SweetwaterSmiles - Cosmetic & Laser Dentistry

A Bite out of History

2010-04-01T13:47:00.000-04:00

People of ancient times believed that the stabbing pain of a toothache was caused by a toothworm, which either had appeared spontaneously or had bored its way into the tooth. If the tooth pain was severe, it meant that the worm was thrashing about, but if the aching stopped, then the worm was resting. Cultures all over the world, many of whom had no contact with each other, held stubbornly to this myth. The folklore of the toothworm persisted from ancient times to the beginning of the eighteenth century.

Folk Cures

• Bee: Honey, a product of bees, was used to coat an infected tooth in the Middle Ages. People smeared their aching teeth with honey and waited all night with tweezers in hand, ready to pluck out the toothworm.

• Donkey: In ancient Greece, donkey’s milk was used as a mouthwash to strengthen the gums and teeth.

• Frog: Besides spitting in a frog’s mouth for toothache relief, these web-footed creatures were applied to a person’s cheek or to the head on the side of the ailing tooth.

• Onion: In the Middle Ages a slice of onion was applied to the ear on the side of the aching tooth.

There's no need for enduring pain if you don't want to. Since over 90% of dental disease is a cause and effect relationship, you can have a future based on choice instead of chance....IF your dentist takes the time to identify the factors causing problems in your mouth and them eliminates them.

When Thumb Sucking Becomes a Problem...

2010-03-28T22:48:00.000-04:00

Infants have a natural instinct to suck as a way of nourishing and soothing themselves. Often, this leads to the child sucking on their fingers, a blanket, a stuffed animal or their thumb. Usually, this habit is given up by age 4. If it continues, it can be extremely detrimental to the development of their teeth and jaws causing crooked teeth, an incorrect bite, speech problems and/or open-mouth breathing. This habit may result in psychological trauma if it continues into school age when the other children tease them.

What should a parent do? If possible, try to switch them to a properly designed pacifier that fits the shape of the mouth. Pacifiers are less likely to create the same developmental problems [by distributing forces over greater area], are usually discarded by the child at an earlier age and are easier to hide than a thumb. If the thumb sucking is during the day, discuss the problem with them to discourage the habit. Placing a band-aid on their thumb as a reminder may help. Be positive and praise them when they remember. And reward them for their success.

It is more difficult to control thumb sucking when the child is asleep, because the child is unaware of this involuntary action. So, try this habit-breaking technique that is usually successful within two weeks. Before your child goes to bed, wrap a 2-inch wide ace bandage lightly around their fully extended arm [straight]. Start about 3 inches from their armpit and continue down past the elbow. This will not prevent your child from putting their thumb into their mouth. However, as soon as they fall asleep, the tension created by bending the elbow will pull the thumb from their mouth.

If your child is still sucking on their thumb or anything else by the time their permanent teeth erupt [around age 6], please call it to the attention of our office.

The Multivitamin Scam

2010-03-24T11:33:00.001-04:00

The April 2010 issue of Reader's Digest has an interesting article in it about the futility of trying to become "healthy" by taking multivitamins. Here are some of the "Myths" that are commonly believed by many:

Myth #1: A multivitamin can make up for a bad diet. There is NO substitute for WHOLE FOODS.

Myth #2: Vitamin C is a cold fighter. Buyer beware!

Myth #3: Vitamin pills can prevent heart disease. You'd be better off eating a whole foods based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Myth #4: Taking vitamins can protect against cancer. Neuhouser's enormous multivitamin study disproves this idea.

Myth #5: Well...it can't hurt to take them, can it? Vitamins are safe when you get them naturally in whole foods, or from the juice of whole foods.

I believe that beginning in Eden, God gave mankind everything they need to growth and stay healthy in the fruits, vegetables, and grains he provided Adam and Eve. There are thousands of nutrients in whole foods that modern science hasn't figured out yet as far as what their benefit is. But what medical science IS figuring out is that it makes no sense to segregate out a few nutrients and take massive quantities of them while ignoring those we don't understand yet.

There really is no substitute for whole foods!

A Beautiful Smile Is Precious And Priceless!

2010-03-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

Did you know that the shape, shade, length and spacing of your teeth could significantly affect your smile? And our smiles can greatly affect our self-esteem and confidence. Common conditions that impact negatively on your smile include broken, cracked or worn teeth, discolored teeth, missing teeth, crooked teeth, decayed teeth, gaps between your teeth and/or "gummy smiles." The good news is that with modern technology and improved materials, these situations can be dramatically changed to create natural looking and long-lasting beautiful smiles.

