Week in Review: Tips for proper documentation | Staffing shortages hit practices | New Dental Dose episode

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

One of the most critical systems in patient care is the creation of proper documentation for the patient record or chart, wrote Dr. James V. Anderson. His column on charting for proper legal documentation was the top story of the week.

In the column, Anderson offered 10 tips for proper documentation, including documenting recommended treatment before rendering the treatment and recording both informed consent and informed refusal.

Dental practices feeling effects of staffing shortages

New data from the ADA Health Policy Institute showed that staffing is one of the major factors keeping dentistry from making a full recovery. While patient volume has reached 91% of prepandemic levels, approximately 30% of dentists need more staff to see the volume of patients they saw before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chances are, you may be struggling to fill at least one office position right now, and that is not forecasted to change any time soon, according to practice management expert Dr. Roger P. Levin. Levin forecasted that staffing will be the No. 1 challenge facing dentistry for the next five to 10 years.

In his weekly episode of Dental Practice Made Simple, Levin offered practices one simple way to address the staffing shortage: Keep the staff you already have. His advice includes implementing a longevity bonus at the one-, three-, and five-year mark in the range of thousands -- not hundreds -- of dollars.

Local exhaust ventilation can control aerosols

Local exhaust ventilation can control aerosols produced during dental procedures, a study published in the Journal of Dental Research found.

Researchers from the U.K. mimicked a 10-minute crown preparation and 10-minute full-mouth ultrasonic scaling. Optical particle counters showed the use of local exhaust ventilation substantially reduced aerosols compared with suction alone for the air-turbine and was similar to the effect of suction for the ultrasonic scaler.

Dental Dose looks at St. John's wort

Last but not least, there's a new episode of Dental Dose out this week. Pharmacologist Tom Viola, RPh, shared what dental professionals need to know about St. John's wort, a dietary supplement that's proved to be medically effective but also to cause drug interactions and weird side effects.

Page 1 of 3
Next Page