Monday, January 4, 2016

Dental Woes Can Lead To Issues For Seniors

By Anna Gorman Kaiser Health News

Source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/12/27/your-health/dental-woes-can-lead-to-issues-for-seniors.html


According to the American Dental Association, one-fifth of people age 75 or older haven’t seen a dentist in the past five years.

Many older patients are resistant because of fear or years of neglect — or they have impaired cognitive skills and don’t understand the need. Others are not mobile enough to get to a dental office.

“There are layers upon layers that can make it very difficult,” said Susan Hyde, division chairwoman of oral epidemiology and dental public health at the University of California-San Francisco School of Dentistry.

Older patients also might have arthritis or a history of strokes. “They can’t take care of their own teeth and are prone to tooth decay and subject to pain,” Hyde said.

Even for patients eager for care, paying for it can be a challenge.

Medicare, which covers medical care for people 65 or older, doesn’t include routine dental care, and many seniors lose coverage through other insurance plans when they retire. Medicaid, the insurance program for low-income Americans, doesn’t require states to provide dental care to adults.

Nursing homes are required to do a dental screening and help residents with oral hygiene, but dentists say that doesn’t always happen.

“You have people who have maintained their oral health their entire lives, only to see it go down the tubes in six to eight months,” said Judith Jones, a professor at Boston University’s dental school and elder-care spokeswoman for the American Dental Association.

Poor oral hygiene and care can lead to infection, the inability to eat and a loss of dignity, Jones said. And the bacteria that cause gum disease can increase the risk of coronary heart disease, aneurysms and other health problems, research shows.

Efforts are underway to ensure that all elderly patients get access to high-quality dental care, though dentists say it won’t be easy. The Senate has proposed including oral health screenings in its reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, which helps pay for nutrition and social services for low-income seniors.

And two bills were introduced in Congress in the spring that would expand coverage to adults without dental insurance.

More Dental News: dental milling services from Aurident.

FAQs About How Dental Implants Can Restore Your Smile

Source: http://www.thespec.com/shopping-story/5959798-faqs-about-how-dental-implants-can-restore-your-smile/

If you suffer from the embarrassment and discomfort of missing or severely decayed teeth, Eastgate Dental Centre in Hamilton can provide you with dental implants to restore your smile and bring your teeth back to a healthier level of comfort and function.  

 Are implants right for you? Dental implants are typically used to replace teeth that are missing, severely fractured, or decayed to the point of requiring extraction. Implants are best suited for cases that involve only one or two teeth.

What exactly are implants? An implant is essentially a strong titanium post that is installed directly into the jawbone. It takes the place of a missing root and serves as an anchor over which an artificial tooth, crown or dental cap is secured.

How do implanted teeth look and feel? Teeth implants are customized to match the colour and contour of surrounding teeth, making them virtually indistinguishable in appearance. When done correctly, no one will be able to tell that you have an implant. They are aligned with and function in the same way as all of your other natural teeth, allowing you to engage normally in daily activities such as eating, talking and sports.

What are the benefits of having a dental implant? Due to their stability and natural function, implanted replacement teeth work as conveniently as real teeth do. Unlike a removable denture, you won’t need to exercise any more special caution when eating hard, sticky or chewy foods. Due to their eventual fusing with your jaw, the implant won’t move around or cause clicking noises or discomfort to the gums.

Do implants require special maintenance? Since implants function as natural teeth, they are never removed and don’t need any special care beyond normal brushing and flossing. With a regular, daily program of oral hygiene, dental implants are designed to last a lifetime.

For more information on oral care and dental implants in Hamilton, visit Eastgate Dental Centre at www.eastgatedentalcentre.com. Call 905-560-2714, email management@eastgatedentalcentre.com.

More Dental News: dental scrap refining


Bill Cosby Headlines The Top Ten Celebrity Legal Battles Of 2015

What better way to say goodbye to 2015 and welcome in the new year than by counting down Trial & Heirs Top Ten Celebrity Legal Battles of 2015, complete with lessons?

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/trialandheirs/2015/12/31/bill-cosby-headlines-the-top-ten-celebrity-legal-battles-of-2015/

1. Bill Cosby vs. his many accusers - Andrea Constad is one of dozens of women who have sued Cosby for defamation, accusing the comedian and actor of lying when he denied sexually abusing them years ago.  In Constad’s civil lawsuit, Cosby’s deposition was unsealed, revealing that he admitted giving women quaaludes and having intercourse with them.  He says both the drug use and sex were consensual.  Recently, a Pennsylvania district attorney brought charges against Cosby for sexual assault based on the 2004 encounter with Constad.

Lesson: When victims of assault or other injuries wait too long, they lose the right to sue under the statute of limitations.  The specific length of time varies based on what state the events happened in and what type of claim is brought.  That’s why most of the accusers are suing Cosby for defamation, rather than sexual assault.  Even criminal cases have a time limitation on when cases can be brought.  This new criminal case against Cosby was brought not long before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.  Anyone who feels they have a claim to sue, for assault or any other reason, should act promptly and not wait until it is too late.


2. Madonna vs. Guy Ritchie – The Material Girl isn’t happy that their 15-year old son, Rocco Ritchie, wants to move to London to live with Dad, instead of continuing to go on tour with her.  The New York judge presiding over the court case ordered Rocco to return to New York for a custody hearing, so that the issue can be addressed in court before school resumes.  The judge also appointed an attorney to represent Rocco’s interests.

Lesson: When an older child has a preference about whom he or she wants to live with, the child’s wishes carry a lot of weight, but the judge ultimately will decide the issue based on the best interests of the child.  Parents in custody battles should take older children’s wishes into account when trying to resolve these issues out of court.


3. Charlie Sheen vs. Brett Rossi – Rossi, who says she was Sheen’s fiancee, became the first to sue Sheen alleging that he had intercourse with her without disclosing that he was HIV positive.  She says that she and Sheen reached a settlement at one point, but Sheen allegedly backed out of the deal, instead going public about his diagnosis.  Rossi is expected to be followed by many other sex partners filing claims against Sheen related to his condition.

Lesson: The legal waters for a lawsuit by someone based on an unwilling HIV exposure are murky when the person exposed has not tested positive for HIV.  Sheen’s attorneys will argue there should be no compensation based on a risk of possible HIV development without actual HIV.   With Sheen’s celebrity status, wealth, and reportedly-active sexual lifestyle, many women will be watching Rossi’s lawsuit, hoping to follow her lead.


4. Sofia Vergara vs. Nick Loeb
– The Modern Family star was sued by her ex-fiancee, who claims that she abused and forced him to sign a form allowing for frozen embryos to be destroyed if the couple chose not to implant them.  Loeb, recently joined in the case by right-to-life groups, says that the embryos should be treated as people and given the right to live.  Vergara wants to live her life without being attached to Loeb and feels that it would be irresponsible to bring the embryos to term because they are no longer together as a couple.  Her lawyers tried to dismiss the lawsuit early on, but their efforts failed — setting up a potentially emotional and politically-charged trial for sometime in 2016.

Lesson: No one should ever sign a form without reading and understanding it.  Because potential lives were involved, Loeb should not have signed the form if he did not fully agree to it.  His claim of being forced into by Vergara is a long-shot.


5. Robin Williams’ widow vs. his children - The battle over Robin Williams’ Trust was settled after mediation, months of negotiations, and many shots fired back and forth in the media.  Williams’ widow, Susan Williams, said she was forced to start a court proceeding when the trustees would not allow her to receive the personal property that Robin wanted her to have.  She also asked for a court ruling to force the trustees to set aside a certain sum of money for her future living expenses.  Williams’ children and trustees contended that they followed the terms of the Trust and the lawsuit was not necessary.

Lesson: Williams’ Trust was detailed and well-thought out, which resulted in a less extensive (and expensive) court battle than would have happened if his estate planning wasn’t so thoughtful.  The best chances to minimize an estate battle is with proper estate planning.  While no one can guarantee their heirs won’t fight, they certainly can help their loved ones by carefully documenting their final wishes.

6. Donald Sterling vs. Shelly Sterling, V. Stiviano, and the NBA (among others) - Angered by his wife’s efforts to have Donald Sterling declared incompetent, allowing her to sell his beloved Clippers, Sterling fought back with lawsuits against her, the NBA, TMZ, and the woman who started the storm by tape-recording him, V. Stiviano.  The lawsuit for invasion of privacy against TMZ and Stivsano was recently dropped, but Sterling’s suit continues against his wife, two doctors, and the NBA for conspiring against him to force the sale of the team.  Interestingly, his wife’s lawsuit against the former girlfriend was more successful, resulting in a court judgment against Stiviano for the $2.6 million in gifts that Sterling gave away without his wife’s consent.

