Highlights from Chicago Midwinter; UCLA promotes dental diversity

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

I just returned from the Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting, where we saw a little snow, a lot of new products, and renewed optimism about the economic health of dentistry.

One of the most interesting products on display was, literally, a new Android-based display for the MVP-7 PerioLase device. Recognizing that the current user display on the PerioLase was "antiquated," Millennium Dental opted to go with tablet technology rather than a proprietary OEM design to help users take advantage of Android's graphics capabilities and quarterly software updates. Click here to read more.

In other Hygiene Community news, a long-term study of U.S. veterans has found that a high-fiber diet -- including bananas, apples, oranges, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, spinach, peanuts, oatmeal, and other grains -- significantly reduced the presence of periodontal disease in older men. Read more.

Meanwhile, over in the Oral Cancer & Diagnostics Community, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is now recommending that boys 11 years and up should get Merck & Co.'s Gardasil vaccine to protect them against HPV infections, which have been shown to increase the risk of oral and other cancers. Previously the AAP had only backed routine vaccination for girls. Read more.

And the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry is doing its part to ensure the dental profession remains within reach for students from underprivileged backgrounds through three programs designed to help high school students, college students, and graduates obtain skills and experience in dental research, understand the issues facing the profession, and guide them down the path to becoming practicing dentists. Read more.

Finally, don't forget to check out our first-ever Special Report, Advances in Periodontal Research, a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of oral bacteria, the causes of periodontal disease, and what lies ahead in the commercial development of salivary diagnostics.