News Bites from CDA Knowledge Networks – 2020/09/30

Ottawa Public Health redeploying dental staff to COVID-19 front line. ottawa.ctvnews.ca, Sept 30: Four Ottawa Public Health dental clinics are closed until further notice so that staff can be redeployed to assist with the city's response to COVID-19. Read more

Ontario dentists to consider possibility of testing patients for COVID-19. ca.news.yahoo.com, Sept 29: The Ontario Dental Association will meet Friday to discuss whether it’s possible for dental clinics to administer COVID-19 tests to patients throughout the province. This comes as demand for the service increases along with the number of cases in Ontario. Read more

Group calls for COVID-19 testing in dental clinics. toronto.citynews.ca, Sept 28: Imagine walking into a dentist’s office for a scheduled appointment and getting a COVID-19 test done. That’s what one of the largest dental groups in the country is calling for. The CEO of Altima Healthcare Group is calling on the government to consider dentists to administer these tests for their clients. Read more and watch 2:31

Medical groups calling for COVID-19 testing in Ontario dental offices. theloop.ca, Sept 28: Experts say that by testing patients during regular appointments, the province can save money and reduce contact opportunities for Canadians. Watch 3:44

Passage au palier d’alerte rouge dans la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal et les régions de la Capitale-Nationale et de Chaudière-Appalaches. bulletin.odq.qc.ca, 28 septembre : Que signifie le passage au palier d’alerte rouge pour les dentistes situés dans les régions visées? Lire plus

W5 investigates how surviving COVID-19 is just the first step. ctvnews.ca, Sept 25: Mornings are agony for Mike Chow. The Port Coquitlam, B.C., dentist, a former marathon runner, now shuffles into the kitchen by moving only a few inches with each step. Read more and watch 13:26.

New Faces New Places: Green Leaf Dental opens amid pandemic restrictions. thestarphoenix.com, Sept 26: Opening a dental clinic in the midst of a pandemic might have been undoable for some, but for Lindsay Scherr — who has long wanted her own practice — COVID-19 was simply an unexpected hurdle she had to jump to get there. Read more

Scottish dentists ‘turning away’ NHS patients. heraldscotland.com, Sept 30: More dentists in Scotland are refusing to treat NHS patients than in England, dental leaders say, leaving many struggling to access even basic check-ups. An investigation by the Herald found there is wide variation across Scotland and some confusion over what treatments dentists can or are willing to provide if patients are not private due to the impact of coronavirus. Read more

The Dentist Will Screen You Now. bostonmagazine.com, Sept 29: I never feared going to have my teeth cleaned. Then the pandemic hit. Way back when, during the simpler days of December, I made a routine appointment for a teeth cleaning. It was the sort of thing I didn’t think twice about at the time, but as the months raced by it began to take on the outsize importance of an existential question: Was I willing to risk getting COVID-19, or giving it to those around me, in the name of improving my gum health? Read more

HPI poll: Dentists see increase in patients’ stress-related oral health conditions. More than half of dentists would consider raising fees if patient volume remains at current levels. ada.org, Sept 28: …As of the week of Sept. 21, more than 99% of dental offices in the U.S. were open, and patient volume was leveling off at just over 80% of pre-COVID-19 levels. Staffing was at 95% of pre-COVID-19 levels. These values have been roughly unchanged over the past two months and suggest practices are reaching a "steady state" of economic activity. Read more

Dentists are seeing more cracked teeth. Pandemic stress is to blame. edition.cnn.com, Sept 29: Shingles, maskne, migraines and quarantine fatigue: The stress of the pandemic has manifested in a variety of physical ailments. The latest evidence of this is a rise in cracked teeth. Read more

Dentists fear a ‘tsunami’ of post-lockdown tooth decay. theguardian.com, Sept 27: Half of UK parents say their children have missed a check-up since restrictions were introduced, a survey finds. Read more

CDO Sara Hurley responds to new review into fallow time. dentistry.co.uk, Sept 25: The chief dental officer for England has responded the publication of a review looking into fallow time requirements. Read more or read the report PDF

New England residents facing months on waiting list for dental treatments. northerndailyleader.com.au, Sept 28: …This is something dentists are attributing not just to COVID interruptions but more fundamentally the inability for residents to afford regular check ups. Data shows the Hunter New England Health District has 13,600 adults currently waiting for public dental treatment. This is an increase of about 800 in the first half of 2020 alone. Read more

