Educated in Karachi, Pakistan, and London, England, Dr. Zeeshan Sheikh worked for two years as a clinician before deciding to pursue his interests in dental research (on the fabrication and characterization of bone grafts) in Canada. He recently completed his PhD at McGill University’s faculty of dentistry in August and is poised to begin a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. CDA spoke with Dr. Sheikh about his decision to follow a career in research.       Why did you choose research over private practice? When I was working as a full-time clinician, it didn’t take me too ...

Dr. John O’Keefe, Director of Knowledge Networks at the Canadian Dental Association, spoke with Dr. Paul Allison, Chair of a panel of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) about their recently published report: “Improving access to oral health care for vulnerable people living in Canada.” Dr. Paul Allison is also Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University.            Read the full report (PDF English) Read the full report (PDF French) Listen to Audio Interview   Interview Highlights There is evidence and data showing that there is an issue of access to oral health ...

Dr. John O’Keefe spoke with Dr. Benoit Soucy about SunLife’s move to using CDAnet V4 which has created some issues for Canadian dentists.       Listen to the Audio Interview   Interview Highlights One of the features CDAnet version 4 that is of high value to dental offices is the ability to have within the claim a treating dentist who is different from the billing dentist. It allows dentists to send a payment to the person that is supposed to receive it when they assign claims.  While behaving in CDAnet V4 like offices did in CDAnet V2 is in ...

Dr. John O’Keefe, Director of Knoweldge Networks at the Canadian Dental Association, spoke with Dr.Benoit Soucy, Director of Clinical and Scientific Affairs at CDA about Electronic Fund Transfers (EFTs)       Listen to the Audio Interview       Interview Highlights Current state of the issue Insurance carriers are increasingly insisting that dentists take their payments through the Electronic Fund Transfers (EFTs).  The problem is that each company is doing it in its own way. We find that carriers don’t measure the extent of the burden that their change is imposing on dental offices; Dealing with a multitude of ...

Dr. John O’Keefe, Director of Knowledge Networks at the Canadian Dental Association, spoke with Dr. Larry Levin, CDA Board member and Chair of the CDA Trust and Value Working Group (TVWG) about the role of the working group in shaping the dentists’ and the public perceptions of the value of the dental profession.            Listen to the Audio Interview   Interview Highlights Among many reasons, the Trust and Value Working Group (TVWG) was formed to investigate the possible differences between the public’s and dentists’ perception of the value of dental care. The initial (2011) research showed ...

Dr. John O’Keefe, Director of Knowledge Networks at the Canadian Dental Association, spoke with Dr. Stephen Abrams about modern caries management.  Dr. Stephen Abrams is a general practitioner in the Toronto area and was closely involved with the development of the CANARY System for the detection of caries.            Listen to the Audio Interview   Interview Highlights  Science is evolving in two directions: How do you detect and measure the progression of a lesion? How do you treat the lesion? Managing caries lesions is different than what it used to be 5 years ago. Consideration is ...

Dr. John O’Keefe introduces the concept of corporatization in dentistry in an attempt to begin a conversation about the topic:   What does corporatization mean to you?  Have you had any experience working in a corporate entity? Were you approached by a corporate entity to buy your practice? Do you have any questions about corporatization? We’d love to hear from you and share your experience. Any approach, correspondence, or conversation will be held in confidence. Email us at: jokeefe@cda-adc.ca or oasisdiscussions@cda-adc.ca Call us at: 1-855-716-2747

The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO) has announced that the regulation permitting dentists in Ontario to treat their spouses has been approved by Ontario’s Cabinet on July 10, 2014. The regulation comes into force immediately.     Read the RCDSO announcement  Read the Ontario Dental Association’s News Release