OSAP is looking for the best session ideas for the 2014 Annual Infection Control Leadership Symposium June 5-8 in Minneapolis, MN. The goal of the Symposium is to create a learning experience that engages, challenges and empowers the current and emerging leaders in infection prevention and patient/provider safety. This is your chance to submit session ideas. OSAP is looking for cutting-edge topics on the latest trends impacting this critical function, specific solutions for every size and type of oral healthcare delivery practice, and advanced-level content that explores new and improved ways to tackle issues.

Help shape the 2014 OSAP Annual Infection Control Leadership Symposium by submitting your session ideas by Friday, November 15, 2013. Registration for the 2014 OSAP Symposium opens January 2014.

Chicago — The American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA) and the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. (DANB) have selected the winners of the 2013 ADAA/DANB Scholarship.

The newly launched scholarship program is intended to help dental assistants turn their professional development plans into reality. Dental assistants from across the country submitted applications, and the scholarship committee had the tough task of assessing the many highly qualified applicants. When evaluating the applications, the scholarship committee looked for dental assistants who demonstrated a strong commitment to career growth and lifelong learning in the dental assisting profession.

The awards ceremony was held Oct. 31 at the 2013 ADAA Annual Session in New Orleans. The scholarship committee selected five winners for this year's ADAA/DANB Scholarship:

• Theresa Anderson, of Wentzville, Mo., plans to use her scholarship award to earn DANB certification and ADAA Fellowship.

• Brittany Ashenfelter, CDA, of Indianapolis, Ind., will apply her scholarship award toward earning a master's degree in clinical research administration.

• Nicole Calderone, of Hemet, Calif., is pursuing California's Registered Dental Assistant in Expanded Functions II (RDAEF II) program.

• Fanice Jean-Baptiste, of Lynn, Mass., plans to earn DANB's Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification. Her scholarship award will be applied to the General Chairside Assisting (GC) component exam fees.

• Maria Urita, CDA, of Joppa, Md., will use her scholarship award toward earning DANB's Certified Restorative Functions Dental Assistant (CRFDA) certification.

"As America's largest membership organization for dental assistants, the ADAA is proud to partner with DANB to recognize the deserving recipients of this new scholarship to help take their careers to the next level," says ADAA President Carolyn Breen, CDA, RDA, RDH, Ed.D.

"Both ADAA and DANB promote lifelong learning, and we are excited that this year's winners will receive the additional funds necessary to help them achieve their DANB certification, continuing education and other professional development goals," says DANB Board Chair Frank Maggio, D.D.S.

The ADAA/DANB Scholarship is a joint collaboration between the ADAA and DANB. Information about the 2014 ADAA/DANB Scholarship will be announced in the coming months. To learn more, visit www.dentalassistant.org or www.danb.org.

About ADAA

America's oldest largest dental assisting association, the ADAA serves an estimated 300,000 dental assistants in the United States. It is dedicated to the development and recognition of professionalism through education, membership services and public awareness programs. The ADAA is a strong advocate for legislation mandating credentialing for clinical dental assistants and greater recognition of the assistant's role in the professional dental team.

About DANB

DANB is recognized by the American Dental Association as the national certification board for dental assistants. DANB's certification programs are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. DANB serves the public by promoting a means of identifying qualified and competent dental assistants and by measuring and promoting excellence in oral healthcare delivery. As a Mark of Dental Assisting Excellence, DANB certification is a source of pride for those who achieve it. Currently, there are more than 35,000 DANB certificants nationwide, and DANB certifications and certificates of knowledge-based competency are recognized or required in 38 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Wild blueberries are a rich source of phytochemicals called polyphenols, which have been reported by a growing number of studies to exert a wide array of protective health benefits. A new study by researchers at the University of Maine adds to this growing body of evidence.

This new research, published this week in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, shows that regular long-term wild blueberry diets may help improve or prevent pathologies associated with the metabolic syndrome, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

"The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of risk factors characterized by obesity, hypertension, inflammation, dyslipidemia, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, and endothelial dysfunction," explains Dr. Klimis-Zacas, a Professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Maine and a co-author of the study. "MetS affects an estimated 37% of adults in the US." Many substances found in food have the potential to prevent MetS, thus reducing the need for medication and medical intervention.

"We have previously documented the cardiovascular benefits of a polyphenol-rich wild blueberry in a rat model with impaired vascular health and high blood pressure," says Klimis-Zacas. "Our new findings show that these benefits extend to the obese Zucker rat, a widely used model resembling human MetS."