Dentistry ‘faces resourcing crisis as skilled staff move to testing and tracing’. belfasttelegraph.co.uk, Sept 25: The Irish Dental Association’s incoming president has warned that the needs of patients ‘cannot be met’. Read more

Interview: “Dental laboratories will be left in an extremely vulnerable position”. coronavirus.dental-tribune.com, Sept 28: Close cooperation between dentists and dental technicians generates synergy and helps to ensure high-quality prosthetic dentistry. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has diminished the confidence of many professionals working in the dental field and has created much uncertainty about the future of dental technology. Read more

Feds to buy 7.9 million rapid COVID-19 tests if approved, as new daily cases mirror April peak. ctvnews.ca, Sept 29: …The new deal to potentially procure nearly 8 million tests and 3,800 test analyzing devices from Abbott Rapid Diagnostics comes amid considerable pressure for the federal government to provide a faster form of testing to address what's become hours-long lineups and days-long waits for results in some cities. Read more

Surge in COVID-19 tests for kids may lead to revised symptom list. cbc.ca, Sept 30: Now that cold season has started, it may be time to take some symptoms off the COVID-19 checklist, says New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health. Dr. Jennifer Russell said her colleagues from across the country have talked about "streamlining" testing requirements to avoid a logjam of tests for people who end up simply having a cold. Read more

COVID Alert app nears 3 million users, but only 514 positive test reports. ctvnews.ca, Sept 29: New numbers out of the Public Health Agency of Canada show only a gradual increase of downloads of Canada’s COVID-19 exposure notification app since the start of the month, while the number of Canadians using the tool to report their positive test remains low. Read more

Nearly 300 health-care workers forced to isolate as COVID-19 outbreaks continue at Calgary hospital. calgary.ctvnews.ca, Sept 30: Alberta Health Services (AHS) confirms five units at the hospital in northwest Calgary have infections of the disease and there are major concerns regarding the quality of patient care.  Read more

COVID-19 cases rising in Indigenous communities. ctvnews.ca, Sept 30: Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says Indigenous communities have been facing an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases during the last few weeks. ... Miller said there is also a "hidden epidemic" of mental-health problems hitting Indigenous people. Read more

Ontario's COVID-19 data predicts 'remarkably high surge,' 1,000 cases per day by mid-October. toronto.ctvnews.ca, Sept 30: ...According to the data released on Wednesday, new COVID-19 cases in Ontario are doubling approximately every 10 to 12 days. Read more

Second Wave Angst: COVID-19 concern levels rebound to April highs as Canadians brace for worse to come. angusreid.org, Sept 30: One-quarter continue to suffer from poor mental health as pandemic wears on Read more

Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Wednesday. cbc.ca, Sep 30: Liberals survive confidence vote as COVID-19 aid bill passes unanimously. • Ontario pouring $500M into long-term care, but enhanced inspections aren't part of the plan. • New parents waiting months for financial benefits amid surge in CERB claims • Windsor company applies for testing lab capable of processing COVID‑19 swabs • UN says pandemic has taken 'an unprecedented toll' on the economies of many developing countries. Read more

Canadian physicians concerned about PPE, access to flu vaccine ahead of second wave: survey. ctvnews.ca, Sept 29: ...While there have been improvements in the supply and distribution of PPE, a survey of CMA members found that 54 per cent of physicians continue to encounter procurement challenges. Read more

Rapid testing becoming the new focus in the fight against COVID-19. ctvnews.ca, Sept 28: As new technology for COVID-19 testing hits the market, the international focus has shifted away from the availability of these tests and instead to the speed in which they can produce results. Read more

Nova Scotia company waiting on Health Canada approval for rapid antigen test for COVID-19. atlantic.ctvnews.ca, Sept 28: The Sona Nanotech lab in Dartmouth, N.S., is making history by developing a rapid antigen test for COVID-19. ... Sona Nanotech is the only company in Canada to come up with this technology. Read more

New COVID-19 test machine approved by Health Canada. sudbury.com, Sept 26: Health Canada has just approved the Hyris bCUBE device for quick COVID-19 testing. The company said the device is portable and useful for applications in remote and rural areas of Canada. Read more

Canada snapping up COVID-19 vaccines at expense of poorer countries, experts say. cbc.ca, Sept 28: Global health experts decry vaccine 'hoarding,' call on richest countries to do more. Read more

University of Alberta team ready to begin Phase 1 of COVID-19 vaccine testing. globalnews.ca, Sept 28: Oncologist John Lewis and his team with Entos Pharmaceuticals at the University of Alberta have been working overtime to develop one of Canada’s leading vaccine candidates. Dr. Lewis said the early results are promising so clinical trials will begin in the next few weeks. Watch 3:37

