Overcoming dental injection fears; celebrating100 years of dental hygiene

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

A quarter of adults report a clinically significant fear of dental injections, and 1 in 20 say they avoid dental treatment due to such fears.

Could a computer-assisted relaxation learning tool that uses a series of short videos to introduce coping strategies help reduce that fear? Yes, according to a new study in the Journal of Dental Research. Read more in this latest Restoratives Community feature.

And in honor of the 100th anniversary of dental hygiene practice, which the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) is celebrating this week at its annual meeting in Boston, Contributing Editor Mary Otto sat down with ADHA Executive Director Ann Battrell to get her thoughts on where the profession is today and what changes are on the horizon. Click here to read what she has to say about direct access, dental therapists, and dental hygiene education.

And in our ongoing EHR Countdown series, health IT expert Mike Uretz discusses the importance of identifying who owns the patient data when contracting with an electronic health records vendor.