Mom’s Meatloaf
Slices of Mom’s Meatloaf
By Carrie Mauterer, D.D.S., CDA Editor
From the Spring 2024 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association
I want to remind you of the most leaned upon, but rarely acknowledged, ADA resource: ADA Council on Scientific Affairs. It is a member benefit we all use on the daily, but we never really give them knuckles or a high five. Not even a COVID-style elbow bump. The ADA Council on Scientific Affairs is like your mom’s meatloaf. Just like the ADA council’s guidelines, mom’s meatloaf is always there to sustain you. Mom’s meatloaf is solid, nutritious and dependable but not as flashy as its beef wellington counterpart. The ADA Council on Scientific Affairs is not flashy either, but boy howdy … when we need it, we really need it!
I’m here to tell you we all take that ADA meatloaf for granted from time to time, but when you need the most up-to-date evidence-based information to help your clinical decision making, the meatloaf is there for you. Every time.
Being a part of organized dentistry gives me comfort that the care I give my patients is based on the most thoughtful, researched science available. The ADA Council on Scientific Affairs does all the hard work (pouring through hundreds of studies, collaborating with other dental group alliances and publishing recommendations) and all I have to do is hop on the ADA’s website and search to find out which shelf and which obscure Tupperware that meatloaf is hiding in this time.
ADA Council on Scientific Affairs: Your Most Underrated Member Benefit
It’s an area of the ADA that we often take for granted. Where would we be without a trustworthy expert panel of dentists who are developing science-based recommendations? With the ADA’s broad and diverse membership, we have access to experts in any area of the dental profession and can assemble a group of doctors who are qualified to evaluate all varieties of topics from new to old. In the publication of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and ADA joint evidence-based clinical practical guideline, they said it best when they discussed their commitment to “use a systematic evidence-based process designed to combat bias, enhance transparency, and promote reproducibility.” Furthermore, the ADA has the power to collaborate with peer review organizations from other trusted sources like the Academy of General Dentistry, American Dental Hygienists’ Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians to name just a few. In other words, our meatloaf packs a punch!
Most popular recent searches by our dentist colleagues:
Shielding for radiographs (last updated in 2024)
“After reviewing nearly 100 articles, guidance documents and regulations related to radiography, the expert panel determined thyroid and abdominal shielding during dental imaging is no longer recommended and the use of these forms of protective shielding should be discontinued as routine practice.” The ADA’s Council on Scientific Affairs expert panel reviewed almost 100 articles and developed recommendations that align with the medical physicists of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.[i]
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) regulatory requirements:
In response to the ADA’s Council on Scientific Affairs recommendations, CDPHE issued this statement:
Updated as of 02/27/2024:[ii]
- Thyroid shielding is required for pediatric patients when performing intraoral imaging, unless the shielding interferes with the specific diagnostic procedure being performed. An example of this may be certain panoramic imaging procedures.
- In all dental procedures, the rule requires that the useful beam is limited to the area of clinical interest. As a result, with the exception of the thyroid shielding requirement for pediatric patients, there is no regulatory requirement to use shielding such as full body aprons or other lead or lead equivalent devices to shield radiosensitive organs or other portions of the patient during dental x-ray imaging.
Pain Management-ADA Endorsed Guidelines (last updated in 2023, 2024)
“According to ADA-endorsed guidelines, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) have been shown to be more effective at reducing pain than opioid analgesics, and are therefore recommended as the first-line therapy for acute pain management. NSAIDs act peripherally meaning they help with pain by reducing inflammation at the site where it is occurring. Alternatively, acetaminophen acts centrally by closing the transmission of pain signaling within the central nervous system. Due to these differing mechanisms of action, taking NSAIDs and acetaminophen in combination has been shown to be highly effective in reducing mild to moderate pain as the pain is being blocked at both ends of the nociceptive pathway.”[iii]
Antibiotic prophylaxis for prosthetic joints (last updated in 2015 but strangely still a controversial topic in the field)
“In general, for patients with prosthetic joint implants, prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended prior to dental procedures to prevent prosthetic joint infection.” Although this is not a new recommendation, it is frustratingly still widely debated in the health industry. Some care providers have not fully embraced the principles of antibiotic stewardship and opt instead to take the traditional approach they were taught back in school. While we still see individual healthcare providers disagreeing with each other on this topic, the ADA Council of Scientific Affairs recommendations align with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons with the support of a long list of journal articles and peer review organizations.[iv]
A uniform voice is important not only for advocacy but also for developing policy and guidelines for patient care. The ADA Council of Scientific Affairs unifies our voice through evidence-based research and does all the hard work we do not have time to do.
Thanks ADA Council on Scientific Affairs for grinding out that meatloaf for us – we would be lost without you.
[i] https://adanews.ada.org/ada-news/2024/january/using-thyroid-collars-during-radiographic-exams-no-longer-recommended-by-ada/?_gl=1*ejv5jz*_ga*MTkwODU3Mzk2NS4xNjM5MTYxMjY0*_ga_X8X57NRJ4D*MTcwOTU4NzY4NC42LjEuMTcwOTU4NzgxMS4wLjAuMA.
[ii] https://coloradodentalassociation.egnyte.com/dl/8k9j5qyTy2
[iii] https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/evidence-based-dental-research/pain-management-guideline
[iv] https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/evidence-based-dental-research/antibiotics-to-prevent-prosthetic-joint-infection