Lesson:  It’s never easy taking action against someone elderly who you feel is no longer mentally competent.  Family battles, including lawsuits, are not uncommon.  It’s important to work with an experienced elder law attorney if faced with having to take similar action as Donald Sterling’s wife.


More Legal News: Top Celebrity Attorney Donald Etra.

Country Doctor Ready For ‘Serious’ Work Of Helping Smiles With 2016 Start Of Dental Clinic Construction

by Ari Cetron

Source: http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2016/01/country-doctor-ready-for-serious-work-of-helping-smiles-with-2016-start-of-dental-clinic-construction/


Patients at Capitol Hill’s Country Doctor are in need of dental care, and the clinic has a plan to give it to them, said Linda McVeigh, the clinic’s executive director. In 2016, they’re going to tear down their old office space north of the 19th Ave E clinic building and put up a new structure with space for a dental clinic.

Country Doctor, a nonprofit serving lower-income people, is located at 19th Ave. E. and East Republican Street. The main clinic offers health care where clients pay on a sliding scale. But McVeigh said the clinic’s board has recognized a desperate need for dental care for the people it serves. Dental insurance is not included in most health plans, including those purchased on the state exchange (Obamacare). The clinic is the only one in King County which does not offer a dental service, McVeigh said.

Beyond that, existing dental centers are overwhelmed. Patients can wait on a four-month waiting list, McVeigh said, or get up very, very early and go to one of the clinics, hoping to get a walk-in spot. Similar to going to an emergency room, staffers triage the people who show up that morning. Those with the most acute problems get to go first, while others might wait for hours and not be seen at all.

“The lack of dental care is an incredibly serious problem,” she said.

Busy corner

The clinic’s neighboring building has also been busy. Four different health practices opened under one roof over the summer at 19th and E Republican, expanding on the neighborhood-based healing already happening at the Country Doctor next door.

After 17 years of serving Capitol Hill’s acupuncture needs from co-practices and healing centers, Eric Hartmann opened his own five-element acupuncture practice after purchasing the house-turned-office earlier this year. Down the hall, Hartman’s husband, Jeremy Steward runs JStewardBodywork which focuses on deep tissue and relaxation massage. Hypnotherapist Kris Weaver and psychologist Glenn Maarse have also opened independent practices inside the newly created clinic space.

“I see the Hill as a nice blend of things, and I think we’ll be a wonderful addition to that blend,” Hartmann said.

Renovation of the house included dividing up the first floor into four treatment room and space for the two other practices.

Hartmann, who had been running his acupuncture practice from the Sacred Garden Healing Center at 10th Ave and E Boston, said he was happy to return to central Capitol Hill and closer to home.
“My focus is getting results for my patients. I would like people to recognize that it’s a neighborhood clinic,” he said.

2016 construction

Meanwhile, Country Doctor also owns the two-story Betty Lee building, just to the north of the clinic itself, which will not be altered. The Betty Lee houses a WIC program and HIV support center on the first floor. WIC is a federal program providing basic food needs to women who are pregnant or with young children. In addition to the money for food distributed on what looks like a bank card, there are components such as meeting with a nutritionist to help the recipients make better food choices.

“It doesn’t just include handing people these little cards,” she said.

Country Doctor has secured $1 million from the federal government, and was applying for more funds from the state and city. A bank loan, guaranteed by the rent from the apartments planned in the project, could also be part of the plan. The City Council even helped clear the way for the expansion with a small bit of legislation. Country Doctor hopes to start construction later this year and the project should take about 18 months.

For more information about Country Doctor, or to donate, visit countrydoctor.org.

More Dental News: dental refining from Aurident.

Other News: Cops Getting Away With Murder: It’s A Warped Legal System and Law Enforcement Culture That Lets Them Do It

Without a larger reform of police culture, the drug war and militarization, abuse by law enforcement will endure

by Heather Digby Parton

Source: http://www.salon.com/2016/01/04/cops_getting_away_with_murder_its_a_warped_legal_system_and_law_enforcement_culture_that_lets_them_do_it/

It seems fitting that 2015 would end with yet another example of our justice system failing to hold police accountable for killing an unarmed African-American. The Tamir Rice case was especially poignant because the victim was only 12 years old. He was playing in the park with a toy gun — like millions of kids do all over the country. And the video that everyone saw with their own eyes showed that police rolled up and within seconds shot him dead. The prosecution and a grand jury decided they were justified in doing that for reasons that make little sense to rational people.

The story of fatal police shootings of unarmed African-Americans is a national shame. We don’t even know how many of them there are. But with every video and every family’s public pain and every astonishing decision to hold nobody accountable, the nation is shocked out of its complacency and police reforms are demanded by the people. It is long overdue.

The Obama administration released its reform recommendations from the Task Force on 21st Century Policing last spring. This article in the Nation by Alex S Vitale outlines the proposals for changes in police procedures:

    Such procedural reforms focus on training officers to be more judicious and race-neutral in their use of force and how they interact with the public. The report encourages officers to work harder to explain to people why they are being stopped, questioned or arrested. Departments are advised to create consistent use of force policies and mechanisms for civilian oversight and transparency. The report implies that more training, diversity and communication will lead to enhanced police community relations, more effective crime control and greater police legitimacy.

There is no doubt that African-Americans are the hardest hit by the policies that allow police to operate in an atmosphere of impunity. Here’s an everyday example of how this can play out in everyday life:

    Nicholson Gregoire, a 25-year-old biology student at Nassau Community College, was walking his puppy pit bull, Blue, around 5:00 pm on December 15 when he noticed police conducting “stop and frisk” searches, according to the New York Daily News. Police noticed the dog wasn’t restrained by a leash and asked Gregoire for ID. Gregoire reportedly was granted permission to go inside his Queens Village home to find the ID, but he closed the door, prompting two officers to repeatedly ring the doorbell. Gregoire’s 87-year-old grandfather, Roleme, came down the stairs to answer the door, but from there, the police and Gregoire tell different versions of subsequent events.

According to Gregoire’s lawyer, the police claim that his client “dragged them inside,” which is just bizarre. The arrest report alleged that Gregoire refused to hand over his ID, but a video shot by Gregoire’s girlfriend, showing police struggling with him on the stairs, has Gregoire holding up his hands showing the ID.

Whatever happened in the house, they had no reason to stop him or ask him for ID. He was walking his puppy on the street where he lives. The police created a dangerous situation where none had existed before. And this happens many times each day, all over the country. Gregoire was arrested and faces seven years in prison for resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, and strangulation. He’s been suspended from his job and missed his final exam. It reminds me of the old Bob and Ray routine “Squad Car 19″:

    “The suspect apprehended in that case at Rossmore and LaBrea was convicted on three counts of being apprehended and one count of being a suspect. Apprehended suspects are punished under state law by a term of not less than five years in the correctional institution at Soledad.”

As Vitale wrote in his Nation piece, these changes in procedures are a good start but the problem goes much deeper:

    What is not discussed in the report is dialing back in any meaningful way the war on drugs, police militarization or the widespread use of “broken windows” policing that has led to the unnecessary criminalization of millions of mostly black and brown people. Well-trained police, following proper procedure, are still going to be engaged in the process of arresting people for mostly low-level offenses, and the burden of that will continue to fall primarily on communities of color, because that is how the system is designed to operate—not because of the bias or misunderstandings of officers. A more respectful and legally justified arrest for marijuana possession is still an arrest that could result in unemployment, loss of federal benefits and the stigma of a drug arrest.

Many cities are studying “stop and frisk” reform (one of the most recent being Chicago) but without a larger reform of police culture, the drug war and militarization it’s unlikely to have the effect reformers hope.

