⬇️ Below the Gumline
Failure cases hurt — no one likes to lose an implant, redo a crown, or admit something didn’t go right. But let’s be honest: we learn a lot more from failures than from flawless cases. Success makes us feel good; failure makes us rethink protocols, sharpen our skills, and sometimes overhaul our systems. If you’ve got a tough case that didn’t work out, don’t bury it. Study it, talk about it, and let it make you better. Failure is tuition. Don’t waste the lesson.
🔥 High-Speed Chatter
😨 Dental fear isn’t just “in their head.” New research connects dental phobia to childhood trauma. This could change how we screen, talk to, and manage anxious patients. Read More >
🚨 Utah dentist busted: A Park City dentist faces accusations of lying to get a license. Not exactly the credentialing shortcut the rest of us would recommend. Read More >
🦷 Fake dental office nightmare: Orlando siblings allegedly ran a back-alley dental “practice,” leaving patients with infections and disfigurement. Yikes. Read More >
💔 Tragedy in North Carolina: A two-year-old died after a dental visit. A stark reminder of why protocols and vigilance matter. Read More >
🏢 Insurance giant buys practices: Dentists in Wisconsin are worried after a major dental insurer acquired a local practice group. Conflict of interest much? Read More >
📉 ADA says the struggle is real: Rising costs + shrinking demand = dentists under pressure, according to a new ADA report. Read More >
🎓 Tuition-free dental school? Senators Sanders & Merkley are pushing a bill to make medical, dental, and nursing school free. Don’t hold your breath, but imagine the applicant pool. Read More >
🪥 Florida crisis: Grassroots movement pushes for dental therapists in 2026 to address access issues. Dentists, sharpen your talking points. Read More >
🤖 AI keeps marching in: Overjet launches Lens for dental imaging. Love it or hate it, AI isn’t leaving your operatory anytime soon. Read More >
⚖️ Lawsuit alert: A man dies after multiple extractions at a dental school — family suing surgeon and school. Read More >
🏀 NBA drama meets dentistry: Malik Beasley is being sued by his dentist, barber, and sports agent for $650k unpaid. Sounds like the worst group text ever. Read More >
😂 For a little relief: This YouTube gem is floating around — a dental parody that may be too relatable. Watch Here >
🧪 The Research Says
⁇ The Question: Are one-piece zirconia implants a reliable long-term alternative to titanium implants for single-tooth replacement?
⚖️ The Evidence: A new 10-year prospective cohort study followed 66 one-piece zirconia implants restored with single crowns. The results weren’t pretty:
After 10 years, the implant survival rate was just 73.3%, and overall implant success (≤2 mm bone loss, no peri-implantitis) was only 56.7%.
For comparison, titanium implants typically show 90–95% survival at 10 years.
Bone loss averaged 1.1 mm on the surviving implants, but more than 20% of cases lost over 2 mm of bone. Peri-implantitis was the main cause of failure. On top of that, the veneered ceramic crowns had a survival rate of 85%, but a miserable 11% success rate due to high rates of chipping.
The Answer: One-piece zirconia implants—at least with this design—do not hold up long-term and cannot be recommended as a predictable replacement for titanium. The surface design and aging of the zirconia likely contributed to early breakdown.
The Application: If patients ask about “metal-free” implants, this study gives you cover: zirconia still doesn’t have the data to replace titanium in everyday practice. Stick to titanium unless there’s a very strong patient-driven reason otherwise, and if you do venture into zirconia, two-piece designs may be more promising than one-piece.
💰 Business Bites
💰 Always protect your schedule’s lifeblood.
Your schedule isn’t just a calendar — it’s your revenue engine. Build dedicated capacity for new patients, ER visits, and hygiene. If your front desk ever says, “We can’t get them in,” that’s your red alert. ER and new patients need same-day or next-day access. If the team can’t make it happen, they need to escalate it to you. Same-day dentistry isn’t optional — it’s survival.
🤯 Productive Pearls
⏱️ Intraligamentary injections = time saver.
When anesthetic lags, it’s not just annoying — it wrecks your schedule. Instead of re-dosing and waiting another five minutes, use an intraligamentary injection as a backup. It’s quick, predictable, and keeps you moving without wasted chair time.
💉 Mental Anesthesia
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