Each patient and each specific circumstance must be evaluated on its own merits. Factors such as occlusion [bite], oral habits, available space, health of the gum tissue, severity of the problem and patient expectation must be taken into consideration while planning your Smile makeover.

Depending on the situation, there are a variety of choices that all result in excellent esthetic outcomes. For whiter natural teeth, in-office or at-home bleaching [whitening] techniques are available. Repairing teeth or closing spaces may be accomplished with tooth-colored composite resin bonding, porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns.

These procedures vary in time and cost and have differences in longevity and appearance. If you're not satisfied with your smile or want to learn if you're a good candidate for any of these remarkable techniques, call our office for a cosmetic consultation.

The Great Amalgam Debate

2010-03-23T08:35:00.000-04:00

Since just before the start of the Civil War, dentists have been using mercury/amalgam alloys as fillings for cavities. Amalgam restorations (silver fillings) consist of a combination of the metals silver, tin, copper, and zinc. They also contain mercury (and some of the older amalgam restorations contain considerable amounts of mercury). The fact that amalgam is inexpensive, durable, and easy for the dentist to work with in your mouth makes it the most widely-used restorative material in the world today. However, the mercury content of amalgam has been the subject of debate within the dental community for more than 150 years. It's a debate that's getting a lot of attention these days.

Medical and dental science has known for centuries that mercury is highly toxic. It's been proven that even just the smallest amount of mercury in a human body can damage cells. While some experts still say that there is no cause for concern over the health-related effects of mercury, a growing group of medical and dental professionals believe that mercury introduced into the human body does, in fact, produce a long list of negative health effects. These negative health effects include neurotoxicity, renal (kidney) dysfunction, birth defects, reduced ability to fight illness and disease, and compromised general health.

What's more, even low-level exposure to mercury has been shown to produce such symptoms as anxiety, fatigue, stress intolerance, headache, and depression. In 1984, the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology was formed to research the safety of amalgam restorations. Today, despite the fact that the US Public Health Service still says that there is no link between amalgams and health problems, a growing number of scientific studies indicate that amalgam mercury indeed can and does pose a health threat to patients.

Your comfort and safety is always our priority. As a result of the ongoing health controversy surrounding the use of mercury in amalgam fillings, our office policy will be to use only ceramic, porcelain, gold, or composite restorations that are stronger, better looking and environmentally friendly, when your restorations are being replaced due to decay, fracture or ill fitting restorations.

Our office has taken steps to minimize your exposure to mercury vapor during removal of old amalgam fillings by using an isolation device called the Isolite, which is designed to surround the tooth with high speed suction and thereby collect all the mercury vapor being released as the old filling is being removed.

For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.sweetwatersmiles.com

Choices

2010-03-10T14:00:00.001-05:00

For most people, their teeth are one of many different choices a person makes when deciding what they wish to enjoy. There are many other options a person can choose to spend their time or money on, such as fancy cell phones, big screen TV’s with surround sound, nice cars, jewelry, or computers...just to name a few. Were you aware that in the USA one third of adult Americans over 65 have chosen to have NO teeth, and 2/3 have chosen to have 10 teeth or less? With statistics like that in the wealthiest nation on earth with the most advanced dental care, why do you think this is the case? While the majority of us have the financial means to make the choices above, it’s true that there is a small indigent population that has to choose sustenance over oral health and therefore doesn’t have much of a choice. That being said, we also know that 80% of Americans are not indigent....which means a LOT of people are ignoring their oral health.

Is a lack of dental insurance the problem? There’s no insurance to purchase big screen TV’s, stereo systems, computers, and nice clothes, but yet people find the money to buy these things anyway. When you take into consideration that a check up costs about the same as what the average lady spends on getting her hair done (even without “hair insurance”), this argument loses even more steam. In fact, more money is spent annually in the United States on dog food than is spent on dentistry? Do you think that some people just value other things more than their teeth?

The solution is NOT dental insurance. Depending on the plan up to sixty cents on the dollar goes to administrate dental insurance and forty cents on the dollar goes to pay for actual dental care. Insurance companies are not here to help the patient; their primary objective is to provide a return on investment to their shareholders.

Since about 90% of all dental disease is preventable, the real problems are:

An insufficient amount of value placed on oral health versus other things.
Inadequate home care
Poor diet choices (too many sweet &/or acidic foods, beverages, and snacks,
Infrequent check-ups/preventative care

It’s not just about your saving your teeth and gums

More and more evidence is being found concerning the systemic link between gum disease and the health of your heart. In fact, gum disease has been linked to heart attacks, strokes, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and pancreatic cancer, just to name a few.

So what can I do?

