News Bites from CDA Knowledge Networks – 2020/01/08

'It’s a big problem': Association warns of health and dental benefits fraud. toronto.ctvnews.ca, Dec 19: An association representing providers of health and dental benefits is warning people to be honest when submitting their claims at the end of the year. According to Stephen Frank […] benefits fraud drives up the costs of providing benefits for employers and employees. Read more

Health unit asks province to keep supporting kid's dental program. iheartradio.ca, Dec 20: Healthy Smiles Ontario provides children 17 years old and under from low-income households with dental care. The initiative has been paid for by the province as a "mandatory program" since 2010, but under the Ford government's 2019 Budget Protecting What Matters Most that's going to change. Read more

Dental clinic for low-income Londoners aims for summer opening. strathroyagedispatch.com, Jan 7: ... The clinic will help fill a dire gap in London’s dental care landscape. Read more

Province funds second mobile dental clinic. kenoraonline.com, Jan 7: The province [Ontario] is providing more than $800,000 to help low-income seniors in remote communities get better dental care. Read more

Des dents en santé : un luxe? tonpetitlook.com, 7 janvier : Mais qu’en est-il du soin de nos dents? Parfois complètement oublié et étant considéré comme une catégorie à part - sauf quelques exceptions de chirurgies buccales extrêmement urgentes - le soin des dents relève complètement du domaine privé pour les adultes au Québec. Lire plus

Sun Life now allows Amazon Alexa to find benefits information for clients. insurancebusinessmag.com, Dec 20: Alexa now has the Sun Life skill, which allows users to access benefits details such as remaining balances, deductibles, coverage limits and the percentage covered for each provider type. Clients can also use Alexa to check the status of a recently submitted medical or dental claim. Read more

Announcement: New Dean Chosen for Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. schulich.uwo.ca, January: Dr. John Yoo has been appointed as the next Dean of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, beginning May 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025. Read more

U of S to accredit first cohort of foreign-trained dentists. thestarphoenix.com, Jan 3: The Indian and Australian-trained dentistry student was one of eight members of the University of Saskatchewan’s first International Dental Degree Program cohort, a two-year qualifying course for citizens and permanent residents whose doctor of dentistry degrees are not recognized in Canada. Read more

January 5, 2019 Question of the Day – Are you hopeful that a universal dental care program will some day be implemented? vocm.com, Jan 5: 71% said yes. Read more

Shaver: Canada has more urgent health priorities than national dental, drug plans. thecragrandcanyon.ca, Jan 2 [OPINION]: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has directed Health Minister Patty Hajdu to “study and analyze the possibility of national dental care” and to implement “national universal pharmacare.” But there are more urgent priorities. Read more

UBC News: Senior Associate Dean Dr. W. Leandra Best Retires. dentistry.ubc.ca: Dr. Leandra Best, Clinical Professor and Senior Associate Dean in the Faculty of Dentistry, has retired. Read more

Philanthropist and dentist Zajacz has died. recorder.ca, Jan 6: Prominent local philanthropist and dentist Steve Zajacz has died just 10 days after he and his wife Dina donated $1 million to the Brockville General Hospital. Read more

SmileDirectClub invades 3,800 Walmart stores with these new products. finance.yahoo.com, Jan 6: The oral care company announced it has inked an exclusive deal with Walmart (WMT) to debut a host of consumer products across its 3,800-plus U.S. stores and the retailer’s website. Initial products include an electric toothbrush, a teeth whitening system with an LED light, whitening toothpaste, a water flosser and an ultrasonic UV cleaner that sanitizes toothbrush heads, aligners, retainers and dentures. Read more

ADA supports proposed rules to update federal Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law. ada.org, Jan 6: Changes could benefit dental offices by simplifying, reducing compliance burdens. Read more

Health in 2020 and beyond: what do the numbers tell us? jada.ada.org, January [EDITORIAL by Michael Glick]: ... As oral health care professionals, we are looked on as a resource to our patients, and we have opportunities to affect our patients’ health and health behavior. We need to improve our medical knowledge, not to treat medical conditions, but to be able to address our patients’ health concerns. We need to know the numbers. The picture of an emerging health care crisis is becoming clearer, and as health care professionals we need to act. Read more

U.S. News Best Jobs Rankings. money.usnews.com, January: Dental Professions Ranked Among Top 10 “Best Jobs” For 2020. Read more

Frank Catalanotto: Help end the dental health crisis. heraldtribune.com, Jan 3 [OPINION]: The United States and Florida in particular are facing a crisis in accessing oral health care. … While there are no “perfect” solutions to this crisis, there is an approach that is working in four other states and has been legislatively approved in eight other states: dental therapists. Read more

