Volume 8 • 2021 • Issue 1

and basic prevention. “The tool was developed to primarily be used by non-dental primary care providers. We know that children from low-income households, those living in rural and remote regions of Canada, Indigenous children and children from newcomer families face particular challenges in accessing oral health care.” The tool will prompt users to refer children to dental providers in order to establish dental homes for children and apply fluoride varnish if children are determined to be at high risk for caries. “Evidence from the U.S. has shown that the oral health community can successfully partner with non-dental providers to ensure that young children receive these basic oral health preventive services,” says Dr. Schroth. “We hope this tool will lead to more children getting connected with a dental provider and receive topical fluoride varnish applications.” Caries Risk Assessment Tool Partners Inter-professional core participants: • Canadian Academy of Paediatric Dentistry • Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry • Canadian Paediatric Society • Office of the Chief Dental Officer of Canada • Public Health Agency of Canada Knowledge representatives/observers: • Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry • Canadian Dental Assistants Association • Canadian Dental Association • Canadian Dental Hygienists Association • Canadian Dental Therapists Association • Canadian Dental Regulatory Authorities Federation • College of Family Physicians of Canada The tool is linked within the 2020 Rourke Baby Record and available at: https://umanitoba.ca/CRA_Tool_ENG_Version.pdf I read the ‘From the President’ column by Dr. James Armstrong in the most recent issue of CDA Essentials magazine (see Issue 7, 2020, p. 7) . In that column, Dr. Armstrong was musing about the recent year, the challenges facing our younger colleagues (in particular) and thoughts about the factors that will improve our outcomes in the future. He talked about colleagueswhoused ingenuity, frugality andpracticality to weather tough times and reap success down the road. He stated that “the biggest factor: a dentist who really listens and acts on a patient’s concerns” was the key to success. These thoughts resonated well with me and I wanted to add to that conversation. It is my opinion that the future of dental practice will be much the way our medical colleagues have gone. We will tend towards larger group practices to cut the costs and stresses of running a dental practice, just like our medical colleagues. Or we will have small boutique practices that emphasize personal service and customer experiences. I discussed that in reasonable length in an article published in the May 2018 edition of the Academy of General Dentistry’s AGD Impact magazine . It is my opinion that success will occur based on the relationships we develop with our team, our patients, our suppliers, our laboratories and more. Ingenuity, compassion and understanding, a return to basics and attention to creating strong relationships will win the day. Dr. Lawrence M. Stanleigh Calgary, AB READER RESPONSE We love to hear from our readers — the dentists of Canada. Please send us your comments or feedback on any articles that you’ve read in the magazine, or let us know what you would like to see in future editions. Please email publications@cda-adc.ca N ews and E vents 18 | 2021 | Issue 1