Jared Kaltwasser

The American Dental Association has announced a new category under its ADA Seal of Acceptance Program.

The ADA will now offer the seal to athletic mouthguards, provided the products submit material lists to the association and can demonstrate the product meets the ADA’s dental standards.

The first product to qualify for the seal is the CustMbite MVP mouthguard.

“Awarding the seal to an athletic mouthguard expands the Seal Program to new and emerging areas, which we need to do in order to provide more options for dentists and dental patients,” said Tom Hart, DDS, PhD, chairman of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs. “This will allow ADA experts to evaluate products that can benefit the American public.”

In its press release, CustMbite MVP co-creator Monroe Elkin, DMD, said the product is already in use at “hundreds” of university athletic programs across the country. According to the company's website, that list includes the University of Notre Dame, Penn State University, and Iowa State University. Elkin said the company considers its product to be the industry’s “gold standard” mouthguard, now that it stands alone with the ADA seal.

The product underwent a series of laboratory tests designed to evaluate its ability to protect teeth from impact trauma.

The ADA’s Seal of Acceptance program dates back to 1931. Today, more than 300 products carry the seal. The program is voluntary, but the association says its seal has been shown to directly impact consumer decision-making.

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The ADA will now offer the seal to athletic mouthguards, provided the products submit material lists to the association and can demonstrate the product meets the ADA's dental standards.

ADA Adds Mouthguard Category to its Seal of Acceptance Program

Nobody likes to pay taxes, but if April 15 reminds us of anything, it’s that our finances and our government are inextricably intertwined.

Of course, the financial transactions go both ways. Taxpayers pay money to the government and, in theory, the government provides services in return. In doing so, the federal government also provides direct employment for millions of Americans. 

, Uncle Sam employed 2.7 million people in 2013, and that figure was the lowest amount in nearly a half century.

 recently endeavored to find out which states are most dependent on the federal government. They looked at a variety of factors, such as how much money a state gets back compared to how much it sends to the government, what proportion of a state’s revenue comes from the feds, and how many federal employees the state has.

On a macro level, the survey found Democratic-leaning “Blue” states tend to be less dependent on the government than their “red” peers. For instance, New Jersey, which reliably votes for Democrats in presidential elections, gets just 48 cents back for every dollar it sends to Washington DC. Meanwhile, conservative stronghold South Carolina receives a whopping $5.38 for each dollar is sends to the federal government.

What follows is a list of the 10 most dependent states in the nation, according to WalletHub’s analysis. Also included are the state’s return on taxpayer investment and the proportion of the state’s revenue that comes from federal funding.

Return on Taxpayer Investment (per $1 in taxes):

Federal Funding as Percentage of State Revenue: 

Nobody likes to pay taxes, but if April 15 reminds us of anything, it's that our finances and our government are inextricably intertwined.

The 9 States Most Economically Dependent on Uncle Sam

When most of us think of travel, we think family vacation, a honeymoon, or a business trip.

However, a survey from AARP Travel shows vacation can also be a solo affair. In fact, AARP found that the vast majority of people who have vacationed alone say they would do it again.

The survey asked people ages 45 and older whether they had traveled solo, and whether they’d do it again. More than one-third (37%) of those who travel on a routine basis reported having traveled solo. Of those, 97% said they were satisfied with the experience and would do it again.

“Most solo travel takes place domestically, and we found it gives people 45+ the opportunity to get out of town and enjoy new experiences without the restrictions that come when traveling with others,” said Stephanie Miles, vice president of member value at AARP, in a press release.

However, traveling solo doesn’t have to be a solitary event. Twenty-two percent of respondents who said they had traveled solo said they did so to meet new people.

The most common reason to travel solo was simply to get out of town (46%).

The survey also found that 62% of solo travelers say the trip allowed them to treat themselves. Eleven percent said it let them achieve a personal goal or cross an activity off their bucket lists (7%).

The most common domestic destinations for solo travelers were California, Florida, and Las Vegas. The 18% of solo travelers who went overseas went most often to the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

Solo travelers also reported a number of hurdles, such as budgeting for the trip (8%) and sticking to the budget (12%). However most travelers, 56% said “nothing seems to be a hardship” when traveling alone.

When most of us think of travel, we think family vacation, a honeymoon, or a business trip. But more and more Americans are traveling along -- for leisure.