And lest any of us nice comfortable white people get the idea that this is only a problem in the inner cities and nothing we need be concerned about because the majority of such cases affect African-Americans, this story should shake us out of any complacency. This one didn’t happen on the mean streets of Chicago or Baltimore. It happened in a nice Kansas suburb. Radley Balko of the Washington Post reported:

    In April 2012, a Kansas SWAT team raided the home of Robert and Addie Harte, their 7-year-old daughter and their 13-year-old son. The couple, both former CIA analysts, awoke to pounding at the door. When Robert Harte answered, SWAT agents flooded the home. He was told to lie on the floor. When Addie Harte came out to see what was going on, she saw her husband on his stomach as SWAT cop stood over him with a gun. The family was then held at gunpoint for more than two hours while the police searched their home. Though they claimed to be looking for evidence of a major marijuana growing operation, they later stated that they knew within about 20 minutes that they wouldn’t find any such operation. So they switched to search for evidence of “personal use.” They found no evidence of any criminal activity.

One can only imagine what would have happened if Mr. Harte had made a wrong move. Or if he had been black.

This raid happened because seven months earlier Mr. Harte had gone to a gardening store that sells hydroponic equipment that marijuana growers sometimes use. He went with his son to buy some items for a school project and police conducting surveillance in the parking lot took down his license plate and then went through his garbage. They found some wet leafy material, conducted a rudimentary field test and it came up as marijuana.

Had they used a reliable lab test, they would have found that the wet leafy material was ordinary tea. (The fact that it was wet should have been a tip-off — who dunks pot in water?) But they didn’t.  The test would have taken 10 days and they had a big PR stunt planned on April 20 (420 being slang for marijuana) and that would have taken too long. Instead they burst into the Harte home and terrorized the family based upon nothing more than the fact they had shopped in a garden store and used loose tea.

SWAT raids like this happen all the time, often based on little evidence and even sometimes in cases of mistaken identity.  Unfortunately, the SWAT lobby (yes, there is such a thing) has mobilized to thwart reforms.

But as the Tamir Rice case shows us, the problem doesn’t end at the police station door. The legal system fails time and again to mete out justice in these cases. Prosecutors who work closely with the cops are often unwilling to press charges and where there is public attention some are using the grand jury as cover by presenting the case like police defense lawyers and passing the buck when they fail to bring an indictment.


But judges and politicians also factor into the problem. The Kansas SWAT raid resulted in a lawsuit brought by the victims after they had spent tens of thousands of dollars just trying to find out why they had been targeted. The police told them they had no obligation to tell them and refused to do so. Last week a judge dismissed their case. Balko writes:

    Last week, U.S. District Court Judge John W. Lungstrum dismissed every one of the Hartes’s claims. Lungstrum found that sending a SWAT team into a home first thing in the morning based on no more than a positive field test and spotting a suspect at a gardening store was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment. He found that the police had probable cause for the search, and that the way the search was conducted did not constitute excessive force. He found that the Hartes had not been defamed by the raid or by the publicity surrounding it. He also ruled that the police were under no obligation to know that drug testing field kits are inaccurate, nor were they obligated to wait for the more accurate lab tests before conducting the SWAT raid. The only way they’d have a claim would be if they could show that the police lied about the results, deliberately manipulated the tests or showed a reckless disregard for the truth — and he ruled that the Hartes had failed to do so.

    Keep in mind that this was a ruling for summary judgment. This was not a trial. To dismiss the suit at this stage, Lungstrum needed to view the facts in a light most favorable to the Hartes. And yet he still found that at no point did the police violate the family’s constitutional rights.

In other words, drinking tea and shopping at a gardening store are considered legitimate probable cause for a SWAT team to raid your home and search it from top to bottom.

Walking your puppy in front of your house is probable cause to stop you and then burst through the door of your house when you go in to get your ID to show them.

Twelve-year-olds playing with a toy gun in a public park are legally considered to be armed and dangerous and subject to summary execution.

Those are just three cases of police abuse in the newspaper in the last week of 2015. They represent many more examples of the various ways in which our legal system and police culture are failing to live up to American constitutional principles. There are many good people working on these problems, trying to find ways to change the processes, the culture and the law. But it’s going to take constant pressure from the public to make it happen.

More News: Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney

Unique Colorado Program Puts Dental Care In Doctor’s Offices

By DAVID OLINGER The Denver Post

http://www.starherald.com/news/regional_statewide/unique-colorado-program-puts-dental-care-in-doctor-s-offices/article_6ee8f906-b011-11e5-98c3-bfab5d72d0e0.html

DENVER (AP) — Nathan Martinez is an unusual 9-year-old boy. He actually likes dental care. So he showed no fear at an appointment in December. He calmly walked into a hygienist’s office wearing a red shirt that declared, “You just be yourself and I’ll be awesome,” and plopped onto her reclining chair with a smile.

What was really unusual, though, was the location. Nathan came down the hall for dental treatment immediately after a physical checkup.



He is one of more than 4,000 patients seen this year in a program that the Delta Dental Foundation calls unique in scope.

It has committed $3.3 million over five years to open 16 dental offices in Colorado that team up with medical doctors to provide a broader range of health care in a single location. All have hygienists who can refer patients to a dentist. Some also have a dentist on site.

Nathan got his physical and a dental appointment at Doctors Care, a Littleton clinic that has been helping low-income families for 27 years.

Dental care has become the fourth prong among Doctors Care programs that also provide medical, mental health and social-work services.

“If you don’t have heat, it’s hard for me to talk about your diabetes,” said Bebe Kleinman, the clinic’s chief executive officer.

Delta Dental launched its Colorado medical-dental integration project with the knowledge that many preschool children never see a dentist and the hope that early intervention at medical clinics will reduce long-term pains and costs.

Across the state, dental-care shortages abound.

Eight of Colorado’s 64 counties have been classified as dental deserts, with no dentists or community-based dental clinics.

Poor families face an extra barrier. According to the Colorado Health Institute, only one-third of practicing dentists treated Medicaid patients in fiscal 2013-2014, and 5 percent of those dentists treated nearly half the clients.

Doctors Care doesn’t have a dentist. But it now employs Doreen Swatloski, a registered dental hygienist who cleans teeth and looks for problems.

“If we see dark spots, then we’ll go ahead and refer them to a dentist,” she said.

Nathan’s teeth look good. “I am happy to see that,” Swatloski said. “Do you brush them morning and night?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

Modern dental hygiene involves more than twice-a-year cleanings. During his visit, Nathan also got a sealant that will help protect his molars from cavities for 15 years.

As he lay in Swatloski’s chair, she placed rose-colored glasses over his eyes to protect them from a bright overhead light.

“I’m preparing the teeth for sealant right now,” she announced. “Roll your head to me a little bit and open your mouth big, like an alligator.”

He complied, sticking his tongue out only to fight off the sealant’s plastic taste.

Minutes later, his teeth wore a durable protective coat.

Swatloski pronounced him awesome. “No more plastic,” she said.

The first phase of Delta Dental’s grant program opened dental offices at health centers mostly in the Denver area. The second will spread dental integration to health care sites from La Junta to Grand Junction.

Allison Cusick, program officer for Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation, said the response from people offered a new service at health clinics has been rewarding so far.

“This is so brand new,” she said. “We didn’t know what to expect.”

More Dental News: dental refining services from Aurident.

The Thermal Paper Market in 10 Years: 3 Predictions

By Frank Ouyang, CEO of Panda Paper Roll


Source: http://pointofsale.com/201511118251/Point-of-Sale-News/The-Thermal-Paper-Market-in-10-Years-3-Predictions.html


The following are three predictions for the thermal paper market for the next ten years, based on my seven years of experience as the CEO of Panda Paper Roll Company, which is the largest paper roll manufacturer and supplier in China.


1. The thermal paper market will shrink 



 The concept of paperless, electronic receipts - “e-receipts” - becomes more feasible as increasingly massive amounts of retail merchandising and business transactions take place online, as well as the growing use of electronic handheld devices and bank cards for everyday purchases in brick-and-mortar establishments. It is inevitable that e-receipts will gradually take the place of thermal paper receipts as the standard document for verifying all kinds of transactions.


For the time being, however, the overwhelming majority of people on both sides of the checkout counter prefer paper receipts. There is simply no substitute for something concrete that you can hold in your hand. Even the e-receipts currently in use invariably have a “print this receipt” button somewhere. A paper receipt can be signed, copied, put in a file, taken to court, used for refunds, or any other function where unequivocal proof of contract is desired.


Widespread conversion to e-receipts is clearly inevitable, but it will happen slowly, not overnight. Not only do e-receipts have to meet these legal and logistical challenges, but they must be made universally acceptable and technically available. For this reason, regardless of any glowing predictions, e-receipts are still in the fetal stage in their evolution as a business instrument.


