Week in Review: Perio risk assessment tools | Rural oral care | U.S. opioid deaths

Dear DrBicuspid Member, Dental practitioners in solo and small group practices don’t widely use periodontal disease risk assessment tools, although a new study finds they’re open to using them. Researchers delved into the reasons why and provided recommendations for overcoming barriers. Read more here. Pediatric oral healthcare can be challenging in any situation, but in rural communities with fewer resources, collaboration may be the key to improving their oral health.

2 questions may accurately identify oral health problems

A simple, two-question survey appears to accurately identify adults with oral health problems, according to researchers from New York. The survey may be the first step to helping nondental providers refer high-risk adults to dentists for proper evaluation. In the survey, participants rated how they felt about their oral and overall health. Those who reported that their oral health or general health was subpar were also highly likely to have

Why aren’t perio risk assessment tools more widely used?

Dental practitioners in solo and small group practices don’t widely use periodontal disease risk assessment tools even though they say they’re open to using them, according to a new study. Researchers delved into the reasons why and provided recommendations for overcoming barriers to their use. Researchers conducted focus groups with dentists and hygienists to learn about their thoughts on the use of risk assessment to predict periodontal disease occurrence. Practitioners

New product: Elevate Oral Care launches toothpaste for kids

Elevate Oral Care has launched a new prescription fluoride toothpaste for children. Just Right 5000. Image courtesy of Elevate Oral Care. Just Right 5000 is a metered-dose, prescription fluoride toothpaste for pediatric patients with a moderate to high risk of caries. The toothpaste is dispensed via a pump that provides a pea-sized, 0.25-mL dose. The pump design provides dispensing safety and less mess, according to Elevate Oral Care. The Just

Is biohacking the answer?

Today, so much has been researched and written about how to bioheack our human body and its myriad of functions. When I hear people at conferences talking about biohacking, they generally mean a process of making lifestyle changes to improve the body’s biology and feel better. On its own, that’s a reasonable goal. Biohacking can also include learning more about how genetics affect the body’s processes. Many blood, urine, stool,

How a rural community united to reduce childhood caries

Collaboration may be the key to improving the oral health of young children. Dental professionals from rural Oklahoma discussed how they partnered with outside organizations to dramatically reduce the rate of early childhood caries (ECC) in a Healthy People 2020 webinar on May 24. Timothy Ricks, DMD, MPH, and Stephanie Lovell, RDH, detailed how dental professionals in the small towns of Lawton and Anadarko, OK, joined forces with pharmacists, pediatricians,

China product tariffs to be announced June 15

The dental industry will know on June 15 if key products and materials imported from China will have a 25% tariff imposed by the U.S. government. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump released a statement on May 29 announcing that on June 30 the U.S. would levy a 25% tariff on $50 billion of goods. The list of goods affected will be released on June 15, according to the White

Do’s and don’ts for focusing more on elective procedures

Elective procedures offer your practice the opportunity to increase your production and decrease your reliance on compensation from insurance providers. Set a target of making cosmetic and other elective services account for at least 30% of total production. “Present” cosmetic services without saying a word. Turn your reception and treatment areas into galleries of beautiful smiles. Use manufacturers’ promotional posters, displays, brochures, and other graphic materials to silently say to

How should CBCT be used in implant dentistry?

Is cone-beam CT (CBCT) ready to be used in implant dentistry? In a new review, researchers examined published studies on CBCT and provided up-to-date recommendations for its use. The group searched relevant medical literature and found a wide range in radiation dose and image quality among the CBCT scanners studied. The use of CBCT is well-established in the preoperative stages of implant dentistry, the researchers reported, but they recommended restrictions

Ortho Caps accepts Planmeca Emerald scans

Dental equipment manufacturer Planmeca announced that its Planmeca Emerald intraoral scanner can now be used to produce clear aligners from Ortho Caps. Practitioners can export scans from Planmeca Emerald and send them to Ortho Caps to design and manufacture Orthocap clear aligners for adult or teenage patients.

6 Things You Need to Know Before Traveling to Los Algodones in 2025

There’s plenty of things to do when you are preparing for travel and even more when it is for medical purposes. Every day, people from the United States and Canada cross the border to Los Algodones, seeking high-quality dental care at fair prices. Where is Los Algodones located? Molar City is located in northern Mexico, is a small border town located just 7 miles west of Yuma, Arizona. Known as

Beyond brushing, flossing, and fluoride: 3 strategies to fight caries

You tell your patients to brush and floss and also praise the merits of fluoride, so why are they still coming back with cavitated lesions? Brian Novy, DDS, discussed three ways to restore balance to the mouth when traditional methods don’t cut it at the recent California Dental Association’s CDA Presents 2018 meeting in Anaheim, CA. “Give me something to treat this disease that’s better than something my patients can