More Americans Traveling Alone, Study Finds

It turns out there’s a surprisingly easy way to get rid of credit card late fees: Complain.

 took a look at more than 13,000 credit card complaints submitted to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It found that more than half (56%) of people who launched a complaint about a late fee ended up getting a refund.

“If you believe you were wrongfully issued a fee you have nothing to lose by contacting CFPB,” said Robert Harrow, a credit card analyst for the site. “Thousands of Americans are already doing this, and it’s likely that significantly more are missing out by not being aware of this option.”

The success of a given complaint can depend on a number of factors, including the type of complaint, the reason customers felt mistreated, and the bank they are doing business with.

To wit, Citibank gave 34% of late fee complainants a refund. Bank of America, on the other hand, rejected 82% of such complaints without explanation.

When asked if they were satisfied with how their credit card company resolved the complaint, Capital One and Discover had the most satisfied customers. However, American Express had the highest overall customer satisfaction, with Chase coming in a distant second.

Filing a complaint is relatively easy. Consumers 

 and choose the type of complaint they are making (credit card problem, credit reporting error, etc.). Next, they’ll be asked to describe what happened and what kind of resolution they are seeking. They’ll also have to provide contact and product information. Credit card companies are supposed to respond to customers and the CFPB within 15 days, though certain cases will take longer.

It’s also worth noting that late fee complaints were the only category for which more than half of complainants received monetary relief. Billing disputes, over-limit fees, and cash advance concerns all had refunds in only 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 cases.

The full 2015 Credit Card Complaint study is available at 

A study of more than 13,000 credit card complaints submitted to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found credit cards are often willing to waive late fees.

There's a Surprisingly Simple Way to Erase Credit Card Late Fees

A new report is raising questions about how the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General uses clinical data to flag potential abuse.

The study, produced by the consulting firm Sellers Dorsey and paid for by the Benevis Foundation, suggests that the methodology used by the OIG to identify potential fraud doesn’t properly account for some of the idiosyncrasies of caring for Medicaid patients. The Benevis Foundation is the research and education arm of 

For instance, the OIG looks at the average number of services provided by each dentist on a given day. It notes that in Indiana, any dentist performing more than 51 procedures per day is flagged as an “outlier.” However, the report notes that there is a relatively small number of dentists who accept Medicaid for pediatric patients. Thus, a provider might need to see more patients per day in order to accommodate demand. By looking only at the number of procedures performed per day, the OIG might conclude that a dentist who sees 13 patients per day and performs 52 procedures is more of an outlier than a dentist who sees seven patients per day and performs 49 total procedures, even though the former dentist would have a lower procedure per patient rate.

The paper warns that the OIG could unintentionally create a “chilling effect” that could persuade other dentists to stop accepting Medicaid patients. That’s a problem, because, according to Scion Dental, only about 15% of all US dentists accept Medicaid.

“We look forward to working with government officials and other stakeholders in a collaborative and transparent way to ensure this patient population’s needs continue to be met while also ensuring the integrity of the Medicaid dental program,” said Geoffrey Freeman, a spokesman for the foundation. “Every child deserves a dental home. It is important that we work together to ensure that dentists continue to accept and take care of this underserved population.”

A new report is raising questions about how the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General uses clinical data to flag potential abuse.

Report Criticizes HHS' Fraud Detection Methodology

Kids who get an allowance are twice as likely as kids who don’t to say they understand how to manage personal finances, according to a survey from T. Rowe Price.

The survey looked at how parent-child conversations and teaching techniques can impact a child’s financial knowledge and outlook. Not surprisingly, having “the talk” — the 

 talk, that is — makes a major difference.

“It’s intuitive that talking to kids about money gives them financial knowledge,” said Judith Ward, CFP, a financial planner at T. Rowe Price. “But we were surprised to see the extent to which letting kids experience money may have an impact.”

Among children whose parents frequently discuss money with them, 46% self-reported being knowledgeable about managing money. Only 14% of children whose parents rarely discuss money said the same.

Talking about money proved beneficial even if it was just the parents — not the kids – having the discussion. When parents regularly discuss financial topics, 45% of children say they’re money-smart, versus 24% among children whose parents don’t regularly discuss finances.

However, Ward said the impact is even better when parents don’t just talk about money, but give their child her own money to manage.

