Continuing Education Means Better Care

At Great Lakes Dental, we know that one of the best ways to ensure our patients get the best of care is to make sure our staff is well-educated on current trends, new clinical information and other practice issues. Here's some news on recent continuing education for our dental hygienists and dentists.

Ohio Dental Association MeetinG

Our hygienists attended the Ohio Dental Association's annual meeting in September. In addition to a special lunch and learn session just for hygienists, where representatives of leading preventive products shared information about their newest materials, a number of educational sessions were attended by our team. These topics included having fun in the dental office, which our patients know this happens on a day to day basis, the immune system and how it responds to pathogens in the oral cavity, and a review on oral pathology and common lesions in the mouth.

Advancements in Oral Pathology

Two particularly important sessions were on cellular communication — how cells in the mouth "talk" to each other and to the bacteria that cause tooth decay — and oral lesions like ulcers that can affect adult dental patients. Cellular communication processes can affect the development of biofilm, the sticky film on the teeth that promotes tooth decay. If the "communication" could be interrupted, there might be ways to prevent biofilm from developing. Oral lesions are often painful, increase the risk of infections and may be early warning signs of cancer. It's important for dental hygienists to recognize these lesions, so the session focused on that topic.

Practice Management

Clinical care is vitally important, but there's more to running a practice than clinical excellence. Dr. Beech and Dr. Perry recently attended a seminar in Canada, in September, on dental management. An efficiently run office helps ensure patients have a good experience with minimal wait time, minimizes scheduling problems, ensures proper documentation and keeps everyone fully informed. The doctors learned about these and other management techniques to help them create the best space for our patients.

The team at Great Lakes Dental, your advanced smile professionals, offers state-of-the-art advanced technology and compassionate care from a team of professionals dedicated to excellence who make sure they know what they're doing. We offer a wide variety of general preventive and cosmetic dentistry services, including whitening, implants, orthodontics and sleep apnea treatment. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.