Dear DrBicuspid Member,
Our popular Legal Cases series returns as William S. Spiegel and Dr. Marc Leffler detail a case in which an implant projected beyond the bony floor of a 60-year-old patient's sinuses. As they write, there can be a difference between acceptable clinical practice and what a jury might see. Read more here.
Also this week on DrBicuspid.com, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detailed a cluster of nine cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis among dental personnel treated at one care center in Virginia from 2000 to 2015. Occupational exposure to dental materials may be the culprit behind these cases, the authors speculated. Learn more here.
If your practice is not meeting your production and collection goals, ensuring your schedule is filled with patients who boost your per-hour reimbursement rate is one way to approach these goals. Practice management consultant Jen Butler offers seven practical tips to shift your practice to higher-reimbursement patients. Read more here.
How does flossing compare with other interdental oral hygiene aids for maintaining periodontal health? Could the longstanding dominance of floss be heading for a further tumble? Researchers analyzed the existing evidence in a new study and reached some interesting conclusions. Read more here.
About 38 million U.S. adults smoked in 2016, according to the CDC. That's about 16 out of every 100 adults. Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took a long-awaited administrative step toward regulations that may lower the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb stated that 5 million U.S. adults may quit smoking within a year if these regulations are implemented. I don't know if that estimate is realistic, but the proposed regulations might be a good first step.