“If parents talk about money but don’t let their kids experience it, it’s like telling them how to play the piano without letting them touch one and expecting that they’ll be able to play a sonata,” she said. “Conversations can guide experience, and experience can put those conversations into practice — the two work together.”

Among children receiving an allowance, 32% considered themselves knowledgeable about managing money, versus 16% among children not receiving an allowance. Those children are also more likely to say they feel smart about money, and to be knowledgeable about college savings. The survey found similar results among children whose parents allow them to make financial mistakes.

Ward said it’s good to let children get their financial feet wet, within limits.

“While giving kids an allowance is one way to let them experience money, parents can also consider opening up a savings account for them or letting them use a debit or credit card, with some guardrails, of course,” she said.

The survey included 881 children ages 8-14. A copy is 

Kids who get an allowance are twice as likely as kids who don't to say they understand how to manage personal finances, according to a survey from T. Rowe Price.


Kids Who Get Allowances Are Better Money Managers, Study Says

When it comes to parking, American’s don’t like giving up control.

That’s the gist of a new survey from AAA, which found only 1 in 4 Americans would trust their cars to parallel park themselves.

Many new car models feature “self-parking” technology that allows vehicles to park themselves without the aid — or interference – of their human drivers. AAA found the self-parking technology out-performed unassisted human drivers, yet the auto club’s survey found 80% of drivers were perfectly satisfied with their own, human, parallel parking abilities.

“While the vast majority of Americans say they would not trust self-parking technology, AAA found these features performed well in tests and warrant consideration of new car buyers,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of engineering and repair.

AAA and the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center looked at five vehicles with self-parking technology: the 2015 Lincoln MKC, the 2015 Mercedes-Benz ML 400, the 2015 Cadillac CTS-V Sport, the 2015 BMW i3, and the 2015 Jeep Cherokee Limited.

They found cars using self-parking technology had 81% fewer curb strikes and used 47% fewer maneuvers. Self-parking cars were also about 10% faster at parallel parking, compared to their human counterparts.

However, AAA did offer humans one compliment. The tests found self-parking systems tend to park cars about 37% closer than human drivers. That’s not always a good thing.

“AAA recommends that drivers leave six to eight inches between the vehicle and the curb when parallel parking,” Nielsen said. “With some systems leaving as little as a half-inch buffer, AAA urges automakers to increase this distance to prevent vehicle damage.”

When it comes to parking, American's don't like giving up control.

Human Drivers Wary of, Outperformed by, Self-Parking Cars

Dentists who work in smaller practices report higher levels of job satisfaction, according to a first-of-its-kind survey from the American Dental Association.

Journal of the American Dental Association. 

Large majorities of the 2,171 dentists surveyed said they were satisfied with the delivery of care at their practice, and most said that if they had to do it over again, they would choose dentistry, even knowing what they know now.

However, only one-third (35.1%) of dentists in large practices said their current practice situation is what they had envisioned when they went into the profession. For solo practitioners and small-practice dentists, the numbers were nearly twice as high (66.7% and 68.0%, respectively). Large group dentists also reported lower satisfaction with work-life balance and clinical autonomy.

“Our study is the first step to understanding what type of practice setting dentists find the most satisfying based on a number of factors,” said Marko Vujicic, PhD, chief economist and vice president of the ADA Health Policy Center, in a press release.

The study’s lead author was Anthony Lo Sasso, PhD, of the University of Illinois.

When it comes to salary, 73.9% of small-group dentists said they’re happy with their salaries, considerably higher than the 57.8% of solo practitioners and 50.5% of large-group dentists who said the same. Dentists in small groups also reported higher satisfaction with their vacation time and benefits.

The study found large-practice dentists tended to spend more time seeing patients than those in solo practice (about one hour per week). Meanwhile, dentists in large practices spent two fewer hours on administrative tasks each week, compared to dentists in solo practices. Dentists in small practices were in the middle, spending one fewer hour than those in solo practices, but one more hour when compared to large-practice dentists.

Still, the study’s authors were quick to cite the limits of their research.

“Although our findings describe dentists’ satisfaction with various aspects of different practice settings, the findings are correlational: we cannot conclude that a dentist’s practice setting actually causes satisfaction or dissatisfaction,” the authors wrote.

