Investing in Technologies that Help You While Helping Your Patients

I have been a dental hygienist for 12 years now; my back and neck pain started while I was in school. The assumption was that if you’re a dental professional, you will have neck and back pain. My first full time job out of school was taking over for a hygienist who had to retire after 20 years due to back problems caused from her profession. Every time I would go to the chiropractor, he would always remind me that dental professionals were one of his largest patient bases. That wasn’t very r...
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Dr. Benavides: “Did We Overtreat: The Value of Proactive Intervention for the Periodontal Patient.”

Disambiguating between Plaque-Induced Gingivitis and Stage II Periodontitis is an easy diagnostic feat. The difficulty increases when we attempt to finalize a diagnosis between Gingivitis and Early-Onset Periodontitis. As a reminder, according to The American Academy of Periodontology, it takes 15% of radiographic bone loss (RBL) for our patients to land at Stage I Periodontitis. The goal of this article is to present you with two cases that could be interpreted as borderline. Our goa...
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Olympic Spirit: Achieving Gold in Healthcare

As the Olympic Games end, the world pauses to celebrate the victories and remarkable achievements of the globe’s finest athletes. The medals, the records shattered, and those unforgettable moments of triumph all deserve our admiration. However, beyond these glorious celebrations, we must also acknowledge the sheer courage it takes to try. Olympians weren’t born as perfect athletes; they started somewhere, faced countless obstacles, and transformed their failures into steppingstones toward gr...
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The Patient First Podcast: Dr. Bryan Laskin Interviews Diane Larson, RDH, BSDH

Dr. Bryan Laskin is a Minnesota dentist and tech entrepreneur on a mission to help solve the biggest problem in dentistry, the lack of data accessibility, through innovation, education, and standardization. Creator of Lake Minnetonka Dental, Upgrade Dental, Digital Nitrous, OperaDDS, Dental Standards Institute, and Co-Founder of Toothapps, Dr. Laskin is also an advisor and investor to many of the most progressive healthcare companies. He is the author of the Amazon best- selling books “Th...
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The Mouth-Mind Connection: How Oral Health Influences Brain Health: Part 2

Last week, in Part 1, we explored the significant connection between oral health and brain health, highlighting how bacteria in the mouth can contribute to diseases like dementia, and outlined the three main types of dementia: Alzheimer's, vascular dementia, and Parkinson's. This week, in Part 2, we will delve deeper into the demographic that is most affected by dementia and strategies for prevention. Why Are Elderly Most Affected? As a patient’s cognitive ability declines, so does their ora...
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Microbiome Biohacking: Dr. Debbie Ozment Interviews Dr. Ron McGlennen

Dr. Debbie Ozment has been a private practice dentist since 1985 and has an extensive wealth of knowledge to share. She attended dental school at Oklahoma University College of Dentistry, where she later served as adjunct faculty for seven years. Dr. Ozment also holds a master’s degree in Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine from the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and is a Diplomat with the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. She is a Nationally Board-Certified He...
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Guided Biofilm Therapy and the Systemic Link

How many times have you asked your patients if their medical history has changed, and their response is, “It has changed, but it has nothing to do with dentistry”? How about the patient I saw last month for her prophy, who said “No” when I asked her for any changes in her medical history and she is wearing a hospital wrist band due to the heart condition she was just treated for? There is an abundance of evidence from scholarly articles linking oral health to systemic health.1 Its effect on one ...
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Interview with Sharmane Soriano, RDH

  Dr. McGlennen: Tell me how you were introduced to OralDNA® salivary diagnostics. Sharmane Soriano, RDH: I was introduced to OralDNA salivary diagnostics through the dental office I worked at. Just graduating from the dental hygiene program, OralDNA was something I was not familiar with. The Alert 2™ report gave accurate data of the patient’s oral health as it tests the types of bacteria, the amounts of bacteria, and the patient’s genetic risk of acquiring periodontal disease. Afte...
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Class II Generalized Periodontitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Requesting Implant Placement

Challenge: To establish periodontal remission by addressing the clinical manifestations of periodontal disease and altering the oral flora in order to lower the incidence of periodontal disease relapse. Bacterial management will eliminate a source of total body inflammation and increase success of implant placement. Background: The patient is a 66 year-old-male with rheumatoid arthritis, taking Lisinopril and is a potential candidate for implant to restore #19. Patient’s daily home care r...
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Redefining Dental Care for The Reluctant: Technology’s Role in the New Mouth-Body Connection Era

Challenge: Addressing the unique needs of a patient with a history of hesitancy towards dental care, compounded by complex health issues such as Tobacco Dependence Syndrome, Hypertension, and Prediabetes, presented a significant challenge. This task, however, was greatly facilitated by the integration of CBCT/OralDNA® technologies. These cutting-edge tools played a pivotal role in demystifying the pathos process, enabling a more clear and personalized approach to the patient's treatment plan....
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