Category: Opinion & Editorial

Next month marks the five year anniversary of my joining the faculty at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. It can’t possibly be that long. Time is racing by and it really was a pandemic ago. COVID taught us many things, but one important lesson was that the future is fluid. In the new world, agility and adaptation are more ... [continue reading]

Consider, if you will, three thought experiments … If today was a holiday in your honor, how would we celebrate? Last month was St. Patrick’s Day. Next month has Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. There’s a day for almost everything now. And there are so many “days” that every day of the year has at least one holiday. There are websites ... [continue reading]

Two things happened recently that prompted me to write this. The first was an online story entitled, “Amazon’s Alexa Now a Healthcare Provider?” in “Medscape in Focus.” The second was the Ohio legislature’s action on telehealth that was positively influenced by ODA’s lobbying effort to minimize the likelihood that Ohio’s citizens ... [continue reading]

In my private office (that’s the room within my dental office building containing my desk, a couch, and multiple photos of my wife and granddaughters) there is a closet. It’s actually a rather large, walk-in type of space with shelves for books, keepsakes and “whatnot.” So recently, I happened to stumble upon some “whatnot” – several ... [continue reading]

Approximately 66 million years ago, an asteroid struck the earth, triggering a mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs and some 75% of all species. Marking the end of the Cretaceous period, it was a life-altering event! Somehow, mammals survived and thrived in the new landscape, becoming dominant across the planet. Paleontologists ... [continue reading]

When I first started this leadership journey in dentistry several years ago, I relied on the sage advice of mentors before me. Though I had certain identifiers … female, endodontist, mother, married and ahem … Canadian (lol), I was told to not make it about being female or a specialist or a minority. To have impact in this domain, I needed to ... [continue reading]

I was relaxing in the courtyard outside of new Postle Hall at Ohio State. It was a warm fall afternoon and I had decided to eat my lunch out on one of the park benches. Sitting in the sun, I must have dozed off … It was a quiet cough, really just an “Ah-Hem” that drew my attention. He had politely roused me from my nap. I squinted in the ... [continue reading]

Dear Dr. Commarato, While I do not have the space nor the inclination to address every issue in your letter I find troubling, I feel there are several assertions you make that warrant a response. In your letter you mention the word “science,” or some version of it, 11 times. Yet nowhere in the text do you site any actual sources to ... [continue reading]

WARNING, LONG RANT COMING!! So I just got an email from a local medical center’s foundation. It asked for a gift to support their nurses. Nurses are certainly among the most over-worked and under-appreciated health care workers out there. Hospitals are under-staffed as COVID continues to fill beds and nurses are sick or afraid to work. I don’t ... [continue reading]

The ODA Leadership Institute is a great way for Ohio Dental Association member dentists to hear about the latest information related to dentistry from experts in the field, get some free CE, and enjoy some fellowship with dental colleagues. What? The ODA Leadership Institute is a two day in-person event that will feature informative sessions ... [continue reading]