Should hygienists' duties expand? And, top research news from AADR

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

What U.S. hygienists are allowed to do and where they are allowed to do it would change in a number of ways under proposed legislation being considered by several states.

While New Jersey senators last week voted in favor of a bill that would give hygienists more leeway, the debate heated up in Connecticut during a hearing before the state Public Health Committee. Click here to read what those for and against expanding hygienists' duties had to say in this latest Practice Management Community feature.

Meanwhile, from the role of genomics in personalized dental care to the challenges that midlevel providers still face in being accepted by the dental community at large, there was lots of great research presented at the American Academy for Dental Research annual meeting in Tampa, FL, last week. DrBicuspid.com editors were on hand to cover dozens of presentations, including:

• The next paradigm for dental healthcare will be more personalized, and scientific advances such as genomics are already paving the way for new types of dental treatments, according to Martha Somerman, DDS, PhD, director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
• Midlevel providers continue to face an uphill battle when it comes to gaining broad acceptance among the dental community, University of Minnesota administrators reported, with many private dentists still concerned about salaries, overhead, patient acceptance, and liability.
• A study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania found that a commercially available alcohol-free mouthwash containing Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) decreased gingival inflammation and periodontal disease in pregnant women.
• All-ceramic crown materials, if handled properly, are effective for posterior crowns, according to research presented by the dean of the West Virginia University School of Dentistry.

In other research news in the Hygiene Community, a small protein named developmental endothelial locus 1 can arrest the processes that fuel oral inflammation and periodontitis, particularly in the elderly, according to a new study in Nature Immunology.

Finally, Dr. Marty Jablow shares his thoughts on some of his favorite products exhibited at the recent Chicago Midwinter Meeting. Click here to read what made the list in his latest "Ask Marty" Q&A.