Week in Review: Woman with tongue paralysis | Closures and hospital visits | New DrBicuspid website

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Could local anesthesia be the cause of a woman's tongue paralysis? Our top story of the week covers the case of a 64-year-old woman in Tennessee who experienced tongue paralysis that affected her ability to talk. The trouble started after the administration of local infiltration anesthesia for a dental restoration procedure.

Office closures tied to hospital visits

Dental office closures during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more dental conditions among publicly insured children presenting to hospital emergency departments, according to new research from New York University. The number of dental conditions diagnosed at hospitals increased by roughly 30% in the first few months of the pandemic.

In other COVID-19-related news, researchers demonstrated that oral tissues may play a distinct yet important role in the immunoinflammatory response to COVID-19. Immune profile complexity was directly influenced by time since COVID-19 diagnosis and local infection/replication burden, the researchers found.

Time to ditch the DDS degree?

With the advancement of medical-dental integration, some dentists are advocating for a single dental degree: the Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD). In a commentary published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, the authors argued that the DMD designation may better represent dentistry's current clinical scope of practice than the Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree.

New DrBicuspid website

Last but not least, I'm so excited to announce that DrBicuspid.com will be getting a brand new look next week. The new and improved website is set to launch on March 31, and I cannot wait for you to experience it.

To ensure a smooth transition, we will not publish content for a few days. Be sure to follow DrBicuspid on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to stay up to date during this time frame. I can't wait to write you again next week with an upgraded email and links to our new website.