Compiled by Greta Lieske

Want to learn how to take better dental digital images? You can get some top-of-the-line guidance from Dr. Martin Goldstein during this year’s 

Dr. Martin Goldstein will be presenting his 

Digital Photography; Filling in the Gaps, Friday, Nov. 8, which can also earn you 1 CE credit.

“It will help you to take better digital images of your patients and in essence, enhance your cosmetic practice,” he says of his presentation.

 , will be held from Nov. 8 to 10 in Las Vegas and will focus on Minimally Invasive Dentistry. Other topics covered will include sex and oral health, injectables in dentistry and handling money in your practice.

Held at the newly-renovated Caeser’s Palace, the three inspirational days will host some of the industry’s top speakers and hands-on educators exploring that latest in minimally invasive aesthetics techniques, life-saving screening technology, gentle soft tissue management therapy, and more.

Dr. Goldstein has maintained a private practice for twenty-five years and is currently a principal at Dental Health Associates PC in Wolcott, CT, a three-doctor group practice. Dr. Goldstein is a member of the Dental Society of Greater Waterbury as well as the CSDA, ADA and the Academy of General Dentistry.

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Want to learn how to take better dental digital images? You can get some top-of-the-line guidance from Dr. Martin Goldstein during this year’s DenMat Destination Education Event.

Where to learn how to better your dental digital photography [VIDEO]

The ADHA celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Dental Hygiene Profession in Boston over the weekend at its 

. The Annual Session offers a variety of continuing education tracks for all stages of dental professionals' careers.

Here's a snap shot of the event, told by you:

View the story "How Boston celebrated 100 years of the Dental Hygiene Profession" on Storify

The ADHA celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Dental Hygiene Profession in Boston over the weekend at its 90th Annual Session. The Annual Session offers a variety of continuing education tracks for all stages of dental professionals' careers.

How the hygiene community celebrated 100 years of the profession

Las Vegas is the place to be November 2013.

, will be held from Nov. 8 to 10 in Las Vegas and will focus on Minimally Invasive Dentistry. Other topics covered will include sex and oral health, injectables in dentistry and handling money in your practice.

For example, Dr. Louis Malcmacher-president of the 

- will be one of the presenters and will discuss new areas of injectables in dentistry.

“It’s a huge opportunity for you and your practice to really deliver the best esthetic and therapeutic outcomes for your patients,” says Dr. Malcmacher.

Other top Key Opinion Leaders in the industry attending include the following: Dr. Christian Coachman, Dr. Lou Graham, Dr. Lee Ann Brady, Dr. Martin Goldstein, Jo-Anne Jones, Dr. Mike Kesner, Dr. Peter Harnois, Dr. Michael Miyasaki, and Dr. Ed Lowe.

The dates and times of the Destination Education Event are as follows:

		Saturday, November 9th, 2013: 8am - 5pm

A preliminary agenda will be announced closer to the event. Seventeen CE credits are available through the 20-course schedule.

Click here to learn about the list of speakers, register and get more information.

DPR is the Official Media Partner for DenMat’s 2013 Destination Education CE Forum in Las Vegas, Nev.

What you’ll learn at the 2013 Destination Education event [VIDEO]

In this episode of Product Reviews, Tips and Tricks from Drs. John Flucke and Lou Graham, the doctors discuss the current state of caries detection devices, and where we’re heading.

From a digital standpoint, Dr. John Flucke says there’s no way to go with caries detection devices other than visual-based. The depth of information they provide is invaluable.  

“These are devices that take photos of teeth, analyze those photos and gives you an indication if decay is present or not,” he explains. “And in some cases, also the depth of that decay.”

In the episode, Flucke and Graham discuss the features of 

Air Techniques’ Spectra caries detection aid

, plus how the information they provide plays a part in specific clinical decisions.

“It looks like weather radar,” Flucke says of the color results he gets with the Spectra caries detection aid. “And that gives you - based on the different colors - how deep the lesion is.”

While Flucke says these devices are a huge leap for the hygiene market, and every practice should have one, they are also useful during excavation procedures.

“You should also use these devices in actual operative dentistry.”

