Dentists need better customer protection
When GSK recently announced that it is to remove zinc from their denture creams, there was outcry from customer protection agencies around the world. Almost at the same time, a US website warned that asbestos fibres found in some dental products can be harmful to dentists. No outcry was heard from the dental community.
Similar to most health professionals, dentists have to face an array of hazards in their daily working lives. These are in the form of not only infectious diseases, but also substances found in dental materials and equipment that pose threats to dentists. Although these threats are not acute, studies have demonstrated that long-term exposure has the potential to damage their health.
Dentists traditionally place much trust in manufacturers, mainly because they have become comfortable using a certain product throughout their career and are hesitant to change. However, they should become more aware that they too are customers and if something seems odd, questions should be raised.
If products can be made safer for the health of the masses, they can certainly be made safer for professionals.
Digital technology does not make better dentists
Much has been said and written about the last decade and how it has changed the way we live. Take the iPod for example. Back in 2000, who would have thought that in only ten years, you would be able to carry a little touch screen device that allows you to check your electronic mail, measure your heart rate or tell you where you can find the closest Italian restaurant?
Given all of the recent hype, it is easy to think that the future of dentistry also lies in digital technology. According to industry experts, the advantages seem to be at hand. Tooth restorations and replacements, for example, will be less time consuming for the patient, saver and much more reliable.
However, while digital technology is a welcome advancement in most fields of dentistry, it is far from being a revolutionary paradigm shift. It may improve office efficiency or be useful for practice marketing, but it is not likely to make better dentists. The fundamentals of the profession basically remain the same. Whether these technologies will become a must-have for dental practices in the years to come will depend on their affordability and whether insurance companies are willing to reimburse treatment concepts based on them.
As a dental news company, we cannot turn a blind eye to these developments. With a new specialist title called CAD/CAM the international magazine of digital dentistry to be released this spring, we aim to inform you about the latest trends in all fields of digital dentistry. Therefore, the range of topics will include not only CAD/CAM, but also digital imaging or software processing.
If you are interested in receiving a sample copy, we invite you to check our website or visit our booths at all major dental trade shows this year.
Women - The missing link in dentistry?
By Claudia Salwiczek, DTI (Guest commentary)
I just returned from the Greater New York Dental Meeting where I had the opportunity to conduct a number of interviews with well-known opinion leaders in dentistry.What struck me most about the line-up was that only 1 out of the 30 professionals that I spoke to was a woman.
It is a sad fact that compared to other fields in medicine dentistry is still predominantly a male profession. There are exceptions, of course, such as Dr Catrise Austin, a New York-based dentist, who I recently met to talk about her decision to offer free HIV tests to her patients. Or Dr Bo Chen from Beijing, who I met at the P-I Brånemark symposium in Sweden where she presented a revealing study on patient satisfaction figures with facial and orofacial reconstruction. Unfortunately, though large in impact, these developments and ideas do not usually receive the recognition they deserve.
However, what these examples also demonstrate is that women often tend to develop solutions that are socially applicable and that offer benefits for all members of society; a fact endorsed by a recent World Health Organisation report. In the study on Women and Health, the question was also raised why women generally have to carry much of the health care burden while getting hardly anything back. It may be time for women, especially those working in medical and dental professions, to step up and make their message heard.
It may not happen overnight, but with more and more women overtaking high political and economical positions, it will be difficult for dentistry to hold up to its Boys Club status for much longer. I certainly hope that when I return to New York in 2010, there will be a larger share of female dentists to speak to.
And the battle goes on …
Lately, I had the opportunity to visit two major gatherings of endodontists and implantologists in Europe. After listening to a number of lectures and speaking to experts it became obvious to me that both specialties are in almost total denial of one another. This ongoing cease fire is nothing new to dentistry but it cannot disguise the fact that one field is slowly loosing its grip, and it’s not implantology. Tooth replacements have seen a remarkable upswing and are expected to gain a significant market volume of US$1 billion in the years to come. Growth rates have slowed down recently but this is due to the fact that more and more dental companies are jumping on the implant bandwagon and taking over market shares from big players like Nobel Biocare or Straumann. With the economy recovering in most parts of the world, people will also have more money in their pockets to invest in their smiles.
P-I Branemark’s call to let the patient decide at the Gothenburg Symposium last week must be acknowledged but it goes out to the wrong group of people (see also Experts discuss future of implantology in Gothenburg). More and more patients want aesthetic teeth and they do not care about what it takes to get there. Latest studies also reveal that by now many consider aesthetics to be more important than function. It is up to the dentists to decide whether a tooth should be replaced or not but constantly improving treatment options and lowering investments will make the choice an easy one. On top of that, a growing number of implant vendors is practicing more and more aggressive marketing. It seems unlikely that many dentists will resist these market calls in the long-run.
In Gothenburg, a clinical scan was shown where basically all teeth had been replaced with implants. As ridiculous as this example may be, it does hold some truth. The future doesn’t look very bright for the ‘root’.
