Benco Dental invites nominations for The Lucy Hobbs Project Awards, honoring exemplary women in the dental community.

Five winners will be honored at our annual celebration in Orlando, FL

The categories are:

Woman to Watch

Successful Practice/Icon in the Industry

Mentorship

Humanitarian

Clinical Expertise

Deadline is January 24, 2014

Click for more details and to nominate a woman in dentistry today.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LucyHobbsProjectAwardNominationForm

ADA News - Working to transform concepts into actions, about 120 experts gathered in Chicago Nov. 18-20 to develop an overarching approach to disease prevention to alleviate the nation's oral health crisis.

Read full story here. 

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) applauds the recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) action which provided written comments to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) on the proposed standards for dental therapy education programs.  Last week, Ann Battrell, ADHA Executive Director; Ann Lynch, ADHA Director of Governmental Affairs; Pamela Steinbach, ADHA Director of Education and Research; and Karen Sealander, ADHA Washington Counsel with McDermott, Will & Emery met with FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.

ADHA Executive Director Ann Battrell states that,  “ADHA advocacy efforts to increase access for oral health care across the country, coupled with our efforts to expand the workforce with dental-hygiene  based mid-level oral health care providers,  provided the impetus for our ongoing communications with the FTC.  Chairwoman Ramirez is to be commended for her commitment to promote competition in the oral health care industry for the benefit of consumers.”

With recognition that Minnesota has created and developed mid-level oral health providers and noting that a number of state legislatures have legislation pending or planned to create similar programs, the FTC provided fifteen pages of written comments to CODA.  The FTC notes that the proposed dental therapy standards effectiveness may be limited by unnecessary statements on supervision, evaluation and treatment planning.  The FTC further recommended that CODA develop standards that do not effectively and unnecessarily constrain the discretion of states to determine dental therapy scope of practice and authority. A link to the full letter can be seen here.

The FTC raises concern that the draft standards do not fully address the accreditation needs in Minnesota and, as proposed, could hinder competition. 

CODA is scheduled to meet on January 30, 2014 at the ADA Offices in Chicago, IL where it is expected the Commission will have further deliberations on the proposed standards for dental therapy education programs.  

• The most popular cosmetic dentistry procedures are bonding (29%) and whitening (28%), with veneers closely behind at 26%.

• Implants and orthodontics—while still not the most common of cosmetic procedures—continue to show the largest increases over previous surveys.

• Eighty-nine percent of patients elect cosmetic treatments to improve physical attractiveness and self-esteem. Other reasons cited: 54% said for restorative or health reasons (like accident or injury); to fix a previous failed cosmetic treatment (51%); and to look and feel younger (50%). Upcoming events, like a wedding, also cause patients to seek cosmetic treatments (49%).

• When asked how most patients find them, 88% of respondents report that patients find them via word of mouth and Internet search, with word of mouth leading the way by a wide margin (63%).

• Respondents indicated that demand for cosmetic dentistry procedures was primarily driven by referrals from others who have had a positive experience (91%) followed by a big boomer generation with expendable income (78%).

• While it’s clear that the entire dental team is involved in initiating dialogue about cosmetic dentistry and recommending procedures, the instigation of new business is overwhelmingly driven by the dentist (85%) while the hygienist seems to be playing a larger role in treatment conversations, jumping 17 points since 2011.

CDEWorld is pleased to present this free CE Webinar:

Digital Radiography: Now is the Time to Invest in the Future

Presenter: Megan Heitke, DDS

Date: December 11, 2013 – 7 PM EST (4 PM PST)

Supported by: Instrumentarium

Learning Objectives

Dr. Heitke's lecture will discuss:

Clinical and practice management benefits of digital radiography

How to evaluate the digital radiography options for your practice

How to implement digital radiographic systems into your practice

Register here.

MELVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners, announced today that it will donate $150,000 in support of relief efforts for victims of the disastrous Typhoon that struck the Philippines.  Henry Schein is working with its suppliers and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners - AmeriCares, Direct Relief, Heart to Heart International and MedShare to provide essential health care supplies for the ongoing relief efforts, and funds raised through the Henry Schein Cares Foundation will be donated to organizations also providing urgent care to victims.     

