Blogs

All Posts (4561)

Sort by

Biologically Active 'Scaffold' May Help Humans Replace Lost Or Missing Bone

Posted by Giovanni Castellucci, DMD on October 26, 2009 at 10:00am
Scientist and Professor Meital Zilberman of Tel Aviv University's Department of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new biologically active "scaffold" made from soluble fibers, which may help humans replace lost or missing bone. The invention, which does not yet have a name, could be used to restore missing bone in a limb lost in an accident, or repair receded jawbones necessary to secure dental implants, says Prof. Zilberman. The scaffold can be shaped so the bone will grow into the proper form. They're also specially developed to release bioactive drugs and proteins in a controlled manner. After a period of time, the fibers can be programmed to dissolve, leaving no trace. Her technology also has potential uses in cosmetic surgery. Instead of silicon implants to square the chin or raise cheekbones, the technology can be used to "grow your own" cheekbones or puffy lips. But Prof. Zilberman says it's far too early to think of such uses. She first started her work in biomaterials at the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas, and currently is concentrating on various medical applications. One of them intends to make dental implants more effective. She envisions applying the invention to organ tissue regeneration in the future. This sounds extremely promising for dental implant treatment! Comments? Source: Science Daily
Read more…

Zirconia, More Biocompatible than High Noble Gold Alloy PFM's???

Posted by Ira N. Dickerman, CDT on October 21, 2009 at 11:41pm
This evening I had a presentation at my dental laboratory with NobelBiocare. The title of the lecture was Zirconia vs PFM Restorations. The speaker, Dr. Thomas Williams showed several examples of less than ideal soft tissue health that resolved with changing to porcelain fused to zirconia restorations. What is the general observations of others on WebDental regarding this subject? Are all ceramics and even composite restorations more biocompatible thna PFM's? Please understand that as a dental technician I don't have the daily opportunity for intraoral observations of my own. Follow to see full course description.http://dickermandental.com/" target="_blank">
Read more…

"White wine rots your teeth...", what's next?

Posted by Cary Feuerman, DMD on October 21, 2009 at 10:00pm


“White wine rots your teeth… and brushing makes it worse,” claimed the Daily Mail today, a British newspaper. This statement was based on a study published in the Journal of Nutrition Research. According to the study, dental erosion from red wine is not as severe. 'The tradition of enjoying different cheeses for dessert or in combination with drinking wine might have a beneficial effect on preventing dental erosion because cheese contains calcium in a high concentration.' The British National Health Service takes issue with the research and findings. What do you think?

Read more…

Medicaid: Millions of Children Still Have Untreated Tooth Decay

Posted by Giovanni Castellucci, DMD on October 10, 2009 at 8:17am
Low-income kids continue to have difficulty getting proper dental care through Medicaid according to the Government Accountability Office. Some of you may remember the tragic case of a twelve year old boy who died in 2007 because of a brain infection which originated from an untreated dental abscess. Investigators determined that many people, including children, simply do not take advantage of the Medicaid programs in place to help them maintain good dental health. Does this bode well for universal health and/or dental care? photo from Positive Health Online
Read more…

The End of Dental Implants?

Posted by Cary Feuerman, DMD on October 8, 2009 at 7:30am

Researchers in China have hypothesized that third molar tooth buds could be harvested during development and later used to replace missing teeth in the future. Could this mean the end of dental implant treatment? The dental implant manufacturers probably have nothing to worry about anytime soon. Time will tell. Comments?

Read more…

American Dental Association Celebrates 150 Years!

Posted by Cary Feuerman, DMD on October 3, 2009 at 9:30am

Congratulations on 150 Years!

The American Dental Association turned 150 years old this year, and it’s in very good health for its age. With 157,000 members, the ADA represents more than 70 percent of U.S. dentists, making it the world’s largest and oldest national dental association—America’s leading advocate for oral health.

It's hard to believe that the ADA has been in existence for 150 years. Are you satisfied with the benefits of membership, and the role that the ADA has played in organized dentistry, public health and dental awareness?

