Week in Review: Hygiene profitability | MRI and amalgam fillings | Fluoride use

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

If your practice's goal is for your hygiene department to produce about a third of your total product, then simply focusing on prophies and x-rays every six months is not going to get you to your goal, writes practice management consultant Jen Butler. She offers 10 areas where you can boost your hygiene production and the answers to three common objections you are likely to hear. Read more here.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 7-tesla magnet strength may release toxic mercury from amalgam fillings, according to a June 26 study in the journal Radiology. However, the effect was not found with the more commonly used lower-strength 1.5-tesla magnets, the researchers noted. Learn more here in a report you'll only find on DrBicuspid.com.

In this Second Opinion, Dr. Johnny Johnson Jr., president of the American Fluoridation, looks at the response to studies about fluoride's safety. Dr. Johnson addresses the need for those in the public health community to respond when fluoride's use is challenged. Read more here.

Any debate about fluoride and community water fluoridation should be settled by science and research. In a discussion that sometimes becomes too personal, let's stick to the best tools we have -- science and research.

Periodontist Dr. Alvin Danenberg writes in his latest column that he is fortunate to have patients who are willing to ask him detailed questions about both their oral and overall health. Recently, he had a patient ask about intermittent fasting as this patient wanted to lose a little weight. Dr. Danenberg recounts this example of how a dental practice can offer more than just care of the oral cavity. Learn more here.