Dear DrBicuspid Member,
The dental community is up in arms over a recent Consumer Reports article that claims oral cancer screening is one of several diagnostic tests that are overrecommended and unnecessary for all but high-risk patients.
Notably, the ADA and the Oral Cancer Foundation vehemently disagree with the magazine's conclusions, asserting that visual chairside screening can result in earlier diagnosis of oral cancer and other oral diseases. Click here to read more, including reaction from the Consumer Reports Ratings Center.
Meanwhile, over in the Restoratives Community, researchers at Tufts University are exploring an interesting possibility in the development of third molars: Could misplaced inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) blocks that strike third-molar buds prevent them from growing into teeth? A new study in the Journal of the American Dental Association points to an association. Read more.
And in the latest installment of our popular Dental Heroes series, we profile Dr. Charles Tozzer and his Dental Care for Children organization, which has been delivering free dental care to thousands of children in Mexico, Haiti, and Southern California for more than a decade.
