Week in Review: Delta Dental, CDA settle | Getting kids to brush | Practice hijacking

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Delta Dental of California will pay a total of $65 million to more than 14,000 California dentists to settle a 2013 reimbursement lawsuit filed by the California Dental Association (CDA). The average amount each practice will receive is more than $4,400. Learn more here.

Also this week on DrBicuspid.com, you likely have parents, educators, and other healthcare practitioners ask how to get children to brush their teeth twice a day? A new study on a 21-day oral health education program with in-school instruction might offer an answer. Read more here.

Do you ever discuss treatment with a patient, then later find that the treatment plan was changed after reviewing the chart? This is an example of a "practice hijack." In her new Practice Rescue column, Corinne Jameson-Kuehl, RDH, of Custom Dental Solutions offers practical tips to make sure everyone on your team is pulling in the same direction. Learn more here.

Our coverage of 3D printing and its applications in dentistry continues with a report on a new study that suggests that creating 3D-printed models of fractured mandibles may reduce time spent in the operating room. The findings suggest that inexpensive 3D printing technologies could save hospitals hundreds of dollars per operation. Read more here.

Technology changes the practice of dentistry every day. To highlight these ongoing developments, we've brought you in-depth coverage of emerging new technologies such as 3D printing (the above article along with here and here) and virtual reality (here and here) over the last weeks. But we want to hear from you? How do these and other technologies impact your practice? Let us know.