Our young patient gets a good checkup at his dental cleaning.
Reply
Good news at the dental office.
This morning a young boy came in to have his biannual teeth cleaning and fluoride, and this is what we saw. The baby tooth had split in half, with the permanent tooth pushing its way through.
Even though the baby tooth was split in two, the patient was not having any discomfort. The remnants of the baby tooth were very loose. The hygienist joked
“If he were to sneeze the pieces could come flying out.”
Seasons of Smiles Dental recommendations? Go chew on some carrots, or maybe some hard crunchy bread, anything that will encourage the pieces to come out. Everything else looked healthy!
Great checkup!
This is the patient’s last baby tooth, as he will be turning 13 this summer. Any ideas what happens when this young boy loses his last baby tooth? Much to his mother’s sentiment . . .
. . . a boy becomes a man!
How long has it been since your six month cleaning? Give us a call at Seasons of Smiles Dental at (207) 236-4740. We’re here to check your smile!
Rockport YMCA
TAKE THE ZERO SUGARY DRINK PLEDGE!
Penobscot Bay YMCA – Zero Sugar Sweetened Beverages Pledge
A shout out to Jason Wood and the Penobscot Bay Rockport YMCA. We just received some email informing us about the Zero Sugary Drink Pledge. We think it’s a fabulous idea for the oral health of you and your kids. We at Seasons of Smiles Dental accept your challenge and take your pledge!!!
No Sugary drinks except water and lowfat milk. We’re in!!! We just need to check with Jason and check out the rules on Sugar Free Moxie.
Our pledges have been mailed in. Our fingers are crossed. Great incentives, we are definitely hoping for the family pool party at the Y.
Below is a copy of the email we received, in case you didn’t get your invitation.
TAKE THE ZERO SUGARY DRINK PLEDGE!
The Penobscot Bay Rockport YMCA, 5210 Let’s Go! and Knox County Community Health Coalition (KCCHC) are committed to promote and provide education for healthy living to our community.
During the month of May, we are excited to introduce a challenge to eliminate Sugar Sweetened Beverages from your family’s diet. For those who sign the pledge, the Y will provide support with weekly email health updates, two guest passes as well as enter you into a drawing for a family pool party!
Download the pledge today!
You can email your pledge to Jasen Wood at penbayymca.org, drop off at the Y, or mail to: PO Box 840, Rockport, Maine.
Questions? Please call Jasen Wood, Y Senior Program Director at 236.3375 ext. 211
The Crazy Amount Of Sugar Hiding In Random Foods
The Crazy Amount Of Sugar Hiding In Random Foods
Sugar is Everywhere
What is it with dentists and sugar? When I saw this video, I couldn’t help but think of one of our favorite dental patient kids, I would see him on a regular basis, around town, with a big liter bottle of Mountain Dew soda, and I couldn’t help but cringe knowing that I would have to break the bad news to him at his next dental cleaning. To my pleasant suprise, it still amazes me that his teeth could be bathed in Mountain Dew on a regular basis and never get a cavity. Why is it? It just doesn’t seem logical!
I don’t think there is an easy answer, but if I had to come up with a short answer, all I can say is decay is a multifactorial problem, and sugar is a big factor!
This youTube video is definitely a huge argument for eating unprocessed whole foods.
As your dentist we would encourage our patients to be very careful with sugar for your teeth’s sake. And on a side note, if you feel like you need to lose a few pounds, this would be one area of your diet you may want to focus on.
One can of Coca Cola has 39 grams of sugar.
The other interesting tidbit in the video is that the “light” salad dressing had more sugar than the regular salad dressing!?!?
How many of the other products shown in the video such as Tropicana 100 Orange Juice, Monster Energy Drink, Bush’s Country Style Baked Beans, Muesli Cereal, Fruit Loops Cereal, Starbucks Frappuccino, Snickers Candy Bar, Wish Bone’s Salad Dressings, Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, McDonald’s McChicken sandwiches, Cliff Bar with Chocolate Chips took you by surprise?
If you have any questions or concerns about your teeth, please give us a call at (207) 236-4740.
Thank you BuzzFeed Videos for this great video illustration.