Read more…

Tooth Implanted in Eye Helps Woman to See Again

Posted by Giovanni Castellucci, DMD on September 27, 2009 at 1:00pm

Perhaps you have heard about this amazing procedure which recently helped a Miami woman regain her lost eyesight. A prosthetic lens was inserted into a tooth that was removed from the patient, and then implanted into the eye. The surgical technique, modified osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis (MOOKP), has proven effective in cases where severe corneal scarring blocks vision, but the eye remains healthy. Has anyone heard of this before? Thoughts or comments? From CNNhealth.com photo credit: Rich Phillips/CNN
Read more…

ADA Combats Fears of Mercury Toxicity

Posted by Jamie Bull on September 21, 2009 at 2:41pm
The ADA made an announcement recently that it was urging Congress not to support a resolution that "expressed the need for enhanced public awareness of potential health effects posed by mercury." The resolution made frequent references to mercury in dental amalgam.The primary argument is that most public concern over the mercury content in amalgam is based on shoddy science and internet rumors. The ADA made the case that there is no credible, peer-reviewed science available to show that amalgam is toxic.Where do you stand? Do your patients know the content of what you are putting in their fillings? Do they even care?
Read more…

WebDental Job Board Launches

Posted by Jamie Bull on September 21, 2009 at 1:53pm
We recently launched a job board where WebDental members can post resumes, view jobs, create alerts and find open positions from resources all over the Web.

So if you are looking, or even if you are just curious to see what else is out there, head over and check it out on the top navigation bar.
Read more…

Is Drinking Water Destroying Your Patient's Teeth?

Posted by Jamie Bull on September 15, 2009 at 12:58pm
The New York Times just had this eye opening article toxic water supplies and its impact on peoples health. If people have to put on special lotion on their skin aver showering, I can't even imagine the damage that it is doing to their teeth.I have become attached to my Brita water filter over the years, but doubt that it would stand up to all the toxins in the types of water supplies that the article talks about.It makes me wonder what being a dentist is like in areas like this. Have you worked with any patients who had difficulty getting access to clean water? How has it impacted their oral health and what have you been able to do to keep them healthy and safe?Photo Credit:Damon Winter, The New York Times
Read more…

"Lip Fillers" and Cosmetic Dentistry

Posted by Cary Feuerman, DMD on September 12, 2009 at 10:00am

One of the newest treatments on the frontier of cosmetic dentistry is Juvederm and Restylane. These are injectable fillers that can create fullness in the lips,as well as to eliminate "smiles lines". We have all been taught that the lips are the frame for the smile, and the teeth represent the "artwork". An increasing number of restorative dentists have embraced these techniques and are incorporating them into their daily esthetic dentistry practices. What are thoughts about this? Any experience?

Read more…

ADA Lobbying for Increased Dental Medicaid Funding

Posted by Jamie Bull on September 3, 2009 at 3:37pm
A recent article in the Nation's Journal provided insight into the ADA's lobbying activity around the current proposed heathcare reform legislation. Increasing funding for dental medicaid is a primary focus of the ADA according to the article.The ADA noted that low-income Americans are the ones hit hardest when it comes to access to adequate dental care and they would like to see a larger government role in addressing the problem.The director of the ADA's Washington office noted that having dental Medicaid included to the proposed healthcare legislation and that is a top priority.What do you think. Many are doubtful that the Obama administration will be able to pass any healthcare reform legislation this year. How likely do you think anything that passes will include the kind of dental coverage that the ADA is spending your membership dollars to lobby for?
Read more…

Dental Implants Increasingly Preferred for Tooth Restorations

Posted by Cary Feuerman, DMD on September 2, 2009 at 1:30pm

The American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) said times have changed and patients should forego prolonged dental heroics to save failing teeth and replace them with long-lasting dental implants.

"There really is no justification for undergoing multiple endodontic or periodontic procedures, and enduring the pain and financial burden, to save a diseased tooth," said John Minichetti, DDS, speaking for the AAID. "The days are over for saving teeth till they fall out. Preserving questionable teeth is not the best option from both oral health and cosmetic perspectives."