Opinion: Canada’s ‘me first’ COVID-19 vaccine strategy may come at the cost of global health. theconversation.com, Sept 27: …It is understandable that countries want to ensure their ability to protect their citizens’ health. But most of the world’s population lives in countries without the same financial resources to play the global “me first” vaccine contest. Read more

World Bank seeks board approval for $12 billion coronavirus vaccine financing plan. reuters.com, Sept 29: World Bank President David Malpass said on Tuesday he is seeking board approval for a $12 billion coronavirus vaccine financing plan to help poor and developing countries secure a sufficient share of vaccine doses when they become available in the coming months. Read more

Cats could help researchers unlock a COVID-19 vaccine, research suggests. ctvnews.ca, Sept 29: Researchers found that, while cats can infect other cats through direct contact, the dogs did not spread the virus amongst each other. Neither the cats nor dogs actually developed clinical symptoms of the COVID-19 at any point in the study. Read more

WHO to roll out 120M rapid coronavirus tests for poorer countries. globalnews.ca, Sept 28: The World Health Organization announced that it and leading partners have agreed to a plan to roll out 120 million rapid-diagnostic tests for the coronavirus to help lower- and middle-income countries make up ground in a testing gap with richer countries — even if it’s not fully funded yet. Read more

U.S. to ship millions of coronavirus tests in effort to reopen schools through 12th grade. globalnews.ca, Sept 28: The move to vastly expand U.S. testing comes as confirmed new COVID-19 cases remain elevated at more than 40,000 per day and experts warn of a likely surge in infections during the colder months ahead. Read more

Over 1 million people have now died of coronavirus worldwide. globalnews.com, Sept 28: … The fatalities account for three per cent of the more than 33.2 million cases of COVID-19 reported since the disease was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Read more

The childless vaccine. axios.com, Sept 28: It'll likely be a long time before children are vaccinated against COVID-19, even though vaccinating kids could eventually play an integral role in reducing the virus' spread. None of the leading contenders in the U.S. are being tested for their effectiveness in children. Even once one of them gains authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, there will only be a limited number of available doses. Read more

Canadian behind controversial fluoride research spoke to conference featuring anti-vaxxers, COVID conspiracists. nationalpost.com, Sept 30 (80 similar stories published): As she battles critics of her research linking fluoridated water and lower child IQ, Christine Till won some powerful validation this month. The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) commented favourably on the York University professor’s study and others examining the issue. Fluoride is “presumed to be a cognitive neurodevelopmental hazard,” concluded the government agency in a revised report on the issue that echoes Till’s own concerns. But the neuropsychologist’s virtual appearance at a Nashville conference earlier in September is unlikely to reassure the naysayers. Read more

Shaver: Second COVID-19 wave drives home need for better sick leave benefits for health workers. lfpress.com, Sept 30 [OPINION]: … why does Ontario – as well as Alberta and Manitoba – continue to ignore the need for physicians and certain other health professionals to be financially protected if they contract the coronavirus or are forced to self-isolate? Read more

Loss of rural doctors in Alberta leaves patients uncertain as contract dispute with province drags on. cbc.ca, Sept 29: One medical clinic is losing 5 of its 8 physicians, other MDs threaten to leave province. Read more

Cannabinoids linked to negative respiratory health, death in older adults with COPD, study finds. ctvnews.ca, Sept 30: A new Canadian study has found that cannabinoids, prescription pills that contain synthetically-made chemicals found in marijuana, may be linked to an increase in negative respiratory health and even death among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Read more

News: Schulich Dentistry reinvents structure and model of clinical education to optimize learning. schulich.uwo.ca, Sept 24: In order to adapt to a fall term like no other, Schulich Dentistry has reinvented the structure and model of clinical education it offers. Developed during the summer months, the Program has worked tirelessly to prepare for the realities of providing clinical education and care during a pandemic. Read more

Pharamacists call for naloxone with every opioid prescription. windsorstar.com, Sept 29: ...In a recently published article in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal — which represents the professional sector — a group of pharmacists from across the country have called for every patient receiving an opioid prescription to also receive a take-home naloxone kit. Read more

More than 56K businesses closed in June amid coronavirus fallout: StatCan. globalnews.ca, Sept 28: Statistics Canada says it recorded 56,296 business closures in June, an improvement from May but still 44 per cent more than in February before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in force in Canada. It says the number of business closures across Canada in June was down 5.6 per cent compared with May. Read more

