Tag Archives: Featured

What you should learn in dental school, but don’t

Something feels oddly familiar. Sitting in my neighborhood coffee shop with my laptop open, staring at a course syllabus as it ominously lays out what my life will look like for the next several months. Coffee, flash cards, and wild Friday nights are in my future. And if I’m lucky, I’ll get the pleasure of writing a research… Read More »

Separating tragedy and dentistry: What I miss most about dental school

Let me start by saying, I hated dental school when I was in it. My father had been having some undetermined health problems, so when I moved to Boston to attend Tufts University School of Dentistry, in the back of my mind there was some ever-present apprehension about what was going on with him. My father was diagnosed… Read More »

Business side of dentistry: The two most overlooked pieces of technology in your office

Editor’s note: This is the eighth article in a series exploring the business aspects of the dental profession, from starting a practice and marketing to hiring staff and finances. A lot of us are thinking of buying a CEREC system in our brand-new office, hoping it make things efficient. We also consider getting the fanciest massage chairs for… Read More »

Looking for ways to increase access to care? Consider GKAS

The ADA’s Give Kids A Smile program has been my gateway into public health as well as an avenue to leadership within the ADA. Like many others, I first learned about GKAS during dental school, where the event was held annually. It was a fun-filled day of free pediatric dentistry, identifying and addressing treatment needs for children who… Read More »

Licensure Reform: The case for eliminating the clinical exam

Some may argue that progress has indeed been made in the administration of the licensure exam over the last 50 years given that regional testing authorities have increased from two in 1971 to the current number of five. Although undoubtedly there has been improvement in the uniformity, the ease of test-taking, and the administration of the examination, the… Read More »

Don’t be afraid of big data

During the first years after I graduated from my first dental school in Iraq in 2009, I had never used to deal with practice statistics, surveys, and digital quality measures. As I moved to other countries where I worked or studied in the dental field, I also did not find many data-driven private practices where I worked at.… Read More »