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Looking back: ADA annual meeting welcomes more than 200,000 attendees since 2010

The last decade brought 236,658 attendees to the American Dental Association's annual meeting. The ADA will continue to build on that momentum with the ADA FDC Annual Meeting from Oct. 15-18 in Orlando, Florida.




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ADA provides suggestions to help protect dentists from employee theft




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Global Dental Relief recruiting volunteers

Global Dental Relief, a nonprofit organization that has delivered free dental care to children around the globe since 2001, is seeking clinical volunteers for upcoming humanitarian missions in Nepal and Guatemala.




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HIPAA fee limitation no longer applies to third-party access to health records

Following a ruling in federal court two days prior, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Jan. 25 that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule fee limitations do not apply to requests to transmit copies of records to third-parties.




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Dental Assistants Recognition Week set for March 1-7

The ADA Council on Dental Practice is encouraging dentists to acknowledge the dedication and contributions of their dental assistants during Dental Assistants Recognition Week.




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Journal of Public Health Dentistry study finds association between man-made chemical, childhood caries

Circulating levels of perfluorodecanoic acid, a type of perfluoroalkyl acid, may be associated with dental caries in children, according to a study published in the fall 2019 issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry.




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New dentists, ADA officers and Board members meet Feb. 9 to exchange ideas

Dr. Emily Mattingly, chair, New Dentist Committee, 6th District, shares her experience as a new dentist in a rural Missouri town. Three other NDC members also shared new dentist perspectives.




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Free ADA webinar to help dentists with social media marketing

The ADA is hosting a free webinar in March on how to effectively advertise and market services and dental practices on Facebook and Instagram.




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ADA seeks applicants for standards awards

The American Dental Association is accepting submissions for awards that honor standards-based research.




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NIDCR seeks comments on research proposal

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research is seeking comments on a proposed research initiative on dental fear and anxiety.




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ADA seeks appointee to Joint Commission board

The Association is calling for nominations of qualified individuals to serve as the ADA appointee to the Joint Commission Board of Commissioners.




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ADA standards committees seek volunteers for new projects

The American Dental Association's Standards Committee on Dental Products and Standards Committee on Dental Informatics are looking for volunteers to help in the development of new projects.




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ADA Accelerator Series seeks to speed up dentists’ success

The Association is launching in March a new online, on-demand program specifically designed to provide information — from parental leave to financial support — that is tailored to the early-career dentist’s unique work-life balance needs.




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ADA seeks clarification from HHS regarding chief dental officer

The American Dental Association is applauding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to appoint a chief dental officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid but would like to confirm the position is exclusive to CMS.




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Free ADA webinar offering answers to pressing COVID-19 questions

The ADA is partnering with the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention in providing a free on-demand webinar on Friday, March 20, with content for the program based on questions the ADA has received from members looking for guidance while navigating the novel coronavirus pandemic.




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ADA, other organizations outline economic response needs to survive pandemic

The ADA and nearly 100 other organizations are asking Congress and the White House to help businesses survive the coronavirus crisis by reducing their costs and increasing their cash flow as much as possible in the coming weeks.




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How dentists can keep the lights on during economic downturn

The ADA is streaming a free practice management webinar March 25 designed to help dentists predict short- and long-term impacts on their business operations during tough economic times and teach them how taking the right steps now can minimize their risk during the COVID-19 outbreak and its aftermath.




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Lawmakers reach agreement on CARES Act

Following several days of discussions, legislators reached a deal early March 25 on a $2 trillion stimulus package aimed at helping the people, states and businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.




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ADA offers free e-book resources on management, regulatory issues

Beginning March 25, the ADA is offering members two free e-books a week. Until March 31, members can access “Managing the Regulatory Environment: Best Practices” and “A Dentist’s Guide to the Law: 228 Things Every Dentist Should Know” free of charge.




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ADA offers free e-books on professional risk, OSHA from April 1-7

As part of its ongoing efforts to support dentists during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ADA is offering members two free e-books the week of April 1-7: “Managing Professional Risks: Best Practices” and “The ADA Practical Guide to OSHA Training: Compliance for Dental Professionals.”




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IRS publishes Employee Retention Credit FAQ

The Internal Revenue Service has published an FAQ on the Employee Retention Credit in regards to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.




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Labor Department says employers with fewer than 50 employees may be exempt from new law

Employers with fewer than 50 employees, including dental practices, may be exempt from a provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that requires them to provide emergency paid sick leave and expanded medical leave to employees in certain COVID-19 circumstances, the Department of Labor said April 1.




