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This is not Dental Justice

June 17, 2011 By Trish Walraven 4 Comments

by Trish Walraven


Photoshop is fun. You can use it to make a fake Yelp review to help illustrate a point that you’re trying to make about something else. Like a patient writing an online review of your dental practice:


 

 

 

Vindication, finally! Yelp lets me air the true story of this miserable experience, and no one can stop me.

First off, I had total confidence in the way I cared for my car – had the tires rotated every six months, oil changes every 3000 miles, if it was in the manual, I had it done.

About a year after I’d moved into town was when I began noticing a drift to the left (irrespective of the politics here *grin*) so I took my car into Dodgy’s Auto Clinic, which had the highest score on RateMechanics.com.

Get this! As I’m filling out some paperwork, one of the forms they’ve handed me is a “Privacy Agreement” that asked me to transfer ownership of any public commentary I might write in the future to Dodgy’s. Like this review – supposedly they now own it.

Did the red flag go up? Definitely. Did I heed the warning? Unfortunately not.

This mechanic BUTCHERED my car. Nothing feels the same. There are rattles where none previously existed, the steering wheel shimmies when I make a turn, and whenever I drive I just feel like taking a bus instead, it’s THAT BAD. They did fix the drift though, only now it goes in the opposite direction.

Just in case I was insane I took it to another shop to get an opinion about their repairs. The second place agreed that unneccessary “treatment” had happened and that it would be difficult and pricey to undo the damage.

In the end Dodgy’s did refund my money and asked that I not rip them apart online. I bet! The last thing they did as I walked out was to wave that “agreement” at me. Like it has any authority to do anything except make me mad. I have a destroyed car, and people should know the truth about this “Auto Clinic.”

So, Bring it, Dodgy’s. Bring your lawyers. I’ve got everything I need to defend my words. You want to own my words? Here. OWN EM. I now own YOU.



This is a frightening scenario for any service provider. We have a clearly upset individual that seems sincerely convinced her car was ruined by a repair shop. And just one of these unfavorable reviews can inflict massive online damage.

Now let’s take this to dentistry. You got some patients out there talking smack about the quality of your work. Not your chairside manner, not your front office person who was less than helpful about payment arrangements. We are in the heart of your business, a heart that could be ripped out by a singular disgruntled review.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Dental Debates, Marketing, Practice Management Tagged With: Dental Justice, dentist review, doctor review websites, healthgrades, linkedin, Medical Justice, online reputation management, RateMDs, scandals, Yelp dentist review

Strippers may be bad for your teeth

February 28, 2011 By Eva Watson Leave a Comment

By Eva Watson
There are many things that make me laugh; a pie in the face, the late comedian, Bill Hicks, and my daughter’s tantrums. The list goes on and on. Sometimes all it takes is an utterly sidesplitting headline in the news to force me to use my sick imagination and visuals to the fullest:

Man sues over strip club dental injuries

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 27 (UPI) — An Indiana man’s lawsuit for injuries he suffered when a stripper’s shoe flew off during a performance and hit him in the teeth isn’t far-fetched, lawyers say.

Jake Quagliaroli, 34, of Indianapolis sat approximately 20 feet from the stage at PT’s Showclub when the shoe hit him in the face and chipped his front teeth, the Indianapolis Star reported Friday.

Then I just let my imagination soar.

An innocent gentleman is enjoying a harmless show of skin aplenty.
“Oh, yea, baby.  Oh, yes.  Oh, she’s so fine.” Suddenly…
“INCOMING!!” Thwack!
A ruby red size 9 stiletto socks him in the upper anteriors. The music screeches to a halt, some dude spills his beer, and the guilty stripper, dollar bills jutting out from her G-string, stops in mid gyration to apologize to her most loyal patron.
“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.  Are you ok?”
The gentleman is covering his mouth, wincing in pain. He’s unable to speak. One minute passes when he finally touches his teeth with his finger.
“You broke my teeth! You frickin’ broke my teeth!”
The stripper hovers over her customer while the remaining male patrons sit closer to the stage and stare at the woman’s twins with sloppy grins on their faces.
“Can we get some ice over here, please?” The woman calls out.
The owner of the club comes out of the bathroom, zipping up his fly.
“What’s going on around here?”
The stripper, arms crossed in front of her, tries to explain herself.
“Remember that move I’ve been working on? It backfired.”
The club owner rolls his eyes. “Are you kidding me?”
“Well, I was wearing different shoes during rehearsal,” replies the dancer.


Then the visual in my head stops rolling as I catch our cat Cheese attempting to take a dump in the hibiscus planter. Lovely.

Filed Under: Humor Tagged With: dental injuries, scandals

Plugging amalgam in a sinking ship

December 14, 2010 By Trish Walraven Leave a Comment

Tomorrow the an FDA panel will “probe cavity fillings” (that’s really the title of this segment shown on CBS this evening):
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/14/eveningnews/main7150398.shtml

Once again the media is out to sensationalize the debate by conjuring up images of daily vomiting, years of sinus congestion, and children who can’t go an hour without a seizure or two. And once again, it is mercury that is the alleged culprit.

If it really were as bad as it appears for the few people that are willing to testify before the panel, don’t you think that there would be a significantly larger population of people affected by mercury poisoning?

Four years ago, a panel decided that further study was necessary to understand whether amalgams give off more vapors when being placed or removed versus the amount of mercury vapor produced with chewing and brushing.