Elevate the value you place on your oral health by brushing AND flossing daily, minimize the intake of sodas, energy drinks, & sugary snacks, and most of all, visit your dentist regularly for proper preventative care. Prevention is not expensive, but neglect can be!

Which toothpaste is best?

2009-12-07T09:39:00.000-05:00

I get asked this all the time, so I thought I'd address this in my blog today. The bottom line is that toothpaste provides some benefits, such as fluoride to strengthen the surfaces of your teeth and help prevent decay, but it is the physical removal of the plaque with your toothbrush and floss that really cleans your teeth...not the toothpaste. I think that the general public sees toothpaste in much the same way they do soap....that is, they believe it is necessary to clean their teeth. The reality of it is that no toothpaste is needed at all to get your teeth clean. Toothpaste provides flavoring and foams up (making people think it's cleaning like soap), and it usually has added ingredients that offer "some" benefits such as fluoride, limited whitening abilities, and tartar control....but that's about it. Any brand toothpaste that contains fluoride and the ADA Seal of Approval, to attest that there is evidence of its safety, reliability and effectiveness through clinical trials, is acceptable. It makes no difference if the toothpaste is a gel, paste or powder or which flavoring agent is used.

If you have sensitive teeth, you should avoid whitening toothpastes because they will worsen the sensitivity. In addition, some patients will report inflamed gums that literally peel after using tartar control toothpastes. If you notice peeling gums with any toothpaste discontinue it's use at once and switch to a milder toothpaste with just fluoride in it. Remember...it's mostly just providing flavoring after all....you don't need it to get your teeth clean.

Painless fillings are a reality with Dental Lasers!

2009-11-18T23:14:00.001-05:00

Are you afraid of needles? Hate getting shots? Or maybe you just don't like the lingering sensation of "numbness" after your dental visit is over with. With dental lasers such as the amazing Powerlase AT...shots are rarely necessary. It removes tooth decay, old resin fillings, and numbs the tooth....ALL AT THE SAME TIME! There's no shot, then waiting for 5-10 minutes for it to take effect before beginning. As soon as the patient sits in the chair we can begin right away! Here are some observations from patients after having had their fillings done the "high tech" way...Let's start with Alfredo...

Now let's hear from Marilyn...

Sweetwater Smiles

Migraine relief at Sweetwater Smiles

2009-11-18T16:10:00.001-05:00

Are you suffering from migraine headaches? Tired of taking a lot of strong medications to alleviate the pain? Were you aware that almost 3/4 of all migraine headaches are due to clenching your teeth during sleep? Here's an interview I did for Fox35 news in Orlando about the NTI-tss splint for the prevention of migraines. More information can be found on my website, Sweetwater Smiles.

Private Care Dentistry

2009-11-12T14:45:00.002-05:00

Healthcare in America has undergone quite a change in the past few years. It may surprise you to learn that more than 50% of all physicians in the U.S. are now employees, either of an insurance company, hospital group, or other physicians, instead of being in independent private practice. An alphabet soup of letters have become recognizable by everyone; HMO’s, PPO’s, IPA’s, DMO’s, to name a few. When the Clinton’s failed in their plan to let government take over our healthcare system, big business and the insurance companies stepped in and took over medicine. Since physicians and hospitals depend on insurance reimbursement for a large majority of their income, they had no choice but to agree to the dictates of the insurance industry. Whether or not these changes have been beneficial or not is debatable. Every day we hear a new horror story involving someone having their health placed in jeopardy by an HMO more interested in saving a dollar than in their well being.

Now the same forces that have taken over medicine have turned their sights on dentistry. Since only half of the population has dental insurance, it has not been quite so easy to get this process going, but begun it has. Every week I receive a new offer in the mail to join a different dental plan. There are two basic types being offered as an alternative to traditional insurance. The most common type is the PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), which asks the dentist to accept anywhere from 25-50% less than their usual fee in exchange for access to a pool of patients that are encouraged to choose a dentist “off the list.” The patient can still see whomever they choose, as long as they’re willing to pay the difference between what the PPO’s fee schedule allows, and what their dentist’s normal fee is. PPO systems create an environment that puts pressure on the dentist to do as much as possible, seeing more patients during the day, and sometimes working longer hours, to make up the loss. It’s difficult to provide personalized attention and do quality work in a rushed fashion. In addition, it’s impossible to employ the quality labs we use, keep up with the latest technologies, and hire the finest employees for our team at 25-50% less than our usual fees.

