The Temporomandibular Joint and the Principle of Balance: Reflections from Daoist Philosophy There is a particular moment in clinical dentistry that is easy to overlook. A patient sits in the chair with a painful temporomandibular joint, fatigued muscles, restricted movement or a history of recurrent symptoms. The radiograph may show a disc displacement or degenerative […]
Category: The Patient
Silver Diamine Fluoride: A Small Change in Treatment, or a Larger Change in How We Think About Caries? A clinical advisory by Dr Syed Nabeel There are certain papers in dentistry that are interesting because they introduce something new. Then there are papers that make us pause and reconsider something we thought we already […]
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains one of the most formidable challenges confronting oral healthcare professionals. Despite substantial advances in ablative surgery, reconstructive techniques, radiotherapy, systemic therapeutics, and precision oncology, improvements in long-term survival have been comparatively modest. This paradox reflects an enduring clinical reality: prognosis is determined far more by the stage at diagnosis […]
What the latest U.S. federal wage data may be telling us about the changing economics of dentistry. For nearly three decades, orthodontists occupied an almost mythical position in American salary rankings. Year after year, lists published by CNN, Forbes, and other media outlets—largely derived from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data—placed orthodontists among, and […]
From Blood Pressure to Tranexamic Acid—Rethinking the Science of Bleeding Control in Oral Surgery The most important instrument in oral surgery is not the forceps. It is judgment. Dental extraction is frequently described as one of the most routine procedures in healthcare. Yet the word routine often disguises an important truth: extraction is […]
To Err Is Human. But At What Price? A root canal can fail. An implant can fail. A crown can fracture. A root can crack years after treatment. Even the most carefully planned and meticulously executed dental treatment remains subject to biology, healing, patient factors and time. No dentist—whether in India, the UK, […]
— A reflective dialogue between Dr Puja Khanna and Dr Syed Nabeel Prologue: The Question That Sets the Tone The morning had just begun to settle. The espresso, warm and familiar, carried with it a quiet sense of ritual. I dialed Dr Puja Khanna. She answered with a soft laugh. “Let me guess—espresso?” “Always,” I […]
Blogs By Dr. Syed Nabeel | The Times Of Dentistry
National Dental Commission India 2026:A Structural Overhaul of Indian Dental Education
By Dr. Syed Nabeel Founder, DentistryUnited | Dental Clinician & Educator | Expert in Dental Curriculum Reform Published: March 2026 | DentistryUnited.com In a decisive policy shift effective March 19, 2026, the Government of India has replaced the Dental Council of India (DCI) with the National Dental Commission (NDC), formally repealing the Dentists […]
Blogs By Dr. Syed Nabeel
The Biology Beneath the Bite: Occlusion, Implants, and the Logic That Governs Both
In 2010, I was on a late-night international call with an NMD-trained dentist in the United States. I was not calling to argue philosophy. I was calling because something in the biomechanics of daily dentistry refused to sit quietly in my mind. I had been thinking deeply about occlusion, implants, bridges, vertical dimension, force transmission, […]
I opened my laptop one quiet morning, coffee beside me, scrolling as I usually do. Somewhere between emails and headlines, one article stopped me in my tracks: AI Takes Center Stage at Harvard School of Dental Medicine Symposium. I clicked. As I read, I didn’t just see technology. I saw possibility. And a thought […]