Facebook is being cited in almost one in five of online divorce petitions, lawyers have claimed.

The social networking site, which connects old friends and allows users to make new ones online, is being blamed for an increasing number of marital breakdowns.

Divorce lawyers claim the explosion in the popularity of websites such as Facebook and Bebo is tempting to people to cheat on their partners.

Suspicious spouses have also used the websites to find evidence of flirting and even affairs which have led to divorce.

One law firm, which specialises in divorce, claimed almost one in five petitions they processed cited Facebook.

Mark Keenan, Managing Director of Divorce-Online said: “I had heard from my staff that there were a lot of people saying they had found out things about their partners on Facebook and I decided to see how prevalent it was I was really surprised to see 20 per cent of all the petitions containing references to Facebook.

“The most common reason seemed to be people having inappropriate sexual chats with people they were not supposed to.”

Flirty emails and messages found on Facebook pages are increasingly being cited as evidence of unreasonable behaviour.

Computer firms have even cashed in by developing software allowing suspicious spouses to electronically spy on someone’s online activities.

One 35-year-old woman even discovered her husband was divorcing her via Facebook.

Conference organiser Emma Brady was distraught to read that her marriage was over when he updated his status on the site to read: “Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady.”

Last year a 28-year-old woman ended her marriage after discovering her husband had been having a virtual affair with someone in cyberspace he had never met.

Amy Taylor 28, split from David Pollard after discovering he was sleeping with an escort in the game Second Life, a virtual world where people reinvent themselves.

Around 14 million Britons are believed to regularly use social networking sites to communicate with old friends or make new ones.

The popularity of the Friends Reunited website several years ago was also blamed for a surge in divorces as bored husbands and wives used it to contact old flames and first loves.

The UK’s divorce rate has fallen in recent years, but two in five marriages are still failing according the latest statistics.

Mr Keenan believes that the general divorce rate will rocket in 2010 with the recession taking the blame.

The New Dentist ™ magazine introduces the first web-site built for New Dentists. It is the #1 source for New Dentists to grow, develop and enhance their dental careers in the first 10 years after dental school. The user-friendly site offers free downloadable educational podcasts, clinical and practice management blogs, practice management products and various other new dentist resources.

(La Jolla, CA) Sally McKenzie, CEO of The McKenzie Company, Inc. has announced the launch of the first educational website www.thenewdentist.net devoted exclusively to new dentists in the first ten years of practice. New dentists can now get fast answers to critical questions, easy access to essential services and purchase a variety of management products all on the same site.

“Dentists often struggle through those first 10 years in practice, simply because they have limited access to reliable and trusted resources to help them tackle the business and management hurdles that are certain to arise in the earlier years,” notes Sally McKenzie, CEO. “Until now, there were very limited resources geared specifically toward helping dentists in the first few years of their careers.”

Registration on the site is fast and easy and provides unlimited access to the clinical blog hosted by Dr. Josh Austin and the management blog providing answers to real world issues. The New Dentist magazine is available digitally on the web-site along with archived issues. Users also have access to the bookstore which provides dozens of products such as forms to download, resource books, DVD’s and more. Visitors to the site can view archived articles of the New Dentist Magazine, submit questions to the Clinical and Management BUZZ Blogs and browse through the extensive Free Podcast Library.

The McKenzie Company, Inc. has a long history of providing clients with knowledge, guidance and personalized systems for practice success. “Our objective is to consistently provide useful and effective tools that dentists at every phase in their career can use to get the most out of their profession and enjoy the business of dentistry as much as the practice of dentistry, from day one through retirement,” said Ms. McKenzie.

Visit www.thenewdentist.net and register today.

Dentistry In Ladakh – Himalayan Region of North India

Dentists and Hygienists Wanted
Dentist volunteers wanted for 1-2 week periods or more to work in the remote Himalayan Region of Ladakh providing basic dental care to the local children and communities in Leh and the surrounding villages. Dental instruments / supplies, transport, accommodation, food and sightseeing included. You can even visit the highest motorable road in the world.

Please visit our Himalayan Dental Project website: www.himalayan-dentistry.com or email your enquires to: Bill Kite on dogmandu@gmail.com or Viv Levy on coxst@cyberxpress.co.nz

More than four out of five dentists surveyed by the Chicago Dental Society revealed that patients send and receive text messages on their cell phones while receiving dental care. (See our video of dentists discussing the issue.) The survey was conducted between July 16th and July 25th via email and among dentists in the Chicago Dental Society’s Facebook Fan Page.In addition to the dentists who said their patients regularly text in the dental chair, 46 percent said this habit hampers their ability to provide care. The high number of dental chair texters is also surprising, given that 32 percent of the dentists indicated they have a cell phone/mobile device policy posted in a visible location in their office.

