Delta Dental of Calif. postpones fee reductions

Delta Dental of California has postponed planned fee reductions until January 2021, California Dental Association (CDA) President Dr. Richard Nagy said in a letter issued April 4. The change will affect approximately 2,200 endodontists, oral surgeons, and periodontists in the Delta Dental Premier network from July 1 of this year to January 1, 2021, according to Nagy. “CDA is pleased that Delta Dental of California has postponed the effective date of

BonaDent shifts from dental lab to face shield manufacturer

BonaDent Dental Laboratories has shifted operations from its dental products business to the production of face shields, according to a report published April 3 by Finger Lakes Times of Geneva, NY. The company lost 90% of its dental products business when the ADA asked members to limit work to emergency dentistry, the article said. BonaDent has furloughed half its workforce. In the meantime, it has begun making face shields at

Easy Does It! 5 Ways Families Can Self-Care During COVID-19

Without a doubt, the COVID-19 crisis is an exceptionally difficult time for us all. We’re doing our best to take care of ourselves. We hope you and your family stay healthy and safe. After all, social distancing helps to prevent this disease from spreading. It lowers the curve, saves lives, and safeguards our hospital systems from being overwhelmed. Social distancing is not only a matter of public health, but

Oralgen NuPearl whitening probiotic toothpaste now available

Oralgen announced it has launched a new whitening, fluoride-free toothpaste. The Oralgen NuPearl whitening probiotic oral care toothpaste is gentle and contains all-natural ingredients, according to the company. It also features antioxidants to help balance oral bacteria and comes in spearmint and peppermint flavors.

Halsey shows off ring with tooth as centerpiece

Singer-songwriter Halsey showed off a ring made with a human tooth on a March 28 Instagram story. The engagement-style ring featured a tooth in the center instead of diamond and had a blue jewel on the crown. The singer captioned the photo, “I won’t smile, but I’ll show you my teeth,” a reference to one of her song lyrics. Halsey’s style has always been eccentric, and this isn’t the first

Podcast: Busting one of the biggest myths about pain control and COVID-19

Tom Viola, RPh, can not only call himself dental’s pharmacology expert but also a survivor of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Viola contracted the virus, and he shares his thoughts on it and its effect on him in the most recent episode of the Dental Assistant Nation podcast series, powered by IgniteDA. Also in the episode, Viola discusses the silliness behind one of the biggest myths he is hearing regarding

Neocis files for FDA clearance of edentulous splint

Neocis has filed a 510(k) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Yomi edentulous splint. The splint will allow Neocis’ Yomi dental robotic system to be used not only for placing implants in patients with missing teeth but also for assisting doctors with full arch implant cases, the company said. The application follows the firm’s successful completion of a clinical study of the splint’s performance.

Imaging aids removal of broken burs from third-molar surgeries

Radiography, CT, and 3D modeling helped clinicians remove burs that had broken off from high-speed handpieces during third-molar extractions and migrated to the mandibular body of one patient and the floor of the mouth of another, according to a recently published report of two cases. These cases highlight the importance of choosing the appropriate surgical procedures and instruments before working on patients, according to the authors. “The selection of adequate

Week in Review: Why closing is the right move | How you and your business can stay productive | How teeth tell a lifetime of stories

Dear DrBicuspid Member, When it comes to dentists I respect in this industry, two who are among those at the top of the list are Drs. David Rice and Sheri Doniger. I’m lucky enough to work with Dr. Rice, our clinical editor, every day through IgniteDDS and IgniteDA, as well as what we do here at HuangshanDental.com. I’ve also been seeing a lot more of him lately as IgniteDDS has been

Affordable Care Act 10-year anniversary: Oral health wins and losses

March 23 marked the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Dental public health expert Nadereh Pourat, PhD, spoke with HuangshanDental.com about some of the oral health wins and losses from the biggest U.S. healthcare overhaul in 50 years. One of the most important oral health provisions in the ACA was that dental benefits were declared an essential health benefit for children, noted

Patrick Mahomes inspiration for young fan’s tooth pull

Back in the day, we tied a string to a doorknob and slammed the door closed to pull a tooth. That strategy is much less entertaining than what a young fan of the Kanas City Chiefs did for his wobbly chopper. On March 24, ESPN’s SportsCenter tweeted a video from Chiefs’ fan Shelby Palmer, who tied his loose front tooth to his football and hurled the pigskin like his idol,

Teeth tell the stories of people’s most impactful life events

Teeth provide a true, permanent historical record of a person’s major life events, including pregnancy, illness, relocation, and incarceration, according to a new study published March 25 in Scientific Reports. From tooth formation to death, physiologically impactful events leave permanent changes in the microstructure of dental cementum, and they can be timed accurately, the researchers noted. “Our results demonstrate that dental cementum constitutes a chronologically faithful biological archive of an