Archive for August, 2020

4 Reasons to Prepare Now for ICD Coding

Is your practice ready for widespread ICD-10 diagnosis coding? If not, says Grand Rapids dentist Chris Smiley, DDS, a past chairman of the ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs and current editor of the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association, it’s time to get ready. You know CDT codes, which identify procedures for patient record-keeping […]

Is There a Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Implant Failure?

Each year, there are some dental implants that, although they are placed in adequate bone volume, fail within two to eight weeks of the implant placement for unknown reasons. Early research suggests that vitamin-D deficiency could be a contributing factor. Vitamin D supports the immune system and the integration of biomaterials and other metabolic processes, […]

Evidence-Based Approach to Non-Opioid Pain Management

Over-prescription of opioids after dental and other types of surgery fueled the opioid epidemic in the United States, leading to 46,802 overdose deaths in 2018.1 In dentistry, nearly 1 in 3 opioids (29.6%) were prescribed for pain that was expected to be mild and 29.3% of prescriptions exceeded the recommended dose, according to an analysis […]

Restoring Function and Esthetics

To give you a little insight into our team and provide some lighter reading, we include Q&A profiles like this one in our blog post. We hope you enjoy learning more about Richard W. Panek, DDS, dedicated oral surgeon, expert in dental implants and facial trauma, outdoor enthusiast and traveler. Why oral surgery? I enjoy […]