News Bites from CDA Knowledge Networks – 2020/01/22

Not-for-profit Vernon dental clinic sees large increase in patients unable to pay. infotel.ca, Jan 15: …the clinic is also seeing an increase in those with no ability to pay. Between Oct. 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2019, the clinic performed more than $400,000 worth of treatment at no cost, almost $100,000 more than in the same time period the year before. Read more

Thunder Bay – Entrepreneurs, PhD student, dentist honoured with 2020 Northwestern Ontario Visionary Awards. cbc.ca, Jan 20: Dentist Derval Clarke, who has travelled to Jamaica and northern First Nations to provide dental services to those in need, won a NOVA in the business and professional achievement category. Read more

Dental hygienist offering alternative to traditional dentist visit. mygrandprairienow.com, Jan 17: Dental Hygienist Meg Kreutziger recently opened up the only dental hygiene practice in Grande Prairie. Kreutziger is able to perform x-rays and cleanings. She notes that while her practice doesn’t replace a visit to the dentist, she adds it does have a few benefits to the patient. Read more

American Association of Endodontists Announces its 2020 Award Winners. aae.org, Jan 17: Anil Kishen, B.D.S., M.D.S., Ph.D., [University of Toronto] is being honored with the Louis I. Grossman Award. This award recognizes an author for cumulative publication of significant research studies that have made an extraordinary contribution to endodontology. Read more

2019 Legislative Wins Set Stage for Expanded Access to Oral Health Care. Trends to watch in 2020. pewtrsuts.org, Jan 21: Significant strides in oral health policymaking in 2019 have helped set the stage for improved access to care for many Americans in 2020 and beyond. Read more

Your Dentist, and Robot, Will See You Now. bu.edu. Jan 16: Goldman Dental School embraces digital dentistry, with robots, 3-D, and more. Read more

USC’s dental hygiene program transforms to serve a new generation of students. news.usc.edu, Jan 21:... The new model’s goal is to integrate dental hygiene students and dental students, so they are working side by side as they would in a dental office. Read more

Opinion: Why many children with autism have oral health problems. theconversation.com, Jan 19: … Having autism does not mean that a child’s teeth and other facial features will be different. But these children are likely to develop oral health problems for a number of reasons such as unusual oral habits, medications and poor food choices. Read more

Government plan to give free dental care to under-16s ‘unrealistic’. irishtimes.com, Jan 20: Dentists have said that for the first time they will be using the general election campaign to highlight the “dental crisis” with both patients and political parties. Read more

Half of UK dentists have considered leaving dentistry for reasons of personal wellbeing. gdpuk.com, Jan 16: In a new report it says burnout creates problems not just for the dentist involved but can impact patients and the wider dental team. Read more

Meeting the dental and oral health care needs of disadvantaged Australians. ada.org.au, Jan 21: … the ADA has used the 2020-21 pre-budget submission to call for the Australian Government to provide additional targeted and sustainable funding to address the unmet oral and dental health care needs of Australians... Read more

The sorry state of US dental insurance led to the rise of direct-to-consumer orthodontia. qz.com, Jan 21:  The skimpy state of dental insurance in the US has led to the rise of dubious direct-to-consumer companies for adults with insurance. But as more US residents hit 65 and above in the coming decades, more people are going to be without regular dental coverage—which leaves room for more potentially shoddy companies trying to fill those gaps. Read more

Proposed state budget continues improvements to Medi-Cal Dental, preventive care. cda.org, Jan  5: The proposed budget expands access to care and improves the oral health of the nearly 13 million Californians served by that important public health program. Read more

DIY Teeth-Straightening Leaves Dentists and Some Consumers Frowning. thedailybeast.com, Jan 18: Now, teeth straightening is the newest dental frontier with startups like SmileDirectClub, Candid, Smilelove and SnapCorrect advertising their services aggressively on billboards and social media. Read more

New Rule Removes Barriers to Dental Care for Low-Income NC Residents. publicnewsservice.org, Jan 16: The State Board of Dental Examiners on Thursday is expected to approve a new rule that would loosen restrictions on dental hygienists, allowing them to deliver preventive care to patients without a dentist's oversight. Read more

Legislation can help improve the oral health of Tennessee children | Opinion. tennessean.com, Jan 16: The children who are most at risk of untreated tooth decay are low-income and often children of color. Read more

Dentists: Scotland's attendance gap shows no sign of closing. bda.org, Jan 21: BDA Scotland has called for a concerted effort to get low-income patients to attend their dentist as new data shows the attendance gap between Scotland's most and least deprived communities continues to grow. Read more

