ROSEMONT, Ill. – A national campaign launched by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) to inform the public of the training, skills and expertise of oral and maxillofacial surgeons has been honored with 26 awards in the past year.

The AAOMS Informational Campaign was recognized for its overall campaign, educational videos, consumer website and public service announcements (PSAs) in nine national and international communications, publications and digital awards competitions.

The goal of the AAOMS campaign is to 1) increase the public perception of the OMS scope of practice, 2) inform prospective patients of OMS education and training, and 3) convey the specialty’s contributions to public health. The campaign has been successful in all three areas through the development of a consumer-facing website (MyOMS.org), a series of educational videos, digital and print advertising, and PSAs focusing on oral cancer and obstructive sleep apnea.

“AAOMS is pleased to receive acclaim from these prestigious awards organizations for our overall Informational Campaign as well as its individual components,” said AAOMS President Brett L. Ferguson, DDS, FACS. “We know from annual surveys the campaign is effectively reaching consumers with our message, but we’re also proud our creative work is respected and being acknowledged by communications professionals.”

Awards won in the past year include:

APEX – An Award for Publication Excellence in the Health and Medical Campaign category.

Aster Awards – Two Gold Awards for the overall campaign in the Surgical Services Promotional Campaign category and for the MyOMS.org website design.

Cancer Awareness Advertising Awards – Two Gold Awards for the “Are you at risk for oral cancer?” PSA and the oral cancer print ad.

dotCOMM – A Platinum Award in the Digital Branding and Marketing category and two Gold Awards for MyOMS.org in the Medical and Association categories.

eHealthcare Leadership Awards – A Silver Award for the Best Marketing Campaign in the Healthcare Association category. The award was given for AAOMS’s focus on highlighting the role of the internet – including Google AdWords, YouTube and Vimeo videos, the MyOMS.org website and social media.

Healthcare Advertising Awards – A Gold Award for the “What is an OMS?” video and a Bronze Award for the MyOMS.org website.

Hermes Creative Awards – Two Platinum Awards for the overall campaign in the Public Relations and Communications/Marketing campaign categories; a Platinum Award for the “What is an OMS?” video in the Nonprofit Video category; four Gold Awards for the “Dental Implant Surgery” video in the Educational Video category, the “Are you at risk for oral cancer?” video in the TV PSA category, and the MyOMS.org website in the Association Website and Medical Website categories; and two Honorable Mentions for the “Wisdom Teeth Management” video and the oral cancer PSA in the Educational Video category.

MarCom Awards – Two Platinum Awards for the overall campaign in the Marketing/Promotion Campaign category and the MyOMS.org website in the Association Website category and one Gold Award for the “Are you at risk for oral cancer” PSA in the Broadcast/Cable TV Video category.

Videographer Awards – Two Excellence Awards for the “What is an OMS?” video and the “Obstructive Sleep Apnea” PSA and a Distinction Award for the “Are you at risk for oral cancer?” PSA. The Videographer Awards is an international awards program that honors talented video production.

Please note: This information in this article is provided for dentists. If you are a veteran researching dental implant options, please contact your local VA office or your current dentist to see if they are participating in this program. 

ids (integrated dental systems) announces the Smiles for Vets Program giving back to those who have given so much by helping to provide critically needed dental care to those who have been denied treatment. You may be shocked to learn that many of our US veterans are living with pain and suffering from infections caused by the lack of proper dental care. This is the result of so many being unable to receive dental treatment from the Veterans Administration because they do not meet their strict inclusion criteria. Added to this troubling information is the fact that only 8% of all US veterans even get care from the VA. Worse yet, US veterans account for 12% of the homeless population in the US. ids is very excited to sponsor this opportunity to serve our US Veterans by improving the oral health and self‐esteem of the men and women who have served our country,” said ids CEO, Carey Lyons.