Watch the Product Review episode with Drs. Flucke and Graham here:

Air Techniques' Spectra Caries Detection Aid saves your patients time, money

ACTEON launches new SOPROCARE camera, Endocenter™ and more [VIDEO]

Inside look at Air Techniques' Spectra Caries Detection Aid [VIDEO]

DPR Friday: Check out April's cover products [VIDEO]

Why caries detection devices are shifting to visual-based [VIDEO]

Save yourself any future practice problems; document everything. In this Morning Huddle, 

 discusses why you should keep a paper trail of every encounter you have with your employees and team.

, DPR partnered with notable practice management consultants to provide quick video tips like the one below to get your team talking. Here, we discuss how to efficiently manage employee relations.

Want to know the easiest way to avoid complications and misunderstandings with your employees? Document, document, document.

If you document everything that happens with your employees, you’ll avoid any work-related headaches in the long term. If an employee complains? Document it. If you have a job performance discussion with anyone? Document it.

 gives you all the tips and advice on why documentation matters:

Check out these other tips to get your team talking:

How to get the most out of your intraoral camera [VIDEO]

The importance of new hire documentation in the dental practice [VIDEO]

12 tips to control stress in the dental office [VIDEO]

4 things you may not realize about patient objections [VIDEO]

Mr. Oromchian is the Co-Founder at HR for Health, and Partner at Dental & Medical Counsel, PC. He is a graduate of the University of California at Davis, where he received a dual Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Political Science and Rhetoric & Communications. He holds a law degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law.  During law school, Mr. Oromchian was the Editor-in-Chief of the Business Law Journal and also worked for the Honorable Connie Callahan at the California Court of Appeals for the Third District. He also received an LL.M. in Taxation with Honors from The George Washington University Law School.  He is a member of the California and District of Columbia bars.

Mr. Oromchian’s family has made the San Francisco Bay Area their home for more than 20 years.  He currently lives in San Ramon, with his wife Ozzie Jafarnia, a local pediatric dentist, and daughters Caroline and Emme.

Save yourself any future practice problems; document everything. In this Morning Huddle, Ali Oromchian Esq. discusses why you should keep a paper trail of every encounter you have with your employees and team.

Why documentation with your employees matters [VIDEO]

What words should you never use with an irate patient or employee? Find out here …

At anytime during the work day, you could be dealing with an upset person on the phone -a patient, co-worker, employee. Ginny Hegarty, president of Dental Practice Development Inc., gives you tips on how to handle these difficult situations.

As Hegarty says, it’s easy to be at your best when everything is going well. But, how do you handle the unexpected?

Check out these tips to avoid getting flustered and how to stay in the right mindset:

2. Remain calm and connect with the caller.

4. Reassure the caller and take responsibility.

6. Follow up with what you’ve promised.

 Always be authentic, respectful and empathetic.

Ginny is the President of The Academy of Dental Management Consultants and a visiting faculty member at The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI). She authors the HR411 column in the Progressive Dentist Magazine and writes for First Impressions Magazine. She has podcasts on HR Best Practices available on the Academy of General Dentistry website.  Ginny also lectures at the Kornberg School of Dentistry at Temple University in Philadelphia as part of the Practice Management Program. 

6 tips on how to work with an upset patient or employee [VIDEO]

If you have a patient that is waiting for an appointment to start, you can bet that they're taking the infamous Dental Chair Selfie photo.

, check out his edition of actual dental selfie photos and get into the mindset of your patient.

View the story "Selfies from the dental chair 2.0" on Storify

What your patients are doing while waiting for an appointment

Dr. Lou Graham says there is one big question for clinicians when it comes to handpieces: electric or air?

With the technological advancements that have come with the industry’s electric handpieces, Graham discusses with Dr. John Flucke what the big perks are when considering electric.

In the 90s, Dr. Flucke evaluated many electric handpieces and says he always went directly back to air driven. That’s because older electric handpieces were extremely heavy and simply weren’t reliable.

But, he notes, those were the electric handpieces of the past.

