Category: Dental Professionals

Cannabis and e-Cigarettes (vaping): Health Effects & Advising Patients

(1.5HR, recorded webinar)

Current trends show a move away from cigarette use and toward nicotine e-cigarettes (vapes)—particularly for younger generations. While this increased use of e-cigarettes potentially represents a less harmful alternative to conventional tobacco cigarettes, it isn’t without its negative health effects. What are the impacts of products like cannabis and e-cigarettes on patient’s oral and overall health? How can dental professionals intervene to help patients who routinely use these products?

In this course, Barry J. Taylor, DMD, will provide an evidence-based overview of marijuana (cannabis), its history, trends in use, and its impact on oral and overall health. Benjamin W. Chaffee, DDS, MPH, PhD, will then discuss e-cigarette products and the rapidly changing patterns of tobacco use. By the end of the course, attendees will understand the role dental professionals play in understanding the health implications of non-cigarette products and how to provide proper patient treatment and counseling.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the Endocannabinoid System and the effects of cannabinoids on the human body
• Describe how marijuana and tobacco affect oral and overall health
• Recognize the current trends in the marketing, regulation, and use of emerging tobacco and nicotine products, including electronic cigarettes (vapes)
• Identify in-office communication strategies to address patient marijuana and tobacco use

Benjamin W. Chaffee, DDS, MPH, PhD
Dr. Chaffee is Associate Professor of Oral Epidemiology and Dental Public Health at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Director of the UCSF School of Dentistry Program in Global Oral Health. His NIH-funded research includes studies of new and emerging tobacco products (particularly use among adolescents), dental professional engagement in tobacco cessation, early-life influences of children’s oral health, and dental caries management. Dr. Chaffee has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has been nationally recognized for excellence in teaching.

Barry Taylor, DMD
Dr. Taylor is the Executive Director of the Oregon Dental Association (ODA) and is a volunteer Clinical Assistant Professor at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry. Prior to attending the OHSU School of Dentistry, he worked as a research assistant for two years in the field of Neuropsychopharmacology at the U.S. Veteran’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Taylor served as ODA’s editor for nine years and also served as the President. He was a member of the ADA’s Council on Communications. Dr. Taylor has been awarded the “Dentist of the Year” from both the Oregon AGD and the Washington County Dental Society, as well as Alumni of the Year from the OHSU School of Dentistry.
Arcora Foundation is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Arcora Foundation designates this activity for 1.5 continuing education credits.

If you have questions or would like more information about this course, please contact Karen Lewis at klewis@ArcoraFoundation.org or 206-528-7344.

Original Release Date: April 2022
Expiration Date: April 2025

Your Recommendation Matters: COVID-19 Vaccine Information for Dental Offices

(1HR, recorded webinar)

Your patients trust your dental team to provide guidance on not only oral health, but the health of their whole bodies. This includes objective, fact-based information on the COVID-19 vaccine.

In this course, we discuss COVID-19 vaccination information and talking points for dental team members. Topics include current Washington state—and specifically Pierce County—vaccination rates, the science and safety behind vaccines, and the COVID-19 specific vaccine formulation and dosage schedules. Presenters will discuss FAQs and fact-based responses in how to talk to both patients and parents about the vaccine.

This course focuses on data and resources from Pierce County, but the skills and information are applicable to all in the oral health space. We encourage anyone interested in this topic to take the course.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the clinical and special considerations for COVID-19 vaccinations, particularly for children under 18 years old in Pierce County.
• Identify two-to-three concrete messages to initiate COVID-19 vaccine conversations with patients and parents.
• Identify two-to-three evidence-based responses to resistance to vaccination.

Dr. Jax Hermer, PhD
Dr. Hermer works at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department in Communicable Disease. Although hired to help prevent HIV and STIs, they have been supporting the department’s COVID-19 response efforts since February 2020, leading the vaccine roll out, informing all public education efforts, and supporting health care partners equitably detect, prevent, and treat COVID-19.

Dr. Hermer holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice in Population Health Nursing from the University of Washington. They have a background in community organizing for racial, environmental, and economic justice and has worked in public health since 2011, mostly supporting families navigating raising children and building strong attachments.

Dr. Theresa Madden, DDS, PhD
Dr. Madden, a periodontist, is retired from academics and private practice but active with various professional committees, including the National Dental Practice-based Research Network and Thurston County Opioid Response Network. She also volunteers as a COVID-19 vaccinator for Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Washington State Department of Health.

After practicing dental hygiene for several years, Dr. Madden earned her dental degree from the University of Maryland and completed GPR residency at the Harvard Teaching Hospitals. She obtained her perio certificate from Eastman Dental Center and received her Doctorate in Microbiology/Immunology from the University of Rochester.

Arcora Foundation is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Arcora Foundation designates this activity for 1 continuing education credit.

If you have questions or would like more information about this course, please contact Karen Lewis at klewis@ArcoraFoundation.org or 206-528-7344.

Original Release Date: June 2022

Expiration Date: June 2025

Expiration Date: November 2024

Dentistry in the Pandemic, an Ethical Perspective

(1HR, recorded webinar)

Being a healthcare professional comes with ethical obligations to our patients, our community, and to our profession. Among those is the duty to care. What is our duty to care and how does it relate to the pandemic? How has dentistry lived up to our obligations during the pandemic? What about vaccinations? This course will discuss what it means to be a professional and about the duty to care both legally and ethically. The goal of this presentation is to provoke expanded thinking about the meaning and obligation of duty to care and our professional obligations in the outpatient healthcare setting of dentistry during this pandemic.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe what it means to be a professional and one’s professional obligations to society.
• Define the concept of duty to care and distinguish ethical and legal components.
• Discuss how our duty to care and professional obligations apply to the pandemic when a vaccine is available.