2. Printed paper market share will increase


With the advent of near-universal internet access and portable electronic devices, advertising has become ubiquitous. An increasingly popular venue for reaching customers with advertising messages is by printing on a thermal paper receipt.


It is also extremely cost-effective. A single, one-time magazine or television ad can run tens of thousands of dollars, whereas the ad printed on the back of a receipt costs only a few dollars more than a plain unprinted batch, and reaches every single customer of the business, often repeatedly.


Printed receipt ads also accommodate a high degree of customization, allowing the use of company logos, forms,attractive font designs, or virtually anything that can be generated as a graphic image.


Custom printed thermal paper receipts can have an impressive range of purposes: sale announcements, promotions (30% off of your next purchase!), coupons, contests, warranty documentation, rebates, forms, and so on.


3. The global market will be dominated by a few big companies


The global thermal paper business is fiercely competitive. Profit margins are dangerously tight. Individual paper rolls may sell for only a few cents apiece; business survival thus depends on consistently selling them in huge quantities, preferably to repeat customers. Wholesalers and manufacturers of thermal paper products who can not do this will gradually wither and die.


In the thermal paper industry, being able to buy materials and move product in large quantities is a basic, fundamental requirement for survival. Thermal paper companies must be able to take advantage of volume discounts that will allow their products to be competitively priced. At the same time, they must be cautious not to over- or under-stock their inventory, as either mistake can wipe out an already fragile cash flow position. It is a given that only large, muscular companies that can absorb these risks will enjoy long term survival in the thermal paper industry. My prediction is that in 10 years, there will be less than 15 major thermal paper suppliers in the world.


As a result of the fierce competiton, the paper roll price will be lower and lower. Take an example, for the popular 80mm x 80mm thermal roll size, the unit price was around $0.60/roll in 2010, while now it is $0.50/roll in 2015. That is about a 20% price decrease.




More news: thermal paper rolls maryland

New Dental Surgery Open For Business

Source: http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/New-dental-surgery-takes-root/story-28440308-detail/story.html

A NEW dental practice is aiming to bring glowing smiles to people's faces.

Husband and wife team Dr Arun Thomas and Dr Sharon Jacob have set up Blyton Dental after spending eight years working at a practice in Gainsborough.

Dr Thomas wants to get rid of the "myth" that private dentistry is expensive.

He said: "We are trying to make private dentistry more affordable to people."

The practice opened last month and the couple have been delighted with their first weeks at the new practice.

Dr Thomas said: "What we want to do is take the good bits of NHS dentistry and use it in our practice.

"There are too many restrictions in NHS dentistry."

The couple have been supported in setting up their new dental practice by the HSBC bank.

The business has created new jobs and Nick Saville, commercial manager, said: "HSBC are delighted to be involved in supporting Arun and Sharon in their new venture, Blyton Dental.

"The new practice will offer the residents of Blyton, Scunthorpe and Gainsborough a much-needed dental facility, together with a welcome employment boost for the local economy with the creation of five new jobs."

More Dental News: dental ceramic alloys from Aurident.

Dr. Hattar Dental and Orthodontic Makes Benefits of Dental Implants More Accessible to California Residents

Source: http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2016/01/03/798908/0/en/Dr-Hattar-Dental-and-Orthodontic-Makes-Benefits-of-Dental-Implants-More-Accessible-to-California-Residents.html


RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., Jan. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Fahed Hattar and the associates at Dr. Hattar Dental and Orthodontic are making the life-changing benefits of dental implants much more accessible to those who need it. The residents of Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville and the surrounding California areas are reaping the benefits of a professional, experienced dentist who is offering implant dentistry at some of the most affordable prices in the state.

Dr. Hattar Dental and Orthodontic specializes in dental implants, including the mini implant, single tooth implants and dentures, for patients in the Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville areas. One of the highlights of the practice includes the availability of a single tooth implant for only $899 (this excludes the crown or prosthetic.)

Dental implants effectively function as a very comfortable replacement for a person’s natural tooth root. The implant can then act as an anchor for a dental prosthetic or a dental crown. The result is an extremely lifelike and comfortable effect. After patients discuss their available options with Dr. Hattar, many clients decide that a tooth implant is the best route to solving their dental issue.

Dental implants in Rancho Cucamonga can help to resolve a variety of oral issues, and Dr. Hattar is an expert in this area. Patients receive comprehensive care from the time of diagnosis all the way through the completion of the chosen course of treatment. The staff at Dr. Hattar Dental and Orthodontic also places an emphasis on treating each client with care and compassion, as if they were their only patient.

Dr. Hattar explains, “Implants come very close to emulating the tooth’s natural root within the mouth. Many patients say that getting dental implants is the best dental decision they have ever made. When fitted with a crown or prosthetic, they become like permanent teeth, restoring the smile as well as the patient’s comfort levels throughout the day.”

Dr. Hattar continues, “I believe that everyone should have access to this high level of oral health and dental comfort. That’s why we are offering dental implants at just $899 per tooth.”

Dr. Hattar and the entire dental team at Dr. Hattar Dental and Orthodontic bring their educational credentials, friendly chair-side demeanor, focus on compassion and passion for orthodontic dentistry to every patient they see. Their goal is personalized dental care to ensure total patient comfort and satisfaction, from routine examinations to dental implants.

Dr. Hattar Dental and Orthodontic has two locations; one office is located in Suite F at 15366 11th St. in Victorville, Calif. The two clinic locations serve the Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville and surrounding areas with personalized, comfortable and compassionate care along with a full range of dental services. For more information, the public can call 760-243-3595 or visit the Dr. Hattar Dental and Orthodontic website.

More Dental News: dental crown and bridge alloys from Aurident.

Dental Aid Program Lets Youths Give, Get

Volunteer dentists paying it forward



By Brenda Bernet

Source: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/jan/03/homegrown-dentist-gives-back-to-fayette/?f=news-arkansas


Through Osborne, she learned of the Fayetteville Youth Dental Program and decided to volunteer. She likes providing children with access to dental care and supporting students who are interested in the dental health field, she said.

"I've always wanted to come back here and serve my community," she said. "This is home."

The Fayetteville Youth Dental Program, established more than 50 years ago, began as a joint effort of the Altrusa Club of Fayetteville, Fayetteville School District and local dentists, said Glenda Lee, a dental assistant who serves as the program director.

The program has changed over the years and now is supported with a grant from the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation, Lee said. The program is connected to a Northwest Arkansas Community College dental assisting program for high school students through Northwest Technical Institute and five volunteer dentists, including Waselues, who work with patients on Fridays at clinics, Lee said. The clinics are offered from September through May. About a dozen patients are treated at each one.
Other dentists do specialty work in their offices. The program partners with the Altrusa Club on special projects.

The program's offices are on the Agee-Lierly Life Preparation Services campus at 2350 Old Farmington Road, Lee said.

Students eligible for services are from low-income families and are referred by nurses, principals or teachers, Lee said. Students often are identified during health fairs and health screenings.

Dr. Henry Matthews moved to Fayetteville 29 years ago to work for the late Dr. Ernest Stanbury, who was one of the program's founding dentists with Dr. Jim Hunt and the late Dr. Jacob Agee. Stanbury required Matthews to volunteer, a service Matthews continues to support, he said. He is the advisory board president for the program.

"A lot of young kids had really bad dental health and were coming to school sick with abscesses," Matthews said. "It kind of evolved into what we have today. Not only are we providing care for the indigent children, we're teaching young students."

Lee, a Fayetteville High School graduate in the class of 1981, was in the dental assisting program as a high school student, she said. She worked as a dental assistant for different offices. She has directed the dental program for almost 20 years.

Waselues did not know about the program in high school, she said. Since becoming a volunteer dentist, she has participated in three Friday clinics and has conducted dental screenings.

Waselues' interest in taking care of people developed through some personal experiences, including an injury she experienced when she was 9, she said. She was injured one January day while sledding. She hit her sister's sled and broke her two front teeth, which ended up in the shape of half moons, she said.

She remembers telling her mother, "I knocked out all my permanents."

Her mother called a family dentist, who agreed to meet them at his office despite some icy roads, she said. She remembers the dentist asking her questions and making sure she didn't have any other injuries.

"He really took his time to take care of me," said Waselues, who now has two veneers on her front teeth.

