Week in Review: Vitamins and gum disease; oral health and pregnancy; and pediatric anxiety

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Your team and you are busy. Sometimes, when you are taking a patient's health history, you might not ask about what supplements and vitamins they are taking. However, periodontist Dr. Alvin Danenberg is glad he does and offers the example of a patient who came to his office concerned about gum disease. The answer to the supplements and vitamins question led to an interesting discussion that may help you with your patients. Read his column here.

Does your practice include patients who are or might become pregnant? It never hurts to remind them that healthy teeth and gums start before a baby is born, according to a session on oral health and pregnancy at the 2016 ADA annual meeting. The session focused on several ways dental practices can help both moms-to-be and newborns get and stay healthy. Read Assistant Editor Theresa Pablos' coverage here.

The nominating process continues for the 2016 DrBicuspid.com Dental Excellence Awards, giving you the chance to tell us who should be nominated for dentistry's most prestigious awards. Cast your nominations here.

You might not have studied cognitive behavioral therapy in dental school, but the findings of a new study suggest the technique might help reduce your pediatric patients' anxiety about visiting your office, leading to more productive visits. You can learn more here.

Surprises in endodontic treatments, such as additional canals on an incisor, can disrupt the best-laid treatment plans. As more than 40% of root canal treatments need retreatment because of missed roots or canals, researchers from France wanted to determine if cone-beam CT could determine the number of additional canals and also if one tooth's root canal anatomy was predictive of another's in the same patient. Read more here.