The Importance of Ergonomics

You’ve been crouched over your patients for hours. Your hands are starting to cramp and your neck is getting a bit stiff. You don’t really have the time to stop and go get a massage so you push through the discomfort and finish delivering the necessary care. Unfortunately this is a common response to pain. It’s a negative habit that can have real physical consequences in the future.

Dental students: The time to protect your future is now

Whenever I talk to ADA student members, I always stress the importance of enrolling in the no-cost ADA student members disability insurance as soon as possible. I’ve been working as an Insurance Plan Specialist for Great-West Financial long enough to know that having disability coverage while you’re in dental school is one of the most important ways you can help protect your future.
There are countless ways you could become disabled. Fall off your bike and break your leg. Slip on the ice and injure your back. A skiing accident could end your career as a dentist. You could also be diagnosed with an illness, such as cancer, that could force you to interrupt your education.

A year in reflection

As I sit here, I can’t help but notice the decreased emails, the increased silence of my phone, and my shorter “to-do” list. Life post-presidency has not been as exciting as it once was, but it has given me some time to reflect on my experiences. What a year it has been. A year filled with accomplishments, expansions, victories, innovations and, above all, personal growth. I can never be thankful enough for those who put their faith in me as president to help continue to lead the American Student Dental Association forward. This is an experience I guarantee you I will never forget. I am going to miss the countless emails, travel and conference calls, but it is nice to be able to focus back on school and make sure I actually graduate on time.

It’s your license at risk, not theirs

Large dental groups can sometimes impose quotas on dentists who work there. Sometimes those quotas include procedures that may be beyond the training and experience of the dentist. In one particular claim, a patient was scheduled for one surface composite restoration. The treatment plan included the extraction of #17, but the patient was supposed to be referred to an OMS for that extraction. The dentist was “pressured” by the employer to extract tooth #17 on the day the patient presented for the surface composite restoration. Concerned that refusing to perform the extraction might have led to consequences in the practice, the dentist extracted the tooth. It was a difficult procedure, and a paresthesia resulted. The dentist was sued, and the lawsuit alleged the dentist performed a procedure beyond his training as well as a lack of communication – the patient thought she was only going to have a restoration.