Helping Your Gums to Health – Nature’s Medicine

Over the years you may have heard your dentist remarking that your gums need to be healthier. Several treatment modalities have been implemented over decades with relative success. Some patients have improved but many are still losing their teeth in spite of their dental visits and the proverbial “cleaning”.


The gum disease, periodontitis, affects by all statistics over 90% of the adult population. Extensive scientific studies demonstrate beyond any doubt that various major life threatening diseases like heart disease, diabetes, immune disorders and others are promoted if not originated by gum disease.


If your gums are not healthy they represent a major entrance port to your bloodstream for many microorganisms with devastating consequences. Seeing your dentist twice a year for your “cleaning” is just not enough. Daily brushing and flossing will help but then why does the majority of the adult population still suffer of gum disease? What else can be done?


Many habits like smoking, alcoholism, teeth grinding and. . . (continue reading on my website)

Bonding or Whitening, Which is Better?

The possibilities of improving your smile today are quite diverse and, for the most part, comfortable enough for everyone. Due to commercial advertising throughout all media, more people than ever before are interested to upgrade their appearances. What better way to start than with a brighter and younger looking smile?


Asking your dentist about the diverse aesthetic possibilities is without doubt the most recommended process for obtaining the information you’ll need for an ideal decision, which will fulfill your aesthetic expectations and be customized to your budget as well.


The cosmetic industry discovered quite early the immense market for smile-improving products of all kinds and presented the consumer with a broad palette of “do it yourself” or “in home” aesthetic enhancing methods.


Major market chains began offering their customers “in store” teeth whitening as an instant gratification product. In principle, and at first glance, such improvements. . . (continue reading on my website)

Diabetes and Your Dental Health

According to the medical statistics, some health afflictions such as diabetes and heart disease rank very high on the national medical budget.   Insurance companies are allocating ever increasing expenses to cope with the epidemic proportions of such diseases.  It is easy to see why enormous efforts are subventioned for medical research to find modalities of control and understand the cause/effect mechanism of these degenerative diseases and their effect on the body.


Not long ago, independent medical studies have shown and been repeatedly confirmed that these degenerative diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, immunological disease and other metabolic disfunctions are correlated with gum diseases.  The microorganisms populating the gum pockets around teeth have been found to influence, stimulate and aggravate these degenerative diseases.


All the food we consume and the air we breathe is loaded with bacteria.  Under normal circumstances our immune system would intercept and annihilate these bacterial intruders without any impact to our health.


The problem, of course, starts when the concentration of such bacterial colonies increases past the capacity of our immune system.  When gum pockets deepen with the increasing retention of plaque and calculus due to complex causes, the dramatic explosion of bacterial. . . (continue reading on my website)

White Fillings. . .Good or Bad?

How many times have you examined your old metal fillings in the mirror, wondering what can be done to make them look better?  Have you also questioned your dentist about the options he has to offer in this instance?


Your old amalgam fillings  have been placed in your teeth probably a long time ago by your childhood dentist when you were in your early teens.  Some of them are very big indeed, others are still functioning quite good even though they show multiple cracks and abrasions.


At an early age our adult teeth have not yet reached their later strength.  The development of our teeth is such that their final strength requires a long period of mineralization.  Therefore, teenagers’ teeth are more susceptible to fast developing decay.  In other cases the natural development can be disturbed by different. . . (continue reading on my website)

No Dental Insurance? What to do?

Depending on your present dental needs, you may be ok with dental insurance if the costs are not prohibitive.  However, if major repair to your teeth has been postponed for a long time and your dentist is advising you not to stretch the time, you may be in a pinch in these critical economic times.  Some years back when many of our patients lost their insurance (and it is still happening) we decided to help them in a way, making it possible for them to continue with their dental care. 

We established a particular program (which is not a plan or an insurance) which doesn't cost any money to join.  People are very happy to participate in this program since the fees we established are comparable to otherwise expensive plans and benefits.  Check in your area if some dental offices may have similar services.  It is true that in today's time not too many offices can afford to lose income based on reduced fees; everything becomes more expensive with each day.  However, we consider on our side that helping our patients in reducing their costs represents a higher benefit to everyone involved.

Reducing your dental costs . . .Intelligently

Recently you may have been proposed a dental treatment which you certainly need, but in today's economy would be impossible to pay for.  Your dentist may have explained to you the necessity of it and you probably feel that he is right.  Some treatments unfortunately have no substitute; you cannot negotiate the condition of a tooth which needs a root canal.  For example, in more lucky instances however, a different dental approach can save you lots of money and still deliver an dentally acceptable result.  How do you go about this? 

First, you should ask your dentist about an alternative treatment and analyze carefully with him the pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages toward the initially proposed treatment.  Another possibility would be to obtain a second opinion.  What is a second opinion?  It is the qualified advice by another dentist (in this case) after examining you and listening to your concerns.  Could the second opinion lead to the same treatment recommendation?  In many cases, yes; then you know that you have no other choice.  If you are lucky, there will be another solution which will satisfy the dental need as well as your budget.