"The citizens of the Philippines remain in dire need of assistance, and Henry Schein is committed to supporting relief efforts for the victims of this terrible tragedy," said Stanley Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Henry Schein, Inc.  "For more than two decades, Henry Schein has been dedicated to taking an active role in supporting disaster preparedness and relief efforts around the world, in coordination with our suppliers and NGOs.  We are grateful to our suppliers, Crosstex International, A.R. Medicom, Sempermed USA and TIDI Products, who share our commitment to social responsibility and have generously contributed much needed emergency health care supplies, as identified by our NGO partners, who are coordinating with teams on the ground in the Philippines to ensure that these supplies are delivered as quickly as possible and used effectively and efficiently." 

The disaster response effort is part of Henry Schein Cares, the global corporate social responsibility program of Henry Schein.  To help accelerate the response to emergencies around the world, Henry Schein Cares ships product to international relief organizations year-round to ensure their warehouses are stocked when disasters strike.  

In addition to the Company's donations of health care products, the Philippines Relief Fund was established through the Henry Schein Cares Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports and promotes dental, medical and animal health by helping to increase access to care globally.  Money raised by the Foundation will be donated to organizations providing relief in the Philippines including: Catholic Relief Services, Islamic Relief USA, IsraAID, Lutheran World Relief and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Fund provides a way for Team Schein Members and others who are interested in supporting relief efforts to contribute, and Henry Schein matches all donations contributed to this fund by Team Schein Members.  All proceeds of the Fund are applied directly and completely to relief efforts.  The Fund remains open and individuals or companies wishing to contribute can make a financial or product donation.  Credit card donations can be made through the Henry Schein Cares Foundation Web site, https://www.hscaresfoundation.org/, (click the "donate button" to be directed to an online credit card processing page, and select "Philippines Relief Fund" for the gift designation).  Those who wish to contribute by check should make the check payable to "Henry Schein Cares Foundation" with "Philippines Relief Fund" noted in the memo of the check, and send it to Ashley Lenz at Henry Schein, Inc., 135 Duryea Road, Melville, NY  11747.  Donations to the Henry Schein Cares Foundation are tax deductible in the United States. 

RVINE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Smile Generation today announced that its trusted clinicians and their community of generous patients, along with team members, and strategic vendor partners have raised more than $1 million for charity: water, and are funding 100 wells in Ethiopia.  charity: water is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

In May 2013, The Smile Generation kicked off the "100 Wells for Ethiopia" campaign with the intent of raising $1 million to fund 100 wells for the people in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. One hundred percent of the generous donations given to the 100 Wells for Ethiopia campaign will go directly to charity: water to build sustainable, community-owned water projects.

"We set a goal to raise $1 million to build 100 wells in Ethiopia, providing community members in the Tigray region with safe and clean drinking water," said Stephen Thorne, founder of The Smile Generation. "Members of our team and I have seen firsthand the impact that having access to clean water can have on the people in Ethiopia. I'm inspired by the efforts of all involved in reaching this incredible accomplishment but we're not done yet – we have the rest of the year to fund as many wells as possible."

"We are humbled by the enormous effort of the entire Smile Generation community in reaching this incredible achievement of raising $1 million that will fund 100 wells in Ethiopia. Because of their teams' hard work, passion and enthusiasm, 25,000 people in the Tigray region of the country will now have access to clean, safe water.  We hope that this campaign will inspire others to acts of service and generosity. The Smile Generation campaign is proof that when one group comes together over a common goal and mission, remarkable things can happen," said Scott Harrison, Founder and CEO of charity: water.

Ethiopia is nestled in the Horn of Africa and is the most populated landlocked country in the world. More than 50 million people live there without access to clean and safe drinking water. In Tigray alone, charity: water has funded more than 1,000 water projects with the expertise of their partner, A Glimmer of Hope, and their implementing partner, Relief Society of Tigray.

ADA News - For the third year, selected Give Kids A Smile "ambassadors" from across the U.S. gathered in the city where it all began to develop their own customized roadmap to enhancing and/or expanding their GKAS programs. Read full story here.