Maybe they were on to something there! What the FDA should do is launch a study of mercury levels in the blood, urine, and body tissues of the dentists who regularly place and remove amalgams, correlating symptoms described by those afflicted with mercury toxicity with the dentists in the study. If those symptoms are consistent in the dentists who have high levels of mercury, then go from there to decide whether amalgams are truly a problem.

The ADA stands behind the science. And until it is refuted, they are doing the right thing by not wavering on their position.

 

UPDATE – December 20th, 2010

Last week, an advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a professional panel review to again look at the safety issues associated with mercury amalgam in dentistry. A group of scientists and dental and medical professionals, lead by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), had called for FDA to reconsider its July 2009 “no risk” classification of mercury fillings. The FDA panel concluded that there are no huge scientific flaws in the agency’s 2009 finding that mercury-based dental fillings are safe for adults and children aged 6 years and older. The panel, however, recommended that the FDA look at more data, including the latest data, on the possible health risks dental amalgam poses to pregnant women and their fetuses and to young children, particularly nursing infants whose mothers have these fillings. The panel also said the FDA should consider adding warnings for these groups to the material’s product instructions.
 The ADA commended the panel’s call for continued research while offering support for the FDA’s current amalgam regulation. The panel’s call for more scientific data acknowledged concerns of dental amalgam opponents who link mercury exposure to dozens of diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer’s disease.

Filed Under: Dental Debates, Operative Dentistry, Research Tagged With: amalgam, CBS, FDA panel, Mercury Toxicity, scandals

To juice or papoose is the question

July 1, 2010 By Trish Walraven 22 Comments

papooseormaskNo 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.

Hugs Drugs
Familiar name Papoose board restraint “Knocked out with the mask”
Kinder-sounding euphemism Protective stabilization Inhalation anesthesia
Risks
  • Creation of dental phobias
  • Inadequate relaxation resulting in poor pain  management
  • Difficulty in treating a lengthy, complicated case
  • Aspiration
  • May affect the developing brain (autism/ADHD)
  • Death
Benefits Can be used quickly and inexpensively without much training Instantaneous and complete patient control
Perception Brute force and inhumane treatment seen in Medicare clinics Clean, modern care paid for by inscos and private payer

There have been accusations from both sides: allegations of “nest feathering” by morally outraged dental anesthesiologists, abuses of public funds to pay for unnecessary procedures, the ultimatums given that any child restraint is considered grounds for lawsuits, equating papoose boards with third-world dental care, or offering general anesthesia for simple extractions when a combination of restraint and other sedation would be less expensive and as effective.

As a dental professional, it is your responsibility to make well-informed choices about sedation and restraint methods. For instance, individuals with autism or cerebral palsy may find that restraints are not only necessary, but even welcomed when compared to the use of drugs that can do more harm than the good that the dentistry is trying to achieve. Restraints may not be a better choice for toddlers whose biggest problem is a helicopter parent or two who are freaked out about the psychological trauma of having an irreparable tooth pulled. If a parent freaks, most likely so will the child, so it may be your choice to pander to the whiny world of children who are more in charge than their parents. After all, it’s no big deal to go under GA for a five-minute ear tube procedure with the ENT, right? That’s expected.

No matter what you decide to do, as long as you’re doing it from a level of comfort with your ability, and most importantly, from a sense of compassion, you should be able to confidently make the call for each patient, no matter where it falls on this line.

But sometimes, you just want to throw up your hands and say “AHHHHH I QUIT!” because you don’t know how to manage a patient. That’s when it’s awesome to have someone in your contact list who you trust to make this call.

And then pass the buck to them, because referring out can be very, very gratifying at times.DBSmile

Filed Under: Dental Debates, Operative Dentistry Tagged With: Anesthesia, Papoose board, scandals

Dental Infection Control Sucks

June 11, 2010 By Trish Walraven Leave a Comment

So maybe it was the equipment allowing backflow into patients mouths during extractions (blecch), or inadequate sterilization measures, but whatever the case, Hepatitis B has been officially contracted during dental procedures.

A free, volunteer-staffed program offered at a West Virginia high school found that three patients and two clinicians came down with Hepatitis B viruses that were tested and matched at a molecular level, indicating that the infections came from a common source.

All people involved at the Mission of Mercy clinic last summer were mailed letters last week encouraging that they be tested for the virus. The testing is being paid for by the state of West Virginia. (Insert your best West Virginia joke here. And then be ashamed of yourself for doing it).

If you have any response to this news, it should be to check your own infection control systems, to be sure that your high speed evacuation is up to par, that you aren’t just wiping down handpieces, and that every patient is treated with those universal precautions that were so important in dental school.

After all, you wouldn’t want this happening in an elite state, like Washington. DBSmile

Filed Under: Operative Dentistry Tagged With: dental handpieces, Dental virus transmission, Hepatitis B, Infection control, scandals, volunteer dentistry

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DentalBuzz explores rising trends in dentistry with its own slant. The speed at which new products and ideas enter the dental field can often outpace our ability to understand just exactly the direction in which we are heading. But somehow, by being a little less serious about dentistry and dental care, we might get closer to making sense of it all.

So yeah, a tongue-in-cheek pun would fit really nicely here, but that would be in bad taste. Never mind, it just happened anyways. Stop reading sidebars already and click on some content instead.

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