Furthermore, they noted that the survey showed each practice type had its own strengths and weaknesses, meaning an individual dentists’ satisfaction might depend on their own personality. For instance, large-practice dentists reported the highest level of satisfaction when it came to flexibility in scheduling hours.

Still, the authors noted the link between dentist satisfaction and patient care and satisfaction and argue this research might provide a roadmap to practice leaders to improve both.

“Given that practice consolidation is predicted to continue in dentistry as more dentists practice in larger groups, future researchers must continue to examine the implications of practice setting for both dentists and patients,” the authors concluded.

An ADA survey of more than 2,000 dentists found small-practice dentists are the most satisfied. Dentists in large practices reported the highest levels of frustration. 

Survey: Dentists in Small Practices Are Most Satisfied

In an age of video streaming, photo sharing, and near-constant connectivity, many of us take for granted that we’ll be able to access a WiFi network wherever we may go (expect, perhaps, on airplanes).

And then we check into our hotel, walk up to our room, and find… that’s right: The promised WiFi is barely functional. Or extremely pricey. While it might be a nice gimmick to get tourists out of their rooms to explore the city, a lack of free or fast WiFi is one of the greatest frustrations for many frequent travelers.

 comes in. The firm lets users test the WiFi at their hotels, then uses the crowdsourced data to help travelers pick a hotel with strong, and free, WiFi service.

That data also provides an interesting look at how WiFi is catching on in different regions. For instance, while the US is on the cutting edge of many technologies, the survey found European hotels are 33% more likely to have adequate WiFi than American hotels. (For this survey, “adequate” is defined as download speeds of at least 3 Mbps and upload speeds of 500 Kbps. Those standards are based on the requirements of Netflix and Skype.)

On the other hand, European WiFi quality is more likely to come with a price. US hotels are 14% more likely than European hotels to offer free WiFi.

Overall, Hotel WiFi Test found 35% of US hotels had adequate WiFi, while 85% offered free WiFi. In Europe, 46% of hotels had adequate service, and 75% offered it for free. In Asia, only half of hotels surveyed offered adequate service, though 61% offer free WiFi.

Ranked by Country, South Korean came out on top, with the US lagging far behind at 40

What follows are the nine US cities with the best hotel WiFi, as ranked by Hotel WiFi Test. Included with each city is the percentage of hotels in the city with quality WiFi, the percentage with free WiFi, and the city’s global rank. 

Note: cities were only included on the list if the company had enough data for a meaningful assessment.

World Ranking: N/A (city is not large enough for inclusion in global list)

A travel website looked at the the availability, speed, and cost of wireless internet at hotels across the globe. Here's what they found.

The 9 Cities with the Best Hotel WiFi

Expanded Medicaid dental coverage does not meaningfully impact the rate of emergency room admissions for non-traumatic dental conditions, according to a new study.

 looked at emergency department data from 29 states in 2010. It found urban areas accounted for more than 90% of all non-traumatic dental emergency visits.

In rural areas, those visits seemed to decline when dental provider supply was high. However, no such correlation was found in urban areas. Moreover, even in states with expanded Medicaid coverage for dental care, the rate of emergency visits remained unchanged. Thus, the study’s authors suggest that even when states expand Medicaid coverage, patients often have difficulty finding providers who accept Medicaid and getting appointments.

Maria Raven, MD, FACEP, associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and the study’s senior author, noted that more than 2% of all emergency room visits are now related to non-traumatic dental conditions.

“The large number of visits to ERs for dental conditions that could be treated in outpatient settings is proof that our healthcare system treats dental care differently than other preventative care,” said Raven, in a press release. “…Dental insurance should not be a luxury available only to the rich; it should be considered a necessity for everyone. Unfortunately, dental insurance for the poor is an exception rather than the rule.”

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, about 8.3 million individuals are now eligible for dental coverage under the Affordable Care Act. However, in some states, fewer than 1 in 5 dentists accept patients with Medicaid. On top of that, ACEP noted that some 45 million Americans live in regions with a dentist shortage.

“It is likely that ERs will continue to provide care to individuals without adequate access to office-based dental care unless new dental service delivery models are developed to expand access in underserved areas, and unless more dental providers begin to accept Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act,” Raven said.

A new study finds that Medicaid dental coverage alone isn't enough to stop preventable dental emergencies. 