"Endothelial dysfunction is a landmark characteristic of MetS, and the obese Zucker rat, an excellent model to study the MetS, is characterized by vascular dysfunction. The vascular wall of these animals shows an impaired response to vasorelaxation or vasoconstriction which affects blood flow and blood pressure regulation."

According to the study, wild blueberry consumption (2 cups per day, human equivalent) for 8 weeks was shown to regulate and improve the balance between relaxing and constricting factors in the vascular wall, improving blood flow and blood pressure regulation of obese Zucker rats with metabolic syndrome.

"Our recent findings reported elsewhere, documented that wild blueberries reduce chronic inflammation and improve the abnormal lipid profile and gene expression associated with the MetS." Thus, this new study shows even greater potential such that "by normalizing oxidative, inflammatory response and endothelial function, regular long-term wild blueberry diets may also help improve pathologies associated with the MetS."

The article "Wild blueberry consumption affects aortic vascular function in the obese Zucker rat" is published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism: https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2013-0249

Boston- Parents and doctors assume eating disorders very rarely affect males. However, a study of 5,527 teenage males from across the U.S., published Nov.4 in JAMA Pediatrics, challenges this belief. Boston Children's Hospital researchers found 17.9% of adolescent boys were extremely concerned about their weight and physique. These boys were more likely to start engaging in risky behaviors, including drug use and frequent binge drinking.

"Males and females have very different concerns about their weight and appearance," says the study's lead author Alison Field, ScD, from Boston Children's Hospital Adolescent Medicine Division. Evaluations for eating disorders have been developed to reflect girls' concerns with thinness but not boys' concerns, which may be more focused on muscularity than thinness.

To better understand how symptoms of eating disorders might be linked to obesity, drug use and depression in males, Field and her colleagues reviewed responses to questionnaires completed as part of the Growing Up Today Study. Teens responded to surveys every 12 to 36 months from 1999 through 2010.

Boys tended to be more interested in muscularity than thinness, with 9.2% of males reporting high concerns with muscularity, compared with 2.5% concerned about thinness and 6.3% concerned with both aspects of appearance.

Males concerned about muscularity and who used potentially unhealthy supplements, growth hormone and steroids to enhance their physique were approximately twice as likely to start binge drinking frequently and much more likely than their peers to start using drugs. Boys concerned with thinness were more likely to develop depressive symptoms.

A total of 2.9% of all respondents had full or partial criteria binge-eating disorder, and nearly one-third reported infrequent binge eating, purging or overeating.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are characterized by an excessive influence of weight and physique on self-evaluation, with patients focused on being thin or wanting to losing weight.

Most eating disorder assessments reflect this desire for thinness and may overlook boys concerned about their weight and shape but who want to be more muscular. This may be the male equivalent of girls who are very concerned with their weight and who use vomiting or laxatives for weight control, according to Field.

"Clinicians may not be aware that some of their male patients are so preoccupied with their weight and shape that they are using unhealthy methods to achieve the physique they desire, and parents are not aware that they should be as concerned about eating disorders and an excessive focus on weight and shape in their sons as in their daughters," says Field.

CHICAGO, IL – Hu-Friedy, a global leader in the manufacture of dental instruments and products, is pleased to announce a complete product offering of high-quality sterilization pouches with the addition of four new sizes to the existing Bagette product line. With eight variations available, Hu-Friedy now offers options that will fit all Hu-Friedy Signature Series® Cassettes including Hu-Friedy's Oral Surgery cassette. Four smaller sizes are also available for all other office needs including rubber dam clamps, burs, hand pieces and loose instruments.

Key Features include:

-Process indicators located both internal and external to the instrument/cassette area for both Steam and EO processes

-Constructed of medical grade paper providing strength and durability and multi-layer blue film to easily see any tears in film

-Strong seals protect against cassette and instrument breaches and wide self-seal adhesive strip to easily and securely seal pouches and provide reliable seal

-Pouches are lead free and are not made with natural rubber latex

-Thumb notch for ease of opening  

For product specific information or to view a comprehensive usage chart, please go to: www.hu-friedy.com/products/bagette-self-sealing-sterilization-pouches

In this very fast-paced 1-hour webinar from the American Academy of Dental Office Managers, Linda Larsen will remind viewers of the mindset and skillset  they need in order to come up with creative, innovative solutions to common every day problems that they face in their practice. And - if you've ever presented your good idea to someone and heard "Oh, that'll never work," then, by all means, tune in! Linda will talk about strategies that you can use to get heard and get serious consideration for your suggestion. The free Webinar is 1 PM EST Wednesday. 

REGISTER NOW!