This is certainly true in modern dental times. The question for many practitioners is "Where do you draw the line?", or "At what point do you condemn the tooth?" There is definitely a difference in opinion in this regard. Do you typically rely on your own personal judgement, or that of a specialist, or maybe both?

Read more…

26% of Dentists Quit ADA

Posted by Jamie Bull on August 27, 2009 at 3:00pm

Okay, so I know I've been blogging a lot about survey data lately, but this one really piqued my interest and I wanted to hear what everyone hear thought of it.The data comes from TheWealthyDentist.com and says that more than 1 in 4 dentists has quit the ADA for one reason or another.What is your take on the ADA? Everyone I've heard from seems to have their own opinion. Whether they join for insurance reasons, events, or the magazine, it seems that the ADA is completely different things to different people.Do you think that they are doing enough to advance the profession?
Read more…

Problems with Dental Patients Texting In-Chair

Posted by Jamie Bull on August 27, 2009 at 2:30pm
A survey from the Chicago Dental Society has some pretty interesting stats on exactly how likely patients are to send text messages or take cell phone calls while in the dentists' chair.The survey was taken from a sample of their Facebook fans. Not exactly a scientific sampling, but interesting nonetheless.It found that 46 percent of dentists say in-chair messaging hampers their ability to provide care.I have to admit, during my last visit to my dentist, I pulled out my iPhone to catch up on work emails while she was looking at my x-rays, but I shut it down and opened the 'ol chompers back up nice and wide once she came back in the room.Being a "digital nomad" to the core and always connected, I can empathize with the desire to be reachable at any moment of the day, but is nothing safe from the impact of our connected lives? It still blows my mind how social norms can change so fast.The article also mentions dentists attempting (ineffectively) to enforce no-texting policies in the office. Is this an issue at your practice?What have you done to try and resolve it? Has it worked?
Read more…

Chart Auditing article printed in Dental Assisting Digest by Dr. Ron Arndt and Mary Beth Bajornas