She remembers shadowing Matthews for two days during an eighth-grade career exploration class. In ninth grade, Waselues needed dental surgery to remove a couple of baby teeth and pull down her permanent teeth.

"I wasn't the most attractive ninth-grader," she said. "Afterward, my smile looked good. That can do a lot, especially for a kid if you're making your smile better."

She initially thought of going into the field of physical therapy, but her dentist while she was in college, Dr. Rebecca Lucke, asked about her interests and was compassionate and empathetic with patients. Lucke inspired Waselues to choose dentistry and became her mentor.

When she applied to dental school, Waselues wrote about her interest in being involved in a program providing dental care for children who couldn't afford it, she said. Friday clinics with the Fayetteville Youth Dental Program give her a chance to do that.

When she works with children who are patients, Waselues tries to put them at ease. She tells them the tapping on their teeth is like someone dancing. She uses funny names for dental tools, such as calling suction tool "Mr. Thirsty."

"I try to be very positive with them and make them feel good about it," she said.

Metro on 01/03/2016

More Dental News: Dental Gold Alloys from Aurident.

Other News: Bill Cosby Wife To Testify In Defamation Case


Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35220712

Bill Cosby's wife has been ordered to give evidence in a defamation case filed by seven woman accusing the comedian of sexual assault.

A judge rejected Camille Cosby's attempts to avoid testifying, after she claimed she was protected by a marital disqualification law.

The women claim Mr Cosby portrayed them as liars after they went public with their allegations against him.

He filed a countersuit alleging their claims were only for financial gain.

The 78-year-old is also seeking unspecified monetary damages and said the women inflicted emotional distress.

Mrs Cosby is also her husband's business partner and the couple have been married for more than 50 years.

Joseph Cammarata, a lawyer for the women, argued last month he should be able to question Mrs Cosby because he believed she had "information that's relevant to the litigation in this matter".

'Shame and embarrassment'


As well as throwing out her marital status disqualification attempts, Judge Magistrate David Hennessey also rejected claims the value of her evidence would be undermined by the "undue burden" it would cause her.

"The arguments do not outweigh the potential significance of Mrs Cosby's testimony, nor has Mrs Cosby provided any authority that they do," he said.

The comedian had also tried to prevent his wife having to testify by having his lawyers argue it was an attempt to put pressure on him by causing them both "shame and embarrassment".

Mr Cosby's accusers' legal claim alleges he and his representatives sought to tarnish their reputations after they went public with their claims of sexual misconduct.

Mr Cosby has repeatedly denied the accusations.

His counter legal claim contends the women "engaged in a campaign to assassinate" his reputation and character.

He has, however, admitted in court proceedings he obtained and gave women sedatives over the years, but he maintained the women took the drugs willingly.

Last week, prosecutors in Pennsylvania charged the comedian with an alleged sexual assault in 2004. It is the first time Mr Cosby has been charged with any offence after months of accusations by dozens of women.

He is currently on $1m (£675,000) bail.

More Legal News: Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer

£70 Thousand For Children's Dental Health Project

Source: http://www.piratefm.co.uk/news/latest-news/1841331/70-thousand-for-childrens-dental-health-project/

Thousands of pounds is being pumped into a scheme to support young, first time mums in taking care of their children's teeth

The research project will support a PhD post for a hygienist or dental therapist to develop a programme for dental nurses.

It is being run by Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry (PUPSMD) with the Family Nurse Partnership Programme.

The project has secured funding of £70,000 over three years from The Wrigley Company Ltd.

The research will address the national crisis in children's oral health, especially in communities of social deprivation.

Dental disease is common in children and the most common reason for children to be admitted to hospital.

Experts say children living in the most socially-deprived areas are at highest risk and the most likely to have their teeth removed under general anaesthetic.

The research team is working with the Family Nurse Partnership in Plymouth, who work with first-time young mothers.

Family nurses offer intensive, structured home visits by specially-trained nurses, from early pregnancy until the child is two. The programme has worked with more than 200 families in Plymouth since it started in 2008.

The study will develop a way of working that links a dental nurse to the young mothers in the Family Nurse Partnership Programme, offering them support, encouragement and the necessary materials to protect their child's newly-emerging teeth.

PUPSMD and Wrigley have previously worked together on a number of community oral health projects in Plymouth and the South West, including providing oral health workshops with the charity CHICKS (Country Holidays for Inner City Kids).

Project lead, Professor Elizabeth Kay, Foundation Dean for the Peninsula Dental School, Plymouth University, said: "If we are to reverse the national disgrace of around 25,000 young children a year attending hospital to have teeth removed under anaesthetic, we need to work with parents of young children using methods that are shown to work. This project will achieve that, and we are enormously grateful to Wrigley for funding a PhD post for a hygienist or dental therapist to take this important work forward."

Polly Garland, Communications Manager for Wrigley UK, said: "The benefits of a good oral health routine from an early age are clear and we are delighted to work with PUPSMD once again and support their vital research on supporting mothers and families to look after their children's teeth."

More Dental News: dental alloys from Aurident.

International Dental News: Dental Clinics in Oman Under Scanner To Ensure Better Services

by ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI/elham@timesofoman.com

Source: http://www.timesofoman.com/article/74784/Oman/Health/Inspections-start-as-soon-as-an-application-is-made-to-open-a-clinic-and-continue-throughout-the-lif

Muscat: Private dental clinics in Oman are under constant supervision to ensure best services and care for the patients, an official at the Ministry of Health (MoH) has said.

Inspections start as soon as an application is made to open a clinic and continue throughout the life of the clinic, said Dr Hamood Al Harthy, head of section, Directorate of Evaluation and Licensing of Private Health Establishments, Directorate General of Private Health Establishments (DGPHE).

“When an application is made for obtaining a license, it is sent to a special committee for initial approval. Then, the DGPHE follows as per a step-by-step procedure before issuing a license for the facility and the healthcare professionals,” Al Harthy, who is a specialist in dental surgery, told the Times of Oman.

A primary inspection is done and the applicant has to meet all the requirements and provide all information related to the facility and the staff, the official said.

He added that the directorate general works closely with the municipalities, the Ministry of Manpower, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry when it comes to issuing a permit.

According to the latest statistics, around 737 dentists and specialists are working at about 500 private dental clinics in the Sultanate.

Surprise visits

Al Harthy noted that some of the inspections are scheduled while some are carried out unannounced. The surprise checks are actually preferred as most of the violations are caught during such checks.

“Around 70 per cent of the violations are related to patient’s safety and infection control,” he added.

Asked if the directorate general also supervises the prices of dental healthcare services at clinics, the official said that it mainly falls within the ambit of the responsibilities of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection.

“We do not get involved unless there is a huge disparity between the services and the prices,” Al Harthy explained.

‘Reasonable’ costs

The official said in his opinion, the dental care services in Oman are priced at a ‘reasonable’ level in general though it depends on the service provider, location of the clinic and some other factors.

He stated that one of the directorate’s responsibilities is to monitor the service providers and make sure that specialized services are provided only by the specialists.

“We also review the price lists to make sure that the services provided by the facility are within the scope of such service providers and try to make sure that the Arabic translation of the services in the facility’s price list matches with the English version,” he added.

Increasing frequency

In addition, Al Harthy said that DGPHE works in collaboration with the directorates of private health establishments in the regions to ensure that inspections are carried out more frequently.

“The number of private dental facilities is almost double the number of the dental clinics in the government health facilities,” he said, adding that DGPHE has now three directorates, concerning quality, licensing facilities and licensing manpower.

There are Continuous Professional Development Programmes to upgrade the staff, Al Harthy stated.

Asked about the performance and progress of Omanis in the field of dental practice, he said many government dental facilities are manned by Omanis.

However, the number of nationals is not very high in the private sector as many graduates prefer to start their career in the public sector to gain some experience, he added.

Private sector

Al Harthy believes that there is a need to strengthen the private sector in this field as the demand for private sector facilities is growing and many patients want to avoid long queues in government facilities.

Some services are currently only available at government facilities, he said, expressing the hope that such services will become available in the private sector as well.

The official also said that there is a need for more specialized educational institutes and training centres to complement the existing programmes at the Sultan Qaboos University and Oman Medical Specialty Board.

Insurance

Commenting on the fact that dental treatment costs are not covered by insurance, he said it would be good if a decision is made to include them in insurance schemes as some may avoid seeking treatment because of the costs.

Al Harthy said that according to his personal experience, oral diseases are one of the most common problems afflicting Omanis.