What is the Number One Worst Food For Your Teeth?
What is the Number One Worst Food For Your Teeth?
By. Dr. Mark Burhenne, DDS
Did you know that candy is not the No. 1 cavity-causing food? You’ll probably be thrilled to learn that dark chocolate actually promotes good dental health. The worst food for your teeth may surprise you.
THE CAVITY-CAUSERS IN YOUR PANTRY
Don’t go crackers
Brace yourself: The No. 1 most cavity-causing food in the world is actually the saltine cracker. This fact shocks most of my patients, since crackers are everywhere and are even given to toddlers as a healthy snack. Saltine crackers are worse than candy for your teeth because they’re a fermentable and highly processed starch. Many people don’t realize that most crackers are highly processed and contain genetically engineered ingredients, essentially increasing the glycemic index and making the food more cariogenic (cavity-causing).
Dental-damaging sugar doesn’t just come from sugar
What’s wrong with sugar? There are naturally occurring bacteria in your mouth that love sugar and proliferate out of control when your diet is full of these processed simple starches. What happens when you eat a saltine cracker? The bacteria in your mouth have a feast, which allows them to multiply beyond the proper balance in your mouth. Ever noticed how saltine crackers or Goldfish become sticky in your mouth as you’re chewing them? Even better for the bacteria, that sticky goo gets stuck between your teeth and the bacteria can feast for even longer.
Bacteria is literally wasting your enamel
Saltine Crackers?!?!?
Just like any organism, after bacteria have a meal, they have to “go to the bathroom” afterwards — and this is the stuff that causes bad breath and tooth decay. Yup, you can blame that on bacteria literally “pooping” in your mouth. I use that word to impress my pediatric patients and I encourage you to explain it this way to your children as well. Eating simple starches once or twice won’t make your teeth rot — it’s years of cumulative habits. Cut these foods out of your diet and you won’t wake up 10 years later wondering why your teeth look like your grandmother’s.
Opt for healthier grains
If you have children, replace saltine crackers and Goldfish with a whole-grain cracker made of ancient grains like Mary’s Gone Crackers. This simple act will affect your children’s dental health for the rest of their lives. Not surprisingly, saltine crackers aren’t the only simple starch to avoid. Beware of the cavity-causing foods lurking on supermarket shelves and in your kitchen — anything with white refined flour wreaks havoc in your mouth. As you’re taking stock of cavity-causing foods in your pantry, make sure you put dental-friendly foods on your shopping list. Try my list of the best foods for your teeth.
Source: http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/983591/saltines-are-worst-food-for-your-teeth
Dentures – Frequently Asked Questions FAQ – Conclusion
If you or a loved one has questions regarding dentures and would like to meet with us, we can be reached at (207) 236-4740. We would love to help you have the best possible denture possible.
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here? It would be fun to do another denture for a patient for Donated Dental Services. What can we do to make a better denture? What can we do that is “New and and Improved“?
Dentures with Color Characterization
One of my pet peeves with dentures is the pink acrylic. We like dentures that look natural. It’s a dead giveaway to a denture when someone smiles widely and you can see the pink acrylic. As a dentist, I do all I can to try to hide that pink acrylic under the lip. Last summer, I did a few dentures using a new technique in which the dentures’ pink acrylic is done with color characterization. The first case I did gave me goose bumps! When I delivered the denture to the patient’s mouth, I was stunned — it seemed like the denture disappeared. I couldn’t see the boundaries of the denture; when looking in the patient’s mouth, all I could see were the teeth and the patient’s mucosal tissue. It blended in perfectly, to the point where my eye couldn’t detect anything unnatural.
I love this idea! The patient doesn’t have to worry about laughing. It disturbs me when patients have to concentrate on keeping their lips together, so as not to show the pink acrylic.
This color characterization is relatively new. The technique for the lab is challenging. I have spoken to lab technicians and they have explained to me how difficult it is, layering the different pink mucosal colors, only to have it all melt in the end. There definitely is a learning curve. We are in the process of working with labs that can deliver this feature in a consistent manner.
Fabricate a denture with less visits.