USask partners with Sask. First Nation to open Northern community dental clinic. dentistry.usask.ca, Sept 29: The College of Dentistry at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has partnered with the Big River First Nation to launch a new dental clinic, providing service to a community with limited access to oral health-care. Read more

Vital People: Society aims to improve dental care for all. timescolonist.com, Sept 27: The Garth Homer Society is working to improve access to dental services for its vulnerable clientele of adults with developmental disabilities. Read more

New law allows Québec dental hygienists to practice and provide services independently. thereview.ca, Sept 26: Dental hygienists in Québec can now practice independently and provide oral care to patients. The Québec legislature approved a bill on Thursday that makes the changes possible. Read more

Plus d’autonomie aux hygiénistes dentaires : «Une page d’histoire qui se tourne». lavoixdelest.ca, 25 septembre : Adopté à l’unanimité à l’Assemblée nationale du Québec, vendredi, le projet de loi 29 permettra aux hygiénistes dentaires d’offrir une plus grande variété de services de manière autonome. Lire plus

Coût d’une visite chez le dentiste: quel montant faut-il prévoir? journaldemontreal.com, 25 septembre : Une visite chez le dentiste peut être drôlement effrayante, mais pas pour les raisons que vous croyez. Évidemment, pour certains, la source d’épouvante se trouve dans le fait de se faire jouer dans la bouche avec des outils pointus... mais pour quelqu’un qui ne profite pas d’assurance dentaire, la peur se situe surtout au niveau du porte-monnaie. Lire plus

Vaping up, cigarette use down, among Canadian youth. uwaterloo.ca, Sept 28: While vaping increased significantly among Canadian youth over a six-year period, cigarette use remained stable or decreased, a University of Waterloo study says. Read more

End of CERB means uncertainty for some, new system for others. thestar.com, Sept 27: In its place is employment insurance, which the government says the majority of people will go on, and a new suite of benefits that won’t exist unless approved by Parliament. As of a week ago, the CERB had paid out $79.3 billion to 8.8 million people, or roughly two in every five members of the nearly 20.2 million-strong labour force in August. Read more

Vaping increases the chances of regular smoking threefold, Australian review finds. theguardian.com, Sept 30: Every one of 25 existing studies examined found people who use e‑cigarettes are more likely to take up ‘combustible’ smoking. Read more

Alcohol consumption rising sharply during pandemic, especially among women. abcnews.go.com, Sept 29: …new data shows that during the COVID-19 crisis, American adults have sharply increased their consumption of alcohol, drinking on more days per month, and to greater excess. Heavy drinking among women especially has soared. Read more

Dentists advise against participating in TikTok teeth filing challenge. kwrn.com, Sept 29 [40 similar stories published]:  There are some TikTok challenges that are raising health concerns, and the latest one involves people filing down their own teeth. Read more

Silver fillings may place certain dental patients' health at risk, FDA warns. phillyvoice.com, Sept 28: American Dental Association stresses dental amalgam remains safe despite presence of mercury. Read more

Tongue cancer in young Australian women skyrockets. 7news.com.au, Sept 27: …Researchers…have published a new study in the journal Oral Oncology. It shows a significant increase in the incidence of tongue cancer in people aged under 45 while the incidence in young women has soared by a staggering 385 per cent in 32 years. Read more

One-third of US parents say they won't vaccinate their kids against flu this year. thehill.com, Sept 28: Misinformation surrounding the influenza vaccine is a leading component. About 32 percent, or 1 in 3, parents said they will not get their children vaccinated against the flu. Health officials are concerned about dueling outbreaks of COVID-19 and influenza this winter. Read more

Major hospital system hit with cyberattack, potentially largest in U.S. history. nbcnews.com, Sept 28: Computer systems for Universal Health Services, which has more than 400 locations, primarily in the U.S., began to fail over the weekend. Read more

India's confirmed coronavirus tally reaches 6 million cases. ctvnews.ca, Sept 28: India's confirmed coronavirus tally reached 6 million on Monday, keeping the country second to the United States in number of reported cases. Read more

China pushes emergency use of COVID vaccine despite concerns. ctvnews.ca, Sept 26: After the first shot, he had no reaction. But Kan Chai felt woozy following the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in China. … His is a rare account from the hundreds of thousands of people who have been given Chinese vaccines, before final regulatory approval for general use. 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

2020
October 15-17: ADA FDC Virtual Connect Conference. Read more

2021
March 13-16: “WE” 2021 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition (Virtual). 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