More Dental News: 3d dental scanners from Aurident.

What I Learned After Obtaining My First Dental Crown

by Mike Cohen

Source: http://www.thesuburban.com/blogs/cohen_confidential_with_mike_cohen/what-i-learned-after-obtaining-my-first-dental-crown/article_5b45ee6e-b29a-11e5-80d7-6f6bfe94d5cf.html

For the first time in my 53 years on this earth I recently needed a crown, after cracking part of my tooth. In a lot of cases, one goes to their own dentist, who then sends you to a specialist. Fortunately I go to Retter Dental Care,  where the father and son team of Warren and Jason Retter are on the cutting edge of technology.

The Retters use something called CEREC® technology, which enables patients to be in and out of the office with beautifully made, custom all-ceramic crowns completed in one visit. In comparison to traditional crowns, this require patients to undergo fewer injections and take less time schedules. Jason was actually able to view my teeth on a screen while the restorations were being created. A digital camera captured optical images of my mouth and deliver3e them to a computer, where 3D images enable him to see all aspects of the teeth. Quite impressive indeed.

I had gone to the same dentist, Dr. Gerald Rudy, all of my life until he decided to retire and move to Vancouver. He sold his practice to Jason and I happily moved over. As the procedure continued, Jason was telling me about his wife Lindsay Hollinger – a tax lawyer by profession whom a few years ago decided to leave her position at the prestigious firm of McCarthy Tetrault and continue to use her expertise in another area. I was intrigued so I contacted Lindsay.

“After quite a bit of reflection, I decided I wanted to continue using my legal and tax expertise, advising clients and working with a team of professionals, but more importantly have a greater impact on individuals, as opposed to corporations,” Lindsay says. “I really wanted be more engaged with market trends and global developments as opposed to the minutiae of tax code amendments. I wanted to expand my knowledge, rather than specialize in one area.”

The answer for Lindsay turned out to be a move to Jarislowsky Fraser, one of Canada’s leading investment firms. She may have been 32 weeks pregnant at the time, but she believed that advising individuals on how to grow their wealth through thoughtful, strategic and tax-efficient investments, represented her calling.

Lindsay grew up in Côte Saint-Luc . She attended Solomon Schechter Academy, followed by the Trafalgar School for Girls and Dawson College. At Queen`s University she completed an honors philosophy degree before obtaining her law degrees at McGill University. She spent her final semester in the Law Faculty studying in Montpellier, France, and then returned to Montreal to write the Quebec bar . “At that point, I already knew that I was interested in tax law through the exposure I had while working during the summers at McCarthy Tetrault,” she said.

Quite a dynamic couple indeed!

More Dental News: dental impression scanners from Aurident.

Clinic Will Bring A Dental Basic

Journal editorial board

Source: http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-clinic-will-bring-a-dental-basic/article_4fe085bd-8616-553e-acf5-6efbd6d3e07b.html



It’s one of those things — maybe the best example we have — of how decisions made in youth can have a strong and lasting impact on us as adults. Good dental hygiene is a habit that has to be developed early in life. Otherwise, the effects of poor dental hygiene — cavities, lost teeth and diseased gums — are nearly irreversible.

That’s why we’re pleased to hear about the partnership between the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System and the Cleveland Avenue Dental Center. The clinic will offer dental services, including screenings, to all students, the Journal’s Arika Herron reported recently. The whole thing will begin this month with a pilot program at Forest Park Elementary School. If it works as predicted, the program will be expanded to other schools in the system.

“We’re trying to reach the population that doesn’t have a dentist,” Emily Smith, the clinic’s dental director, told the Journal.

Unfortunately, that’s a significant portion.

Parental involvement will be essential to the program’s success. Forest Park’s students — about 650 of them — will take slips home to get permission for the dental screenings. The results of the screenings will be shared with the parents. Those eligible through government-sponsored insurance programs Medicaid or NC Health Choice can then receive additional services, such as cleanings or sealants to help prevent cavities. Students who need more extensive dental work, like fillings for cavities, will be referred to the clinic or another dental provider.

Many of Forest Park’s students come from low-income families, Falicia Fuller, the principal of Forest Park, told the Journal. Quite a few qualify for free or reduced-price school meals and most of them will qualify for the dental program.

As Fuller pointed out to the Journal, it can be a challenge for low-income families to get their children to the dentist. They often don’t have reliable access to transportation or they work multiple jobs with little time off available.

Offering services in the school will remove that obstacle, Fuller told the Journal.

The dental program is made possible by part of a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. It covers the cost of portable equipment, like dental chairs, to aid in the clinic setup at the school. After the screenings, public health hygienists will return to clean teeth and to apply sealants.

The situation for children of low-income workers is not ideal. For a variety of reasons, their parents sometimes come up short of resources and the children suffer for it. Programs like this can have a significant effect on the quality of life that children possess and are able to carry into the future.

The school board and the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners have approved the program.

“We want to do everything we can,” Fuller told the Journal. “When children come to school, we want their minds to be on school and what they’re learning, not worried about other things.”

We share the sentiment.
 

More Dental News: dental scanner from Aurident.
 

Washington Dentists Lobby Is Blocking Low-Cost Care

By Will Drabold, The Seattle Times

Source: http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/state_news/washington-dentists-lobby-is-blocking-low-cost-care/article_b1fca9d2-b2b8-11e5-9476-17656f05d25a.html

Natasha Fecteau’s mouth was a mess. The Bremerton resident had an abscessed tooth in the rear of her mouth that she routinely drained with a stab from a safety pin — until it swelled again and she had to repeat her crude dental relief.

Fecteau had dental insurance through Medicaid, but dentist after dentist turned down her low-paying government plan. When she finally found a Tacoma dentist who accepted her insurance, it was too late. Another molar had to go.

Fecteau’s story illustrates a common complaint by health-care advocates here: Dental insurance doesn’t mean access to care. Part of the problem: Washington has one of the nation’s lowest reimbursement rates for dental care provided through Medicaid, the state-administered health-care program for low-income patients.

As a result, the state’s poor, particularly Native Americans and other minorities, generally have lousy oral health.

But a coalition of state public-health officials and others believe they have a solution: dental therapists.

These therapists, found in states such as Alaska and Minnesota, are the dental version of physician assistants — midlevel licensed health-care professionals who can perform simple procedures, in this case doing cleanings, filling cavities, pulling teeth and the like. Dental therapists are vastly cheaper to train and employ than dentists.

But some dentists and their powerful trade group, the Washington State Dental Association, have thwarted five years of efforts to bring dental therapists to Washington state, according to interviews and a review of campaign-finance records by The Seattle Times.

Bracken Killpack, 32, the state association’s executive director, said he believes therapists can pose risks to a patient because they are not trained to handle serious dental problems.

Washington’s dental lobby is following the lead of the well-funded American Dental Association (ADA), which has opposed therapists nationwide, denigrating them as unneeded and unsafe — even as numerous studies show that therapists provide quality care and can even boost revenue for many dentists.

Rather than create more dental caregivers, Killpack said, the state should address this public-health need by raising rates for Medicaid dental-care reimbursement. State Medicaid pays 29 cents on the dollar for dental costs, with dentists absorbing the rest.

Meanwhile, advocates are frustrated that deep-pocketed dentists are blocking an evidence-based way to improve America’s oral health.

“We’re hampered by the disproportionate power that the (WSDA) has in the Washington legislative arena,” said Jon Gould, deputy director of the Children’s Alliance, a Seattle nonprofit. Therapists “could make the biggest, long-term, sustainable difference in access to care ... for the whole population.”

Tired of waiting, the members of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Skagit County have chosen to ignore federal restrictions and state licensing. On Monday, the tribe’s first dental therapist will begin seeing patients.

Brian Cladoosby, head of the Swinomish tribe and president of the National Congress of American Indians, hopes the Swinomish solution spreads to “260 Indian nations in the Lower 48.”
He isn’t counting on smooth sailing. “We expect to get sued by the American Dental Association,” Cladoosby said.

The problem

Experts agree that poor oral health can lead to far costlier diseases — including diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.

In 2000, the U.S. surgeon general called a lack of access to oral health care “a silent epidemic.” Studies show tens of millions of Americans still go without dental visits each year.

In Washington, about 1.7 million people receive Medicaid, a quarter of the population. Of those who are adults, only 17 percent receive dental care.

