Sarah Handzel, BSN, RN

The JAMA Pediatrics study suggests that children younger than 2 who receive preventative dental care have more frequent tooth decay treatments. These children, the research shows, see the dentist more often. Their parents are also spending more money on their dental care. The study, however, did not account for factors such as genetic predisposition to caries or brushing and flossing habits. As a result, the American Dental Association says no definitive conclusions can be drawn from the study.

A new study shows that seniors who receive individualized oral health counseling tend to have better oral health outcomes. Researchers saw better outcomes with teeth and dentures. The study involved 151 home care patients. Another 118 were part of a control group.

Much of the talk surrounding virtual reality has been confined to the gaming and entertainment industries. However, VR has applications in the medical world, too. A Minnesota-based dentist is one of the early adopters of virtual reality, purchasing headsets for his patients. He hopes the tech will help ease patients' pain and anxiety.

The California Dental association says that the settlement with Delta Dental has saved dentists in the state almost a half-billion dollars in reimbursement fees. The settlement covers all California dentists who participated in Delta Dental's Premier Plan between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2016.

Yomi, the latest robotic guidance system created by Neocis, will help dentists during dental implant surgeries, providing navigation guidance of surgical instruments during procedures. The system uses haptic robotic technology to constrain depth, orientation, and position of dental drills.

The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a group's petition to ban fluoride from drinking water. The group had claimed that water fluoridation has a negative impact on citizens' IQ. The EPA said that science does not support the outcome, noting that fluoridation has significantly reduced oral disease and tooth decay in communities with fluoridated water.

Lee Ann Brady, D.M.D, has rolled out a new online network for dental continuing education. Restorative Nation provides dentists with access to new knowledge and skills while also maintaining a networking community. This setup allows for dentists to exchange experiences and ask questions in a safe environment.

Afora, a dental membership plan, is expanding into Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut. The membership plan allocates basic dental services to patients for a monthly fee. A more expensive version allows for two additional cleanings. Afora focuses on preventative care, but also gives members access to more in-depth care options for flat fees.

Amid a flurry of coverage, the American Dental Association has weighed in on the dental therapy debate. As states have looked to authorize dental therapists as a means of providing care to underserved portions of rural populations, the ADA has said that dental therapists have not addressed the issue, even in states where they have already been introduced. Instead, the ADA recommends expanding access to existing dentists and providing additional Medicaid benefits.

Historically, it's been difficult for dental practice team members to find last-minute coverage. This can be particularly problematic for hygienists. And as you know, a day down a hygienist in your practice is a day of lost revenue. A new app is being developed that may help you find last-minute hygiene coverage when you need it.

Your practice just received a patient review on the internet that you know is inaccurate or unfair. What do you do? How you respond can have major legal and professional consequences, if you take the wrong approach. Here are some tips on proper courses of action.

Research by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that eight in 10 Americans want to maintain the federal funding for Medicaid expansion programs. Currently, 11 million people are covered by this Medicaid funding. Support for this program crossed political party lines, the research shows.

The Identity Theft Resource Center has published a report that says reported data breaches are up 40 percent since 2015. For context, there were 16 reported in 2005. Researchers identified hacking as the main source of data theft in the healthcare industry. But not far behind were employee theft and negligence.

A research brief published by the American Dental Association's Health Policy institute shows which dental specialists earn the most. The report looked at the average annual income for oral surgeons, endodontists, orthodontists, periodontists and pediatric dentists. The study also looked at how busy the specialists consider themselves to be.

When was the last time you looked at all the fees associated with your 401(k)? How much are they costing you? And, what, exactly, are you paying for? This primer will help you understand where those 401(k) fees are going.

Good news: Personal income is growing nationwide. A recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts indicates that income has grown by 1.7 percent across the board since the fourth quarter of 2007. The not-so-good news: The average income growth rate over the last 30 years was about 2.8 percent. These are the 10 states where income levels have grown the most since the fourth quarter of 2007.

Despite soda taxes in some states, Americans are still consuming too many sugar-sweetened beverages. This is according to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly half of all American adults consume at least one sugar-sweetened beverage daily, the CDC says. Almost two-thirds of children consumed a sugar-sweetened beverage over the same study period. Boys consumed more than girls.

A recent study by Fortinet determined that in 2016, healthcare organizations faced on average more than 700,000 hacking attempts a minute. What's even more troubling is that hackers are increasingly targeting networked devices, such as the digital X-ray machine in your practice. Hacks such as these can easily yield sensitive patient data, leading to identity theft.

Noisy handpicks and ultrasonic scalers have been shown to approach decibel levels that can cause hearing loss. Are you at risk in your dental practice? A new app developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will help you get a sense for just how loud the equipment in your practice is. It uses the microphone built into your smartphone.

The DentaQuest foundation has awarded Oral Health America with a $668,000 grant to better address the oral health needs of older Americans. OHA will use the money to bolster its Wisdom Tooth Project, which helps educate older adults and their caregivers about oral health. The group will also use the grant to connect older Americans with dental services.

A new study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association highlights how access to dental insurance affects the likelihood of a child receiving dental care. Researchers looked at frequency of dental care visits to determine if a child's oral-health needs were being met. Children with unmet dental needs were defined as those who did not receive needed dental care within the past year due to financial reasons.

House Bill 1256 was recently rejected by the North Dakota House of Representatives. The bill would have allowed dental therapists to become licensed in the state and treat patients under the supervision of a practicing dentist.

Due to the increased competition within the dental industry, some marketing companies are offering whatever services they think they can get away with—as long as they get a piece of your budget in the process.

University of Alabama researchers are in the process of testing a new cavity treatment option that could mark the end of the drill-and-fill technique. This new method, called resin infiltration, is drill free. Currently, it can only be used on smooth tooth surfaces and for small cavities. Researchers say that may change, however. Augusto Robles, D.D.S., assistant professor and director of Operative Dentistry Curriculum says, In my 24 years of practicing, this changes everything we've done so far.

A new ranking from WalletHub determines which the overall level of oral health in each state, using 23 indicators. The number-crunching gurus looked at the share of adolescents who visited a dentist in the past year, the share of adults who visited a dentist in the past year, and the cost of dental treatments, among other factors. WalletHub collected data to make these determinations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Dental Association.

This WalletHub ranking used 23 indicators to gauge and rank the level of oral health in each state. Some of those indicators included the share of adolescents who visited a dentist in the past year, the share of adults who visited a dentist in the past year, and the cost of dental treatments, among others. WalletHub used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Dental Association.

The global surgical laser market is expected to grow by $2.37 billion by 2021. The growth is largely being fueled by technological advancements in the field. The use of lasers in dentistry continues to expand. Laser dentistry has been shown to produce less bleeding, pain and swelling at the operation site.

Forward, a new healthcare startup, is chaired by Adrian Aoun, a former Google employee who worked on the company's artificial intelligence team. He says this new practice model will change the role of doctors to free them from bureaucratic tasks and, in turn, to make healthcare feel comforting and smart to patients. At the moment, Forward is a bit cost-prohibitive, but Aoun expects that to change.

The American Dental Association has published The Essentials of Dental Assisting. The text was created as a condensed version of the original manual, Modern Dental Assisting. This abbreviated version may help with your practice's internal continuing education efforts. Dentists can use this new book to share knowledge with all practice team members.

February marks National Children's Dental Health Month, according to the American Dental Association. If you want to improve your communication skills with pediatric dental patients, you need to put yourself in the child's shoes, and understand that the way they see dentistry and the dental experience is not the way you see it. How you explain treatment and the manner in which you explain it speak volumes. What follows are some tips to improve your communication strategy.