Location, location, location; gummy bears battle tooth decay

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

We've all heard the phrase "location, location, location." It was most definitely on my mind six years ago when I decided to move from our secluded canyon retreat to a house two doors away from my son's elementary school. The new house was smaller, but right across the street was a park with four baseball fields, three tennis courts, two jungle gyms, and a huge sandbox.

Talk about making life easier.

Location is just as important when deciding where to establish your practice. Is it better to be close to where your patients live, or close to where they work? A demographics specialist can help determine optimum dentist-to-population ratios, but numbers don't always tell the whole story. Read more here.

In addition to location, a sound marketing plan is critical to a successful practice, especially in tough economic times. Marketing specialist Richard Geller pinpoints three common marketing mistakes and how you can avoid them, here.

Cracked teeth and liposomes

On the clinical side of dentistry, a Dutch researcher has found that cracked tooth repairs can outlast the "seven-year itch," challenging the American Association of Endodontists' recommendation that root canals should be performed on cracked teeth exhibiting thermal sensitivity. Read more about the implications of this long-term study, presented at the recent International Association for Dental Research (IADR) meeting.

Also from the IADR meeting: a randomized study by Brazilian researchers concludes that encasing mepivacaine in liposomes makes the injection hurt less and the anesthesia last longer. They are now working to commercialize the product for clinical use. Read more here.

In other news this week, gummy bears battle dental disease, Japanese researchers recommend baking teeth, and overbleaching reaches epidemic proportions. Check out the News in Brief!

Finally, we want to thank the hundreds of DrBicuspid members who took the time to respond to our recent user survey. Your input is invaluable in helping us create new tools and resources for you. Stay tuned!