Tooth decay in children – is it time to put the needle and drill away? theconversation.com, Jan 17: Nearly half of all British adults and just over one in five Australian adults fear the dentist. Research shows that having dental treatment as a child is a common reason for this fear in adulthood. By taking advantage of recent advances in our understanding of tooth decay, we have investigated and developed new treatments that don’t need injections or drilling. Read more

How Marijuana Accelerates Growth of HPV-Related Head and Neck Cancer. health.ucsd.edu, Jan 13: University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers have identified the molecular mechanism activated by the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—the ingredient that causes people to feel the euphoria or “high” associated with cannabis—in the bloodstream that accelerates cancer growth in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Read more

Hookah smoke may be associated with increased risk of blood clots. medicalxpress.com, Jan 16: For the first time, in a study conducted in mice, researchers found that tobacco smoke from a hookah caused blood to function abnormally and be more likely to clot and quickly form blood clots, which can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB). Read more

Anti-aging drug holds promise for age-related oral diseases. dental.washington.edu, Jan 13: A team led by two University of Washington researchers has found that a transplant drug with anti-aging properties can regenerate bone and decrease gum inflammation, pointing the way toward new treatments for common dental problems in aging patients. Read more

Radiomics and Machine Learning in Oral Healthcare. onlinelibrary.wiley.com, Jan 16: … A comprehensive review of the state‐of‐the‐art of using radiomics and ML for imaging in oral healthcare is presented in this paper. Although the number of published studies still relatively low, the preliminary results are very promising and in a near future an Augmented Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (ADMFR) will combine the use of radiomics‐based and AI‐based analyses with the radiologist's evaluation. In addition to the opportunities and possibilities, some challenges and limitations have also been discussed for further investigations. Read more

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis May Be Associated With Increased Gingival Inflammation. rheumatologyadvisor.com, Jan 16: Compared with healthy adolescents, patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have increased gingivitis despite demonstrating oral hygiene, according to study results published in Pediatric Rheumatology. Read more

Sugar alters brain chemistry after only 12 days. medicalnewstoday.com, Jan 18: New research in pigs finds that sugar intake alters the reward-processing circuitry of the brain in a similar way to addictive drugs. Read more

World's First 'Living Machine' Created Using Frog Cells and Artificial Intelligence. livescience.com, Jan 15: These mobile organisms can move independently and collectively, can self-heal wounds and survive for weeks at a time, and could potentially be used to transport medicines inside a patient's body, scientists recently reported. Read more

Global, regional, and national sepsis incidence and mortality, 1990–2017: analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. thelancet.com , Jan 18 [Advance publication]: Using GBD 2017 cause of death results and multiple cause-of-death data, we have produced global sepsis estimates that are more than double previous calculations, with 11 million sepsis deaths and 48·9 million incident sepsis cases in 2017. Read more

Release of First-Ever National Clinical Guidelines on Substance Use Disorders among Older Canadians. Newswire.ca, Jan 20: Canadian healthcare providers now have the tools they need to better support the prevention, assessment and treatment of older adults at risk of, or living with, substance use disorders. The Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health (CCSMH) officially launched 4 sets of Clinical Guidelines on Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults today. Read more

No Shield From X-Rays: How Science Is Rethinking Lead Aprons. khn.org, Jan 15: Patients have come to expect a technician to drape their torsos with a heavy lead apron when they get an X-ray, but new thinking among radiologists and medical physicists is upending the decades-old practice of shielding patients from radiation. Read more

Research points to early detection for Alzheimer’s disease. mediarelations.uwo.ca, Jan 20: By looking specifically at an area of the brain responsible for remembering past personal experiences, the research team was able to show specific changes even during the earliest phases of memory loss in patients. Read more

Vape devices like Juul 'reversing' efforts to keep youth from tobacco: study. medicalxpress.com, Jan 21: The epidemic of addictive vaping among youth continues, with e-cigarette devices by Juul continuing to surge in popularity among teens and young adults, new research shows. Read more

U of T researchers receive $4 million in federal funding to help curb smoking, vaping. utoronto.ca, Jan 21: The federal government is investing more than $4 million in two University of Toronto-led projects that tackle what one expert calls “old and new nicotine problems.” Read more

Unprecedented Ways Dental Offices Are Prioritizing The Environment. blueandgreentomorrow.com, Jan 15: As dentists everywhere move toward becoming more environmentally-friendly, we wanted to know how dental offices are managing it. Read more

The healing process of a tongue piercing. medicalnewstoday.com, Jan 14: A tongue piercing creates a wound in one of the most bacteria-filled parts of the body: the mouth. It is difficult to keep a tongue piercing clean, which further increases the risk of infection, especially during the healing process. Read more

‘Hard to say’ whether Liberals can implement universal pharmacare within second term: Hajdu. ipolitics.ca, Jan 21: Health Minister Patty Hajdu says it’s “hard to say” at this point whether the Trudeau Liberals will be able to implement the national, universal pharmacare plan they promised on the campaign trail within their second mandate. Read more