Dr. Flucke says present-day electric handpieces are not anything like their past counterparts: Now, they are light and ergonomic, reliable when using, have simple maintenance, and provide an amount of torque that is “unbelievable.”

 has a controller box that mounts on your dental unit that you can see and literally you can go in and select caries removal and it will actually dial down the handpiece and only puts it at a certain RPM. It allows you to be very selective in exactly what you’re doing,” Flucke says of his Bien-Air Handpiece unit, which, even with high torque, allows him to easily dial down for procedures such as caries removal.

“I haven’t had failures [with handpieces] like I used to have in the old days. These things run.”

Watch the product review with Drs. Flucke and Graham below:

The culmination of a long tradition of excellence,

 boast a Soft Push push-button for easy bur release, DuaLook dual glass rod lighting and three Accu-Spray separate air/water sprays guaranteeing perfect nebulization. Their ideal ergonomic characteristics ensure an excellent grip while guaranteeing perfect handling. The latest developments in Bien-Air contra-angles incorporate a new shaft and gear system mounted on pre-stressed ball bearings. This offers vibration-free transmission and reduces energy loss. These new Bien-Air shaft and gear systems simultaneously provide outstanding smoothness and improved sensitivity.

 is a precise performance high-speed handpiece that delivers exact cutting and smoother preparations for dental procedures. Lighter, shorter and quieter, the KaVo COMFORTdrive 200 XDR offers the perfect feel during dental procedures. This electric high-speed, light-weight handpiece’s unique patented design weighs approximately 40% less and is 15% shorter than market-leading high-speed electric handpiece options. The integrated motor reduces the distal length after the pivot point in the doctor’s hand allowing for an unprecedented degree of control.

Product Review: Why you should consider electric handpieces [VIDEO]

These are the products that have helped pediatric dentistry take a step forward. 

In recent years, there have been many advances in key areas related to pediatric dentistry such as trends in pediatric procedures and dental materials, caries detection tools, early interventions to arrest disease progression and more.

Here, we’ve listed some of the most popular and treatment-enhancing pediatric advancements that have come down the pipeline.

NuSmile, a leading manufacturer of pediatric crowns, offers an array of crowns that are easy to place and give a child needing restorative treatment the most natural-looking smile.

Described as an evolutionary step forward for pediatric dentistry, 

 are easy-to-use and ensure a successful restoration every time they are used. The autoclavable crowns are identical in size and shape to 

NuSmile’s revolutionary ZR zirconia crowns

, and eliminate the need for additional preparation and cleaning steps necessary with zirconia or all-ceramic restoration. Additionally, NuSmile ZR zirconia crowns are now available for centrals, laterals, cuspids and molars.

“If general dentists are going to treat children, they should be using products like NuSmile crowns,” said Kaneta Lott, a pediatric dentist in Atlanta, Ga. “Children need to be treated well … just as well as adults.”

For more information about NuSmile Try-In Crowns or to view a complete product list, visit NuSmile Pediatric Crowns at 

Sonicare For Kids is specifically designed to help kids build healthy brushing habits for life. With its kid-friendly features and clinically proven results, Sonicare For Kids helps parents teach their children to brush - supporting the transition from brushing together to independent brushing. Sonicare For Kids delivers superior results through every brushing phase.

Check out this clinical study showing the success of the Sonicare For Kids toothbrush. 

Last year, Anna Ziebarth had a small cavity for the first time in years. But instead of having to make an appointment and come back to the dentist for a traditional filling like she was used to, her dentist at Comprehensive Dentistry for Adults and Children in Costa Mesa, Calif., suggested fixing the problem right then and there, 

. She was so impressed with the technology and how quick and easy the procedure was, she decided it was time to introduce her two daughters, Zoe, 11, and Lux, 8, to a new practice and a new dentist.

the WaterLase iPlus eased the fears of the Ziebarth girls

 and how it lessens the discomfort for all children at the dentist.

“We’re huge fans of this technology,” Anna Ziebarth said following her daughter’s cavity treatment with the WaterLase iPlus. “It’s a nice luxury to have and I’m grateful my dentist offers it.”

