Fla. opts for regional board exams; vote for the Excellence Awards finalists!

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Despite opposition from some members of the Florida Dental Association, the Florida Board of Dentistry has voted to switch to a regional testing system, joining the majority of states with reciprocal agreements that allow out-of-state dentists to practice there. Read more.

In other news, the U.S. periodontology profession has been steadily changing in favor of providing IV sedation in clinical practice, according to a survey in the Journal of Periodontology. Click here to learn more about what prompted this trend and how a generation gap is developing.

And the five-year survival rate of U.S. patients with cancer of the base of the tongue or tonsils improved significantly between 1980 and 2002, according to a study in Cancer Causes & Control. Read more.

Meanwhile, who is our latest Dental Hero? Dr. Terry Tanaka, who recently received the California Dental Association Foundation's 2011 Humanitarian Award for his decades of work treating thousands of poor children with cleft palate and related conditions.

Dr. Thomas Lenz is a hero of another sort, especially to members of the Washington Capitals National Hockey League team. Click here to read how he became the team dentist and how it has changed his life.

And in her latest Dental Diaries entry, Dr. Sheri Doniger talks about ending 2011 on a positive -- albeit busy -- note.

Finally, voting in the final round of the 2012 DrBicuspid Dental Excellence Awards has begun. Don't miss this opportunity to honor dentistry's best and brightest! Click here to vote, or go to dentalexcellenceawards.drbicuspid.com. Voting ends midnight, January 13.