Lawrence P. Garetto, PhD, FACD

Dr. Garetto is Professor Emeritus of Oral Pathology, Medicine and Radiology at Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) and an Affiliate Instructor at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.  Dr. Garetto served as a clinical ethicist for the Charles Warren Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics at IU Health Methodist Hospital. He was the founding Chair of the IUSD Professional Conduct Committee and served as an advisor to the Student Professional Conduct Committee.  He also served as the advisor to IUSD’s chapter of the Student Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA).  He is Past-President of the American Society for Dental Ethics and served as an ethics liaison to the Board of Regents of the American College of Dentists.  Dr. Garetto’s scholarly work centers on the ethical nature of clinical reasoning

Rod Wentworth, DDS

Dr. Wentworth is a 1981 graduate of the University of Washington School of Dentistry. He is affiliate faculty at the University of Washington School of Dentistry teaching Ethics and Professionalism and serves on the Curriculum Committee as a Thread Champion for Ethics and Professionalism. He has served as chair of the American Dental Association’s Council on Ethics, Bylaws and Judicial Affairs, the Washington State Dental Association’s Committee on Judicial Affairs, Ethics and Peer Review, and Seattle King County Dental Society’s Ethics Committee.  He has over a dozen publications in the Journal of the American Dental Association’s “Ethical Moment” feature and has written about Ethics for the Washington State Dental Association News, ASDA’s Mouth, and the Oregon Dental Association magazine Membership Matters. Dr. Wentworth is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and Pierre Fauchard Academy. He is also a member of the American Society for Dental Ethics and a past president of the Washington State Dental Association.

Arcora Foundation is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Arcora Foundation designates this activity for 1 continuing education credit.

If you have questions or would like more information about this course, please contact Karen Lewis at klewis@ArcoraFoundation.org or 206-528-7344.

Original Release Date: April 2022

Expiration Date: April 2025

Handling Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office

(1.25-HR, recorded webinar)

During this webinar, Dr. Fonner will discuss important ways to prepare your dental team for any urgent scenario that may occur in the dental office, including the development of an effective emergency kit. She will also introduce the use of a free tool called Ten Minutes Saves A Life! Lastly, Dr. Fonner will discuss how to recognize and manage common emergencies.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand office preparation priorities and the six important features of an emergency kit
• Recognize and know how to manage nine of the most common medical emergencies
• Describe the importance of cognitive aids and how to integrate them into practice

Presenter: Andrea Fonner, DDS

Dr. Andrea Fonner is a board-certified mobile dentist anesthesiologist based out of Bellevue, Washington.  She is currently serving as the President-Elect of the American Dental Board of Anesthesiology (ADBA) and has been a board examiner and primary contributor for many years.  She serves in various positions with the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology (ADSA).  Nationally, she is on the Board of Directors and is the Director of the Assistant’s course; locally, she is the President of the Washington component.  She is the President and Co-Founder of the Washington State Society of Mobile Dental Anesthesia (WSSMDA).  Her passion is teaching dentists around with world about ways to improve patient safety.  She was the co-creator of the ADSA Ten Minutes Saves a Life! ® emergency application and manual, which is the only cognitive aid that exists for dentistry and is used all around the world.  She is the Co-Director of a High-Fidelity Human Simulation course and is the Co-Director for the Oregon Academy of General Dentistry Parenteral Moderate Sedation course.  The best part of each day is spending time with her husband, Matt, and their beautiful identical twin girls, Lauren and Charlotte.

Arcora Foundation is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Arcora Foundation designates this activity for 1 continuing education credit.

If you have questions or would like more information about this course, please contact Karen Lewis at klewis@ArcoraFoundation.org or 206-528-7344.

Original Release Date: November 2021

Expiration Date: November 2024

Start the Course

Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative, goal-oriented method of communication with a focus on the “language of change.” This approach is used by oral health professionals to strengthen patient motivation to move towards a specific health goal by eliciting and exploring their own incentive for a lifestyle change.

In this webinar, Dr. Matt Allen introduces this evidence-based method of patient communication, specifically tailored toward oral health professionals. Through Dr. Allen’s own unique style, participants experience both the spirit and core skills of Motivational Interviewing. Participants receive practical tips on how to start incorporating Motivational Interviewing into their practices, which can ultimately be revolutionary for both the patient and the oral health professional.

Learning Objectives:

• Contextualize what Motivational Interviewing is (and what it is not)
• Explore why oral health professionals should want to incorporate Motivational Interviewing into their work
• Apply the core skills of Motivational Interviewing to common dental workflows like the caries risk assessment, self-management goal setting, and teledentistry
• Re-imagine the process of sharing information with patients using Motivational Interviewing methods

PLEASE NOTE: You will hear references to a Part 2 session during this course. This was a follow-up coaching workshop provided for the live webinar participants only and will not be posted.

Arcora Foundation is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Arcora Foundation designates this activity for 1 continuing education credit.

If you have questions or would like more information about this course, please contact Karen Lewis at klewis@ArcoraFoundation.org or 206-528-7344.

Original Release Date: October 2021

Expiration Date: October 2024

Start the Course