Opinion: Dental therapy — an innovative & collaborative solution to meet Florida’s needs. floridapolitics.com, Jan 7: Dental therapists can help meet the need of Florida’s growing population by establishing work practice guidelines that include employment in community health centers with an emphasis on rural counties. Read more

TSCA Fluoride Lawsuit Update. sonomacountygazette.com, Jan 5:  If the case goes to trial and a court eventually concludes that adding fluoride to drinking water poses an unreasonable risk, the health advocates will say the EPA must prohibit that use of fluoride. Read more

Coke PR Campaigns Tried to Influence Teens’ Views on Health Impacts of Soda. usrtk.org, Dec 18: Internal Coca-Cola Company documents show how the company intended to use public relations campaigns to influence teens’ sense of the health risks of its products, including sugary soda, according to a study published today in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Read more

Gender identity and the role of the dental hygienist. rdhmag.com, Jan 7: Suzanne Hubbard, RDH, has several patients who are undergoing gender transitions. She has been respectful of their choices and has learned much about the process. How does the process affect oral health? Read more

Treating oral disease could yield T2DM-related cost savings. medicalxpress.com, Jan 4: Providing nonsurgical periodontal treatment to patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and periodontitis may significantly reduce tooth loss and diabetes-related microvascular diseases via improved glycemic control. Read more

Radical treatment of chronic oral infection before stem cell transplantation not necessary. healsinki.fi, Jan 3: A recently published study indicates that oral infections seem to have no association with the risk of stem cell transplantation patients dying of or getting a serious infection within six months of the procedure. Read more

Tel Aviv University team controls terahertz waves to better detect cavities, explosives. jpost.com, Jan 7: The team’s discovery could lead to the development of novel methods of non-destructive analysis in arenas ranging from medicine to security, including identifying dental caries or explosive devices. Read more

Quiz time: Helping patients sort fluoride fact from fiction. mouthhealthy.org,: Fluoride: Fact vs. Fiction quiz. Take the quiz

Hackers demand ransom from Saskatchewan eHealth after first-level security breach. thestar.com, Jan 7: Hackers have made it through the first level of security surrounding Saskatchewan’s electronic health records and have locked the government out of some systems. Read more

Pharmacare now; Quebec’s largest labour union urges the federal government to act quickly. montreal.ctvnews.ca, Jan 7: ... The FTQ also wants the federal government to adopt “real” employment insurance reforms, by improving access to benefits, instead of lowering contributions. Read more

Canada falls behind in healthcare technology. macleans.ca, Dec 18: Only one in five Canadian family doctors offer the option to book a clinic appointment online. We seem far from a world where we can make Uber-like requests for a house call or virtual visit with a healthcare provider. Read more

Statement by the Minister of Indigenous Services on the Coming into Force of An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families. newswire.ca, Jan 01: The Minister of Indigenous Services, Marc Miller, issued the following statement today: "Today, Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (the Act) comes into force. This new law, co-developed with partners, affirms the rights of Indigenous peoples to determine their laws, policies and practices in relation to Indigenous child and family services and sets out basic principles that must be followed by every person providing services to Indigenous children. “ Read more

National Inuit leader wants Indigenous rights commission to accompany promised UNDRIP bill. cbc.ca, Jan 8: The federal government should create an Indigenous human rights commission as part of its proposed bill on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, says the leader of the national Inuit organization. Read more

White House proposes guidelines for regulating the use of AI. apnews.com, Jan 7: The Trump administration is proposing new rules to guide future federal regulation of artificial intelligence used in medicine, transportation and other industries. Read more

Are health care claims overblown about artificial intelligence? pbs.org, Dec 30: Health products powered by artificial intelligence, or AI, are streaming into our lives, from virtual doctor apps to wearable sensors and drugstore chatbots. IBM boasted that its AI could "outthink cancer." Others say computer systems that read X-rays will make radiologists obsolete. Read more

AI detects breast cancer as accurately as expert radiologists, study finds. cbc.ca, Jan 02: A Google artificial intelligence system proved as good as expert radiologists at detecting which women had breast cancer based on screening mammograms and showed promise at reducing errors. Read more

Vanquishing vaping? Support for tougher regulations rise as positive views of e-cigarettes go up in smoke. angusreid.org, Jan 6: Number of Canadians who say vaping does more harm than good nearly doubles from last year. Read more

FDA bans mint- and fruit-flavored vaping products but exempts menthol and tobacco. usatoday.com, Jan 2: The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it will ban fruit- and mint-flavored products used in e-cigarettes and vaping products while allowing vape shops to sell flavors from tank-based systems. Read more

Jane Philpott calls for decriminalization to solve opioid crisis. cbc.ca, Jan 2 [Power & Politics]: Former Liberal health minister Jane Philpott on why Canada should follow countries such as Portugal to decriminalize drugs in order to solve the opioid crisis. Listen from 1:30 to 10:25.