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ADA urges dentists to heed April 30 interim postponement recommendation

In a statement issued April 1, the ADA issued an interim recommendation that “dentists keep their offices closed to all but urgent and emergency procedures until April 30 at the earliest.”




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Code Maintenance Committee approves new codes associated with vaping, teledentistry

On the heels of the ADA’s December interim policy on vaping comes a new CDT code that references counseling services about high-risk substance use including vaping.




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ADA offers free e-books on managing finances, HIPAA training April 8-14

As part of its ongoing efforts to support dentists during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ADA is offering members two free e-books the week of April 8-14: “Managing Finances: Best Practices” and “The ADA Practical Guide to HIPAA Training.”




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ADA seeks participants for 2020 SNODENT review

The American Dental Association is seeking qualified individuals to join a canvass committee to consider approval of the 2020 revision of the Systemized Nomenclature of Dentistry.




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ADA free webinar exploring radiographs, diagnostic imaging

In a time when teledentistry is gaining more attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ADA will stream a free webinar in May that takes a close look at the different types of images needed for diagnosis, treatment planning and operative procedures.




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Second week of HPI polling shows dentists’ response to COVID-19

The second round of results from the ADA Health Policy Institute poll on the impact of COVID-19 on dental practices showed significant financial impact, with collections for the vast majority of dentists less than 5% of what is typical in their practice.




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ADA Board of Trustees holds historic all-digital meeting April 3

The ADA Board of Trustees traditionally holds six meetings a year at Association Headquarters in Chicago, but this year, for the first time, the Board held its April meeting via Zoom — an all digital meeting.




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Free ADA webinar aims to help dentists plan recovery during, after pandemic

The ADA is streaming a free webinar April 14 intended to help dentists jump-start their recovery process during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.




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Oregon Dental Association dentists, volunteers donate PPE to help emergency relief

Oregon Dental Association dentists, volunteers donate more than 600,000 pieces of PPE to help emergency relief efforts




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ADA FDC Annual Meeting postpones registration

The American Dental Association and Florida Dental Association have postponed registration for the ADA FDC Annual Meeting from April 22 to early summer, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.




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ADA, recovery task force seek to address PPE shortages

Association staff and members of the ADA Advisory Task Force on Dental Practice Recovery are aware and working diligently in addressing members’ concerns over the limited availability of certain personal protective equipment items.




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Dental groups seek federal approval to administer COVID-19 tests

The Organized Dentistry Coalition is asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to “extend federal authorization for licensed dentists to conduct Food and Drug Administration-authorized, point-of-care testing” during the COVID-19 pandemic.




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ADA advocates that third-party payers modify fee schedules as dentists consider going back to work

The ADA is urging third-party payers to alter their fees to account for the increasing cost of personal protective equipment that dentists are using to protect themselves, their staff and patients.




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ADA president: Reopening dental practices needs a team approach

As some dental practices begin plans to reopen and provide nonemergency care — as some states reopen following the direction of their state — the Association is urging dentists to have robust communication and engage their dental team members to address any concerns related to returning to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic.




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PracticeUpdate Clinical Dentistry Channel unveiled to keep dentists current

The ADA announced May 1 the creation and launch of the PracticeUpdate Clinical Dentistry Channel, which delivers free evidence-based clinical content in general dentistry and specialty topics curated by a world-renowned editorial and advisory board.




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ADA tip sheet includes CDC guidance on identifying counterfeit N95 masks

The American Dental Association has created a tip sheet with guidance from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health group at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help health care professionals avoid buying or using counterfeit N95 respirators, which are often simply referred to as masks.




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U.S. fuel pumps see first weekly price rise since October

Fuel prices in the United States on average were just a penny higher at $2.25 per gallon, ending consecutive price declines that had occurred since October.




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Petrobras preempts three pre-salt areas ahead of sixth auction

Petrobras wants to exercise pre-emption rights for three areas ahead of the sixth bidding round of pre-salt offshore oil areas to be held later this year.




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EIA sees fuel prices below 2018 average for the next two years

U.S. retail fuel prices will drop this year and in 2020 from 2018, but in both cases higher than January levels due to mandated lower sulfur in marine fuel.




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Major corporations, cities buying into Texas' green energy boom

The U.S. wind industry is in a scramble to get a batch of turbine farms running in the next two years, before the federal government phases out a key tax credit.




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Analysis suggests states need to plan for second wave of COVID-19

Leaders across the United States should plan for a worst-case scenario, second wave to the COVID-19 pandemic, including no vaccine availability or herd immunity, say experts at the University of Minnesota.