“We have signs up in the waiting room and directly in front of where the patient sits stating that they need to turn off their phones but most simply ignore them,” said one respondent. Another dentist indicated texting or answering calls can be a real barrier to delivering care because “many times the patient sits up during treatment to answer a call or text.”

But not every dentist views texting as a societal evil. Dr. Cissy Furusho, a pediatric dentist in Chicago, said her young teen patients have mastered texting to the point that they don’t even have to look down at their phone keyboard during treatment.

“This may surprise people, but most of my younger patients are very polite about using their cell phones in the chair,” she said. “The kids never answer their phone while getting treatment.”

Even dentists who don’t have a stated policy against texting say it can still interfere with communication between dentist and patient.

“It’s more difficult to communicate with a patient about recommendations,” one respondent wrote.

Niles, Illinois dentist Dr. Alice Boghosian said that there is a time and place for most things but texting or talking in the dental chair is a breach of etiquette.

“I’m not militant about it because I know that there are parents with kids in school who need to be in touch with their kids at times,” she said. “However, one young patient of mine had to interrupt me when his phone was buzzing in his pocket.” Dr. Boghosian said she was also surprised when a member of the clergy kept answering his phone even though he admitted the calls were not urgent.

“When patients insist on answering their phone or sending a text message, it does interrupt dental care,” she said.

For those who must text or talk on their cell phone while in the dental chair, the Chicago Dental Society provides these tips:

• If a dentist has a written policy against texting, respect it. Doing so may be in the best interest of your oral health
• If no policy exists and you must text, ask the dentist if it will interfere with treatment.
• Arrange to have an agreed-upon signal with the dentist if you must respond to texts.
• Or, keep temptation at bay and leave your phone with the receptionist for safekeeping. Your messages will be there for you to reply to after your appointment is over.

About the Chicago Dental Society
The Chicago Dental Society is an association of more than 4,000 dentists in the metro Chicago area and organizes the annual Midwinter Meeting, one of the largest dental tradeshows in the country. The society is an advocate for improving oral health for all.

found @ the inci-dental-blog

I finally decided to bite the bullet and get orthodontic therapy! After an orthodontic assessment I was told I needed to have lower 5’s extracted. The principal at my practice had no qualms about taking them out for me. I flirted with the idea of IV sedation mainly to see what it was like, but it worked out very difficult to organise in regards to escorts etc, besides who knows what I would have said under the influence!

So after the end of a busy day I gingerly jumped into my principals’ chair. He decided to conduct a split mouth mini randomised control trial. One side of my mouth received 4% Articaine ID block and the other had the conventional 2% Lidocaine ID block, I had to guess which side was which. Well it was obvious; the left hand side was Articaine as the top of my ear was feeling numb!

for more

Department Mergers

	Drs. Arthur and Bonnie Ashman

Effective November 1, NYU College of Dentistry merged the Department of Cariology and Operative Dentistry and the Department of General Dentistry and Management Science to form the Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care. The Ashman Department of Implant Dentistry and the Department of Periodontics were also merged to form the Dr. Arthur Ashman Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry.
“The time has come to forge new educational approaches to both predoctoral education and specialty training,” said Dr. Michael C. Alfano, Dean of the NYU College of Dentistry. “The mergers of these departments are developments that launch new models for collaborative teaching and learning.”
The Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care is headed by Dr. Mark S. Wolff, a veteran educator and clinician who has been appointed Professor and Chairman. “We believe that integrating the faculties of cariology and operative dentistry and of general dentistry and management science will enable predoctoral students to make a smoother transition from the classroom to the clinic, and ultimately, to their professional careers,” said Dr. Wolff.
The Dr. Arthur Ashman Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry, named in recognition of a major gift from Drs. Arthur and Bonnie Ashman, seeks to create a “mega-department” of versatile specialists, according to Dr. Dennis P. Tarnow, previously the Chairman of the Ashman Department of Implant Dentistry, who has been named chairman of the new department. Dr. Tarnow, who trained in both prosthodontics and periodontics and is Board-certified in periodontics, noted that the “strength of the Ashman Department of Implant Dentistry has always been its distinctive, interdisciplinary faculty mix, consisting of prosthodontists, periodontists, and oral and maxillofacial surgeons all working together collaboratively, whereas the periodontology department consisted exclusively of periodontists. Now, this philosophy of interaction and collaboration will also drive the practice of periodontology.”

