The power of media to subvert

The fun part of being a grandfather is when the kids take a nap, you can justify taking one too.  The fun part of a nap at my age is that you can catch up on non-dental reading, albeit, the reading for whatever reason has a tangential relationship to dentistry, sob. You can take the olde guy outta the operatory, but you can’t take the operatory outta the guy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/business/the-high-cost-of-failing-artificial-hips.html?_r=1&hp By

Mr. Meier is on a crusade re; metal on metal implants…….the sad part is that he has re-written the same article about 10 fold, now, just changed the title, some of the content, however, he continues the same vituperation about metal on metal hip implants. Now metal on metal hip implants are one of the four choices available to most people and while normal hip implants have a 2% failure rate, metal on metal has about 10%, so do the math and since implants in hospitals are on consignment, appreciate the reality. Also once you read the article, see if the title and the content are in alignment; they are not. The individual referenced in the article has an infection, which in truth is not a function of metal to metal hip implants. What does this have to do with dentistry – EVERYTHING!!!

How many articles do you read on a product or technique that are written by the inventor or a closely/fiduciarily aligned advocate.  How many articles do you read in major publications that are refereed / not refereed?  How many have you read from an author that recycles previous articles over and over with a minor title fix and content re/misdirection.

Let me direct you to a labour of love – http://endoexperience.com/library.html – endude in Winterpeg does this out of pure passion – insane fool that he is, no one gets passion these days……read the last link – HOW TO CRITICALLY APPRAISE AN ARTICLE. It’s a .pdf – do read it and then when the new year arrives, begin your online or print media educational voyage anew with a renewed appreciation and understanding of what you read, how it was written, who wrote it and why and whether or not you should take it with a grain of salt, or salsa if you were in Mexico for the holidays.

Wikipedia: love definition: strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties.

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A young patient receives a high five from Dr. Dustin Root of Community Oral Health Initiatives in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The organization is one of 55 members in the Dental Resource Program of America’s ToothFairy to receive dental burs from a donation from SS White worth more than $1 million. Since 2006, America’s ToothFairy has distributed more than $24.8 million worth of resources to help nonprofit clinics provide care to more children in need.

Product Donations Help Safety-Net Dental Clinics Serve More Families

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America’s ToothFairy: National Children’s Oral Health Foundation

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