Canada's public health agency updates cautions in wake of mysterious virus outbreak in China. montrealgazette.com, Jan 19: At Canadian border points, planned additional measures to be implemented over the coming week include messaging on arrivals screens at the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver international airports, reminding travellers from Wuhan to inform a border service officer if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms and an additional health screening question to be added to electronic kiosks. Read more

Key things to watch for in the coronavirus outbreak. cbc.ca, Jan 22: How easily the virus is transmitted, whether it can mutate and the possibility of ‘super-spreaders’. Read more

Canada prepared to face coronavirus thanks to lessons learned from SARS: experts. ctvnews.ca, Jan 22: … experts say the Canadian health care system is well equipped to handle any potential coronavirus cases thanks to the lessons learned during the SARS outbreak. Read more

Canadian health chief: 'I don't think there's any reason for us to panic' over coronavirus. ctvnews.ca, Jan 20: As new information emerges about a coronavirus that has infected hundreds and been linked to six deaths in China, Canada’s chief public health officer is advising caution. Read more

Canadian hospitals, airports preparing for possible arrival of SARS-like coronavirus from China. theglobeandmail.com, Jan 21: Canadian hospitals and airports are putting in place enhanced infection-control measures as they prepare for the possible arrival of a SARS-like virus that China confirmed Monday can be transmitted between humans. Read more

China reports sharp rise in new cases of pneumonia, 3^rd death as coronavirus spreads. cbc.ca, Jan 19: An outbreak of coronavirus in China has spread to more cities, with a third death reported and the total number of people infected topping 200, Chinese authorities said on Monday. Read more

Un quatrième pays asiatique atteint par le nouveau coronavirus. ici.radio-canada.ca, Jan 20: La Corée du Sud est devenue lundi le quatrième pays à déclarer un cas du nouveau coronavirus apparenté à celui du syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère (SRAS), alimentant les craintes d'une propagation de la maladie. Lire plus

At this pace it will take Canada 156 years to eradicate poverty. peicanada.com, Jan 22: The national child poverty rate decreased by 3.3 per cent since 1989 or 0.12 points per year. At that pace it will take Canada 156 years to eradicate poverty. Thirty years after the 1989 resolution, both Canada and PEI have the same child poverty rate of 18.6 percent. Read more

Pay-as-you-go health care: Uninsured people in Canada face sky-high bills, delays in treatment, doctors say. cbc.ca, Jan 17: An estimated 200,000 to 500,000 people in Canada live without health insurance, says report. Read more

Drug program changes could leave 46K Albertans without coverage starting March 1. calgary.ctvnews.ca, Jan 20: The United Conservative Party announced in the October budget that it will no longer cover drug costs for spouses under age 65 and dependent children of seniors. Read more

Canada remains only high-income universal health-care country to eschew private medical insurance. canadafreepress.com, Jan 21: Every high-income country with universal health care allows private medical insurance to cover some necessary health-care costs, except Canada, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. Read more

Half of Canadians have too few local psychiatrists, or none at all. How can we mend the mental-health gap? theglobeandmail.com, Jan 18: Finding psychiatric care is a challenge for millions of Canadians in underserved regions. A Globe and Mail analysis highlights where the strain is greatest, and why an aging work force and low pay are making the problem worse. Read more

National public health data finds vaccine rates for kids fall short. ctvnews.ca, Jan 22: The Public Health Agency of Canada says none of the country’s national vaccination goals were met in any of the age groups surveyed in 2017. Read more

Nearly half of Canadians are concerned about vaccine safety. Here's why. cbc.ca, Jan 17: Last year, WHO named vaccine hesitancy a Top 10 threat to global health. Unlike strident anti-vaccination activists known as "anti-vaxxers," those who are "vaccine hesitant" don't consider themselves against vaccination necessarily; they are just unsure about the safety and/or efficacy of vaccines. Read more

B.C. judge orders vaccinations for 2 boys over their mother's objections. cbc.ca, Jan 15: A B.C. judge has ordered the vaccination of two children over the objections of their mother, who questioned the safety of immunization. Read more

Hidden cameras capture misinformation, fundraising tactics used by anti-vaxx movement. cbc.ca, Jan 17: … The Marketplace investigation provided a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the anti-vaxx movement, which experts say is largely to blame for a shift in mindset about vaccination. Nearly half of Canadians today have some concern about vaccine safety. Read more

Your Fitbit could help health officials predict flu outbreaks in real-time. cnn.com, Jan 16: Researchers working at the Scripps Research Translational Institute reviewed de-identified data from users wearing Fitbits -- the company's privacy policy allows for the potential use of de-identified user data for research -- and found that they were able to do real-time flu prediction at the state level. This marks the first time heart rate trackers and sleep data have been used to predict the flu or any infectious disease in real time, according to the study authors. Read more