Ortho-Tain manufactures orthodontic appliances

 that ultimately eliminate the need for orthodontic braces. The 

 is a comfortable, clear appliance worn during the night, to provide preventive care for 5 to 7-year-old children while they sleep. Nite-Guide® prevents the need for braces later on in children’s lives by being a preventive orthodontic solution. It provides a straight smile and a healthy occlusion early on, by guiding teeth properly into the mouth as the child grows and develops.

“A lot of children have habits at an early age, pacifiers- for example- create open bites and these open bites can persist for the rest of a person’s life,” says Dr. Earl Bergesen. “If they’re not corrected early, it’s almost impossible to correct them at 12 or 15 years of age.”

allows clinicians to gently, precisely, and quickly administer all dental injections without the fear and anxiety of traditional syringes. Single tooth, palatal and infiltration injections are performed painlessly and without collateral numbness of the cheeks, lip, and tongue, preserving natural smile lines and offering patients a more pleasant experience during and after procedures. In the case of children, there is no chance of lip or tongue trauma from biting after a STA injection for mandibular teeth due to the ability to avoid a mandibular block.

The Wand STA is more comfortable and less intimidating to patients 

Top 5 new product advancements in pediatric dentistry

Struggling to bring more business into your practice? You’re not alone, but some have found a source of success. Many general dentists are discovering that the answer may be in expanding to a wider patient base.

Younger patients are part of an ever-growing pool of opportunity for dentists. According to various reports, during the struggling economy many adults are delaying their regular visits to the dentist. But here’s the rub-no matter the state of the economy, most adults won’t cut back on dental care for their children. 

And with more and more pediatric resources hitting the market, it’s becoming easier to be able to properly care for younger patients. These advancements are proving that general dentists are more motivated than ever to treat children. 

Here are some of the various reasons to consider widening your practice to treat children:

Since 1995, the dentist-to-population ratio has been declining, particularly in pediatric dentistry.  Of the approximately 190,000 dentists in the U.S. today, only about 6,000 are pediatric specialists. Do the math-there aren’t enough to cover all of the needs of all of the children. 

This gap isn’t just limited to dentists either. According to surveys conducted by the journal Anesthesia Progress, the demand for dentist anesthesiologists in pediatric dental practices is on the rise. More than 70 percent of board-certified pediatric dentists in the United States provide mild to moderate sedation in their practices.

Nearly that many, 60 to 70 percent, would use a dentist anesthesiologist if one were available. However, supply cannot yet meet the demand.

As pediatric dentistry has grown, pediatric dental technology has improved. The tools and products available have made it significantly easier for dentists to tailor their treatment to all ages. There are pediatric-sized intra-oral sensors, smaller hand-pieces, distraction devices such as video games, and a growing selection of pediatric-specific products, and more.

For example, there are now options for cosmetic restorations for primary teeth with NuSmile products. This type of advancement used to be unheard of.

NuSmile, leading manufacturer of pediatric crowns, offers an array of crowns that are easy to place and give a child needing restorative treatment the most natural-looking smile. Described as an evolutionary step forward for pediatric dentistry, NuSmile Try-In Crowns are easy-to-use and ensure a successful restoration every time they are used.

There also have been advancements in products working to limit the bad dental habits of children, such as Ortho-Tain’s Habit Corrector appliances. Habit Corrector is a dental appliance with the goal to correct and end bad oral habits that most kids experience growing up.

From childhood to adulthood, it can be easier to determine treatment when you know the patient’s full story. You’ll get that if you were there from the beginning and helped shape that young patients’ idea of excellent dental and oral health.

kids can be downright rock stars in the dental chair.

Many dentists contend that children make better patients than adults. And the younger you can treat them, the better they are and the better they become. They have no preconceived notions of pain or fear of the dentist’s chair, so they often go through the appointment without any difficulties. 

Perceived Difficulties Aren’t Always Accurate

If you’re not used to treating children or a child with behavioral issues or with special needs, the thought of having one of these patients in your chair can be a little intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be.

From the time they enter the practice until the time you’re ready to perform any necessary procedures, there’s plenty you and your team can do to put these patients at ease, making their visit to your practice much more pleasant for them as well as you and your staff. We talked to Dr. Fred Margolis, a pediatric dentist who practices in Highland Park, Ill., about what dentists can do to make this happen.