Professional
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April 17, 2023
It is no secret that dental clinicians work hours upon hours under the armor of personal protective equipment. For educational facilities and some dental offices, the pandemic PPE layers were not new protocols. For others, it was a novel approach to the safe practice of dentistry.
Are all these layers still required post-pandemic? Why had educational facilities and some offices already expanded their PPE wardrobe before the pandemic?
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April 12, 2023
Should Leadership be Taught in Dental School Curriculums?
Absolutely! The dentist running a practice must be the ‘scientist’ in dental sciences and deliver quality care. Also, the dentist has to be a ‘business’ savvy individual to ensure the practice’s financial health. What else does the dentist need to be … the team ‘coach’.
It is either the dentist’s role or if the office has an office manager, it may fall upon the manager. Nonetheless, it’s a reality that hand-in-hand with being a practice owner comes leadership. So where does a practice owner ‘learn’ leadership?
It would be fantastic along with DENT 3055 there would be a Leadership 101 course that teaches the practice owner how to navigate the various dynamics of a team to develop and strengthen that team.
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April 10, 2023
Spring signifies a time of change where colors are plentiful, and every breath delivers fresh air. Dental professionals should use the energy of seasonal change for their own refueling and restructuring.
It goes without saying, dental offices are busy places and the day-to-day operations do not leave much time in anyone’s schedule to re-organize physical spaces in the office as well as the mental compartments of our process of care circuits when treating clients.
What does physical space re-organizing look like? This would be going around the office and removing ALL clutter. The best way to ‘SEE’ if your office and operatories look cluttered is to take a picture. Play an ‘eye-spy’ game with the picture. What do you see that should not be in the picture?
An Untidy Work Area Equates Uncleanliness
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March 05, 2023
Suppose you ask dental-phobic patients for the main reasons that the thought of dental visit elicits such fear and loathing.
In that case, most will probably respond with feelings related to the potential for anxiety or pain.
This anxiety can stem from genuine unpleasant past dental experiences or unknown potential for pain.
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March 05, 2023A dental office reprocessing area must be organized in a one-way workflow to prevent cross-contamination. The one-way workflow is composed of stations that are linked in functionality to one another to finally achieve the end point of reprocessing; sterilization. Each station can only perform the duties of THAT station and can only host the contents of THAT station’s tasks. In ‘common practice’ vs ‘best practice’ reprocessing rooms ...
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December 08, 2022Antibiotic resistance is a global issue that requires the attention of all countries, governments, and health agencies.
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September 21, 2022The workplace has been evolving over the past few years, and the dental office is no exception. Making sure that employers and employees are on the same page can circumvent a toxic work environment potentially leading to passive-aggressive behaviour such as quiet firing or quitting.
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August 26, 2022
Fluoride continues to be our number one defence in the prevention and progression of dental caries. For those patients who adamantly refuse to use fluoride in any form, we must be knowledgeable in guiding them to alternative methods to increase their resistance to and prevention of caries. Prevention of dental caries involves many aspects. Primary prevention involves the etiology of ...
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October 19, 2020
Some provinces require an ACH test and some do not.
Some require adherence to a specific fallow time and some do not.
For the geographical areas that must adhere to a fallow time, the sequence of the operatory turnover and where and when the clinical notes are written is causing some confusion and must be addressed.
A common question is when does the fallow time begin?
The fallow time begins when the clinician and client leave the operatory.
It does NOT begin when the last AGP was performed.
Why?
The reasoning is while the client is still in the operatory conversing with no mask there could be a chance for airborne transmission.