Dentists Journal

Top Ten Stories of the Week
7/18/2020

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Did you know? Mark Spitz always wanted to be a dentist from the time he was in high school but then swimming got in the way

Long before there was Michael Phelps, there was Mark Spitz.

A confident competitor with his own signature style, Spitz rocked a ‘70s style mustache even though many athletes believe body hair slows a swimmer down in the water. It didn’t seem to slow Spitz down: In the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, the U.S. swimming star won seven gold medals and set new world records in each of those events. His achievement remained unmatched for decades… until Phelps won eight gold medals in Beijing 36 years later.

Spitz’ Olympic victory made him a household name and a highly marketable sex symbol. A poster of him wearing nothing but a skimpy Speedo, seven gold medals and, of course, the moustache, sold over 1 million copies. Yet as hard as he worked for Olympic gold, he was working equally hard on something else at the same time: his pre-dental studies at Indiana University.

“I always wanted to be a dentist from the time I was in high school, and I was accepted to dental school in the spring of 1972,” Spitz told Time magazine in 2004. “I was planning to go, but after the Olympics there were other opportunities. I did some television and speaking engagements, and things just went from there.”

Spitz landed endorsement deals with Xerox, Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, General Motors and General Mills, among others. Later, he went into the real-estate business in Beverly Hills and became a motivational speaker.

As for having his medal-winning record broken, Spitz said he bears no ill will toward Phelps:

“What greater thing could I leave to the sport than to inspire somebody to have the desire to do what I did and take it a step further?” he told USA today in 2012. “I had that record for 36 years. That’s an awfully long time.”

(First photo from the Bob Hope Special)

(07/13/2020)
by Dear Doctor

More Information: https://www.deardoctor.com/inside-the-magazine/issue-29/celebrities-who-gave-up-dentistry-for-stardom/page3.php


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US dental offices are quickly bouncing back

Yes, U.S. dental offices are quickly bouncing back, but it won't be business as usual. Expect social distancing, layers of protective gear and a new approach to some procedures to guard against coronavirus.

Dental offices largely closed, except for emergency care, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in March that they should delay elective procedures like teeth cleaning and filling cavities.

By April, only 3% of dental offices were open for non-emergency care, according to Marko Vujicic, chief economist with the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.

Polling data shows about two-thirds were back open in May and Vujicic expects that to reach 97% by the end of June. He estimates that only 1% of dentists will ultimately sell their practices, retire or file for bankruptcy. 

“They seem to have weathered the storm,” Vujicic said. 

Dentists say government loans helped some of them survive the shutdown, and demand for their work is pushing them to reopen quickly.

“The need for even routine dental care never went away,” said Dr. Terri Tiersky, who runs a small practice in Skokie, Illinois. “We needed to get back to our patients ... and our staff needed to get back to work, of course.”

Tiersky closed her office to all but emergencies in mid-March. She then helped arrange donations of personal protective equipment from the Chicago Dental Society for health workers treating COVID-19 patients. 

She opened in early June after buying air purifiers and stocking back up on protective gear.

“We are bending over backwards to make sure our offices are ready and safe,” said Tiersky, who wears two masks when she sees patients. 

Nickolette Karabush was one of Tiersky’s first patients to return after she cracked a tooth while eating popcorn. The 58-year-old Highwood, Illinois, resident has an autoimmune disorder and had been hunkered down at home since COVID-19 hit.

“The thought of having to go to a dentist office really just freaked me out,” she said. 

Karabush settled down after she saw everyone in Tiersky’s office wearing masks and no one else in the waiting room. 

“Everything was very clean,” she said. “It felt like a very safe environment.”

Tiersky and other dentists have taken several precautions like removing waiting room magazines and asking patients about COVID-19 symptoms before they receive care.

Dr. Kirk Norbo has an employee stationed in the foyer of his Purcellville, Virginia, dental office to take visitors’ temperatures before they enter the waiting room.

Then there’s the gear. 

More of a “Star Wars look with the face shields and the mask and stuff and the gowns that a lot of offices had not used,” said Norbo, who remembers not even wearing gloves decades ago in dental school.

Some practices are charging an additional fee to cover the cost of that extra gear. Neither Norbo nor Tiersky say they are doing this.

Dentists also have changed how they practice. Coronavirus is spread from person to person mainly through droplets in the air when someone with an infection coughs, sneezes or talks. That’s why masks and social distancing are encouraged. 

Dental work requires close quarters, and can generate a spray of saliva and water. Norbo and other dentists have returned to using hand tools for procedures like a teeth cleaning instead of instruments that may do the job faster, but create more of that spray.

