Alkali production in the mouth and its relationship with certain patient's characteristics.

Objectives: To assess the relationships among alkali production, diet, oral health behaviors, and oral hygiene.

Methods: Data from 52 subjects including demographics, diet, and oral hygiene scores were analyzed against the level of arginine and urea enzymes in plaque and saliva samples. An oral habit survey was completed that included: use of tobacco (TB), alcohol (AH), sugary drinks (SD), and diet.

To teach or not to teach: making the transition from dental practice to dental faculty.

The authors, with more than forty years of combined private practice experience, discuss professional satisfaction in the private practice setting. A change to an academic career may provide job satisfaction and revitalize a dental career, while simultaneously satisfying the need for faculty in our dental schools.

Amalgam and composite posterior restorations: curriculum versus practice in operative dentistry at a US dental school.

This study recorded the number of preclinical lecture and simulation laboratory sessions spent teaching the preparation and placement of amalgam and resin composite posterior restorations. These data were compared to the use of both materials in the operative clinic as placed by third- and fourth-year students. The number of posterior restorations inserted by the students, expressed as a function of the number of restoration surfaces, was also evaluated.