Over the past few weeks I have had numerous new and existing patients who have had the need to replace single and multiple teeth. Based on the conversations I have had with these patients, there seems to be some common misconceptions about replacing teeth. I would like to share my thought process that I communicate with patients when they are forced to decide between different treatment rationales.
Let me start by using an example of a new patient I had in yesterday. The patient presented with the chief complaint of pain. The diagnosis was an infection of a previously root canal treated tooth which was deemed non-restorable. The only treatment was extraction. The teeth… (Read More)
December 28, 2011
December 21, 2011
Last week I was invited to attend the annual North Eastern Society of Orthodontists (NESO) meeting in Boston. You may ask why I attended an orthodontic meeting when I am not an orthodontist? The reason I was invited was because of the strong interdisciplinary component of the meeting. What is interdisciplinary dentistry?
I’ll use the example of a 38 year old woman I saw just yesterday as a new patient. She had not been to a dentist in a couple of years and wanted to have her teeth cleaned. She saw one of my hygienists, had her teeth cleaned, and then saw me for an examination. My examination of new patients usually includes a… (Read More)
December 5, 2011
Last week, Amesbury residents voted in a relatively narrow margin against the re-introduction of adding fluoride to the public water supply. Fluoride has been added to many public drinking water supplies all over the country for decades in an attempt to combat dental decay. The theory is that ingested systemic fluoride strengthens the developing teeth and makes them less susceptible to decay.
I would bet you would think that I am a proponent of public water fluoridation given my profession. I am not. In fact, I think it is unethical, unnecessary, ineffective, unsafe, inefficient, and unscientifically promoted. Although there is not enough space in this column to go into this in depth, let me… (Read More)
December 1, 2011
I don’t know how you feel but I think this year is just flying by. I guess I feel like that every year. Only one more month left in 2011. For those of you with dental insurance, only one more month to use your dental benefits before they disappear and go toward the bonuses for the insurance executives. That is kind of a joke and it is kind of not.
As you know, if you have dental insurance, you have a yearly maximum amount of money that can be used for dental care. Although that yearly maximum (typically $1000-1500 per year) has not changed for 40 years in most situations, if you don’t use… (Read More)