The next area that I would like to improve on is the number of visits. To do Mike’s case, we needed a minimum of five visits to do his dentures. Can it be done in fewer visits? There is a fair amount of buzz out there now on digital dentures. Some labs are even claiming that they can deliver a denture in two visits! This year, while at Yankee Dental 2013, I was curious, so we went looking.
After listening to a presentation on digital dentures, the main concern I had with this “new and improved” approach was that I as a dentist had no control of where to place the front six upper teeth. I asked how it was determined where the front six teeth were placed. I was told that the computer would decide. We at Seasons of Smiles Dental like to think of ourselves as a high tech dental office, but how can the computer know about the lips, the eyes, and a host of other factors when placing the front six teeth? I must admit I’m skeptical, I’m thinking the old method may be preferred. Everything does seem to be going digital. We will continue to monitor these developments and, at some point, as soon as we see real advantages for our patients, we’ll start offering them.
Use the latest methods in recording a patient’s Centric Relation
Finally, while taking some continuing education at Togus offered by the Maine Dental Association, I was introduced to a dentist by the name of Dr. Joseph J. Massad who showed us some new techniques for making dentures. I believe this is the first time I ever saw the Gothic Arch Tracing Technique. Intuitively, I can see many advantages for doing this. It was fun listening to someone who has a passion for making dentures. I also noticed that Dr. Massad offers continuing education classes in his facilities in Oklahoma. I enjoyed his lecture here in Maine and think it would be a blast to fly out to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to learn more.
- Dentures Introduction FAQ – Our introduction page to dentures and why we love doing them.
- Dentures - Day 1 – This is our first visit with Mike. We review Mike’s health history, and take x-rays. We take photo records, and come up with a treatment plan.
- Dentures - Day 2 – This is a busy visit. We are happy to provide Nitrous Oxide to Mike as we extract two teeth, and take master impressions for Mike’s new smile.
- Dentures - Day 3 – In this visit, we fabricate the dentures out of wax. We pick the color for Mike’s new smile, and the shape of his new teeth. In technical jargon, we fabricated the wax rims to establish Mike’s Occlusal Vertical Dimension (OVD).
- Dentures - Day 4 – Wax try in. The dentures are made with Mike’s final teeth. Everything is in wax. This allows us to make any adjustments necessary.
- Dentures - Day 5 – It may appear that we are done since Mike gets to take his new smile home. We will have some follow up visits after this one, to adjust out any sore spots.
- Dentures Conclusion FAQ – Mike comes in for a check up, and we take a video. Check out Mike’s new smile.
Dentures FAQ – Introduction
Are dentures a right fit for you?
I have a photo of my mom taken in 1985, and it’s a rare photo because my mother and her 4 sisters and 7 brothers got together for a family photo. The sacred 12. 12 siblings with ages ranging from 56 to 88 years of age, living in all parts of the U.S. My mother appears to be very happy in the photo, I do know that she dearly loved her brothers and sisters, and she adored being with them. In the photo my mother is smiling, and I love looking at my mother’s smile and comparing it with that of my aunts and uncles.
My mom’s dentures.
My mom has the best smile, middle row on the right.
In one of my uncles’ smile, not seen clearly in this photo, but in others, it appears that there is something small stuck between my uncles’ teeth, but when you zoom in with the computer you can see that he had a gold foil restoration. I can’t help but smile. The dental school I went to taught us gold foil. It was a state of the art technique, and I still have my dental instruments for it. It was an expensive technique that was used long ago, and these days I can’t imagine an indication when we would use this type of restoration anymore. I do find it interesting that my uncle had access to that level of dental care.
In the photo, I think my mom has the best smile. I admit I may be biased. When I compare my mother’s denture to some other dentures in the photo, one small difference emerges. The Buccal corridor. The buccal corridor is the dark space visible between the corners of the mouth and the upper teeth. For some google photos of buccal corridor press here. My mom’s denture had it, it’s subtle, and many may think of it as insignificant, but I think it makes my mom’s denture look 100 percent natural. In the same photo, one of mom’s sisters has a denture as well but the difference is that in her denture, there is no buccal corridor. In my eye, it screams out “denture”. I prefer dentures that look so natural and normal, that they disappear.
