Dear DrBicuspid Member,
Arizona lawmakers are taking parent complaints about dental care provided to their children by mobile dental groups seriously.
In 2010, the state's Dental Practice Act was amended to require that parents give written or verbal authorization for specific treatments for their children. But the authorization forms are too broad and give mobile dental groups too much latitude, according to members of the state dental community.
Now legislators are debating a bill designed to create more oversight of mobile dental services that provide prophys, irreversible procedures, and other dental treatment at schools. Read more.
Meanwhile, with the alarming rise in the rate of oral cancer, a new, noninvasive cytology test for the disease offers an option that's less expensive than biopsies and less frightening for patients. The ClearPrep OC test, which is aimed at "watch and wait" lesions and uses a cyto-brush sampling method to measure changes in the nuclear DNA content of oral epithelial cells, is being offered free of charge to dentists.
Finally, shared dental visits for infants and toddlers can help improve no-shows and provide parents and other caregivers with a more effective oral health education experience, according to research presented last week at the International Association for Dental Research meeting.
