As a dental professional, staying informed and up-to-date is a crucial part of the job. Unfortunately, the amount of content available today is staggering. By narrowing your reading list to a few core thought leaders, you’ll be able maximize your time and influence without missing out.
These days, no matter who you are, the amount of content available in your area of expertise is practically limitless. Dentistry is no exception. There are podcasts, white papers, case studies, and more. To keep it simple, we’ll start with blogs, one of the simplest and most accessible forms of content.
You’ll find that subscribing to, or simply reading, blog content a few times a week will unlock other content sources. Rather than clutter your inbox by subscribing to several things at once, let a few top-shelf content sources open the door to others.
You’ll find a number of paths to explore by keeping the short list below. Thought leaders like the five bloggers below have a way of synergizing their collective output via their content.
Kevin Tighe, Managing Partner, provides “vital dental practice management pearls.” The blog features “dozens of articles on topics from staff embezzlement to recommended financial policy to tips on increasing hygiene production.”
Dr. Holmes knows that “if (she) can teach dentists to be better leaders, then they will be more profitable, will have inspired teams, and patients who are raving fans.”
Also known as The Daily Grind, this blog offers readers a glimpse into the life of a general dentist practicing today. Visitors can use the site to keep up with modern dental trends and the site even provides guides on dental success and team building in your dental office. Academy of General Dentistry also has a very regular posting schedule, so it’s worth checking it daily.
Not “your ordinary dental industry blog,” the Dental Geek offers content that’s unique, insightful, and sometimes controversial in the field of dentistry. As they like to say, they “eat, sleep, and breathe oral health.
A broad community of dentists, dental marketers, and dental industry specialists. If you’re already a “townie” (as they refer to their community), keep exploring their daily refresh of content. If you’re not, start by browsing their list of active blogs covering topics that include clinical, marketing/advertising, practice growth, and tons more.
There are hundreds of online sources of dental content available. By finding a few that work for you and keeping up with them, you can continue to grow your knowledge – and your practice.
Most people dread a visit to the dentist. Still, that hasn’t stopped dentists and dental experts from continually trying to find ways to make people’s lives easier. Dental industry trendsare always on the verge of a new breakthrough, which makes going tothe dentist just a bit less terrifying.
There has been a significant focus on the patient’s convenience and comforts, when it comes to healthcare services and dentistry. Having an ailment and having to go visit a doctor is painful enough, patients hate any further complications. Here are somedental industry trends in 2020 that you should look out for.
Focus on Convenience
Advances in the dental industry are designed to make patient’s lives easier. For starters, patients can now book appointments online and fill out questionnaires in the comfort of their own home. Patients can take their time filling out their personal information forms and not to mention pay online or via your phone.This new style is designed to make the process fast and simple for both patient and dentist.
Emotional Dentistry
This composes of a set of techniques and approaches that focus on the mental aspect of undergoing major dental procedures. Now, patients can have virtual mockups and digital photos created to help them envision what they would look like once a procedure is over. This helps put their fears to rest and gives them the needed confidence to undergo such procedures. Patients can even experiment with different smiles and shapes for their teeth before undergoing a procedure.
3D Printing
3D printing has taken the world by storm over the last few years, influencing several industries. Using 3D printing has resulted in significant cost reduction and much time saved from the production process of crowns, veneers, aligners, and other products.
When a practice obtains an in-house 3D printer, it no longer needs to rely on third-party labs and companies to develop their work. Buying a 3D Printer is an investment that will show long-term beneficiary results.
Laser Technology
One of the most important dental trends this year is laser technology. Due to its various and unique applications, it is also the most exciting and in-demand trend in the dental industry today. For starters, it can be used in teeth whitening and provide excellent results at higherefficiency. It is also used in removing lesions and tooth decay, altering
the shape of the gums, getting rid of bacteria in root canals, and a host of other functions. The biggest benefit of this technology is that there is no need to give the patient anesthesia. It eases the patient’s pain and makes the procedures much smoother. The laser also sterilizes the gums without additional products reducing the risk of infection.