Community health clinics and a state Medicaid effort aimed at children have improved access to dental care in some parts of the state. But Native American, minority and low-income children still suffer disproportionate rates of tooth decay. Among all ages, only 28 percent of Washington’s dental needs are met, according to federal data.

“There is a hidden opportunity for improving overall health by treating the infection in the mouth,” said Diane Oakes, deputy director of the Washington Dental Service Foundation.

But the state’s low reimbursement rate for dental care (only four states have lower rates) has resulted in only three in 10 dentists here accepting Medicaid for adults, according to the foundation.

That leaves Medicaid patients with tooth pain, gum disease and other oral troubles in the hands of hospitals that often are ill-equipped to handle dental complications. In 2010, the Washington State Hospital Association said dental problems were the number one reason uninsured people went to the emergency room.

Dr. Morgan Ball, the dentist who treated Fecteau, said he has worked up to 70 hours a week with Medicaid and other patients for the past three years at Comfort Dental in Tacoma. Root canals, fillings, cleanings and other procedures paid for with Medicaid essentially equate to “free” care, he said. For a cleaning that typically costs more than $100, the state reimburses $24 to Comfort Dental, he said.

“It is not the dentists’ fault that nobody on Medicaid can find somebody to treat them,” said Ball, who performed a root canal on Fecteau. “If we did nothing but Medicaid, we would go out of business.”
Washington’s Medicaid reimbursement rate for dental care has not increased since at least 2007.

The evidence
In Alaska, dental therapists have improved oral health in rural and tribal communities for the past decade. Therapists train for 3,000 hours over two years, said Mary Williard, director of the dental-therapists education program for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. They learn 46 basic dental procedures such as exams, cleanings, sealants and simple tooth extractions that Williard said form the bulk of services for underserved communities.

In fact, the dental therapist starting Monday for the Swinomish Tribe has six years of experience in Alaska, according to the tribe.

In Minnesota, therapists for the past five years have increased the number of Medicaid patients seen at dental practices, raising revenue while decreasing wait times. Their malpractice insurance costs only about $100 a year, records show.

With their shorter training, therapists in these two states typically work under the supervision of a licensed dentist. In Washington and other states, proposed legislation has followed suit.
Marc Cooper, who runs the Mastery Company, a dental consulting firm based in Woodinville, says dentists claim that therapists pose health risks in order to mask their real concern: Therapists may threaten dentists’ small-business model.

“Dentists are profit-driven,” Cooper said. Their concern is “drip theory. You put [therapists] in the rural areas. You put them on the reservation. Then pretty soon, they’ll come to the outskirts of suburbs.”

Killpack denied blocking therapists because they threaten his members’ business model.

The politics

Not all dentists oppose creating midlevel dental professionals. The National Dental Association, which aims to improve oral health for minorities, and the American Association of Public Health Dentistry both support dental therapists.

In Olympia, the Washington Dental Access Campaign, a coalition of more than 40 health-care, minority, union and social organizations, has been pressing lawmakers to allow therapists.
The group points to one man as being the most influenced by the dentists lobby: Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim. His district encompasses most of the Olympic Peninsula, including all or part of seven Indian reservations.

Gould and tribal leaders say Van De Wege, as a member of the House Health Care and Wellness Committee, has joined Republicans as a tiebreaking Democrat to keep dental-therapist bills from leaving committee. Cladoosby, the Swinomish head, described Van De Wege as “bought and paid for by the ADA.”

“That’s just not something you want to say to politicians,” said Van De Wege of Cladoosby’s comment.

In 2012 and 2014 election cycles, of Van De Wege’s political contributions from individuals, 77 percent — some $6,850 — came from dentists or dental-industry advocates, including the current and most recent head of the Washington State Dental Association. However, businesses and political organizations gave him more total dollars, a pattern similar to that of other lawmakers.

Van De Wege said that since he did not solicit individual contributions from constituents in 2012 and 2014 (he was unopposed that year), the donations from dentists appear disproportionately high.
He said he opposed the dental-therapist legislation because “the proposals were to do invasive stuff without much schooling.”

As for constituents who may lack access to dental care, “there are Medicaid populations that have a problem seeing a dentist, and there are others that don’t,” he said. In rural Jefferson County, which is entirely within Van De Wege’s district, only 7.6 percent of adults with Medicaid receive dental services.

Fights in several states

Some tribal leaders say their dental-care crisis got more complicated when the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act was reauthorized in 2009. It contained a provision, lobbied for by the ADA, that said dental therapists could not work on reservations unless the state legislature of a tribe’s home state authorized it. Tribal leaders say the restriction flies in the face of their sovereignty.

In the last two legislative sessions, Native Americans have pushed bills in the Washington House and Senate to allow for therapists, but not one has succeeded. They will try again this session.

Similar bills in Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Kansas and Vermont lingered in committees in the 2015 legislative sessions, according to a review by The Times.

In the past five years, the WSDA has spent $1.06 million on lobbying and contributions, up sharply. This pattern mirrors national spending by the ADA.

Gould said lobbying by the pro-therapist coalition has been minuscule in comparison.

“The frustration that I have is the Washington State Dental Association represents Washington dentists yet, by and large, does not serve the Medicaid population,” said Steve Kutz, chair of the American Indian Health Commission of Washington State.

Native solution

For nearly three years, dentist Rachael Hogan has run the Swinomish dental clinic, a modern, white office compound across the Skagit River from La Conner.

Hogan, 40, has performed hundreds of fillings, extractions and cleanings. “I’m swamped,” she said.
She believes the Swinomish plan to deploy dental therapists will help her meet the crushing needs of her patients.

The needs of Native American children are acute; 3- to 5-year-olds are four times more likely than white children of the same age to have untreated, decayed teeth, according to a 2014 Indian Health Service study.

In addition to the new dental therapist from Alaska, Hogan’s office may eventually benefit from a Swinomish woman who has been training in Alaska since last summer to become a therapist. The Swinomish are paying $70,000 a year for her training.

Mary Anne Lindeblad, the state Medicaid director, said she is open to dental therapists in the state.
The Swinomish are “looking for a local solution and if it works for them, it’s good,” she said.

Will Drabold, a senior at Ohio University, reported this story as an intern on The Seattle Times investigations team. He can be reached at willdrabold@gmail.com.

 
More Dental News: conoscopic holography technology from Aurident.

Letter: The NHS dental health system is unfit for purpose

The lack of a proper national dental service leaves charities to fill in the gaps, say health professionals...

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/12077501/Letter-The-NHS-dental-health-system-is-unfit-for-purpose.html

SIR – This is the third year that dental professionals have written to The Daily Telegraph, raising serious concerns that the NHS dental system in England is unfit for purpose.
The reason is that, far from improving, the situation has worsened to such an extent that charity groups normally associated with providing dental care in Third World arenas now have to do so in England. While we applaud groups such as Dentaid, which volunteer such services, its role serves to demonstrate the lack of a proper national dental service.
When more than 90 per cent of all dental diseases can be prevented, it is also a national disgrace that children aged under 10 in England are still more likely to be treated in hospital for rotten teeth than for any other medical reason.
It’s now time for the new Chief Dental Officer and our new ministers to be fully open and transparent about existing limitations, if they are serious about making real progress.
Dr Tony Kilcoyne
Specialist in Prosthodontics

Dr A V Jacobs
Dentist and Founder of GDPUK

Dr Martin Mayhew
Specialist in Dental Public Health

Dr Joanne Birdsall
Specialist and Consultant Orthodontist

Rakhshi Qureshi
Grant Matthews
Nick Thomson
Ian Wilson
John Valentine
Adeel Qutub Khan
Uns Moutiz
Imrana Ishaque
Joey Hossain
Chris Tavares
Diana Dumitriu
Dhru Ratilal Shah
Mariyah Nazir
Jason Greenwood

