The patient interview is one of the most critical parts of treatment planning and developing a rapport with our patients. Listening to our patients is a skill we should master, especially when they are telling us about the oral hygiene products they’re using at home.
The Entertainment Software Association estimated in 2018 that over 166 million adults in the United States play video games. The popularity of gaming is so vast that eSports, competitive, organized video gaming, reached $906 million in revenue worldwide in 2018, according to a global market report by Newzoo.
“What magnification did you order?” This is the first question I asked my colleagues when the Loupes Fair came to LECOM School of Dental Medicine. Dental loupes became an obsession for me and my research partner, Melissa Matick, in January. The buzz within the first-year class was about which brand was best and which magnification each student had chosen. Melissa and I did want to know these answers, but we also wanted to dig deeper.
Have you ever searched or shopped for a product online and then opened Instagram or Facebook? You probably saw an advertisement from that company after you did. How was it able to target you so quickly, and what does this have to do with your future dental practice?
You read a restaurant review on Yelp. You survey the menu and ask a friend about their favorite dish. You may even ask the waiter for more information about the ingredients. Who would have thought that going out to dinner would require so much research? Informally, we use research to help us make decisions in our daily lives. Formally, research is used to gather information and discover associations between topics. With an interest in learning more about underserved populations, I used research techniques to explore barriers to oral health for Latinos in eastern North Carolina from the perspective of community health workers.
If you’ve ever experienced temporomandibular disorder (TMD), then you know that the pain can be debilitating. Those who suffer from TMD may struggle to talk, eat or generally use their jaws. Many people begin forgoing their favorite foods or even skipping meals altogether. Others avoid conversations because it hurts too much to talk.
As dental students we have done it hundreds of times already: local anesthesia. It’s may be the only procedure we have 100% confidence in completing. It’s like July 4th fireworks going off in dental brains because the patient’s “lip feels huge” and it is time to start the procedure. Yet, on a rare occasion, when we go through the normal routine with the appropriate dosage of anesthesia, they still have sensation. What gives?