Leveraging Social Media
Dentists who are looking to attract new patients must invest in their online image, as this helps promote their services to larger numbers. Regular posts pertaining to your work will always yield excellent results.
Artificial Intelligence
AI can be used to handle any large chunks of data pertaining to your patients or the clinic. This helps dentists efficiently handle their patients and also helps them keep up to date on relevant patient patterns to facilitate the treatment, not to mention research papers that a dentist has to keep track of.
Automated Management Software
Automation technology can help a dentist handle the workload and simplify it by automatically notifying and confirming appointments with patients. It also helps with scheduling social media posts and other digital marketing efforts. This kind of streamlining helps increase a practice’s return on investment, since the entire work process would be much more organized.
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Cosmetic dentistry has become one of the fastest growing industries in today’s modern day and accessory trends have accompanied it hand in hand.Tooth gems, being the newest craze, has taken the dentistry practice to another level.Not only are dentist transforming smiles but they are adding sparkle.
Now, you might be asking yourself, what are tooth gems?
Essentially, they are tiny jewels glued to the teeth that function as an accent for your grin. Tooth gems are only a few millimeters wide, but they can really enhance your megawatt smile. The trend popped up in the 90s, but it has made a comeback in recent years with a number of celebrities sporting them.
As more and more young patients consider getting themselves a tooth gem, we would like to remind them that these could also potentially be the most dangerous beauty trend ever.
What are tooth gems?
A tooth gem is a small rhinestone jewel attached to the surface of a tooth using an adhesive. Some are small stones in the center of the tooth and some are jewel-encrusted caps that people elect to place over their teeth. Some people like to go for the grill, which is a decorative cover that fits over most of the person’s front teeth.
The gems are temporary – there’s no drilling involved – but permanent issues can arise if they are not installed properly.
The Bonding Process
A more lastingprocess called the diamond bonding process involves permanently attaching one or more diamonds to the teeth in a manner that is similar to dental bonding for a filling. The diamonds can be placed up front where everyone can see them, slightly towards the back or on the bottom where they are less noticeable. While the embellishment is considered to be permanent, it can be taken off with dental tools.
Molly Bennet, the owner of Identity Body Piercing in Chicago, said that tooth gems fall into a ‘gray area’ between the cosmetics and tattoo-and piercing industries. Many people consider their installation to be a cosmetic procedure because it doesn’t involve drilling holes into the tooth. According to a spokesperson, the American Dental Association doesn’t currently have a policy on tooth gems or jewelry.
Services from the Beverly Hills-based dentist Dr. Anjali Rajpal come at a higher price, but her clients are willing to pay a premium for peace of mind. Dr. Rajpal’s services range anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per tooth, depending on the type and number of jewels. She says that she wasn’t trained to apply tooth gems in dental school, “but because it’s on the teeth, I feel it’s much better handled by someone like me who knows what they’re working with.”She also claims the placement is superficial as it causes no damage to the tooth. Patients can brush their teeth like normal and practice normal oral hygiene.
Beauty boutiques like GBY Beauty in California offer tooth gem services and according to their website, they use 100% Swarovski crystals. They offer diamonds upon request for a temporary and painless application and as a budget-friendly alternative, there are also inexpensive DIY kits available. These are comparable to nail gem kits, and they include adhesive and various adornments.
The Cost
One real diamond inserted on a tooth costs about $2000 depending on the size and quality of the diamond. Dr. Rajpal places one diamond as well as provides custom-built grills. These fancy full-mouth gears are jewel-encrusted plates that sit on the teeth. Unlike diamond bonding, grills require two dental visits, since digital impressions are taken of the mouth and sent to a lab for creation. Then, the patient returns to have them fitted. The cost of a full grill is between $10,000 to $150,000 depending on the number of jewels and how complex the design is for the grill.
