings a standard part of every patient exam, according to a panel of attorneys and insurers who conducted a mock trial at the recent Chicago Midwinter Meeting. Read more.
And more than half of employed, low-income adults in Canada -- even those with some dental insurance -- can't afford adequate dental care, according to a new study in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. Is there anything insurers can do to help? Click here to see what some experts suggest.
