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 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
Your teeth are made from the hardest substance in your entire body. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean they are invincible. Even the most well-cared-for teeth can crack, chip, or break under certain pressures. Whether you had a bad fall or bit down on something too hard, it is important that you let a dentist evaluate your tooth damage – even if it is not currently producing pain. The Danger of a
New Dentists, Practice Management By: Allen Vean, DMD Imagine this scene: You walk into the office ready to start the day and your office manager approaches you, asking to speak with you. Your first thought is, “uh-oh!” Your office manager is concerned that patient waiting time is increasing and patients must wait for three to four weeks for treatment. Furthermore, new patients have expressed concerns regarding wait time for an
Practice Management By: Scott Frederick, DDS For years I was stuck having the same repetitive day —seeing patients, being stressed out trying to get to the hygiene checks completed on time, and being stuck at an average production. I knew I needed to change something. I embarked on a yearlong journey with a lot of help from different experts. I looked at change from all aspects of the office and
Rocky Mountain Dental Convention (RMDC) By: Rita Zamora Ms. Zamora will be speaking at the 2019 Rocky Mountain Dental Convention (RMDC) Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 9:30am and 2:30pm. The social media marketing landscape continues to evolve and shift. Some practices are incredibly active on Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat—they enjoy being social and are rewarded with visibility, likes, follows, reviews and word of mouth. On the other hand, there are those
Practice Management By: Luke Gheen, CPA, MBA It’s the time of year that many dental professionals dread: tax time. After a year of pushing your practice forward and providing world-class care, you now must relinquish too much of your hard-earned income to the United States Treasury. Most dental professionals are happy – even proud – to pay their “fair share” of tax. But why does it often feel like an
New Dentists, Reflections By: Amisha Singh, DDS Sitting at the Awards Gala & President’s Dinner during the Rocky Mountain Dental Convention(RMDC), lost in amazing conversation with colleagues who have become friends, I foundmyself in awe. Less than a decade ago, the reality that I am currently living was a only dream that I viscerally yearned for. It was a dream I carried in my heart and silently cherished. On December 1, 2010, I got the
By: Kent Murphy Investing in your practice with equipment and technology upgrades is one of many ways to grow your business. By expanding services, you are poised to not only provide benefits to your practice, but also to patient care. Yes, that’s right – benefits to patient care. That alone may be the best reason to upgrade equipment and technology. While there are no rules for exactly how much investment
The COVID-19 crisis is a challenging and difficult time for all of us. But the better we practice social distancing, the healthier and safer we’ll be — and the sooner this will be all over. This virus is highly contagious, easily transmitted through the breath and saliva. The vast numbers that are expected to be infected will overwhelm our medical systems. There is an underserved need for masks and
Patients who took opioids for pain relief after tooth extraction reported higher levels of pain than patients who took other analgesics in a new study, published in JAMA Network Open. The findings suggest nonopioid analgesics should be the first-line pain relief for extractions. The researchers also reported no difference in overall procedure satisfaction between patients who were given opioids and those who were not. “This study found that after routine
A dentist from British Columbia has died due to suspected complications from COVID-19 following his attendance at the Pacific Dental Conference earlier this month, according to a March 23 report on Global News. About 20 people who attended the Vancouver conference have since tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Denis Vincent, DDS, of North Vancouver was at the conference, which was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre from March 5-7,