February 20, 2018 Feature

Putting the Risk in Context

by Alia El-Mowafy, BDS, MSc

Sedation and anesthesia for dentistry has come under scrutiny in the past few years due to a few tragic events where patients experienced harm. These events have raised several questions: are these just isolated incidents due to negligence in clinicians’…

February 14, 2018 Feature AnesthesiologyOHGdataOral Health

Data Driven Dentistry

by Jillian Cecchini, Managing Editor

What better way to learn how to be successful than through the experiences of your peers and colleagues. Throughout our lives, we draw from our own experiences to make decisions and conclusions. Making informed decisions is a quality that will…

February 14, 2018 Feature

The Systematic Treatment of a Canted Smile

by Pio Modi, BSc, DDS; Trevor Laingchild, RDT, AAACD

Introduction For dentists who have a keen interest in Cosmetic Dentistry, it is exciting when a patient expresses an interest to change their smile. It allows us to perform and deliver dentistry that can be immensely rewarding and life changing…

February 14, 2018 Feature

Good News: Dentists Not at Risk of Acquiring HIV/AIDS from Infected Patients and the Illusion of Infection Control

by John Hardie, BDS, MSc, PhD, FRCDC

Preamble Since the appearance of HIV/AIDS in the mid-1980s, clinical dentists, academics and the profession’s regulatory agencies have been concerned about the possibility of an HIV/AIDS positive patient transmitting the infection to the attending dentist. A recent report in the…

February 14, 2018 Feature

The Impact of Identifying Comorbid Conditions and Screening of Obstructive Sleep Apnea for Treatment of Temporomandibular Disorders

by Sherif M. Elsaraj, DMD, MS; Mervyn Gornitsky, DDS, FRCD; Ana Miriam Velly, DDS, MS, PhD

Clinical Problem A 63-year-old female visited the dental clinic at the Jewish General Hospital with chief complaints of jaw pain, bilateral clicking, limited mouth opening, had migraine of 8 years duration, feeling fatigued and unrefreshed in the morning. The patient…

February 14, 2018 Feature

CBCT Application in Dentoalveolar Trauma

by Yosef Nahmias, DDS, MSc; Ali Fatemi, DDS, MSc, FRCD(C)

Traumatic injuries to teeth and their supporting structures comprise approximately five percent of all traumatic injuries.1 Clinical and radiographic examinations are integral parts of diagnosis and treatment planning. Occlusal and periapical images have been suggested to determine the extent of…

February 14, 2018 Feature

Barriers of Access to Deep Sedation and General Anesthesia as Identified by Ontario Dental Patients

by Soheil Khojasteh, BHSc, DDS, MSc (Dental Anesthesia)

There are various indications for deep sedation and general anesthesia (DS/GA) in dentistry, including anxiety associated with dental treatment, pre-cooperative age, traumatic or extensive dental procedures, and cognitive impairment or motor dysfunctions.1–3 Although many of the patients who fall into…

February 14, 2018 Feature

Codeine: Are We Prescribing the Right Opioid to Our Patients?

by Derek Decloux, Dental Anesthesia Resident at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry

Given the epidemic of narcotic abuse in Canada, it is important we discuss choices when prescribing opiods. We should be both more pensive prior to picking up our prescription pad and more careful when prescribing opiod analgesia to our patients.…

February 14, 2018 Feature

What Do You Do?

by Brian Chapnick, DDS

So, what do you do?” is a question often asked at social gatherings. Everyone has a story. Few of us have actually thought one out. How might we answer? Does the simple response “I’m a dentist” tell us anything about…

February 14, 2018 Feature AnesthesiologyEditorialOral Health

Bias vs. Integrity

by Peter Nkansah, DDS, Dip. Anaes

Honesty is such a lonely word – Billy Joel Bias and integrity are strange bedfellows. They are two qualities that we speak of in absolute terms although there is no absolute measure for them. Both qualities force us to look…