DentalBuzz – a jolt of current…

No one likes the idea of seeing a child being restrained. Especially not at the dental office. But on the same hand, if a child is admitted to a hospital, has thousands of dollars spent to knock them out with potentially risky gas, and is in need of a procedure that takes only minutes to perform, which care is the right one?

Notorious press has given the papoose board a bad name. Granted, its utilization can be abused, especially as seen in the story that was profiled on ABC’s 20/20. General anesthesia isn’t without its opponents as well, especially when a child dies.

With that somber note hanging in the air, you may want to revisit David After Dentist and pick yourself up with a little sedation dentistry humor. Even if you don’t agree that his dad should have ever posted the video on YouTube, it’s still so freakin’ funny.

Children who can’t be cooperative still need a means of getting their dentistry done, so pedodontists must make choices that sometimes include the use of papoose boards or general anesthesia. For entertainment’s sake, let’s just call this polarizing dilemma by another name: Hugs vs. Drugs.

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The idea of dozens of dentists lined up, hoping to have their bowls filled with a ladle of delicious….CLEAR PLASTIC IMPRESSIONS….is weird. “NO INVISALIGN FOR YOU!” screamed the white-coats at Align Technology. Dentists completing less than 10 cases per year were suspended from their accounts, and sent away, bowls empty, furious with the scare-tactic attempt to boost sales and case acceptance.

Until yesterday. Instead of getting your soup in a bowl at the counter,  you complainers will be able to get it in a to-go container, from the “Concession Stand”:

Align Technology Eliminates Annual Case Requirement for Invisalign(R) Providers

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Apr 22, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) — Align Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALGN) today announced a strategic change to the Invisalign proficiency program the Company launched last June to help ensure Invisalign providers build a baseline of Invisalign product experience and knowledge through minimum annual case and continuing education (CE) goals. Effective immediately, doctors will no longer be required to start a minimum of ten shipped cases per year to maintain their active provider status. Doctors are still required to complete a minimum of ten Invisalign continuing education (CE) hours per year.

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Just so we have this straight: lasers are okay, but needles? Not so much. Texas is a bit behind the times regarding local anesthesia. But the great news is that their state board just recently issued a statement that affirms the legality of laser use by formally trained hygienists for treating periodontal disease that is not responding to traditional therapy.  Here it is in the Board’s own words:

Texas State Board of Dental Examiners’ Position Statement on the Use of Lasers by Dental Hygienists

The Texas State Board of Dental Examiners is aware that lasers can be used to replace or supplement traditional dental instruments such as handpieces, scalpels, curing lights, and the explorer.

It is the position of the Board that licensed dental hygienists may use lasers that are not capable of cutting or removing hard tissue, soft tissue, or tooth structure to perform clinical tasks that are otherwise within the hygienist’s scope of practice. Dental hygienists must perform intraoral procedures involving a laser under the general supervision of a licensed dentist.**

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We were impressed that when put on the spot between inaugural balls today, President Barack Obama was able to outline his plan to give all people in the United States of America the right to a beautiful, healthy smile. The big question is: just who are his dental advisors?

Obama’s Mastication Initiative for America (MIA)

The people of the United States should realize that teeth are a quality of life issue. The government cannot force a citizen to take care of his or her body, nor should a person be penalized for issues that are beyond their control. We have seen the insurance industry take hold of healthcare and overvalue its services. Furthermore, dentists throughout our great nation have resisted the tide of managed medicine and are now capable of not only improving the quality of their patients’ lives, but even the very length of the average American lifespan.

When we look at the technological advances that have been made in dentistry, we know that now is the time for change. It is this administration’s hope that by combining personal responsibility with expert guidance, my Mastication Initiative for America will fulfill the needs of all Americans, not just the ones barely getting by; not just the wealthy, but every one of us.

The details will be forthcoming when I have more than a few breaths of air between dipping my wife on dance floors, but here is a brief outline of the plan:

1. Participation in the plan is voluntary, both for dental providers and for patients.

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Hi. I’m a very sad American Indian. I am crying because I just learned that my children have Bisphenol-A in their dental sealants. BPA is bad. It means my boys might end up with man-boobs.

This is about dental pollution, people. It may be ignored by mainstream science, but this problem is real enough to sell newspapers, magazines, and make you read online articles.

What I’ve Heard About Dental Pollution

Everywhere I go I hear about how it’s not fair that the citizens of cities have no choice about the fluoride in their drinking water. Sure, it makes teeth stronger, but there’s a conspiracy of pollution! And it’s the people who are so poor that they can’t even afford cups, they have to tilt their heads sideways to drink under the sink faucet, they are the ones who get the most fluoride in their bodies.

Does fluoride save lives like chlorine does? Wait, I didn’t say that, because it’s going to sound like I am in favor of putting poisons in the water.

You dentists also are protecting the right to fix the holes in people’s mouths with evil substances. If you drill a tooth and put in a silver filling, you have to make the filling soft with toxic mercury. Why can’t you just heat up the silver and pour it in the cavity?

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