Dear Hygiene Insider,
A new report details the shortcomings of many U.S. states in providing oral healthcare options for older Americans, an ominous sign for baby boomers. Click here to read which states received "poor" ratings.
In the latest installment of our Dental Heroes series, read about Senior Mobile Dental, a nonprofit organization run by Michelle Noblet-Vacha, RDH, that delivers dental services to underserved elderly patients.
In other news in the Hygiene Community, an Arkansas orthodontist was summoned before state examiners to defend his offering of prophylaxes. Read what prompted the inquiry.
Meanwhile, a groundbreaking study of New Zealand dental therapists is highlighting the crucial role they play in child protection, plus the barriers they face when seeking to report suspected cases of child abuse. Click here for more.
And Oklahoma health officials have officially connected one case of hepatitis C to Tulsa oral surgeon W. Scott Harrington, DMD. Read about the infection scandal that exposed thousands of patients to blood-borne viruses. In related stories, Dr. Harrington's former patients have filed lawsuits against his practice, his dental assistants, and several pharmaceutical companies. Click here and here for details.
Every morning, Monday through Friday, Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH, gets to do something she loves: talk on the radio. Click here to read about her online show that provides health information specific to dentistry.
Finally, new solar energy technology that turns water into steam without boiling the entire container of water has become the basis for new sterilization devices that could be used on medical and dental instruments without electricity. Read about the devices, which were introduced at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society.