Join ids and become part of our Smiles for Vets Program, which helps dentists provide critically needed dental care to US veterans who would otherwise go without treatment. Here’s how it works: ids will provide you with FREE AnyRidge® implants, healing abutments and straight abutments for any implant procedure you perform on a US Veteran.* With its patented and innovative knife thread design, the AnyRidge Implant System delivers more primary stability, the ability to load immediately, and better esthetic outcomes, even in the most challenging applications. With AnyRidge, you’ll be able to provide our vets with a superior implant outcome that they otherwise would not have been able to afford. And that’s sure to bring a big smile to everyone’s face.

*If you are a dentist who is interested in participating, visit www.idsimplants.com/smilesforvets for complete details.

Committed to its mission to simplify the day-to-day work of dental practitioners, Bien-Air presents the Tornado^S, the most powerful turbine with a compact head. Unveiled at the International Dental Show (IDS) 2017 in Cologne, the TornadoS will be officially launched during the last quarter of 2017.

Thanks to its compact head - 10.8 mm in diameter and 12.1 mm in height - the Tornado^S offers improved visibility in the working area. The reduced size of its head also facilitates access to molar areas, ensuring optimal patient comfort.

Despite its small size, the Tornado^S offers exceptional power output. Like the Tornado turbine, the Tornado^S is equipped with Bien-Air SteadyTorqueTM technology. With its 24 W power output, the Tornado^S is simply the most powerful turbine with a compact head. The remarkably efficient new Bien-Air turbine reduces the length of operations, improving the productivity of dental clinics around the world. This exclusive technology is complemented with ceramic ball bearings capable of handling the highest speeds and heaviest loads, guaranteeing superior durability and resilience.

The Tornado^s is the latest addition to the Bien-Air Advanced range of products designed using state-of-the-art innovations and technologies. Offering remarkable efficiency, Tornado turbines save dental practitioners both time and energy.

The entry-level milling solution is available again as part of the U.S. CEREC product portfolio, offering an attractive and affordable path to digital dentistry and single-visit restorations.

Dentsply Sirona announced today the reintroduction of the CEREC MC Milling Unit to the U.S. dental market.

CEREC MC is ideal for practitioners who are interested in single-visit chairside inlays, onlays, and single-unit veneers and crowns. With the ability to wet grind and dry mill, dentists can use a vast array of chairside materials to produce single-unit restorations in one office visit.

Used in conjunction with CEREC Omnicam, CEREC MC:

• Provides fully-anatomical single-unit restorations

• Supports block sizes up to 20 mm

• Can produce ceramics, glass ceramics, lithium discilicate blocks and more

• Mills zirconium oxide and polymers

• Is dry-mill ready

• Offers an ideal entry option into digital dentistry and single-visit restorations

The milling unit is part of the plug-and-play CEREC workflow. Simply scan, design and produce for strong, beautiful restorations in just a single patient visit.

“We used to say CAD/CAM was the future of dentistry, and as we enter 2018, it’s become clear that it is now the present,” said Director of Marketing, Clinical CAD/CAM Lou Vodopivec. “CEREC MC offers a cost-effective option to incorporate efficient workflows, improving productivity and patient satisfaction. We are excited to reintroduce this high-quality product with a flexible upgrade path that grows with the needs of the practice.”

Providing an avenue for future development, Dentsply Sirona is offering an upgrade path for anyone who purchases a CEREC MC Milling Unit between now and June 1, 2018. All MC units purchased between the aforementioned dates are eligible for an upgrade to the CEREC MC XL Practice Lab Milling Unit within 24 months of ownership*.

To learn more, visit www.cerecforeveryone.com or contact your local Dentsply Sirona representative.

Panthera Dental is proud to announce the addition of five new Regional Sales Directors to the US sales team, two of whom are specifically dedicated to its Dental Sleep Division.

Richard Dunn, Branden Kergan, and Tony Pacheco have joined the team in the roles of Regional Sales Directors for the Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes Regions. Jon Goldhamer and Gabe Sayer will take the roles of Regional Sales Directors for the Dental Sleep Division in the Central and West Coast regions.

