PPR symposium set for session
The ADA will hold its first Professional Product Review symposium, “Closing the Information Gap with the ADA Professional Product Review” Oct. 16 at 8:15 a.m. at the 149th Annual Session of the American Dental Association in San Antonio, Texas.
The program, which offers 2.5 continuing education credits, will demonstrate how dentists can use the PPR’s product evaluation results in their practices by examining individual brand decisions, product comparisons, manufacturers’ claims, clinical relevance and product selection based on patient needs.
The symposium panel will examine intraoral cameras, electric handpieces, infection control and CAD/CAM.
Annual session participants will also get a chance to evaluate seven electric handpieces in the PPR’s Hands-On Evaluation, Oct. 16-18, in the ADA Pavilion. Those who take part in the product evaluation and watch a special slide presentation on handpieces will receive one credit.
“By adding the continuing education component, we have reached another goal our PPR team set early on,” said Dr. David Sarrett, PPR editor. “We hope to continue to expand this area in the future for our readers.”
This is the PPR’s fourth evaluation forum and it allows dentists to evaluate professional products side by side. Last year, participating dentists evaluated eight different intraoral cameras. The results of their evaluations, along with data from extensive tests in the ADA Laboratories, are featured in the Summer 2008 issue of the PPR, which mails with the July issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association.
The Summer PPR issue features input from more than 1,400 dentists who rated camera characteristics from “excellent” to “poor” on a nine-question survey.
Readers will also find helpful tips on what to look for when purchasing an intraoral camera, such as focus and lighting concerns, software requirements and weight balance.
The PPR is a quarterly newsletter designed to help members with product selection for their practices. Product selection for each review is based on input from members of the ADA Clinical Evaluator Panel. The ACE Panel comprises more than 2,500 volunteer member dentists who participate a few hours each month by responding to product evaluation surveys.
For more information, go online to www.ada.org/goto/ppr.