The upside of corporate dentistry; novel resins improve composites

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

From accusations of Medicaid abuse and financial mismanagement to the recent Bloomberg report on how private equity firms are increasingly the "silent partners" behind many corporate dental chains, questions are mounting over the ethics of this business model and its potential effect on the future of dentistry.

But a presentation at the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry annual meeting in San Diego last week painted a very different picture of what it's like to work for one of these large group practices. Read more.

In other Practice Management Community news, ethics were also the focus of an article on electronic health records (EHRs) in the current Journal of Dental Education. EHRs make it easier to input, duplicate, store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit, and archive patient data. But the evolution from paper to electronic charts has also prompted concern for the safety and privacy of patient information. Click here to read more.

Meanwhile, over the in the Restoratives Community, a line of unique elastomers developed by a biomedical materials company appears to offer some advantages over traditional polymeric matrix resins used in dental composites. Read more.

Finally, a chance encounter with an emergency patient prompted veteran dentist William T. Brown to rethink his priorities when it comes to expectations -- his own and those of his patients.