“It’s an exciting time at Panthera Dental! We usher in a new era of customer support with even more dedicated team members now for both the prosthetic and sleep sales channels. To be an integral part of this new chapter is an honor as we strive to provide innovative, cutting-edge dental solutions that meet and exceed the industry standards. Please join us and realize the exceptional value Panthera Dental can offer your practice/laboratory and your patients,” says Kim Solomon, VP Sales, USA CORP.

Panthera considers these new members and their experience in the dentistry field to be tremendous assets to their business.

Boy and Girl Scouts across the nation can now become oral health superheroes thanks to America’s ToothFairy: National Children’s Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF) and DentaQuest. A generous donation from DentaQuest, a purpose-driven national industry leader working to improve the oral health of all, will allow 2,000 Scouts to participate in the America’s ToothFairy Scout Patch Program and receive a “Real Life Superhero” Scout Patch at no cost for their oral health outreach efforts.

Launched in 2013, the America’s ToothFairy Scout Patch Program educates Boy and Girl Scouts about the importance of dental health to overall health and encourages them to promote positive oral health behaviors in their communities.

Through the Scout Patch Program, Scouts choose three oral-health related activities from a list of projects focused on changing beliefs, changing behaviors and changing the environment of children’s oral health. Once the activities are completed and a brief report submitted, Scouts will receive their “Real Life Superhero” patch. Examples of smile-saving oral health activities include:

• Holding a Smile Drive to collect oral care products for children in need.

• Providing a dental health presentation at a local health fair.

• Visiting a dental office to learn how dentists and dental hygienists help patients maintain good oral health.

• Presenting dental health educational lessons to younger Scouts.

• Conducting healthy food or water demonstrations.

• Planting a Smile Garden.

“America’s ToothFairy is proud of the thousands of hardworking Scouts participating in our Scout Patch Program,” said Jill Malmgren, Executive Director of America’s ToothFairy. “It is our hope that these projects will build important leadership skills and encourage healthy behaviors among children and youth. We are happy to call these Scouts true oral health superheroes for protecting and saving the smiles of children in their communities.”

“Relationships like this one with the Scouts program align directly with our focus on positive, lasting health changes at the community level,” said Steve Pollock, President and CEO of DentaQuest. “The earlier children adopt preventive habits and an interest and awareness in oral health, the better chance our communities have for a healthy future overall. We are proud to help recognize the powerful work of these superheroes.”

Since the program began, America’s ToothFairy has awarded more than 25,000 Real Life Superhero patches to Scouts across the country.

This is the second year of funding from DentaQuest for the Scout Patch Program. Currently, 2,000 Scout patches are available at no cost while supplies last. Interested Scout Troops can learn more at www.ncohf.org/scout-patch.

“Video Calls with Tooth Fairy” is a fun new app that lets you have realistic, interactive video chats with the Tooth Fairy any time you want! Children love seeing the Tooth Fairy as she talks directly to them! Choose from six amazing calls that record perfect video memories of your children's loose and lost teeth, while the Tooth Fairy gets them excited about brushing their teeth, visiting the dentist, and more!

ProHEALTH Dental and the Mount Sinai Health System opened their first affiliated dental office in Long Island City, Queens. This new state-of-the-art office with eight treatment rooms will offer the latest dental technology to provide the highest-quality general and specialty dental services for patients of all ages.

ProHEALTH Dental and Mount Sinai announced their academic and clinical affiliation in September with the dual objective of expanding the scope of Mount Sinai’s renowned dental residency program to include training at community-based sites, as well as to have Mount Sinai faculty physicians and ProHEALTH dentists collaborate in the care of their patients.

It is well documented that poor oral health has a significant impact on overall health and wellness, and this coordinated program will look to address this important health issue.

“We are among the first health systems to address the important connection between oral and overall health through the coordination of care between patients’ primary care physicians and dentists,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of the Mount Sinai Health System. “We are pleased to be working with ProHEALTH Dental to further our mission of providing preventative care, promoting health and wellness, and expanding access to care in the communities we serve.”