Posted by Mary Beth Bajornas on August 25, 2009 at 9:37pm
CHART AUDITINGRonald F. Arndt, DDS, MBA, MAGD, MCCMary Beth Bajornas, CMT,VAHow much dentistry is sitting on your wall? What financial opportunities are you missing with your patients of record? What are you willing to do to “harvest the diamonds in your own back yard?”Chart auditing is the review of charts to determine the status of idle patients. Chart auditing is done by the front desk staff, and should be done minimally on an annual basis. Although this task can be time consuming it can also result in the reactivation of numerous, otherwise lost, patients.Chart auditing should consist of the following: Review of patient’s last appointment How long has it been since they have been in? What did their last appointment consist of? What was their next recommended appointment? Has any contact with the patient been initiated prior to audit?It’s easiest to work chart by chart. After review a personal phone contact should try to be made with the following sample script: “Hello Mrs. Smith, this is Suzie from Dr. Arndt’s office. I am so glad to have finally contacted you personally! How are you doing? We have noticed that you haven’t been to our office in over 18 months, and realize that you are past due for your cleaning. Is there a good day and time for you that we could schedule you with the hygienist?”If the patient for some reason states they are unhappy with treatment, dentistry, etc. you could say the following “ Mrs. Smith, I hope you can give us the opportunity to take care of this – I am sure Dr. Arndt would want me to schedule an appointment for you with him personally for a consultation. Is there a specific day and time that might work for you to come in and speak with Dr. Arndt?”If no personal contact can be made, a reactivation letter can be sent. A reactivation letter should be short and to the point. It should state the patient’s last appointment, what they had done, any treatment that has been recommended, and what they are now due for. At the bottom of the letter a request should be made of the patient to respond to the following: They have moved and wish their records to be forwarded to their new dentist They will not be returning and if they choose to tell why They didn’t realize they were so far behind and wish to schedule an appointment so please call They do wish to schedule but will call when convenient for themA return envelope should be included for the patient’s convenience, and they are more apt to return the request this way.As each request comes in, the patient’s chart should reflect their response. Forwarding records and contacting patient’s for appointments should be done the day the response is received.If after 14 days there is no response, a follow up phone call should be made with this sample script “Hello Mr. George, this is Suzie from Dr. Arndt’s office. How are you?! We haven’t seen you in a while and recently sent out a reactivation letter to you requesting you to advise us of your patient status. We haven’t heard back from you and are touching base to make sure all is ok! We really miss seeing you on your recall visits. Is there a good day and time for you to come in to see Dr. Arndt?”If after multiple attempts there has been no contact, the patient account can be inactivated, with complete and thorough chart notes being added of “no response from patient”. Copies of the reactivation letters should be kept, and any attempts at communication should be recorded as well.By doing chart audits annually, you an ensuring: The patient base you currently have is active. No patient has “slipped through the cracks”. An increase in production by actively working this system. The opportunity to “right” things that may be “wrong”.How long has it been since your charts have been audited? How much production is just lying around in your office, waiting for someone to act upon it? There has to be a consistent method of patient tracking in place and your practice cannot afford to overlook the obvious.To really make your system effective you will want to establish measurables to determine your progress. Below are some of those expectations that you and the team will want to observe every week.1. Establish a goal of 16 calls per day or two per hour.2. How many patients were called?3. How many patients were actually spoken too or contacted?4. How many patients scheduled and what was the value of the treatment scheduled?5. Establish a specific time to review each week.Are you utilizing external marketing but haven’t audited charts? Your practice has many, many internal resources for filling your schedule and your whole team needs to be on board to renew relationships the patients you already have!Remember, your practice is either growing or dying. There’s pretty much nothing in between.Dr. Ron Arndt, The Dental Coach™, works with dentists who want to be in control of their practice rather than the practice controlling them. What that means for them is that they think, act and behave like an ethical CEO because they want to lead more, manage less and be much more profitable in much less time. He is the first and only dentist in the world to hold the coveted designation Master Certified Coach (MCC) awarded by the ICF. He is the author of RIGHT HIRING for the Dental Team and several ThinBooks. He can be reached at www.DrArndt.com or 440‐748‐6161.Mary Beth Bajornas is a Virtual Assistant to dental and business professionals with over 20 years of management, administrative and dental front office experience. Her technique of staff education for the front office to be in “The Perpetual State of Preparedness” is dead on for streamlining front office and patient service functions. She can be reached at www.SuperiorAssisting.com or 330-324-3865
Read more…

Have Bad Breath? Here's some tips to share how to remedy it

Posted by Divij Bhatia on August 25, 2009 at 4:30pm
Something that we are all afraid of as people is having bad breath and leaving a poor first impression on anyone, whether its a hot date or your boss. Some of the common symptoms of bad breath include; smoking, not brushing properly, and eating the wrong foods. We all think its as easy as chewing a piece of gum to remedy the situation, but it can be a little more complicated than that.Some of the more common remedies to get rid of bad breath include:1. Drinking plenty of water: If your mouth is dry, drink plenty of water. Try swooshing it around in your mouth for at least twenty seconds to loosen any food particles the bacteria can feed upon.2. Increase Saliva: Chew sugarless gum or suck on sugarless lozenges to increase the flow of saliva3. Keep it Green:Chlorophyll is a natural breath freshener and is found in leafy green vegetables like parsley(more tips with the article)If you have any bad breath tips that you share with your patients or just tips to think about for daily use, please post them!You can read the rest of the article at Health & Fitness here
Read more…

Virtual Assisting for Dentists?

