Dental assistants in the U.S. face new laws, regulatory shifts

In 2021 and 2022, several states in the U.S. and the District of Columbia enacted legislative and regulatory changes affecting dental assistants, according to the Dental Assisting National Board’s (DANB) “State of the States” report. State changes include expanding the functions of dental assistants, updating supervision levels, and more, according to the report that outlines changes made between April and August 2022. Individual changes by location District of Columbia Effective

Dr. Low dishes on lasers, crown lengthening, and more

HOUSTON – Dr. Samuel Low spoke to HuangshanDental.com Editor-in-Chief Theresa Pablos about lasers for the treatment of periodontal conditions and crown lengthening, the topics of his two sold-out presentations at the 2022 ADA SmileCon meeting in Houston. Low shared why he thinks crown lengthening, in particular, is a popular topic for dentists. He also discussed why reading the news daily is a must for dental professionals. Watch the interview below.

Dental anxiety of parents affects children’s oral health

It is well established that oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is negatively impacted by negative dental experiences. However, a new study suggests that the dental anxiety of parents may also affect the OHRQoL of children who have not had a negative dental experience. Researcher Burak Çarıkçıoğlu of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University in Turkey analyzed the impact of parental dental anxiety on the OHRQoL of preschool children who not had

Renew and ProHealth Dental announce partnership

Renew and ProHealth Dental announced a partnership to expand Renew’s footprint with new surgical center locations across the New York tri-state area and New England region. Renew was founded by Dr. Don Miloni with the intention to transform the dental market with its fixed, removable, full-mouth, anchored dentures that can be completed in a one-day process. ProHealth currently provides services at 17 locations across the tri-state metropolitan New York area and

The Importance of Regular Dental Checkups

When was the last time you paid the doctor a visit? If you’re like many people, chances are it was more than six months ago. We hear the reasons why people neglect regular dental visits all the time: lack of money or quality dental insurance, busy schedules, and fear. However, your twice-yearly checkups are so important for your dental health and for your overall health as well. You may brush

9-year-old sets world record for 3rd-molar extraction

A boy in Virginia was 9 years and 327 days old when he had a wisdom tooth extracted, making him the youngest person in the world to undergo this procedure, according to a recent story in the Guinness World Records. Ryan Scarpelli learned that he needed the extraction when Dr. Kelly Morgan, an orthodontist at Morgan Orthodontics in Lansdowne, VA, noticed on a dental x-ray that the child had a wisdom

Oral surgeons change opioid-prescribing habits

Though U.S. oral and maxillofacial surgeons decreased overall opioid prescribing by 20% between 2016 and 2019, they wrote more prescriptions for codeine and tramadol, according to a brief communication published on October 9 in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. These prescribing habits should be monitored, since opioids, including tramadol, carry a high risk for addiction and dependence and are ineffective for dental pain, the authors wrote. “Interventions tailored to

How early life adversities affect access to pediatric dental care

Researchers evaluated the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the use of and delay of dental care among children in a study published on October 8 in the Pediatric Dental Journal. They found that ACEs often result in less dental care. “Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) encompass a wide range of constructs related to both child maltreatment and household dysfunction, including physical and emotional neglect, physical and emotional abuse, parental

Tooth loss increases risk of death in older adults

Oral health is tied to everything from Alzheimer’s disease to arthritis, but the evidence on the association between the mouth and mortality is still lacking. Researchers analyzed the link between tooth loss and death in older adults in a study published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Oral health issues cumulate later in life and negatively affect older adults. In the U.S., 93% of adults age 65 and

Does childhood diet cause impacted wisdom teeth?

Could a soft-food diet during childhood coupled with low levels of vitamin D be why so many people have impacted wisdom teeth? A graduate student from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada is getting to the bottom of it, according to university news. Elsa Van Ankum, a PhD student in the department of anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology at the university’s college of medicine, has received funding to use archeological samples

AI firm DentalMonitoring expands into Japan

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based dental and orthodontic treatment monitoring company DentalMonitoring has opened a new office in Tokyo. Headquartered in Paris, DentalMonitoring will make ScanBoxPro, a portable AI-powered device for monitoring treatment, including clear aligners and braces, available in Japan in October. To support the market in Japan, the company has set up a new direct sales team to help onboard and grow its customer base. The team will be led

World Smile Day: Which cities smile the most?

To celebrate World Smile Day on October 7, researchers analyzed the presence of smiling faces in 15,000 Instagram photos in 50 cities across the U.S. Their analysis of the American cities that smile the most was published by Shiny Smile Veneers. To calculate the cities that smile the most, researchers looked for Instagram photos posted in August 2022 that geotagged the 50 largest U.S. cities. Photos were deemed “smiley” if