NEW ORLEANS – Two dedicated supporters of the Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) program—Candy B. Ross of KaVo Kerr Group and Kathy L. Woodard of the Ohio Dental Association—were recipients of the Give Kids A Smile “Smile Champion” Awards, presented at the American Dental Association Foundation’s Give Kids A Smile Gala during the ADA’s Annual Session in New Orleans on November 1.

The award recognizes the winners’ efforts to expand the GKAS program to reach even more underserved children across the country. Give Kids A Smile is the American Dental Association’s signature national program that provides free dental screenings, treatment and education to underserved children. Since its founding more than 11 years ago, GKAS has provided dental services for nearly 4.5 million children.  Each award winner received a commemorative crystal trophy.

Candy B. Ross, Director of Industry and Professional Relations, NA Equipment, KaVo Kerr Group — Steven W. Kess Give Kids A Smile Corporate Volunteer Award

One of Give Kids A Smile’s most powerful champions since the program’s inception, Ms. Ross has worked to grow the program by carrying its message within her industry, her corporation, and at local events. Representing DEXIS, and now KaVo Kerr Group, at GKAS events nationwide, she reinforces their commitment to caring for underserved children in the U.S.

DEXIS has supplied digital radiography equipment and technical support at dozens of GKAS events each year, in addition to financial support. In providing ease-of-use in imaging, DEXIS adds a much-needed element to helping solve the oral healthcare disparity.

Ms. Ross has served on multiple boards and committees with ADA, AAP, ADHA, and ADEA. In addition to her current service on the ADA’s Give Kids A Smile National Advisory Committee, Ms. Ross is on the Board of the ADA Foundation, ADA Industry Advisory Board, UK College of Dentistry Dean’s Advisory Board, TeamSmile Advisory Board, Access Industry Advisory Board, OHA Gala Committee, AAE Corporate Relations Committee and Dimensions Corporate Council.

The support of Ms. Ross and DEXIS have expanded GKAS prevention and treatment services to tens of thousands of children. 

Kathy L. Woodard, Director of Public Service and the ODA Foundation, Ohio Dental Association. Jeffrey Dalin, D.D.S. Give Kids A Smile Volunteer Award

For 11 years, Ms. Woodard has worked to provide support services to volunteers who donate care to Ohio’s underserved children through Give Kids A Smile. She organizes the resources that help make Give Kids A Smile events happen, freeing the dentists and their staffs to focus on what they do best: bringing healthy mouths to Ohio’s children. From working with a site to find uninsured children in need of dental care, to contacting legislators and media to create awareness locally and statewide, to finding additional sources of product donations, Ms. Woodard helps make each Ohio event successful for underserved children and rewarding for its volunteers.

The results are impressive: more than 194,000 children have participated in a GKAS Ohio program since 2003, averaging 17,000 children treated each year. More than $10,000,000 in volunteer dental services have been provided to Ohio’s children since 2003, with an average of 2,355 volunteers participating annually.

***

“Knowing that this program is about helping children in need — and that Ohio dentists care so much — is what matters,” Ms. Woodard said,  “It is because of each dentist who has participated in Give Kids A Smile Ohio since 2003 that I am receiving this honor, and I thank them all.”

In addition to celebrating Give Kids A Smile, the event recognized ADA President Robert Faiella and other ADA luminaries, including trustees and board officers.

Give Kids A Smile is made possible through the efforts of volunteers, including 110,000 dentists and 335,000 other volunteers ranging from dental hygienists, dental technicians, teachers, parents and school nurses to other community health professionals. In addition, several partners provide funding and in-kind product support. Henry Schein Dental is the exclusive provider of professional dental products and Colgate is the exclusive provider of consumer dental products.  DEXIS, CareCredit and 3M ESPE Dental have also provided major support for the program.  

Since the establishment of the Give Kids A Smile Fund, the ADA Foundation has made grants in support of the program in excess of $1 million.

AURORA, Colo. – Two new studies show that parents and students have highly positive views of school-based health centers (SBHCs) and suggest that they can serve as the `medical home' for an often low-income, at-risk population.

"These centers are focused on increasing access to care for underserved students, especially adolescents," said study author Sean O'Leary, MD, MPH, an investigator at the Children's Outcomes Research Program, affiliated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado. "Students can get check-ups, vaccinations, sick visits, mental health counseling and access to a pharmacy. And there is generally no co-payment."

O'Leary presented the studies last week at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla. The research will be published in the coming months.

The first study surveyed a random sample of 497 parents of adolescents in one of Denver's 15 SBHCs, seeking to gauge their feelings about the centers.