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Patient portals need proxy options for better privacy protection, study finds

More patient portals and electronic health records should enable users to create "proxy" accounts for nurses and home aids to prevent unintentional sharing of personal health details, researchers said Monday.




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CDC: 40% of U.S. teens are sexually active

The CDC estimates that 40 percent of U.S. teens are sexually active -- 42 percent of females and 38 percent of males 15 and 19 years of age -- numbers that have dropped significantly since 1988.




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Face-aging app increases sunscreen use among teens by 50%, study finds

A face-aging app could encourage young people to protect their skin from harmful UV rays and lessen their risk for skin cancer, a study published Wednesday by JAMA Dermatology has found.




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Exploring the Potential of Two-Generation Strategies in Refugee Integration

On this webinar, MPI researchers and Utah and Colorado refugee coordinators explore promising practices to better serve refugee families, including education services for refugee youth, innovative efforts to secure better jobs for adult refugees, and other services designed to aid integration over time. They also discuss the potential for implementing and supporting two-generation approaches to refugee integration at a time when the system’s funding and capacity are in peril.  




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Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: From Bright Spots to System Change

In the three years since the European migration and refugee crisis vividly captured public attention, a wave of innovative initiatives has emerged to help newcomers settle into receiving societies. Now, as the sense of crisis abates, this report explores what these initiatives will need to do to outlast the hype and produce lasting change on key integration issues such as housing, economic inclusion, and community building.




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Renal and Cardiovascular Outcomes After Weight Loss From Gastric Bypass Surgery in Type 2 Diabetes: Cardiorenal Risk Reductions Exceed Atherosclerotic Benefits

OBJECTIVE

We examined detailed renal and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes after gastric bypass (GBP) surgery in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), across several renal function categories, in a nationwide cohort study.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We linked data from the National Diabetes Register and the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Register with four national databases holding information on socioeconomic variables, medications, hospitalizations, and causes of death and matched 5,321 individuals with T2DM who had undergone GBP with 5,321 who had not (age 18–65 years, mean BMI >40 kg/m2, mean follow-up >4.5 years). The risks of postoperative outcomes were assessed with Cox regression models.

RESULTS

During the first years postsurgery, there were small reductions in creatinine and albuminuria and stable estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in the GBP group. The incidence rates of most outcomes relating to renal function, CV disease, and mortality were lower after GBP, being particularly marked for heart failure (hazard ratio [HR] 0.33 [95% CI 0.24, 0.46]) and CV mortality (HR 0.36 [(95% CI 0.22, 0.58]). The risk of a composite of severe renal disease or halved eGFR was 0.56 (95% CI 0.44, 0.71), whereas nonfatal CV risk was lowered less (HR 0.82 [95% CI 0.70, 0.97]) after GBP. Risks for key outcomes were generally lower after GBP in all eGFR strata, including in individuals with eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m2.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest robust benefits for renal outcomes, heart failure, and CV mortality after GBP in individuals with obesity and T2DM. These results suggest that marked weight loss yields important benefits, particularly on the cardiorenal axis (including slowing progression to end-stage renal disease), whatever the baseline renal function status.




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Sleep Duration Patterns in Early to Middle Adulthood and Subsequent Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Women

OBJECTIVE

To identify sleep duration trajectories from early to middle adulthood and their associations with incident type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Using a group-based modeling approach, we identified sleep duration trajectories based on sleep duration in ages 20–25, 26–35, 36–45, and 46+ years, which were retrospectively assessed in 2009 among 60,068 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II (median age 54.9 years) who were free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. We investigated the prospective associations between sleep duration trajectories and diabetes risk (2009–2017) using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS

We documented 1,797 incident diabetes cases over a median follow-up of 7.8 years (442,437 person-years). Six sleep duration trajectories were identified: persistent 5-, 6-, 7-, or 8-h sleep duration and increased or decreased sleep duration. After multivariable adjustment for diabetes risk factors, compared with the persistent 7-h sleep duration group, the hazard ratio was 1.43 (95% CI 1.10, 1.84) for the 5-h group, 1.17 (1.04, 1.33) for the 6-h group, 0.96 (0.84, 1.10) for the 8-h group, 1.33 (1.09, 1.61) for the increased sleep duration group, and 1.32 (1.10, 1.59) for the decreased sleep duration group. Additional adjustment for time-updated comorbidities and BMI attenuated these associations, although a significantly higher risk remained in the decreased sleep duration group (1.24 [1.03, 1.50]).

CONCLUSIONS

Persistent short sleep duration or changes in sleep duration from early to middle adulthood were associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes in later life. These associations were weaker after obesity and metabolic comorbidities were accounted for.