Dr. Dennis Tarnow Steps Down as Chair of the Ashman

Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry

I received word last Friday that, during the 20th Annual NYU/ICOI Implant
Symposium, Dr. Dennis P. Tarnow announced his decision to step down from his
position as Chair of the Ashman Department of Periodontology and Implant
Dentistry. I have accepted his resignation as of this date.

For over 30 years, Dr. Tarnow has been one of the most consistent contributors
to the College of Dentistry.  He has served as the founding chair of the
Department of Implant Dentistry since 1992 and as the chair of the Ashman
Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry since 2005, when the two
departments merged. Dr. Tarnow is trained in both prosthodontics and
periodontics and is Board-certified in periodontics. He has played a pivotal
role in building a growing national body of evidence on ways of significantly
improving the oral health of fully- and partially-edentulous patients.

In addition to his teaching, research, and administrative duties at NYUCD, Dr.
Tarnow has established a global network of alumni of the College’s Advanced
Study Program in Implant Dentistry for International Dentists, many of whom
are generous supporters of the NYUCD.

While I do not normally write about personnel discussions with department
chairs, Dr. Tarnow’s announcement causes me to deviate from that practice.
For more than a year Dr. Tarnow and I have been in discussions over the best
approach to take in managing significant operational and curricular problems
in this large and complex department.  Intending to take nothing away from Dr.
Tarnow’s visionary leadership in the creation and growth of the Department of
Implant Dentistry, the complexity and success of the Department necessitates
greater attention and time-commitment than Dr. Tarnow is willing to provide.
Those discussions were still in progress when Dr. Tarnow announced his
decision.  It had been my hope that he would accept a new, school-wide role in
the area of translational research—a position commensurate with his time
availability.   Knowing now that he will not be accepting this new position, I
am confident that he will bring his great strengths to his long-standing role
as a tenured professor. This will allow him to continue to provide outstanding
education to students and to continue his role as a leading clinical research
scientist in implant dentistry at NYU.

At present, my primary focus is meeting the pressing needs of the Department,
cognizant that sometimes the best way to secure and promote a valued legacy is
to pass the torch to new leadership.  Thus, I will appoint a search committee
later this week charged with conducting an international search aimed at
identifying a worthy successor to Dr. Tarnow.  Meanwhile, I have asked Dr.
Stuart Hirsch to assume the role of Interim Chair, effective immediately.

DentalStudents.eu & DentalNetworkOnline.eu is an online meeting place for all the students & professionnals of Oral Health. This site is initiated by a dentistry student in the Netherlands but it is going to operate at international level. Since there are almost no borders between the European countries, the borders between this online social community site should also disappear. The goal of this online social community site for the dental students & professionals is that there should be enough exchange of knowledge and expertise within the mentioned field.

Aim
The name says enough already. This site should bring all the students & professionals within Oral Health and Hygiene to one online virtual place. Internet has played an important role in the field of networking and communication. Schools and Universities use internet especially to spread the educative materials among the students. Nothing more happens. The results of recent research show that networking plays a key role to a successful job life. DentalStudents.eu & DentalNetworkOnline.eu is going to form the base for this networking.

No borders, Social & Educative
This site is going to play a major role in the exchange of educative materials between the students & professionals either. Every member gets enough space to put documents and assignments on the website which will be useful to  their other colleagues. In this way a member from the Netherlands can share his/her work with somebody from another country in Europe and therefore our slogan will be “No borders, Social & Educative”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic versions of Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride) orally disintegrating tablets on Dec. 11. Donepezil hydrochloride is indicated for the treatment of dementia related to Alzheimer’s disease.

Orally disintegrating tablets dissolve on the tongue, without having to be swallowed whole. This may make it easier to take the medication for older or disabled patients who have difficulty swallowing.

“Generics offer greater access to health care for all Americans,” said Gary Buehler, director of the FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs. “Health care professionals and consumers can be assured that FDA-approved generic drugs have met the same rigorous standards as the brand-name drug and are the same as the branded in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use.”

Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living. In most people with Alzheimer’s disease, symptoms first appear after age 60. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia among older people, but it is not a normal part of aging.

Dementia refers to a decline in cognitive function that interferes with daily life and activities. Alzheimer’s disease starts in a region of the brain that affects recent memory, then gradually spreads to other parts of the brain.

The generic donepezil hydrochloride orally disintegrating tablets, manufactured by Mutual Pharmaceutical of Philadelphia, have been approved in 5 milligram and 10 mg strengths.

For more information:
Consumer Education: Generic Drugs
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/ucm167906.htm