Simon Thackeray
Alex Keddie
Tam Haque
Ashwin Patel
Helder Esteves
Kizzy Mitchell
Ramesh Parmar
Sabrina Parmar-Kutty
Harmeet Grewal
Richard Bate
Ope Sodeinde
Nicola Bennett
Gurvinder Bhirth
Raunaq Shah
Khawaja Jawad Farid
Samira Ahmed
Dr Azm Ahmed
Kush Begum
Ferhan Ahmed
Geraldine Murray
Helmi El Sakka
Sapna Rana
Anup Patel
Gurpreet Dolly Dade
Harman Kler
Dr Hana Tofighi
Amie Patel
Eurico Martins
Victoria Holden
Gona Ali
Jennifer Bate
Khurram Qureshi
Raquel Valentim
Alex Keddie
Sita Emi
Nisha Ari
Carla Jones
Esha Vohra
Alix Furness
Aran Maxwell
Salma Daou
Tim Werry
Dave Bridges
Mayank Morar
Ajay Mathur
Zaki Kanaan
Ali Rifai
James Brazier
Laith Abbas
Natasha Vadasz
Rustom Moopen
Daniel Cheung
David Cheung
Helen Christie
Waseem Akhtar
Pardip Atthi
André Bergh
Vimal Patel
Khawaja Jawad Farid
David Mee
Sital Singh Chauhan
Andrew Legg
Amit Parmar
Reetika Aggarwal
Ian Jones
Ahmed Alshafi
Tim Fleming
Sarah Bingham
Richard Bate
Ann- Marie Bard
Veerusha Diah
Aakash Mavani
Helen Rimmer
Aliya Rashid-Taylor
Purvi Sharma
Muney Singh
Sameer Dossa
Julia Payne
Iain Soulsby
Kiran Rai
Caroline Wilkins
Shareena Ilyas
Sarah Susannah Bernice
Afsar Hussain
Suraj Patel
Kunal Shah
Saara Sabir
Nikki Davey
Haidar Al-Ali
Sanjeev Kapadia
Adam Lane
Priyesh Patel
Chris Harper
Laura Tattersall
Mojtaba Dehghanpour
Rosamund Cat Masters-Williams
Vijayabhaskar Somisetty
Saba Aslam
Martin Kelly
Iman Hashim
Amar Sundeep Arjuna
Zak Kara
Phil Reid
Tameam Alaubidie
Philip Barton
Shikha Attray Patel
Ben Behnami
Uzair Lone
Dimitrios Iliadis
Aneesh Dhunna
Finbar Bryson
Andrew Adey
David Flattery
Nabeeha Arshad
Kat Archer-Smith
June Bentley
Sheideh Zarbalian
Tej Mell
Sarbjit Singh
Estelle Los
Kaezar Bamrah
Thomas Liu
Jess Pascoe
Nishanth Selvarajah
Amy Louise
Amy McCann
Harpreet Chana
Peter Saund
John Lewis
Kamala Ebrahimova
Darshan Shukla
Mohammed Sharjeel
Rachel Morgan
Sukhvinder Atthi
Suril Amin
Jonathan Bankes
Minal Somaiya
Nisha Sanghrajka Majevadia
Jasleen Singh Bhopal
Mariya Khambati
Waseem Qureshi
Baldeep Singh
Vishali Hindocha
Rhianna Fulford
Gareth Jones
Kayvan Mirzai Nejad Kousari
Estelle Los
Radha Sisodia
Andrew Geddis-Regan
Elaine Mo
Sunny Kotecha
Tif Qureshi
Ashish Sharma
Ronak Patel
Sanjeev Kutty
Sophie Goodman
Aisha Ahsan
Keith Hayes
Bill Inness
John Peter Bates
Alan Rees
Paul Isaacs
Jim Page
Talat Algusane
Martin Bayne
Naveed Patel
Ioan Llyr Rees
John Phillips
Anya Sieinska
Chirag Kothari
Iain Campbell
Victoria Taylor
Danny Pretorius
Oksana Molodyka
Niall Hutchinson
Debbie Hemington
Duncan Scorgie
Rizwan Ahmed
Dipesh Kothari
Chris Chatham
Ajay Verma
David Taylor
Nafiza Jamil
Dilan Taylor
Sandeep Sharma
Binderpal Singh Bains
Manoj Brahmbhatt
Peter Doyle
Paul Woodhouse
Michael Crowley
Aamir Hyder
Ohsun Kwon
Peter Frost
Anthony Glover
Leigh Evans
Alan Aungier
Russell Gidney
Naveen Sunkada
Deb Hathaway
Hiten Halai
Niraj Halai
Hajirah Mir
Waj Khan
Yoganandda Kempegowda
Asim Mahmood
Furzana Hameed
Douglas Watt
Emma Idowu
Sophie Nicholls
XinHui Yeo
Philip Barton
Nandini Kapoor
Joey Hossain
Ammar Al- Hourani
Diana Nuca
Paul Mandon-Gassman
Jose Lage
June Bentley
Henrik Cloigaard Christensen
David Bevan
Afsar Hussain
Aman Bharti
Cristina Lima
Miranda Steeples
Mike Day
Meredyth Bell
Haydon Murr
Richard Vernon
Samir Shah
Nina Khaira
Dean Mooney
Jane Lelean
Hadi Rajabi
Pat Popat
Krish Mistry
Peter Orme
Jaimin Shah
Dave Sebastian Mathew
Sonam Haria
Jiten Chauhan
Bruno Lopes
Peter Farrage
Romil Vara
Eva Renuka Pathmananthan
Davesh Patel
Jenny Pinder
Ivan Gill
Govind Singh Dhaliwal
Priya Gaind
Rachel Derby
Claire Lawson
Sammy Ofori-Attah
Sue Pienaar
Angela Ly
Mohsin Hassan
Nick Ghateh
Ravi Ponangi
Arif Shaikh
Vijay Vithani
Julian Irving
Alan Ross
Ian Humphreys
James Mehta
Audoen Healy
Andre Haigh
Graham Porter
David Barnett
Barbara Jones
Steve Frost
Scott Aaron
David Robinson
Donald Sloss
Sylvia Andrews
Zafar Khan
Charles Lister
Robert Moxom
Tim Coates
Arthur Cooper
Chris Borne
Iqbal Fazal
Cheryl Colhoun
Madhu Kalakonda
Steve Conteh
David Obree
Mohamed Asif Mughal
Laura Masters-Williams
Hiten Patel
Uma Milner
Tejal Shah
Gysbert Pienaar
Elise Morgan
Omer Mustafa
Nisha Ari
Nicola Mulhaire
Preya Parmar
Puru Kaushik
Ankush Patel
Jibin Majeed
Ruksana Bhayat-deere
Noman Athwal
Shilpa Murthy
Raggi Munjal
Asif Mughal
Jai Basudev
Ammar Al- Hourani
Omar Salamat
Kunal Patel
Rachna Patel Dattani
Gareth Hargreaves
Harshil Patel
Anupama Jawahar
Charan Virdi
Tameam Abdallah
Shaista Siddiqui
Taghreed Ghanem
Dinker Patel
Virginia Lees
Sanil Shah
Sonia Alam
Eram Rabbani
Derien Pugh
Wasim Fazel
Shahir Shamsuddin
Rikki Dhody
Jamie Durrant-Fellows
Jan Einfeldt
Richard Furness
Trever Ferguson
Geo Morgan
Raj Kumar
Maria Kokkinou
Mark Tyzzer-Smith
Sia Maani
Robert Dyas
Selina Sufraz
Nikki Davey
Nirmal Shah
Nick Harrison
Nicola Bennett
Vijay Aggarwal
Arti Patel
Steve Thompson
Shona Achar
Trishna Patel
Kish Rajni
Hamzah Ahmed
Ria Chande
Nick Sheehan
Taj Badh
Subanghi Paheerathan
Talal Khalil
Pui Ling Tsoi
Kreena Patel
Amjad Ansari
Ammar Al- Hourani
Paul Abrahams
Maria Kokkinou
Aisha Siddiqi
Damian Kirk
Ivan Simmonds
Seville Haghbedeh
Daanish Chattaroo
Gwyn Pritchard
Cheryl Frost
Stephen Bazlinton
Phillip Gale
Julian Thornton
Ray McNamara
Kevin Gibney
David Winkler
Mike O'Reilly
Anju Mishra
Paul Renton-Harper
Sunder Dhamar
Vandna T Dharmar
Ian Beaumont
Andrew Browne
Rachel Harlow
Simon Portman-Lewis
Mary Robson
Rachel White
Iain Stewart Hawthorn
Phil Eisenberg
Craig Rushworth
John Morrison
John Barry
Carl Horton
Savia de Souza
Sheena Young
Kirk Young
Donna Schembri
Andrew Miles
Jessica Maguire
Anish Mandla
Louise Stride
Sian Elizabeth Forde
Michael Powell


More Dental News: 3d Dental Scanners from Aurident.