Just got back from the Buffalo-Niagara Dental meeting today and the whole thing just makes me even more excited for the future. New gadgets, ideas, research, and people passionate about their cases and products, even if they're just selling you something, it's great to learn about all these things. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students all got today off for the meeting, which is totally worth it. If it were up to me I'd say even the first years should go, although I could understand why the school decides differently.
We were required to attend two talks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I was really interested in a number of them, but I ended up deciding on the morning talk by Dr. Carla Cohn on Pediatric dentistry. Dr. Cohn practices in Manitoba, Canada and really had a ton of great things to say, that I was happy I could follow, and see myself using in the future. For instance, her emphasis on prevention, and having a protocol for prevention was an idea we've heard so many times, but it was incredible to see someone take it to the next level. After that talk I think it'd vital to have a formal documentation of the patients diet and eating habits. Education also is huge. Just a few notes I took from her:
- Demineralization on the lingual of primary molars = red flag for future caries
- Use POSITIVEs, rather than all 'donts' when counseling patients on dietary changes - suggest substitutions
- Look into fluoride varnish, trays are a thing of the past for children
- Lap-to-lap exams can increase child's comfort and be as informative as a chair exam
- Brush child's teeth from BEHIND, not in front
- Parents should brush child's teeth until they can tie their shoes, or write their name in script
- Advise patients to use a "rice sized" amount of toothpaste and smear it on the brush, rather than a pea size
- Ease patients into your chair, show and tell to make the experience comfortable
Dr. Cohn's website is Dr.CarlaCohn.com if anyone's interested in more info!
The second speaker for the afternoon was Dr. Howard Pranikoff who is an endodontist practicing in Daytona Beach, Florida. His talk was on Endodontic Headaches, which was a series of complex endodontics cases that he's had over the years. Definitely broadened my perspective on endodontics and definitely deepened my interest in the field. I didn't take as many notes on his talk unfortunately, since it was mainly based on the radiographs he was presenting. He did mention a couple things that are noteworthy for young dentists' success.
1. Single Tooth Anesthesia by Milestone, which is an anesthetic delivery device that patients love and barely feel.
2. Genuinely care for patients
I also had the opportunity of meeting a couple of dentists which was great. I'm headed back tomorrow and hopefully will run into some more people. The whole experience was great and it really reinforces what we're learning and motivates us to learn more. One more little tidbit for the organic naturalists. If anyone's looking for a means of treating early caries naturally, xylitol gum is completely natural but needs to be chewed at least 4 times a day to have an effect. Tomorrows talk I want to attend is on Massage therapy And TMJ Dysfunction. Should be interesting since TMJ is something most dentists don't treat much of, and physicians often write it off as a dental speciality. I was happy to see someone stepping up to help these people who are in dire need.
Cheers!
