In November 2020, Glidewell launched its new podcast titled “Chairside Live: Dental Insights.” The podcast tackles the challenges that dentists face every day and discusses the latest advancements in dentistry — with top experts in clinical dentistry, business and practice management.

Hosted by Dr. Neil Park, vice president of clinical affairs at Glidewell, the podcast features edgy, concise and informative episodes packed with practical clinical tips and business strategies. Season 1 features interviews with dental leaders Jim Glidewell, president and CEO at Glidewell; Dr. Jack Hahn; Dr. Charles Schlesinger; Dr. Paresh Patel; and Greg Minzenmayer, chief operating officer at Glidewell. They share their perspectives on restoring and placing implants, the ins and outs of same-visit dentistry, the struggles of navigating business during COVID-19 lockdowns, and the outlook for the future of dentistry.

To access “Chairside Live: Dental Insights,” find it on your favorite app (e.g., Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, and Google Podcasts) or visit chairsidelivepod.com.

On Nov. 19, 2020, Glidewell Clinical Education conducted its first virtual hands-on course, “The Perfect Crown: Finishing, Polishing and Cementing Monolithic Zirconia Crowns.” Participants enrolled in this course attended via Zoom and received a complimentary hands-on kit prior to instruction that contained everything needed to complete the course, including a posterior BruxZir^® crown on an articulated model, BruxZir™ Adjustment & Polishing Kit and RelyX™ Luting Plus Automix RMGI Cement. During the course, taught by Dr. Justin Chi, director of clinical technologies at Glidewell, attendees learned the steps of adjusting contacts and occlusion, and the techniques for polishing, bonding and cementation. Doctors acquired new and innovative techniques to deliver a monolithic zirconia restoration, and earned 1.5 hours of CE credit.

Although this virtual hands-on course was initially offered as a one-time program, due to its success, Glidewell will be offering this course throughout the year. To learn more details, view the schedule or enroll, visit glidewellcecenter.com.

In the spring of 2020, as travel declined and dentists stayed close to home, the need for online clinical and business education was amplified. Addressing the challenges and needs of practices across the country, Glidewell Clinical Education accelerated its online, on-demand educational programs, which now provide doctors with more than 60 hours of available CE credits on nearly every topic relevant to today’s ever-changing dental landscape — with courses on implant dentistry, restorative and esthetic techniques, in-office milling, dental sleep medicine, practice management, and more.

“We launched our e-learning platform in the fall of 2019, with a vision for making Glidewell Clinical Education a world-class online training site that would allow clinicians to select from relevant courses that would best impact their practice,” said Dr. Neil Park, vice president of clinical affairs at Glidewell. “With extensive collaboration among our faculty to develop high-quality curriculum, we now provide one of the most robust online CE platforms available to the dental profession.”

In 2019, Glidewell made a significant investment in education, adopting a user-friendly platform that blends formal, social and experiential learning modalities to help improve the way clinicians learn. Online instruction, which was designed and developed by Susmitha Valvekar, program manager of online training at Glidewell, launched with 10 courses and has grown to 53 courses. The program has provided more than 22,800 CE credits to more than 13,000 participants.

Branching out from its on-demand learning platform, Glidewell launched another new digital program. In 2020, to help dentists navigate the challenges of COVID-19 closures, reopenings and practice recovery, Glidewell introduced the Online Study Club, a live webinar series that now has more than 50,000 course attendees. To date, the Online Study Club has provided practice assistance with two goals in mind: 1) to ensure clinicians have the latest business and financial information to achieve practice success; and 2) to provide clinical instruction to help attendees become stronger practitioners.

The webinar series features a unique format. The presentation opens with a business advisory panel, where a CPA (Brad McKeiver; Aprio LLC), practice management expert (Dr. Roger Levin; Levin Group) and private practitioner (Dr. David Hochberg; Atlanta, Georgia) all dive into the most up-to-date issues facing practitioners. Then the webinar jumps straight into the main clinical presentation, with a different instructor and topic each week, and ends with a short Q&A session.

Some of the most well-received webinars include instruction on implant dentistry. Other popular topics include courses on bone grafting, esthetic dentistry, sleep apnea and digital dentistry. Participants have expressed their appreciation for this concise and informative structure.

“You don’t have to take an entire Friday off just to attend a course,” said Dr. Park, describing the webinar schedule. “If you have 40 minutes of open time during the day, you can take an online course. It’s economical with regard to saving time.”

Attendees can participate in Glidewell’s e-learning programs by enrolling in a free on demand course at education.glidewelldental.com or a free live webinar at glidewelldental.com/studyclub.

Smile Bulletin, a new dental blog from Glidewell, covers a range of topics designed to enhance today’s general dental practice. With a focus on dental technology, clinical tips and practice management, the editorial road map has led to articles about zirconia restorations, digital dentistry, implants and dental sleep medicine, among other subjects.

Looking to crack the social media code? Readers can learn from social media stars such as Dr. Julie Davis, a TikTok doc who has built an audience of more than 150,000 followers on the platform. Want to know what it’s like to begin treating sleep apnea patients? Blog visitors are encouraged to read “My First Dental Sleep Medicine Patient” posts to learn from GPs who’ve helped patients overcome sleep disordered breathing. And for a behind-the-scenes peek at the latest dental technology, readers can explore such topics as Glidewell Intelligent Manufacturing (IM), which uses bold new applications that enhance the accuracy and precision of dental restorations.

Fresh content is posted every week. To read the latest blog articles, visit Smile Bulletin at glidewelldental.com/company/blog.

On Oct. 25, 2020, during its annual meeting, the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) elected Dr. Timothy Kosinski as its editor.¹ Dr. Kosinski has served as associate editor since 2015, and he replaces longtime AGD editor Dr. Roger Winland, who retired after 24 years of service.

“Teaching and writing are innate in me, as I prolifically publish my clinical cases in the dental literature and have written chapters in two textbooks,” said Dr. Kosinski. “During my two stints as editor of the Michigan AGD, I learned that I enjoyed gathering information on members and promoting the profession. As a longtime member of the AGD Communications Council, retiring editor Dr. Roger Winland asked me to become the AGD associate editor five years ago. I took that as an incredible compliment. The job as editor is to set a framework of excellence in our publications that our members will enjoy. I wish to continue the tradition of Dr. Winland’s excellence and lead in the creation of highq-uality publications that will make all our members proud.”

Dr. Kosinski graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry and received a Master of Science degree in biochemistry from Wayne State University School of Medicine. In addition to serving on the editorial review board of numerous dental journals, Dr. Kosinski has published over 200 articles and contributed to textbooks on the surgical and prosthetic phases of implant dentistry.

Dr. Kosinski lectures extensively, and is currently a faculty member of Glidewell Clinical Education, where he teaches live, hands-on courses and presents webinars for the Online Study Club. As an early adopter of the Hahn™ Tapered Implant System, Dr. Kosinski has served as instructor for the Hahn Webinar Series, and he’s been an avid contributor to Glidewell publications, including Chairside^® magazine, since 2010. Dr. Kosinski has a practice based in Bingham Farms, Michigan, focused on implant dentistry. Most recently, he became a grandfather for the first time, with the birth of his granddaughter, Brooklyn, in September 2020.