Posted by Mary Beth Bajornas on August 25, 2009 at 10:30am
Virtual Assistants for Dentists?Ronald F. Arndt, DDS, MBA, MAGD, MCCwww.drarndt.comI know. I know. Most of you are probably asking yourself what is a virtual assistant? Is this another one of Dr. Ron’s “new age” ideas? And for those of you who know you are probably asking how on earth can virtual assistants support a dentist? I am here to tell you.I myself have used a VA for over 9 years. She takes care of the things that I don’t want to take care of. Takes care of things that I don’t have time to take care of. This allows me to focus solely on my clients, their wants and needs and to continue to expand my horizons. Instead of listing what my requirements are for a VA you can obtain this list by contacting me directly. Let’s just be safe and say there isn’t much my VA, Donna, doesn’t do for me. From client contact to newsletters, website maintenance, correspondence, blog integrations, webcasts and video streaming; she does it all! If you would like a complete list of my VA requirements, please feel free to contact me. I would love to share it with you.Let me explain exactly what a virtual assistant is. A virtual assistant is an “off-site” employee who offers administrative and office support services “virtually”; meaning through use of the Internet and email, phone, and fax. Virtual assistants are considered self employed contractors therefore there are no payroll taxes to pay, no vacations or sick time to worry about and no internal conflicts to work around. You are truly getting your money’s worth as a virtual assistant is paid by special project, or retained for a specific number of hours to complete a specific task. (Retainer fees usually offer you some type of financial break) Overall a virtual assistant saves you time and money. And here’s the great news. There are dedicated virtual assistants who have actual experience in a dental office and can provide you with unmatched patient service and personal support.Dental Virtual Assistants (DVA’s) offer a wide range of administrative support and services aimed directly at increasing your production and collections and take a sincere interest in helping you grow your business. Most DVA’s utilize remote access software which allows them to work from your computer as if they were actually sitting right in front of it!A DVA’s position would be to act as a direct extension of you; make your job easier and therefore make your life better. Allow you to go to work with a sense of confidence that someone has everything covered. Allow you to go in and do what you do best…. Your dentistry. Sounds good doesn’t it?DVA’s talents can be used in many areas of your office:• Recall – How is yours looking? Do you have more than 100 patients registered as past due on recall? A DVA can make these important contacts with your patients and get them back in your schedule!• Undone treatment list – How much is sitting in your bucket? Let a DVA help move this to your production schedule. Letters, phone calls and emails to patients. Improving your patient contact on many levels.• Confirmation calls – Are yours done in a timely manner beginning at least 2, but desired 3, days prior to the patient’s appointment? Do you have a short call list to fill in for last minute cancels or no-shows?• Insurance submission and follow-up – If you have anything past 30 days in your reports something needs to change. A DVA can provide daily insurance support to get claims processed and paid promptly.• Collections – A well versed DVA can help collect on past due accounts and save you from having to use a collection agency.• New Patient Packages and Input – Do your new patient packages go out the day the patient scheduled? Do you even have a well designed new patient package? The DVA can input new patient information, obtain and input insurance information prior to patient’s appointment to get the most benefit from first appointment, order previous records, obtain pertinent medical information such as premedication, and send out the new patient packages immediately.• Newsletters and direct mail campaigns – Does your office offer patient education in the form of newsletters? Newsletters are a fantastic, economical way to keep in touch with your patients, and advise them of new techniques and products available in your office. Direct mail campaigns can do the same and new patients can be targeted as well.There are many more ways to utilize a DVA but this gives you a general idea. There are many things to consider for your practice:• What does my payroll look like? It is between the 22-27% industry standard?• Do you really need another full time front desk person, or could you hire a DVA to accomplish the “behind the scenes” tasks in a more efficient, cost saving way?• What does your front desk look like? Are you satisfied with the way your schedule looks on a daily basis? Are you scheduling to goal? How about collections? Recall?• Make a list of what you would like to have a DVA be responsible for that would include expectations and time tables.• Try one on for size! If you are unsure of how this whole process works, yet you are intrigued, try just one task as a sample with the DVA to see how the whole process works. You’ll be glad you did!I personally know a DVA, Mary Beth Bajornas, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with over the past 7 years. Mary Beth has over 20 years of administrative, office management and dental office experience that she brings to the table. She has devised a technique for “front office alignments” if you will that she calls The Perpetual State of Preparedness. She can actually work with and counsel your front staff “virtually” to streamline protocols, techniques and tasks for maximum efficiency and outcomes. She offers this service along with the above mentioned support. Check out her website at www.SuperiorAssisting.com.
Read more…