The patient’s knuckles whiten and his eyes roll as he clutches the arms of the chair. Suddenly he chomps on your fingers. As you start back in pain, he leaps to his feet, knocks down several thousand dollars worth of equipment, and dashes for the exit… without stopping to pay his bill. Nightmares like these — and the availability of new oral anti-anxiety drugs — help explain why more dentists
How much are patients willing to pay for cosmetic procedures? $495,000 per practice, per year! Or so calculates an American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry survey. Based on responses from 5,500 members, the big picture is pretty big: Cosmetic procedures earned dentists $2.75 billion in 2006, a 15% increase over 2005. Some other notable findings: The projected number of cosmetic dental patients, based on survey results, was approximately 485 patients per
That dazzling-white Hollywood smile is most patients’ dream, and their enthusiasm will likely grow — if insurance foots the bill. And that’s exactly what the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is doing. In a recent move, the company has expanded its dental plan coverage to include teeth whitening, citing client and broker demand as the key reason. “We believe that there is value in offering cosmetic teeth whitening because
Having a hard time convincing some patients that they really need cosmetic work? Maybe patients think their smile looks better than you think it does. Or so says a study in the latest issue of JADA. The study looked at 78 adults visiting a private practice in rural Norway. They were asked to rank their smiles on a visual analog scale, with one end of the spectrum being “not pleased”
What do IRS audits and root canals have in common? They both strike terror in the hearts of people. But there is a simple way to reduce the trauma of getting a root canal — go to an endodontist. At least that’s what a recent press release from the American Association of Endodontists claims, which points to an L.C. Williams & Associates poll. The poll’s not-so-surprising results: almost half of
Once the brightest flower in the health food field, fruit juice has come under a cloud lately. Sure, it’s chock full of vitamins, but as public health experts point out, it’s also too sugary, and the acid erodes tooth structure. Now a new day may be dawning; a study in the December Journal of the American Dental Association suggests that calcium can counteract the acid in the juice. Juice makers
WASHINGTON (Reuters) Dec. 13 U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday vetoed a bill expanding a popular children’s health care program for the second time, angering Democrats who are locked in a fight with the administration over the budget and spending. Pushed by the Democratic-led Congress but also supported by many Republicans, the bill was aimed at providing health insurance to about 10 million children in low and moderate-income families.
Chalk one up for the American Dental Association (ADA). Having lost a battle to keep dental health aide therapists out of Alaska, the organization has nearly won its war to ban them from the rest of the country. With only a high school education and two years of intensive dental training, dental health aide therapists are certified by the federal government to do simple extractions and restorations, as well as
Orthodontists take note: Ortho Organizers has added a rectangular version to its Super Elastic Nitanium Black Ti arch wire product line. This new product, like others in the line, has an ultrasmooth hard oxide surface that provides increased arch wire integrity and improved resiliency, while reducing sliding friction, according to the company. Ortho also claims the black oxide will not chip, wear, or peel. The rectangular Super Elastic Nitanium Black
A picture can be worth a thousand bucks–if you know how to take it properly. A clear, sharp, well lit intraoral photo can convince that stubborn insurance company or nervous patient that yes, some perio treatment or restorative work really is needed. Taking a winning shot doesn’t necessarily require mastering f/stops and Photoshop, says Richard Young, D.D.S. Dr. Young, who gave a talk on dental photography at the recent ADA
It’s safe. No it isn’t! Yes, it is! Reading the reports about bleaching and its dangers to dental structure is like watching a ping-pong match. That’s why in December two dental journals stepped in to arbitrate. And happily both agree on the winning message: bleaching is safe. But before you celebrate by uncorking a bottle of bubbly hydrogen peroxide, bear in mind that significant warnings still come along with the
They kill human cells on contact. They cause allergies. They mimic female hormones. And as more and more people keep using them, a health crisis may loom. That’s the dire assessment on resin-based composite filling materials, courtesy of Michel Goldberg, D.D.S., Ph.D., an emeritus professor of dental surgery at Paris Descartes University, who published his paper online in the November Clinical Oral Investigations. “It would be surprising [if] the harmful