The other type is called capitation, and is not insurance, but a dental “plan.” No claim forms are needed, since the dentist can not file a claim for reimbursement. Dentist’s who participate in these plans have agreed to accept roughly $7.00 per month for one person ($15.00 per month for an entire family), in exchange for a pool of patients that have chosen them from a list of participating dentists. The patient pays nothing for preventative visits, and a small co-payment for restorative services. $10.00 for a filling, on up to about $240.00 for a crown, are close estimates. Other than the $7.00 per month, this is all these dentists receive. These type of plans encourage just the opposite of a PPO plan, which is to see as few of the patients on your list as possible. Obviously, $7.00 per month doesn’t buy much in the way of quality, care, concern, cleanliness, and attention to detail. Employers choosing this plan for their employees can only be interested in cost containment, not quality. Capitation plans are sometimes offered “free” to employers by the insurance companies as a “loss leader” to entice them to purchase their more profitable medical coverage. One of the things both of these plans have in common is that virtually any dentist with a license and adequate liability insurance qualifies. The end result with both is a system that manipulates not only the healthcare provider, but the patient as well. Most patients don’t want to be involved in a system that encourages either overtreatment, or undertreatment of their needs.

In 1995, I was privileged to join many dentists from all over the country in the founding meeting of the Foundation for Private Care. We are dentists who have become concerned over the fact that patients in our country are becoming the victims of the abuses and inequities as mentioned before. I'd like to share with you a couple of points from this exciting session.

To begin with, we took a long look at the definition of a professional. A professional IS a professional for these reasons:

· We pursue the common good of individuals first, not our own personal good.

· We are committed to respecting the inherent worth, value, and dignity of each person.

· A profession is a vocation, a commitment to a way of life, not just a way to make a living.

· It is the professional who is the patient’s advocate.

· We organize, not to protect our own self‑interests, as do labor unions and trade associations, but rather to promote the public good.

In a nutshell, we believe that there is a disturbing trend today which is actually disease-care, masquerading as health-care! Most emphasis is placed on treating symptoms of disease, not dealing with causes (i.e. no true prevention). Patients are being treated passively, and not being allowed to participate in their own prevention of disease.

We believe this is not only unhealthy for people in the long run, but is also unjust and possibly immoral treatment, based on today's health knowledge!

Label: Sweetwater Smiles

Dental Wellness

2009-11-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

The most important service any dentist or physician can offer is a thorough examination, diagnosis of the existing conditions, and a treatment plan that serves the short-range and long-range needs of the patient. It is my philosophy that dental health is something that YOU, the patient, give yourself. Unfortunately, health care as practiced in this country is frequently, in effect, “disease care.” That is, services are rendered and paid for only when the patient is in pain or has a problem that he is aware of. The patient assumes a passive role with little or no control while the doctor treats the effect of the disease process with little regard to the cause. The net result of this is “patchwork treatment”; the patient never gets better--he gets worse more slowly.
The health care that we promote in our office is based on a “wellness” concept. That is, all treatment beyond emergency care is aimed at stopping the disease process. In an alliance of shared responsibility, we are able to restore dental structures to maximum comfort, function and appearance in a manner that is consistent with the patient’s goals and values and, most importantly, the prevention of future disease. In this model, the patient assumes a very active role for he/she ultimately must be responsible for his own health.
Our responsibility is to help you understand the causes of your dental disease, to help you understand the value of “optimal care,” and to help you set goals that will allow you to attain optimal dental health. Quality should be the constant....time the variable.

Label: Dental Wellness, Sweetwater Smiles

Periodontal Disease...The Secret Killer?

2009-11-11T21:46:00.003-05:00

So…What does Periodontal disease or a splinter in a finger have to do with your risk of developing diabetes, having a stroke, or suffering a heart attack? More than you might think. As scientists delve deeper into the fundamental causes of those and other illnesses, they are starting to see links to an age-old immunological defense mechanism called inflammation--the same biological process that turns the tissue around a splinter red and causes swelling in infected gums.

The instant potentially dangerous microbes slip into the body, inflammation marshals a defensive attack that lays waste to both invader and any tissue it may have infected. Then just as quickly, if everything works properly, the process subsides and healing begins.

Every once in a while, however, this whole process doesn't shut down on cue….and when this happens, inflammation becomes chronic rather than transitory. In effect, the body turns on itself--with after effects that seem to underlie a wide variety of diseases.

It can destabilize cholesterol deposits in the coronary arteries, leading to heart attacks and potentially even strokes. It can cause diabetes, osteopenia, respiratory diseases, and many other problems. In other words, chronic inflammation may be the engine that drives many of the most feared illnesses of middle and old age.

Inflammation causes the tissues to swell and become red. (No wonder the ancient Romans likened inflammation to being on fire.)

Our immunological defenses fight pitched battles until all the invading germs are annihilated. In a final flurry of activity, a last wave of cytokines is released, the inflammatory process recedes, and healing begins.

