For whatever reason, I have had a group of patients migrate to my office from a “holistic” dental practice in a different part of the state. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of “holistic” is –“relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts. Holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body.”
Most of us are probably more familiar with the term “holistic” in the medical world than in the dental world. I have done a little research on “holistic dentistry”, and to be honest, I have a lot more research to do. In the future, I plan on writing… (Read More)
Holistic Dentistry
March 9, 2012
The Survey Results Are In
March 1, 2012
A few weeks ago I posted a survey on my office Facebook page that I mentioned in this column. The question was – If someone offered you $1 million, would you allow all of your teeth to be removed? If you haven’t taken the survey and would like to, please go to the Facebook page listed at the end of this column. If the numbers change on this survey I will report them at a later date. For now, here are the results:
75% of respondents were female
12% are missing more than 2 teeth not including their wisdom teeth
75% of respondents consider themselves dentally healthy while the other 25% consider… (Read More)
Wanna Be a Dentist?
February 15, 2012
I’m sure you have heard that dentists are always at the top of the list for suicide, divorce, and substance abuse. I did a little research just to verify that is actually accurate…..and yup, it is. I could go into why I think that is the case, but I’ll let you ponder that one on your own.
Despite the many challenges of this profession, if I could do it all over again, I would still choose to be a dentist. I didn’t decide to go to dental school until late in my senior year of college. People ask me all the time, “What in the world made you decide to look inside of mouths… (Read More)
What Your Mouth Says
February 2, 2012
A few weeks ago there was a large article in The Wall Street Journal entitled, “If Your Teeth Could Talk.” It was a basic review of some of the connections between oral and systemic health and also offered some newer research that I was unaware of.
I have written many times on the growing evidence linking periodontal (gum) disease with many systemic issues. The fact of the matter is the mouth is truly the gateway to the rest of the body. While some early signs of diabetes, cancer, pregnancy, immune disorders, hormone imbalance and drug issues can show up in the mouth long before the person discovers that there is a “problem”, an unhealthy… (Read More)
What would you do?
January 10, 2012
In last week’s column I talked about the trend over the past few years of dentistry taking on a new look. This” new” look is a resurgence back to the days of prevention and maintenance and involves less elective procedures such as cosmetic veneers.
There are still many patients who would like to improve the appearance of their smiles with these elective procedures but are postponing treatment due to the economy. There are also many people who have taken professional dental care completely off their radar for the same reason. This group is in danger of many future dental problems.
I have a hypothetical question to propose. This question assumes you are not… (Read More)
Looking Forward
January 6, 2012
The end of 2011 is here and it is time to reflect on the good and not so good of the past year. We are in a very unstable time in the history of our country and the world. Even if 2011 was not the best year for you, there are always things that we can find to be grateful for.
“If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you will continue to get what you’ve always got.” I’m not exactly sure where this quote came from but it is a good way to reflect on the past year and think about the year to come. I also always publish the list below… (Read More)
Bridge vs. Implant
December 28, 2011
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)
Interdisciplinary Dentistry
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)
Amesbury Nixes Fluoride
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)
Dental Insurance Benefits Expiring
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)