“We expect this to be the first of many programs and offices under our affiliation agreement with Mount Sinai,” said Norton L. Travis, CEO of ProHEALTH Dental. “We are committed to fulfilling our mission of improving overall wellness through our Oral Health Initiative.”

The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at the new office located at 50-11 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, at 9 am on Thursday, November 9. Senior representatives of Mount Sinai and ProHEALTH Dental will be present for comments and photo opportunities.

Real Time Reviews, a leading online review and reputation management solution provider, has launched an update to its app. The update features employee tagging – the ability to track how well employees secure reviews from customers – and is capable of supporting enterprise businesses across multiple locations.

Real Time Reviews is a revolutionary online reputation management software platform helping businesses in the home services, automotive, healthcare and other consumer-facing industries. The platform allows businesses to receive authentic reviews from customers. Online reviews are important to consumer-facing businesses and help attract new customers and create loyalty with existing customers.

“At the end of the day, business owners need to know which employees are helping to build the company’s brand and helping to protect its reputation by obtaining positive online reviews,” said Matt Benton, CEO of Real Time Reviews. “Employee tagging is a game changer. It allows you to track and measure the performance of each employee, build your company’s brand, and it motivates your employees to get more reviews. For businesses with multiple locations, our update also makes it easier to manage reviews in one convenient dashboard.”

The update to the Real Time Reviews app offers several benefits:

Know how many reviews employees receive – Now managers and business owners can tag specific employees and measure how many reviews they are getting compared to how many jobs they complete. This will allow owners to identify high performing employees for recognition or incentivize with cash awards, and they can better train others on how to get reviews.

Monitor reviews at multiple locations – Now enterprise businesses – companies with multiple locations – can use one review tool to manage all of their online reviews. They can see reviews performance on one convenient dashboard. This makes tracking of customer service and satisfaction easier for business owners and CEOs.

“We believe in the power of our reviews app so much that we don’t require a contract to use our platform,” Benton said. “This new update will make it easier for business owners to incentivize employees to perform, and they can measure their hard-earned success when it comes to online reviews.”

Air Techniques, Inc., a leading innovator and manufacturer of dental equipment, announces their evacuation cleaner, Monarch CleanStream, to be compliant with a recent EPA ruling. The EPA passed its final rule specific to Best Management Practices for Dental Amalgam Waste in July, 2017.

The EPA ruling affects how all dental offices handle and remove amalgam, as well as the line cleaners they use. Specifically, the ruling prohibits the use of bleach or chlorine-containing cleaners that may lead to the dissolution of solid mercury when cleaning chair-side traps and vacuum lines. The ruling goes on further to state that “…vacuum lines that discharge amalgam process wastewater to a POTW [publicly owned treatment works] must not be cleaned with oxidizing or acidic cleaners, including but not limited to bleach, chlorine, iodine and peroxide that

have a pH lower than 6 or greater than 8.” (40 CFR 441.30(b) (2))

Air Techniques’ Monarch CleanStream’s unique, non-foaming formula cleans and deodorizes lines for all brands of wet and dry vacuum systems. It has a pH of 8 (diluted) and does not contain any oxidizing agents. The cleaner features an easy-to-use dispenser system that makes mixing simple. The Monarch CleanStream dispenser aspirates the solution into a fine mist for complete inner tubing wall coverage without adding stress to the vacuum pump. The dispenser automatically dispenses the right amount of solution for up-to 2 operatories.

“As North America’s leading manufacturer of dental vacuum systems, Monarch CleanStream has been carefully formulated from years of experience and research,” said Nicole Miller, Product Manager of Hygiene. “Monarch CleanStream is designed for daily cleaning of evacuation lines. It will remove and prevent line buildup while increasing vacuum performance and suction.” 

Monarch, Air Techniques’ infection prevention product line offers products for surfaces, instruments, skin and hands, and equipment. For more information on Monarch and Air Techniques, please visit www.airtechniques.com. Become a fan of Air Techniques on Facebook and follow the company on Twitter and Instagram.