Federal health minister says too early for broad drug decriminalization. nationalpost.com, Jan 16: Canada’s health minister says talk about decriminalizing drugs to deal with the country’s opioids crisis is premature until people have enough help to fight their addictions. Read more

Percentage of Canadians using opioids reached highest in decade last year, poll shows. ipolitics.ca, Jan 15: Canadians’ opioid use over the last decade peaked last year, according to the findings of a study commissioned by the federal government. Read more

In midst of overdose crisis, Canada doesn't need to wait to decriminalize drugs: expert. bc.ctvnews.ca, Jan 19: A Vancouver drug policy expert says Canada is ready for decriminalization, countering comments made by federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu during a visit to the Downtown Eastside last week. Read more

Vancouver's drug-dispensing machine: Why it exists and how it works. cbc.ca, Jan 17: Canada's first automated machine that dispenses opioids to high-risk users is up and running. Read more

Cannabis edibles pose serious risks to our kids. theconversation.com, Jan 19: In October 2019, Health Canada approved the sale of cannabis edibles, topicals and extracts for early 2020. Let us hope that one of Health Canada’s New Year’s resolutions is to do a better job of regulating cannabis and protecting the public, and in particular youth, from harm. Read more

Ontario Cannabis Store runs out of edibles just hours after online sales begin. cbc.ca, Jan 16: The Ontario Cannabis Store was entirely sold out of its new edible products about five hours after they went on sale online Thursday morning. OCS said that at 8:59 a.m. it had roughly 3,000 customers in its "digital lobby" waiting for the new products to become available online. All edibles were sold out by around 2 p.m. Read more

Sounding Board: 2019 benefits costs show the sky isn’t falling. Benefitscanada.com, Jan 16: Looking back at the experiences of our plan sponsor clients, we knew costs were rising, but felt certain they weren’t rising at the rate industry pundits would lead us to believe. So, we set out to answer that very question — what was the annual increase in private payer plans across our block of business in 2019? Read more

Nunavut public health act aims to track latent tuberculosis. cbc.ca, Jan 16: More than three years after being passed in the legislature, a new law that governs public health in Nunavut is in effect. Disease reporting, water and food safety inspection among changes in new public health legislation. Read more

Sleep problems in older adults linked to cognitive decline and dementia. reuters.com, Jan 15: People who have trouble falling asleep may be at increased risk of developing cognitive problems or dementia than their counterparts who sleep well, a research review suggests. Read more

Trouble affording food linked to higher risk of premature death in Canada. ctvnews.ca, Jan 20: Canadians who have trouble keeping food on the table are more likely to die young and to die of almost every cause than those who can take dinner for granted, a new study reveals. Read more

Opinion: It's time for Alberta to enact strict vaping rules — finally. calgaryherald.com, Jan 20: Alberta, the last Canadian province to regulate vaping, held public consultations in November to create vaping rules. Read more

New American Heart Association campaign called “Quit Lying” educates students about the dangers of vaping. localmemphis.com, Jan 16: The American Heart Association is investing $20 million with plans to work with local schools to have a conversation with students about the dangers of vaping. Read more

Vaping and smoking tied to stroke risk in younger adults. nationalpost.com, Jan 16: Young and middle-aged adults who vape and smoke are more likely to have had a stroke than those who use only one of these types of nicotine product, or none at all, a study suggests. Read more

CDC revises recommendations on vaping products. wtol.com, Jan 19: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stepping back from an all-out recommendation against vaping products it put out last year, but the agency is still warning against vaping. Read more

Vape devices like Juul 'reversing' efforts to keep youth from tobacco: study. medicalxpress.com, Jan 21: The epidemic of addictive vaping among youth continues, with e-cigarette devices by Juul continuing to surge in popularity among teens and young adults, new research shows. Read more

Study: Big Tobacco set public health back decades by pitting states against cities. The food industry is now mirroring the same playbook. corporateaccountability.org, Jan 16: According to a new study published today in the American Journal of Public Health, the tobacco industry’s efforts to pre-empt local public health policy with state laws has delayed the public health protections we enjoy today by an average of more than 10 years. Read more

FDA approval may not be as rigorous as it once was. cbc.ca, Jan 15: Changes in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) procedures meant to speed approvals for medications may have resulted in less exacting standards, a new analysis suggests. Read more

Pharma execs pitch ideas at #JPM20 to lower drug costs. None of them include dropping their own prices. cnbc.com, Jan 16: None, however, offered to cut the prices of their own drugs. Executives at the conference repeated arguments they used to fend off attacks in Washington last year to crack down on high prescription drug prices. 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