Striving to Be Better

One of the great benefits of practicing dentistry is being able to positively impact peoples' lives. From enabling patients to live free of pain, to helping them eat more comfortably, to improving a patient's smile, dentists have opportunities virtually every day to enhance their patients' quality of life.

As such, we as clinicians should always want to continue learning our craft and strive to do better for our patients. This attitude is reflected in this issue's continuing education (CE) curriculum. Our first CE discusses how far dentistry has come regarding the development of autologous blood concentrates (ABCs) for tissue healing and regeneration. Some six decades after platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was first implemented, work is still being done to create better ABC products with improved clinical results. This article describes a new "fifth-generation" PRP protocol that yields a high platelet concentration to accelerate healing and is designed for convenient integration into a dental clinical setting.

Our second CE article discusses how clinicians can improve their delivery of implant-supported prostheses in patients with an edentulous maxilla. The authors discuss three key prosthetic parameters that can be evaluated to help determine the best restorative option for a patient, be it fixed or removable. The article lays out step-by-step diagnostic and decision-making processes.

Two case reports, one on ridge augmentation using tenting screws in a site of a previous implant failure, and the other on a streamlined full-arch treatment, also demonstrate innovative techniques for improving patient care.

Speaking of quality of life, a special research article featured in this issue examines the association between preventive dental care and healthcare costs. Conducted by a team from the Mayo Clinic, this study looked at 5 years of healthcare cost data from one of the institute's partners and how preventive dental care impacted medical costs of patients with diabetes and/or coronary artery disease. The results of the study speak impressively to the correlation between oral health and overall health and impact not only the dental profession but the imperative to legislate the inclusion of oral health in Medicare and other insurance programs to improve patient care and outcomes.

Dental practitioners should always strive to be better-better clinicians, better care givers, better people. We owe it to our patients so they, in turn, can be their best.

Sincerely,

Markus B. Blatz, DMD, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
mblatz@aegiscomm.com