Problems begin when our immunological defenses can’t destroy all the bacteria. This is the case with Periodontal disease since the bacteria are shielded from our bodily defenses by hiding within the tartar.

Another good hiding place is within sticky protective barriers known as BIOFILM. This inability to completely kill all the infection causes the inflammatory process to persist and become chronic, which causes the body to release the inflammatory proteins that are the point of this discussion.

Further compounding the problem is this sad statistic: there are over 140 million American adults with moderate to severe Periodontal disease, and only 3% seek & receive treatment of their disease. The vast majority of the country is walking around with a potentially deadly disease process that is going untreated.

Among the first to recognize the broader implications of this were heart doctors who noticed that inflammation seems to play a key role in cardiovascular disease.

IS YOUR HEART ON FIRE?

Not long ago, most doctors thought of heart attacks as primarily a plumbing problem. Over the years, fatty deposits would slowly build up on the insides of major coronary arteries until they grew so big that they cut off the supply of blood to a vital part of the heart. A complex molecule called LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, provided the raw material for these deposits. Clearly anyone with high LDL levels was at greater risk of developing heart disease.

There's just one problem with that explanation: sometimes it's dead wrong. Indeed, half of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. Not only that, as imaging techniques improved, doctors found, much to their surprise, that the most dangerous plaques weren't necessarily all that large. Something that hadn't yet been identified was causing those fatty deposits to burst, triggering massive clots that cut off the coronary blood supply. In the 1990s, Ridker became convinced that some sort of inflammatory reaction was responsible for the bursting plaques, and he set about trying to prove it.

To test his hunch, Ridker needed a simple blood test that could serve as a marker for chronic inflammation. He settled on C reactive protein (CRP), a molecule produced by the liver in response to an inflammatory signal. By 1997, Ridker and his colleagues at Brigham and Women's had shown that healthy middle-aged men with the highest CRP levels were three times as likely to suffer a heart attack in the next six years as were those with the lowest CRP levels. What they have discovered is a complex interplay between inflammation, insulin and fat--either in the diet or in large folds under the skin. (Indeed, fat cells behave a lot like immune cells, spewing out inflammatory proteins (cytokines), particularly as you gain weight.)

In the meantime, there are things we all can do to dampen our inflammatory fires. Some of the advice may sound terribly familiar, but we have fresh reasons to follow through. Short of living on anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin or ibuprofen for the rest of our lives….what can we do?

Losing weight induces those fat cells--remember them?--to produce fewer inflammatory proteins. (cytokines) So does regular exercise, 30 minutes a day most days of the week.

Regular check-ups combined with GOOD home care (Flossing your teeth) combats gum disease. Without Good Periodontal Health, you can’t have good general health. Call Sweetwater Smiles for an appointment today! (407)786-2552.

Proper diet. Fruits and vegetables are full of substances that disable free radicals. If you can’t get the proper amount (or variety) of several different types of fruits and vegetables each day, a Whole Food based supplement such as Juice Plus is a great alternative.

Diseases associated with Periodontal disease:

Respiratory infections—from inhaling bacteria from the mouth. This can cause pneumonia and other lung infections.

Severe Osteopenia—which is a reduction in bone mass. This is especially a problem with post menopausal women

PreTerm or low birth weight babies—Pregnant women who have periodontal disease may be seven times more likely to have a baby that is born too early and too small. Oral microbes can cross the placental barrier, exposing the fetus to infection.

Stroke & Heart disease—We’ve already been talking about how inflammatory proteins caused by chronic infections/inflammation like periodontal disease increase your risk for both Strokes and heart attacks. In fact, the New England Journal of Medicine reports that elevated CRP levels are a better indicator of your chances for stroke or heart disease than your cholesterol levels.

Diabetes—Research has emerged that suggests that the relationship between periodontal disease and diabetes goes both ways - periodontal disease may make it more difficult for people who have diabetes to control their blood sugar.

Severe periodontal disease can increase blood sugar, contributing to increased periods of time when the body functions with a high blood sugar. This puts diabetics at increased risk for diabetic complications. Thus, diabetics who have periodontal disease should be treated to eliminate the periodontal infection.

In my opinion, there is no better means to bring the inflammatory & infectious processes of Periodontal disease under control than Laser Periodontal Therapy using the amazing Periolase MVP-7.

Portions of this post were taken from the Feb. 2004 issue of Time magazine entitled "The Secret Killer." More information can be found at Sweetwater Smiles.

Label: Gum disease, Laser Periodontal Therapy, Periolase MVP-7, LANAP, Inflammation