Dr. Nigel Pitts spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about the prospect of a cavity free future, a concept he presented to the Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry. Highlights The concept of a cavity-free future is pivotal to dentistry. There is evidence caries can be prevented by improving and changing what dental professionals can do. Much emphasis has been placed on early detection of caries using clinical detection, assessment and diagnostic treatment aids. Caries management is important from infancy through to adulthood/geriatric population. The ICDAS system stages dental caries. The goals of caries management are: Prevent new lesions from appearing. Prevent ...

Dr. Flora Smyth Zahra , Deputy Lead for Integrated Clinical Care Palace Team and Clinical Humanities program lead at King’s College in London. Highlights During spring term 2016 the the Dental Institute at King’s  developed and ran a new pilot module, Clinical Humanities for Dental Undergraduates to support the undergraduate Batchelor of Dentistry Science clinical teaching. In the belief that much more can be done within dental education to develop  crucial elements of practice, a pilot programme was delivered at the King’s Dental Institute that used the Arts and Humanities-based approach now accepted in many medical schools as part of a ...

Timothy Brown, President and CEO of ROICorp, comes back to speak with Dr. Suham Alexander about “seller’s” market and what decisions may factor into a dentist’s decision to sell his/her practice(s). Highlights In terms of timing to sell, fall and spring seem to be the best seasons to sell as people are usually more optimistic following the same rea estate trends. Currently, the dental marketplace remains strong with high practice valuations due to factors, such as low interest rates, the corporate dental buyers who are aggressively buying practices and paying premium prices for them, the oversupply of buyers, and the ...

Dr. Scott Schofield from Nova Scotia founded the Fundy Dental Community Project with a number of other dentists.  To get in touch with Dr. Schofield: fundycommunity@bellaliant.com Highlights The Fundy Dental Community Project (FDCP) is a pilot program initiated by local dentists to provide basic dental services to motivated, low-income youth and adults to complete a treatment plan aimed at treating their current dental disease. This program was developed to establish a healthy oral condition in qualified patients, and provide them with the education necessary to maintain their improved oral health status. Patients involved in this program are chosen through an ...

Timothy Brown speaks with Dr. Suham Alexander about leasehold improvements, their importance and more importantly, their hidden value. Highlights Leasehold improvements include both visible and invisible items such as flooring upgrades, paint, light fixtures to extra outlets, additional wiring for technology including computers and telephones. Traditionally, leasehold improvements were not counted in the value of the practice as landlords typically “owned” these improvements. However, in the 1970’s and 1980’s, ROI Management’s founder, Ray Brown, advocated for the inclusion of leasehold improvements in the appraisal value of a practice and succeeded. In general, leasehold improvements can range from $200-$250 per square ...

Dr. John O’Keefe invited Christof Bissdorf, VP and General Manager of Canada, to speak about the recent Dentsply Sirona merger as a significant event in the global dental marketplace. Highlights With the merger, Dentsply Sirona became the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental solutions. The new company employs almost 16,000 people across the globe and represents about $3.85B in revenue. As a result, Dentsply Sirona is now able to provide dentists with workflow solutions that easily take them through every aspect of their work day. The company provides everything from some of the most trusted brands in consumables to leading edge ...

Dr. Noorein Hajira, resident in the Graduate Prosthodontics Program at the University of Toronto, spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about the concept of Research Waste.  Highlights Research waste is a serious problem that may occur through several mechanisms. One aspect of research waste manifests when research articles addressing a topic exist but cannot be found readily by those who seek this information. Literature search may be hampered by inconsistent manner in which articles are indexed in databases. Search strategies must consider this inconsistency. Superficial literature search may not yield the desired information or the full scope of relevant articles. A good ...

Dr. Jose Lança, MD. PhD, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology  in the Faculty of Dentistry and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about the use of marijuana in dentistry as well as its impact on dental practice. Highlights The government of Canada will be legalizing the use of marijuana in the Spring of 2017. Currently, marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug in Canada and the United States. Interesting facts Naturally occurring endocannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) can modulate the immunological responses, motor responses, and cognition and memory as well as pain and inflammation. Naturally ...