I don’t know who my mom’s dentist was, I never thought to ask her ‘way back then’, but I would like to think we at Seasons of Smiles Dental take just as much care and have a passion for making dentures like the one they made for my mom. We want you to like your smile.
We love making dentures.
Through the years we have participated with Donated Dental Services in giving back to our community. We recently received a letter from DDS, informing us about Mike, asking us if we could help him out with new set of dentures. What a neat opportunity.
We know that there are many people who have questions about dentures, and we asked Mike if he would allow us to share his case with others on the internet, in exchange for a new smile. Mike graciously accepted the arrangement.
Do you have any questions about dentures? How they are made? How many visits? What can be my final expectations? What are my choices on color, shape? In this case, start to finish we had 5 visits. On the fifth visit, Mike was walking out the door with his new teeth. There were some follow up visits to do some minor adjustments on his new smile. We have provided details of the five main visits, so that you can get an idea of what it takes to make a new denture. On our last visit we took a video to share with you, so you can see what his denture looks like while he speaks. And when he smiles.
- Dentures Introduction FAQ – Our introduction page to dentures and why we love doing them.
- Dentures - Day 1 – This is our first visit with Mike. We review Mike’s health history, and take x-rays. We take photo records, and come up with a treatment plan.
- Dentures - Day 2 – This is a busy visit. We are happy to provide Nitrous Oxide to Mike as we extract two teeth, and take master impressions for Mike’s new smile.
- Dentures - Day 3 – In this visit, we fabricate the dentures out of wax. We pick the color for Mike’s new smile, and the shape of his new teeth. In technical jargon, we fabricated the wax rims to establish Mike’s Occlusal Vertical Dimension (OVD).
- Dentures - Day 4 – Wax try in. The dentures are made with Mike’s final teeth. Everything is in wax. This allows us to make any adjustments necessary.
- Dentures - Day 5 – It may appear that we are done since Mike gets to take his new smile home. We will have some follow up visits after this one, to adjust out any sore spots.
- Dentures Conclusion FAQ – Mike comes in for a check up, and we take a video. Check out Mike’s new smile.
Is This The Best Tooth Extraction Method You Can Possibly Imagine?
Do you need a tooth pulled? Or have a Dental Emergency? Wait! Don’t pull out the bow and arrows; No need to tie a string to your tooth and the door knob and slam the door! Give Seasons of Smiles Dental a call – we have state of the art equipment to help make your dental needs or dental emergency as comfortable as possible. Give us a call, we’re here for you. During office hours we can be reached at (207) 236-4740, after hours we can be reached at (877) 437-2644.
A shout out to gizmodo.com for this great gif.
Donated Dental Services (DDS)
The State of Maine and The Maine Dental Association thankfully acknowledge Dr. A. Norman Medina for volunteering for the Donated Dental Services (DDS) Program, a humanitarian service for disabled, elderly, and medically-compromised people.
Dental Lifeline Network * Maine
More than Dentistry. Life.
Maine Donated Dental Services (DDS)
P.O. Box 2282
Augusta, ME 04338-2282
Phone/FAX: 207.620.8276
www.DentalLifeLine.org
Dear Colleague:
We are so grateful that you volunteer for the Donated Dental Services (DDS) program and hope you have had a rewarding experience. You are among 15,192 dentists and 3,350 laboratories nationally that enabled 7,400 people with disabilities or who are elderly or medically fragile to get over $24 million in essential care. In our state, 208 other dentists and laboratories donated $309,758 in services for 97 patients. The attached annual report provides more details and includes information about several remarkable cases.
Despite all the wonderful stories about people whose lives have been changed, we are continually challenged. With the lingering impact of a weakened economy, more vulnerable people are asking for help at a time when funding sources in some states are limited. These factors make it difficult to raise enough money to support all of our volunteers. In some states, we do not have enough staff to ask all of the volunteers to help – something we are working to change every day.
We hope your DDS participation as a volunteer brings you and your staff great satisfaction commensurate with the overwhelming value of your service to people who desperately need your help.
Again, thanks so much for your participation. Enclosed in the 2013 participation tab that can be affixed to the grid at the bottom of your plaque.
