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To make the transition to practice a little easier, the ADA is providing senior dental students with a courtesy one-year subscription to the new ADA/PDR Dental Therapeutics Online, a comprehensive, user-friendly digital reference on drugs used in dentistry.
The Colgate Oral Health Network for Professional Education and Development provided a grant that enabled the ADA to provide the subscriptions.
Some 5,000 U.S. senior dental students will receive the complimentary subscription. A Colgate-Palmolive grant provided hard copy versions of the drug guide to senior dental students in previous years.
SCIENCE
“The value of the online version is ease of use,” said Phyllis Martina, Colgate’s senior academic relations manager. “Can you imagine a dental student bringing a printed version of the PDR to their dental clinic chair for each patient appointment? The book would be very heavy, impossible for a dental student to bring to their dental chair. With just a few key strokes, each dental student has quick access to information on medications for their clinic patients, prior to their board exams and to use as they begin their dental practices.”
Dr. Sebastian Ciancio, who edited the drug guide, also emphasized the ease of use of the online product for dental students.
“The student of today is well versed in the electronic publishing world,” said Dr. Ciancio, professor and chairman in the Department of Periodontology and director of the Center for Dental Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, in Buffalo, N.Y. “Since the content of the current edition is published electronically, students will find this edition especially easy to use as a rapid chairside reference relative to medications their patients are taking.
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“The book was first published in 1998 and, over the years, students and clinicians gave us feedback as to their needs in terms of information on dental therapeutics. From students we learned that this book is not only a valuable chairside aid, but also serves as a useful resource in preparing for various board examinations.”
The students will have a handy resource that is valuable to both the practicing dentist and the dentist in training.
“Colgate also understands that dental students may not have the financial resources to purchase this essential reference on their own,” Ms. Martina said. “Providing the PDR Dental Therapeutics online for dental students will give them one of the indispensable references they require as they begin their dental careers.”
The ADA collaborated with Physician’s Desk Reference to post the content of Dental Therapeutics on the Internet, where subscribers can quickly locate dosages and information of clinical significance.
The ADA, PDR, editor Dr. Ciancio, 27 leading practitioners and Colgate-Palmolive transformed the content for digital use, building a database of more than 50,000 drugs.
The database is filled with brief, informative descriptions of drug categories. The online subscription provides access to PDR3D, a digital reference product that pairs the largest human drug label database available with an intuitive search platform allowing for access to critical label information.
Key features include crucial data on dosage, interactions, precautions and adverse effects; clear, well-organized tables on dental therapeutic agents that offer rapid access to information on common drugs used in dentistry; an evidence-based overview of herbs and dietary supplements; and appendices that cover drug-related issues that affect dental practice, including substance abuse, tobacco-use cessation, agents that affect fetuses and nursing infants and others.