Dental breaks-ins surge | Future tech, practice trends | Profits before pediatric patients?

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Hello from the California Dental Association (CDA) meeting in Anaheim! I was surprised at the long line of people waiting for their badges to get in when the show opened on Thursday, so it feels like good things have been happening this week here at CDA.

I ran into an old friend when the show opened on Thursday, and he mentioned to me how he liked that DrBicuspid balanced edgy news and clinical information. That's the goal for me and my amazing editorial team every day, and I'm glad that it's being noticed in the industry.

This week, we kept that balance going with some hard-hitting articles on dentistry on the wrong side of the law. That includes a dental practice that was the victim of a strange burglary. This incident has us working on a follow-up article that we hope will keep dental practices safer from break-ins. Watching for that article shortly.

We also know that hate crimes and angry rhetoric can even creep into the dental space, as evidenced this week by a former dental student pleading guilty to a shooting and a Florida dentist who is under fire for his recent comments.

On the flip side, I am always amazed by what could be coming to dental practices in the near future that will help patients, including a rinse that could detect gastric cancer earlier. And what trends are coming for dental service organizations with technology and benchmarking? Beth Gaddis did some in-depth interviews to find out for our readers.

Finally, I want to point out this article that is asking a tough question in dentistry: Are we doing the right thing for our pediatric patients when it comes to sleep apnea? I never mind running articles that will make our readers think, and this is definitely one of those thought-provoking pieces.

As always, thanks for reading DrBicuspid.com. Make sure you are connected with us on social media and keep those comments coming. We always love to know what we're doing right and what we can do better.

Kevin Henry
Editor in Chief