NWD Receives National Journalism Award

The editors are pleased to announce that Northwest Dentistry has been awarded the 2003 Golden Pen Journalism Award by the International College of Dentists. The article "Diagnosis and Management of Oral Lichen Planus": by Nelson Rhodus, D.M.D., M.P.H., Sandra Myers, D.D.S., M.S., and Shanti Kaimal, B.D.S., M.D.S., (Northwest Dentistry, Volume 82, Number 2, March-April 2003) was cited for "The effective use of graphics and easy to read layout providing useful information on a subject of special interest to the profession." The award will be presented at the Annual Session of the American Dental Association this coming September in Orlando, Florida.

Winona Dentist Receives Community Service Award

Dr. Chris Carroll of Winona has received the Western Dairyland Community Action Agency's 2003 Community Service Award. The award was given for outstanding pediatric dental care. As described in the Winona Daily News, "(Dr.) Carroll accepts all kinds of Medical Assistance and performs the necesary dental work on each patient, regardless of whether the Medical Assistance covers the dental work or not."

The practice draws patients from a wide geographic area and operates with a self-described "open-door policy". Said Dr. Carroll, "What really revs my motor is getting a whole family turned around to a healthier lifestyle."

Buffalo County Head Start Family Services Specialist Janell Gibson, who nominated him for the honor, said "The award couldn't have gone to a better guy.  I wish I could do even more.

Dr. Carroll said he was both honored and surprised to be recognized in this way. "It made us all feel great," he said.  "The whole office."

Disaster-Proofing a Dental Practice

The Academy of General Dentistry sends along this helpful checklist for a proactive dental practice business plan.

From personal injuries to technology crashes to embezzlement, technical advisors such as lawyers, accountants, computer experts, and practice management specialists should be considered as much a part of a practice's operating procedure as chairside and office staff.

One growing trend is establishment of collegial networking among dentists who will cover each other's patient load in even of emergency. Patients, it has been discovered, respond much more positively to a colleague (ie., friend) of their regular dentist than to a stranger "hired in".

Lawsuits by patients happen, so keep careful records of diagnoses and financial arrangements, advisers say. Dentists are also often targets of embezzlement; again, attention to the practice's business side cannot be overlooked. and experts backing up the practitioner in this area can be lifesavers.