The Risks
With a gem, there is a possibility that the person may develop a discolored area on the surface of the tooth. Over time, jeweled gems and caps may wear away the enamel, increasing the risk of tooth decay and infection. Without proper dental care, such as regular brushing and flossing, dental jewelry offers convenient hiding places for stray food particles and harmful bacteria. Finally, many people apply gems to their teeth using home DIY kits. This increases the chance of damaging the tooth and causing complications, such as tooth decay.
Still, while these gems may be small, they can also lead to big problems if they aren’t properly applied. And it’s hard to know every ingredient in the adhesive. As a result, they can be potentially harmful for use in the mouth or on your teeth.
Dentists have shared their concerns about the risks. “It’s never safe or healthy to put foreign objects on your teeth,” says SmileDirectClub’s Chief Clincal Officer Dr. Jeffrey Sulitzer, DMD. “This can negatively affect the ability to chew or eat – or you could accidently even swallow it.”
With dental grills, the risks are even more serious. Most grills are crafted using base metals, and as a result they may cause an allergic reaction or irritate the gums. If worn longer than recommended, a grill can damage the surface of the teeth, removing enamel and exposing your teeth to bacteria.
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As the coronavirus restrictions continue to ease all over the world, it’s now possible to access a wider range of dental services within your local community.
Interim guidance is based on what is currently known about dental care in light of COVID-19and its transmission and severity. If you’re looking for the most up-to-date information about infection prevention and control practices, you can find it on CDC’s COVID-19 page. As more information becomes available, CDC will update the guidance.
The guidelines have also been reorganized into two sections: recommended infection prevention and control practices for routine dental healthcare delivery and recommended practices when providing dental healthcare for a patient with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Dental settings should balance the need to provide necessary services while minimizing risk to patients and dental healthcare personnel. They should stay informed and regularly consult with the state or local health departments for region-specific information and recommendations, and should monitor trends in local case counts and deaths, especially for populations at higher risk for severe illnesses.
Oral health has a great impact on our general health, and vice versa, so caring for both during this crisis is critical. This blog will help answer some of your questions about dental care and coronavirus.
Visits to the dentist
While measures are being put into place by cities and states on how they respond to this pandemic, based on federal recommendations and those presented by the CDC, dental offices are getting creative on how they still see their patients. Here are some policies being put into place by dental offices around the country to keep patients and dental staff safe:
- No waiting rooms Your dental office has likely already closed their waiting areas. Instead, when you arrive at the dentist, you are taken straight back to a treatment room. This is why it’s very important to call ahead before your appointment to understand what protocols they have in place. This means toys and magazines will also be removed and your wait times should be less!
- Treatment and checkout take place in the treatment room Dental offices are trying to minimize movement and contamination in their offices so everything will be brought directly to you at your dental visit.
- No-touch door handles Some dental offices are even installing foot handles on their front doors so you don’t have to touch the handle to the door when you arrive.
- Sanitation teams Dental offices are already very sanitary. They consistently wipe down areas and use gloves when they are working on your dental treatment, but they are increasing these efforts even more in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
- Patient screenings Your dentist will likely ask you a few questions before your visit about where you have traveled or if you know anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19. If you have been exposed to the virus and have an immediate dental need, don’t letthat keep you from calling your dental office to find out what you need to do.
Caring for your dental health, especially when you are sick or there is a serious illness like this going around, is so important for your overall health.
How will dentists handle dental emergencies?
Dental offices across the U.S. will be ready to accept dental emergencies at their office at this time. They want to help relieve hospital emergency departments who will already be swamped.
Dental emergencies include:
- Cracked or chipped tooth
- Knocked-out tooth
- Tissue injury
- Tooth abscess (or associated toothache)
What should I do about planned dental visits and treatments during this time?
Did you have a dental visit planned this week or in the coming weeks but are unsure of what to do next? Call your dental office to find out what they would recommend. They will be able to provide recommendations about your current treatment status and the state of coronavirus precautions in your area.
Should I visit the dentist if I’m a senior?
Unfortunately, seniors and those with compromised immune systems are at an increased risk of complication if exposed to thecoronavirus and have been advised to stay home during this pandemic.