Metal Fillings... to replace them or not to replace, this is the recent question.

Everyone . . . well, maybe there are a few exceptions . . . think that the ugly, old looking metal fillings are no longer a fashionable presence on our teeth.

The advertising in magazines and of course on all the television channels promote a clean looking, healthy mouth as a result of whitening processes, improved oral hygiene and utilization of an enormous arsenal of dental products and devices.

The cosmetic procedures offered today by dental medicine become more and more diverse and convenient for the patient.

It is only natural, that the patient will address the problem of the old fashioned and unattractive metal fillings to their dentist. Particularly after experiencing the astonishing results of a recently done teeth whitening, the majority of such patients. . . (continue reading on my website)

No Pain, No Drilling, No Injections

Children, as well as many adults, are terrified about the thought of going to the dentist. In the days of old, dentistry was not a pleasant experience. Even today, one of the major fears is the anticipation and worry about the procedure of filling cavities. Traditionally it involves injections to numb the pain of drilling and the actual drilling necessary to clean the decay out of the tooth. Consequently, many patients avoid seeing the dentist for as long as possible or until the pain is unbearable, which often leads to more serious problems.

“Times, they are a changing.”

Today’s recent advancements in dentistry offer numerous patient-friendly technologies. The most friendly and pleasant. . . (continue reading on my website)

Returning to a Pearl White Smile

It is a natural phenomenon of aging that over the years teeth change color and get much darker due to the formation of accumulation from a variety of reasons with minute cracks. Today, it seems that everyone these days is focused on teeth whitening (also know as bleaching). Due to these modern day demands, there is a large and ever growing palette of whitening possibilities for the consumer. However, it is important to be informed when selecting a method of whitening.

There are two ways of brightening your smile – the inexpensive, over-the-counter method preferred by the do-it-yourselfers, or to have it done professionally by your dentist. If price is the deciding factor, over-the-counter options will win, but upon closer analysis these facts may help you to choose differently.

To obtain satisfactory results, over-the-counter whitening chemicals must be strong and can be harsh on teeth, but they painfully affect the gums as well. To produce the desired effect, the chemicals must have intimate contact with the tooth surface.  If teeth have accumulated plaque and invisible films of sticky deposits, the whitening gel will only act on the unaffected areas and this may result in spots of different shades on the teeth.

The whitening process in a dentist’s office is always preceded by. . . (continue reading on my website)

Are Veneers For You?

Dentistry today offers a large variety of options to everyone wanting to improve their natural smile.

In the early stage the orthodontist with the help of braces can modify the misaligned natural teeth and bring your bite to the desirable configuration.  Later on additional improvement can be reached by employment of porcelain crowns and veneers.  Color can be augmented with a less intrusive and more economical procedure: teeth whitening.

How would patients decide for themselves what option would be most indicated, most economical, more comfortable, longer lasting and finally offering the most dramatic improvement of all?

Your dentist – especially a cosmetic oriented one – may advise you after a consultation and proper examination.  Depending on your dental condition, budget and desired changes, the proper treatment can offer you the smile you’ve always wanted with a minimum of discomfort.

If the option in question will involve dental veneers vs. crowns, the veneers will require less tooth reduction and. . . (continue reading on my website)

Dental Plan Dilemmas

Every year or so employers may offer you the choice, when selecting your next dental plan, between a DMO and a PPO type plan.  How will you decide?  Do you have all the facts to select the right plan for yourself and your family?  Who will give you all the facts – clearly stated and unbiased — as well as easy enough for a layperson to understand?  The human resources personnel in your company might not even understand what your questions really imply.  Can you get the answers you desire from the insurance companies themselves?  Not a chance.  Our experience over many years, dealing with insurances, shows us clearly that no patient … and absolutely no one… clearly understands the ideas behind how these convoluted insurances work out their plans.

Where is the place and who is the person to turn to when you are in need of a complete spectrum of answers to your insurance dilemma?  A possibility, of course, would be to discuss your choice with your trusted dental office.  Will they have the answers?  Will they be willing to spend precious time in educating you in this matter?  Well, this all depends on several factors and. . . (continue reading on my website)

Permanent Rejuvenation, Without Painful Injections

For over two decades, and even longer, the concept of rejuvenation of the face was exclusively considered to be in the hands of the plastic surgeons.  Any person aspiring to improve their physical appearance and shaking off years of the aging process will seek the services of the plastic / aesthetic industry and will be willing to undergo painful injections with all manner of substances such as Botox, Restylane and others.  Even illegally combined administrations have occasionally made waves in the press.

Considering the generally short duration of these improvements and the necessity of re-treatments, the costs and discomfort–or real suffering—of such repetitive applications had to be always taken into close consideration by the patient pursuing rejuvenation.

Other procedures such as epidermal abrasions, acid peels and so on have also been employed and continue their popularity even in these times, supporting the multibillion dollar cosmetic / aesthetic industry.

The desire to look better and feel decades younger is very understandable particularly in our times when. . . (continue reading here on my website)