Some 83% said they could always or usually trust the center provider to take good care of their child and 82% were satisfied with the level of communication with the provider. Significantly, 33% reported that SBHCs were their child's main source of medical care.

Of the parents surveyed, 77% said the main reason they came to the centers was get their children vaccinated; 70% said they came for regular check-ups and 62% cited illness as the reason for visiting.

The second study surveyed a random sample of 495 adolescents who had used a school-based health center. Seventy- nine percent visited a center roughly three times in the last year and 34% said it was their primary source of medical care.

The study also showed that 67% of teens were very satisfied with their care and 30 percent were somewhat satisfied.

Breaking it down further, the study showed that 88% of teens said providers were usually or always helpful; 88% said they explained things well and 93% said they showed respect.

The average age of the students surveyed was 15.8. Of those, 69% were Latino; 19% were African-American and 15% were white.

"These studies are significant because they show the centers are a different way for medical providers to deliver health care to kids," said Sonja O'Leary, MD, medical director for Denver's SBHCs which are affiliated with Denver Health. "We are meeting kids where they are and that is in the schools."

There are currently about 2,000 centers nationwide. The Affordable Care Act earmarks $200 million to build even more. In Denver, they are generally staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants with oversight by pediatricians.

All of this has important implications for health care policy and policy makers.

"Our studies show that SBHCs work and can serve as patient-centered medical homes – places where people get their primary health care needs met," said Sean O'Leary. "And it's significant that for a full one-third of these students, this is their only source of health care."

O'Leary also noted that chronic illness is often reason for poor academic performance.

"Kids with unmet health needs are at risk of dropping out," he said. "And we think school-based health centers can help decrease that likelihood."                                                 

Countries facing severe shortages and poor distribution of health workers could benefit from training and deploying more mid-level health workers, such as midwives, nurses, medical assistants and surgical clinicians, according to a study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization today.

In countries where such health workers have been deployed, the clinical outcomes for certain services were just as good and – in some cases – even better than when physicians performed them, the study shows.

"Our findings de-bunk the myth that more extensive use of mid-level health workers might lead to services of poorer quality; despite the limitations of the evidence, it seems that in some areas they actually out-performed physicians," said lead author Dr Zohra S. Lassi, Senior Instructor in the Division of Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. "Most of our findings point to opportunities that all countries – rich and poor alike – can exploit."

The study shows that when care for mothers and newborn babies is provided by midwives, as opposed to physicians working with midwives, the rates are lower for episiotomy (a surgical incision to ease a baby's delivery that can lead to complications) and the use of painkillers. In addition, patient satisfaction is often higher, the study shows.

Another important finding is that care provided by nurses in various fields of health – including prevention and treatment of heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions and HIV infection – is as effective as that provided by physicians. There is no suggestion in the study that physicians should be entirely replaced by mid-level health workers but that in certain health areas mid-level health workers do just as well, if not better than physicians.

The study is one of a collection of articles in a special issue of the international public health journal devoted to the topic of: the health workforce needed in countries to move towards or sustain universal coverage of health services. The new study analyses 53 studies conducted in 18 countries over the last 20 years comparing the outcomes of certain types of care provided by mid-level health workers and of the care provided by physicians. It is the first systematic review – a study that analyses all the available evidence – to make such a comparison.

Most of the studies analysed compare either: the care provided by midwives with that provided by doctors working in a team with midwives; or, the care provided by nurses with that provided by doctors.

More than half of the 53 studies were done at tertiary care facilities in high-income countries (Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America). The rest were in middle-income (Cameroon, China, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Viet Nam) and low-income countries (Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal and the United Republic of Tanzania), according to the World Bank income level categories. The study's results are particularly relevant for countries striving to provide their people with universal access to affordable, quality health-care services – an endeavour for which a suitable health workforce is a key component. In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution urging governments to commit themselves to universal health coverage.

"Moving towards or sustaining universal health coverage is a challenge for all countries: traditional models of care, dominated by physician-led provision of expensive curative services in tertiary care facilities, have their limitations," said Dr Giorgio Cometto, adviser to the executive director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance, a WHO partnership.

"But when mid-level health workers are given a more prominent role, health-care services may respond better to citizens' needs – and this approach may also save money in the long-run," said Cometto, who is also one of the authors of the study. WHO encourages all countries to adopt the most efficient mix of health-care skills and cadres possible to address the health needs of their populations. It has issued recommendations on the delegation of tasks from one type of health worker to another in the care of HIV infection, and maternal and newborn health and offers technical support to countries facing health workforce challenges.