Norbo said a paycheck protection loan of about $250,000 helped him bring back his staff and pay them until the business caught up after his office re-opened in early May. 

Practices are climbing out of a big hole as they reopen. Personal spending on dental services dropped 61% in April compared to the same month last year, according to the nonprofit health research firm Altarum. That’s twice the decline experienced by the entire health care sector.

It might take a while for all business to return. Altarum economist Ani Turner noted that a lot of dental care is discretionary and can be postponed, and patients will still be worried about being exposed to the virus. 

“People may tend to procrastinate on cleanings and maintenance anyway,” she said. 

Norbo said those who have returned to his practice so far are glad to be back. He thinks the visits help people feel like they are “getting back into somewhat of a normal life.”

“It’s way more than just dentistry,” he said.

(07/12/2020)
by Tom Murphy
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COVID-19 closure order for California from July 13 does not impact dental practices

Monday Gov. Gavin Newsom took an additional step to slow the transmission of COVID-19 by closing indoor operations for many business sectors throughout much of the state.

At this time, these restrictions do not affect the provision of essential health care services, including dental care.

Dentists are advised to continue to adhere closely to CDPH guidance, including the recommendation to have two weeks of PPE available, and to access CDA’s Back-to-Practice Resource Center for training, checklists and other tools to support dental practice during the pandemic.

(07/14/2020)
by From CDA

More Information: https://www.mybestdentists.com/resources/CaliforniaDentalAssociation


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How will COVID-19 alter the future of the dental workforce?

Will it influence a potential medical school applicant to choose dentistry instead? Will it encourage a potential dental school applicant to adopt a nonhealth-related career? Will the pandemic create longstanding changes to practice operations? 

“Even in a post-COVID environment, the future for the dental profession is bright and will remain so,” said Richard Manski DDS. “However, for the next year or two, there will be challenges and troubled waters ahead that we must navigate. While it will be our responsibility to adopt new best practices to ensure the safety of patients, staff and ourselves, we will also need to adapt to changing patient perceptions and concerns.

While the need for dentistry has not changed, we will experience a new equilibrium resulting from pent-up demand offset by patient apprehension. Additional attention to best practice management processes will be needed to optimize each patient encounter and to reassure patients.” 

Researchers will need to continue considering future supply and demand of dental services. But for now, general dentists — both practicing and aspiring — have plenty of challenges and opportunities to keep furthering the profession. Manski is optimistic.

“Even with the difficulties that we currently face, dentistry is a wonderful profession in which our colleagues are able to provide an important needed service, contribute to society in a meaningful way and live a very nice life,” he said.

Analysis in “Projecting the Demand for Dental Care in 2040” by co-authors Richard J. Manski, DDS, MBA, PhD, and Chad D. Meyerhoefer, PhD, provides a more mixed prediction. The authors surmise that: 

Total dental visits will increase from 294 million in 2017 to 319 million in 2040. 

Dental visits per person will decrease from 0.92 in 2017 to 0.84 in 2040. 

The percentage of the population with a dental visit will rise from 41.9% in 2015 to 44.2% in 2040.

(07/16/2020)
by Kelly Rehan

More Information: https://www.agd.org/constituent/news/2020/07/06/demand-for-dentists-forecasting-the-future-of-the-profession


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ADA and others recommend to establish a Dental Home for your child

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Dental Association (ADA), and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), recommend to establish a “Dental Home” for your child by around one year of age. Children who have a dental home at younger ages are more likely to receive appropriate preventive and routine oral health care, as well they are more likely to avoid future dental issues and disease. They also learn early to love the dentist and are less apt to have fear and phobias with coming to see us.

The key…EDUCATION! At our NoPo Dental office we know how hard being a parent can be and that teeth and oral hygiene are not always your top focus in the early years. As a pediatric dentist and a mother of two, Doctor Staci and her team are full of tips and tricks to get you dental savvy and to help your child become more cooperative and compliant for oral hygiene routines. We will review daily recommendations with a strong focus on diet, as well as helpful positioning to brush and floss and clever strategies to make all of it fun while you do it!

Parents are allowed to stay with their child at our NoPo Kids Dentistry office for routine cleanings, check-ups and treatment, and whether it is their very first dental visit, or their twentieth, the team at NoPo Kids Dentistry strive daily to create the most positive, loving, upbeat, and motivating appointment for you and your child. 

(07/17/2020)
by Doctor Staci

More Information: https://www.mybestdentists.com/mbd-newest-approved-dentists/AnastaciaMWhitman


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