Tainted drugs are fuelling Thunder Bay's opioid deaths, say advocates. They want a safe supply to fight it. cbc.ca, Jan 8 [The Current]: A safe supply of opioids 'would mean less death,' says CEO of NorWest Community Health Centres. Read more

The True Cause of the Opioid Epidemic. theatlantic.com, Jan 02: New research supports the idea that economic distress led to an increase in opioid abuse. But some say the origins of the epidemic are far more complicated. … A study published in the journal JAMA found that counties with automotive assembly plants that closed had, five years after the closure, 85 percent higher rates of opioid-overdose mortality, relative to counties where automotive assembly plants remained open. Read more

Is overuse of antibiotics on farms worsening the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria? cbsnews.com, Jan 5: But it's interesting to know that more than 12 million pounds of medically important antibiotics sold in this country are not for use in humans; they're for livestock. And the antibiotics are driving the spread of drug-resistant bacteria in the animals that can get passed on to us through food if we don't cook and handle it properly. Read more

Whitehorse man says Stage 4 cancer could have been avoided if he had family doctor. cbc.ca, Jan 6: Yukon Medical Association says it's not sure if territory suffers from doctor shortage. … In June 2012, according to the territory's health minister at the time, Yukon had just one family doctor for every 637 people. CBC News reported a doctor shortage in the territory multiple times that year. Since then, the territory's population has grown by more than 5,000 people. Read more

How this doctor helped 35 Manitoba patients save $12K in a year. cbc.ca, Jan 6: 'It became obvious that there were giant price differences — like, tenfold price differences' for medication. Dr. Daniel Hunt is using a medication cost comparison list to help save his patients money on their prescriptions. Read more

Dalhousie University – Current course offerings

McGill University – Continuing dental education

Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry University – Continuing professional development

Université Laval – Formation continue

University of Manitoba – Continuing professional development

Université de Montréal – Formation dentaire continue

University of Alberta – Program and courses

University of British Columbia – Calendar of courses

University of Saskatchewan – Continuing professional dental education

University of Toronto – Continuing dental education

January 30-February 1: Yankee Dental Congress – Advancing the Vision 2020, in Boston, Massachusetts. Read more

February 20-22: Chicago Dental Society 155th Midwinter Meeting – Kaleidoscope View 2020, in Chicago, Illinois. Read more

March 5-7: Pacific Dental Conference in Vancouver, BC. Read more

March 19-20: Academy of Osseointegration 2020 Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA. Read more

March 18-21: IADR/AADR/CADR General Session – Washington, D.C. Read more

March 19-21: The Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Read more

April 2-4: The 2020 Manitoba Dental Association & Canadian Dental Association Convention –Seeing Dentistry Clearly, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Read more

May 7-9: Ontario Dental Association ASM20 Annual Spring Meeting, in Toronto, Ontario. Read more

May 14-16: California Dental Association (CDA) – Presents the Art & Science of Dentistry, Anaheim, California. Read more

May 21-23: Alberta Dental Association & College, Alberta Wellness Summit, in Edmonton, Alberta. Read more

May 29-June 2: Journées dentaires internationales du Québec, in Montreal, Quebec. Read more

September 1-4: FDI World Dental Congress in Shanghai, China. Read more

September 10-12: California Dental Association (CDA) – Presents the Art & Science of Dentistry, in San Francisco, CA. Save the date

October 1-3: Canadian Academy of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics 28th Annual Scientific Meeting in Toronto, Ontario. Read more

October 4: North West Dental Exposition in Edmonton, Alberta. Read more

October 15-18: American Dental Association ADA FDC 2020 in Orlando, Florida. Read more

Please let us know about upcoming continuing education meetings that could be of interest to Canadian dentists by emailing us at oasisdiscussions@cda-adc.ca

Colgate Announces Breakthrough Technology Designed To Revolutionize Oral Health. newswire.ca, Jan 5: Colgate Plaqless Pro Smart Electric Toothbrush Wins Innovation Award at the Consumer Electronics Show in Advance of 2020 Launch. Read more

Oral-B iO™ Unveiled at Consumer Electronics Show, Marking the Brand's Most Innovative Power Toothbrush to Date. business.financialpost.com, Jan 5: A CES Innovation Award 2020 Honoree, the new Oral-B iO™ reimagines brushing from the inside out. Read more