Midwinter Meeting 2012 ends in Chicago

From the first post to the last, this blog coverage of the 2012 Midwinter Meeting at McCormick Place in Chicago began and winds down with author photos courtesy of the Dentsply booth. This year the company had free photos taken at the event by Chicago-based A Moon Jump 4-U, the reps for which were kind enough to email me the above photo in addition to giving me a print copy so I wouldn't have to scan the latter for inclusion on this blog.

I should note that my hair is blonde, not orange. For some reason the camera turns me into a redhead each year. Still, getting my photo taken at Dentsply booth at the Midwinter Meeting each year has become an annual tradition, so I asked the rep at the booth a bit about this process.

The rep told me that of the handful of backgrounds offered for the photos -- others included images that made it look as if you were riding in a canoe or jumping off a waterfall -- the one that I chose has been the most popular this year. I imagine that's probably because it was the most conservative design in the sense that you don't really have to act the part for the photo while in a room full of sharply dressed dental professionals.

The rep said there were definitely more hygienists who took advantage of the service than there were dentists -- this despite the Chicago Dental Society's figures listing nearly twice as many dentists as hygienists in attendance. He also said they go through about a box of photos a day during the event and that there are about 500 in each box, so that's a lot of photographs.

The Midwinter Meeting went pretty much as expected this year, and while my wife and I both had a good time we were certainly excited to see our 2-year-old daughter after three days away. I'll write a wrap-up post highlighting more about the event soon. If you have anything you'd like to share about the event this year, feel free to email me at midwintermeeting (at) gmail.com.

Midwinter Meeting 2012 exhibit booth photos

Better late than never, here are some additional photos from the 2012 Midwinter Meeting exhibit hall at McCormick Place in Chicago, as promised. My wife and I unexpectedly left the event earlier than planned and I had terribly limited use of a camera, so there are only a few. My main goal for next year: Remember to bring my camera.

The photo above features the Glowrite booth, one of the more visually arresting booths at the event. That's probably a good thing, as catching peoples' eyes is exactly what their products are designed to do. I meant to ask the rep how many dentists actually use the Glowrite signs in their offices, or what the rep thought the benefits would be specifically for dental professionals -- as cool as the signs are, for instance, I can't see them matching the decor at my wife's dental office -- but he was with a customer each time I saw him and I ran out of time at other booths.

The next photo was taken at the Philips Sonicare booth and shows one of the sink-filled alleys where attendees could try out the company's AirFloss product. The photo was taken Saturday morning while things were relatively calm, but the sinks were packed on Friday afternoon.


My wife told me this morning I should note the thick carpet Philips had underfoot at their booth, which after walking around McCormick Place in heeled boots all weekend was "like walking on pillows" and was much appreciated.

Many booths at the event offered giveaways or interactive elements, like the two featured below from Plak Smacker and MedPerform, where attendees could spin the wheel for a chance to win various prizes. An interesting side note: In the course of conversation with the rep from MedPerform, I found out she's a fellow graduate of Western Michigan University. Small world.



These are just a small fraction of a small fraction of the booths that were available for browsing at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting. Next year -- armed with a camera and additional time -- I plan to offer a more thorough representation.

What were your favorite booths? Feel free to send pictures and/or information about your experiences at the event to me at midwintermeeting (at) gmail.com.

Just say no to mouth breathing

Every second of every day, every person on the planet is faced with a choice: breathe through the nose or breathe through the mouth. According to the instructor of my wife's oral pathology course at Midwinter Meeting yesterday afternoon, way too many of us do the latter.

Apparently the proper way to breathe is through the nose, with your mouth closed, your teeth together and your tongue resting flush with the hollow of the palate at the roof of your mouth. Breaths should come just once every six to eight seconds.

Try that for a while. Not very comfortable, is it? At least it wasn't for me.

That said, I kept at it for a half hour or so and I actually got pretty used to it. People who breathe like this all the time, subconsciously, apparently have more energy and endurance, along with other benefits my wife told me and which I probably would have remembered if I'd been breathing through my nose instead of my mouth for the last 29 years.

Another reason not to breathe through your mouth if you can help it: Among the definitions of "mouthbreather" listed by Urban Dictionary is the entry, "a really dumb person." Yikes.

The photo above is by orphanjones and was found in the Flickr Creative Commons.

Clinicians Report is like 'Consumer Reports for dentists'

Shortly after stopping by the Midwinter Meeting exhibit hall booth for the United States Dental Tennis Association this morning, I stopped briefly to chat with two reps at the CR Foundation's Clinicians Report booth about gold before realizing that their "Gold Standard" banner was meant to refer to the quality of their product, not their product itself.