Our warmest wishes for a happy and prosperous 2013!
Sincerely,
(signed)
Michael Bufo, D.M.D.
Chair, Maine DDS program
(signed)
Ann Caron
DDS Coordinator
Helping People With Disabilities or Who Are Elderly or Medically At-Risk
Dental X-rays and Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Flies into Portland Maine 2013!!!
We at Seasons of Smiles Dental are so excited about Southwest Airlines flying in and out of Portland Maine. We just love Manchester New Hampshire, we have driven there so many times, sometimes I think we can drive there with our eyes closed. Have you ever picked up loved ones at the airport in Manchester? It’s an all day event. If we have a choice though, Portland Maine would be my pick.
But what in the world does Southwest Airlines, or flying, have to do with dental X-rays? Last week we were at Yankee Dental taking some continuing education courses. We were in a lecture given by Dr. Gordon J. Christensen. I just love listening to Dr. Christensen’s lectures. He is definitely a big favorite among dentists, for a number of different reasons. The following slide you see was taken from his lecture. In the lecture he is discussing digital dental x-rays. The basic question he is answering is, how safe are dental x-rays? The approach that he is taking in answering the question is by comparing dental x-rays with other forms of radiation.
How safe are dental x rays?
How safe are Dental X-rays? – This slide was presented at Yankee Dental, January of 2013 by Dr. Gordon J. Christensen.
According to his slide, One Chest CT Scan Equals
- 1,400 dental radiographs
- 240 five hour flights
- 70,000 back scatter airport scans
- 19 years of smoking a pack of cigarettes per day
(JAMA; Lancet; American College of Radiology Quoted in Time June 25, 2012)
I’m going to state this in a slightly different manner. I am such a math nerd, I hope I don’t mess up in front of all my internet friends. How much radiation is there in 1 Periapical dental X-ray? When you go for your next cleaning and your hygienist tells you “Mrs. Jones, it’s time for your yearly bitewings.” That would be 4 PA’s.
According to the presentation given by Dr. Christensen, where he compares radiation that you get from flying at a higher altitude, and radiation you get at your dentist office, you get:
1400 PAs is the same as 240 flights at 5 hours or (=) 1200 hours of flying time.
which implies that:
1 PA is the same amount of radiation as spending 51 minutes flying.
Is that all? So, when you have your yearly bitewing x-rays of 4 PAs, at the dental office, it’s less radiation than you would get from flying from Portland, Maine to Los Angles, California.
I must admit I am scared of flying, but everybody tells me it’s safer driving than flying. At least I don’t have to worry about the radiation that I get when I’m having my teeth checked.
Dr. Christensen did go on to explain that because of the decreased radiation, the x-rays are not as diagnostic as they used to be. If you think of the dental x ray unit like a flash light, the older flashlights were a lot stronger and you could see a lot more. The new and improved digital X-rays are weaker and you see less. What he went on to say is that at the very beginning of a new cavity, the old x-rays would have detected the decay, the new and improved X-rays, not as much.
We love the idea of catching decay while the cavity is still small, they can be so easy to fix, less pain, and so much less complications. But because the new and improved X-rays are not as strong, YOU NEED TO GET YOUR X-RAYS YEARLY, so as not to miss anything. Dental X rays are now safer, and more important than ever.
We love all things related to your smiles. If you have any questions, give us a call at Seasons of Smiles Dental (207) 236-4740.
Blogging Analytics
WordPress report for Seasons of Smiles Dental 2012 (Press on photo to see report.)
What is analytics? To be completely honest, I’m not 100% sure. If I had to venture a guess, it would be similar to the idea of little boys, throwing rocks in a pond, just to see how big a splash the rock makes. I think blogging is similar to throwing rocks into the internet pond, analytics is the tool that lets you measure how big the spalsh is.
The two main analytics tools that we use for our office website are Google analytics, and the Jetpack plugin by WordPress. I just received some email from Jetpack with a yearly report that we could share with others, showing the overall impact our website had for the year. Press here to see our 2012 online report for our website.
We at Seasons of Smiles Dental love technology, technology that works for you, and your teeth!!! If you have any questions or concerns, give us a call at (207) 236-4740.