A dentist and his blog
When Dr Marty Jablow, a dentist from Woodbridge, New Jersey, started a blog, its main purpose was to draw attention to his lecture group, Dental Technology Solutions. Since then, it has morphed into a general dental technology and information blog that provides dentists with interesting and informative articles. Dental Learning Hub asked Dr Jablow about how he sees the relationship between modern technology and dentistry.
Dental Learning Hub: What is your content strategy for the blog?
Marty Jablow: I post on topics that I feel would be of general interest to the dental community. Most dentists do not have the time to read all the journals or weed through lots of dental forums. Hopefully the blog may highlight topics of interest.
Dental Learning Hub: Do you think the internet can be a useful learning/info source for dentists?
Marty Jablow: Absolutely! The internet allows dentists to keep up to date much better than ever before. Information can be instantly disseminated so we are no longer waiting for the print media to catch up with changes. The best example is the past change in the AHA prophylactic antibiotic guidelines. Within minutes of the new guidelines being published I had the information and links available on my blog.
Dental Learning Hub: What do you enjoy most about doing your blog and why?
Marty Jablow: I enjoy finding interesting posts but it can be a job finding things. I have automated some of it but it still takes a person to decide on the content. I enjoy looking at the searches. Finding out what people are searching for and where they are located.
Dental Learning Hub: Are there any trends in communications technologies today that you are particularly excited about?
Marty Jablow: The use of instant messaging and email to communicate with patients and colleagues has changed the way I practice. It is far more efficient to let the computer handle the office re-care system then to devote staff time to it. Communicating with specialists is much easier and efficient online than playing ‘telephone tag’ throughout the day.
Dental Learning Hub: In the future, how do you think dentists will be able to make use of new technologies?
Marty Jablow: Dentists in the United States will be brought kicking and screaming into the total computer age by 2015 when they will be forced to use Electronic Health Records. Currently most dental offices need to embrace the use of computers in the operatories. This is the first step to deploying emerging technologies. It is a simple matter to do today but less than 30% of dental offices use computers in the treatment rooms. Many that do use computers use them strictly for digital radiography. It’s time to try and maximize the use of practice management software and outsource those tasks that computers and technology do more efficiently.
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The American Dental Association (ADA) has launched a website dedicated to evidenced-based dentistry (EBD) which allows easy and quick access to a database of systematic reviews of oral health clinical information from one centralized location. Supported by a grant from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (grant number G08 LM008956), the site also features critical summaries of systematic reviews that assess information within systematic reviews in a concise format so that health care workers can incorporate scientific evidence in clinical decision making.
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The emerging evidence-base on questions related to Minimum Intervention (MI) in dentistry is available online in the MI Compendium, in English, Spanish and Chinese. The MI Compendium has been developed as a comprehensive systematic literature review and includes the results of meta-analyses to topics such as the caries preventive effect of glass ionomer cement as fissure sealants in comparison to resin-based materials and caries incidence on teeth restored with glass ionomers as compared to teeth restored with amalgam.
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Having experienced the devastating effects of oral cancer firsthand, professional storyteller, Eva Grayzel has become an advocate for oral cancer awareness. Her campaign, coined "The Sextet Screening: Six Steps to a Thorough Oral Cancer Screening," focuses on early detection and screening and has received a prestigious award from the American Academy of Oral Medicine.
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MetLife announced the addition of four new on-line Quality Resource Guides to its self-study dental Quality Initiatives Programme. MetLife’s continuing education programme is approved for fulfilling licensing requirements, where applicable, by the American Dental Association (ADA) under its Continuing Education Recognition Programme and by the Academy of General Dentistry.
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Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, one of Britain’s leading medical schools uses Turning Technologies interactive assessment tool, TurningPoint, to improve learning outcomes of its medical students.
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Nearly three years ago, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry launched an interactive learning initiative, in partnership with Apple, Inc. The venture was one of the first of its kind with any professional school in the USA and meant that dental students had access to education-related content virtually anywhere and any time.
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When Dr Marty Jablow, a dentist from Woodbridge, New Jersey, started a blog, its main purpose was to draw attention to his lecture group, Dental Technology Solutions. Since then, it has morphed into a general dental technology and information blog that provides dentists with interesting and informative articles. Dental Learning Hub asked Dr Jablow about how he sees the relationship between modern technology and dentistry.
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The University of Birmingham's School of Dentistry has developed an undergraduate e-curriculum that embraces modern technology and meets the multimedia learning needs of its students.
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The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI) has partnered with Teresis Media Management Inc., for its in-house video production facilities. Known as Teresis Online, the digital video workflow solution will help LVI to streamline and more efficiently manage its video production processes.
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