Meaning for some reason I thought they were a gold supplier for dental labs, which they're not.

In defense of my confusion, I used to work for a guy whose wife ran a dental lab in their basement, and he was always carrying on about the rising cost of gold. There aren't many people I can usually talk to about that who are interested, so when I do find someone there's a good chance the subject will come up.

Anyway, the confusion didn't last long, and I ended up having a brief conversation about what the company actually does do, which is test dental materials and publish their findings in a publication called Clinicians Report. (The reps said they also have a hygienist-specific publication.)

One rep described the organization as being like "the Consumer Reports for dentists."

According to the organization's website, the foundation was "organized as a unique volunteer effort where clinicians worldwide unite their expertise for the sole purpose of testing all types of dental products and disseminating results to colleagues throughout the world."

Sounds good to me.

The image above is by dentalsupply and was found in the Flickr Creative Commons.

The U.S. Dental Tennis Association sounds fun

I swung by the Midwinter Meeting exhibit hall booth for the United States Dental Tennis Association this morning to see what it's all about. The rep at the table told me the organization holds two continuing ed seminars each year, featuring a conference on the east coast in the spring and on the west coast in the fall.

Dental professionals at the seminars attend courses each morning, "then play tennis the rest of the day," the rep said.

He said the group is mostly made up of dentists, but they also allow for "auxiliary members" including dental assistants, hygienists and even attorneys.

The organization's website says its membership currently consists of more than 300 dentists from the United States and Canada. The next meeting is scheduled for April 22 through 28 in Kiawah Island, S.C.

The image above is by morgueFile user ardelfin.

Midwinter Meeting 2012: Day 3 begins

Day three of the 2012 Midwinter Meeting has begun in Chicago with the usual hustle and bustle as members of the global dental community are rushing to their various appointments, courses or -- as I plan on doing shortly -- are making their ways to the Dentsply booth in the exhibit hall to get their photos taken on Molar Mountain.

I'm still camera-free, which means I'll likely limit posting till I can secure a good way to grab images to accompany posts, but hopefully I can get some good shots of various booths in the exhibit hall that show more detail than the overhead shots I took yesterday. (The photo above is one of those photos.)

Some observations from yesterday afternoon's brief walk-through in the exhibit hall:

• There was a huge line wrapping about three-quarters of the way around the fairly large Opalescence Tooth Whitening Systems booth, so that's popular this year. For whatever reason, many of the people in line were wearing Burger King-esque crowns made of blue cardstock.

• Gendex brought a full-sized bus emblazoned with the words "Experience Gendex" on the side and parked it in the exhibit hall, which I'm sure would have been interesting to watch.

• Another long line was forming at the Philips Sonicare booth, where people were waiting for a chance to try something called AirFloss over sinks set up for that purpose.

• Something that may only be interesting to those outside the dental field, who aren't used to it: You'll never see more fake/model teeth than you will in the exhibit hall of a dental conference.

• Also interesting: There are a number of booths devoted to dental eyewear, often including funny-looking attachments -- presumably for magnification purposes -- that make them look like something straight out of a Tim Burton film.

• The number of comfy-looking dental chairs may make you want to take a nap partway through your walk-through.

• Then again, the number of sharp, torture-chamber-image-inducing dental instruments displayed in booths around the hall may be enough to keep you up till you can make your way to Starbucks.

• A number of booths were like jewelry counters -- I specifically noted the Hu-Friedy booth in my notes when referencing this -- with women gathered over the instrument trays as if they held diamonds, while dental reps explained the various ins and outs of each one.

Hopefully I'll get back to the hall soon -- preferably with a camera -- for some additional observations. Stay tuned.

Midwinter Meeting 2012: Day 2 ends

Another day gone of the 2012 Midwinter Meeting. I'm not going to write much tonight because it's late and I'm spent from the past few days, but here's a quick recap of the afternoon.

I spent a little over half an hour checking out the booths in the exhibit hall and still only made it about halfway through. The fact that I wasn't stopping to chat or anything and was moving pretty much the whole time is a testament to how big the place is. I took some notes and got some info that I hope to follow up on and write about tomorrow.

My wife's second course of the day focused in part on what she called "mouth breathing" when we discussed it on the drive back to our hotel this afternoon. She related some interested info that I again plan on delving into sometime tomorrow.

Unfortunately my wife has been more reluctant to give up her iPhone during her courses, which means I may be without a camera tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Cheers till then.

The photo above of McCormick Place is another gem from John Picken and was found in the Flickr Creative Commons.