Of braces and implants…

My significant other had his four upper front teeth broken off at the gums a few years ago and is working on getting everything fixed so that it doesnt look so bad now. Looks like he will be wearing braces to pull back down the bottom teeth that have pushed their way up into the open space left by the teeth that broke off. Orthodontist thinks that will take about 2 years to get them back where they belong. He will also be having implants put in to replace those top four teeth. This will require a surgical procedure under anesthesia. All in all it looks like about 2 1/2 years to a great smile for him. Its a long road, but definitely going to be worth it to see him smile and not have to worry about how his smile looks.

Just a wee bit o’ humor….

“Happiness is your dentist telling you it won’t hurt and then having him catch his hand in the drill.” — Johnny Carson

  Toothaches always start on Friday night right before the weekend when the Dental Office will be closed.

  My dental hygienist is cute. Every time I visit, I eat a whole package of Oreo cookies while waiting in the lobby. Sometimes she has to cancel the rest of the afternoon’s appointments. — Steven Wright

At 5 P.M. one Halloween afternoon, my dental hygienist realized that she wouldn’t make it to the store in time to get snacks for trick-or-treaters.  So she took home some free samples from the office supply cabinet.  That night she handed out dozens of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss.  The next year, although she had bags of chips and popcorn, not one child came knocking at her door.

Q: What’s the difference between a dentist and a New York Yankee fan?
A: One yanks for the roots and the other roots for the Yanks.

 

Oral sedation and General Anesthesia

Dentists today seem to be more and more committed to making the trip to the dentist a little more tolerable for people and are looking for new ways to make you more comfortable during your dental procedures. Here are a few of those explained.

 

Analgesia is the reduction or elimination of pain in the conscious patient, such as novocaine injections.

Conscious Sedation is a minimally depressed level of consciousness during which the patient is able to breathe independently and/or respond purposely to verbal command.

Deep Sedation is a controlled state of depressed consciousness accompanied by a partial loss of protective reflexes, including the ability to breathe independently and/or respond purposely to verbal command.

General Anesthesia is a controlled state of unconsciousness accompanied by partial or complete loss of protective reflexes, including the ability of breathe independently and/or respond purposely to verbal command.

 

Patient safety is of the utmost importance these days to everyone involved and dentists are striving more and more each day to achieve that for each and every patient.

 

 

Dentist to the stars and celebrities……

How do the top, hot celebrities get their knockout smiles? They start out just like you and I, not so perfect. Thats OK, nothing a lot of money cant fix right? Seems 9 out of 10 celebs are sporting those ever popular porcelain veneers these days. (I had a roomie once that spent close to $30K on the veneers and getting his teeth perfect, thats just crazy) Fixing problems is one thing, but spending that kind of dough on vanity is just insane if you ask me. I could think of a lot more things I would like to spend $30k on, ya know?

Positive points to porcelain veneers:

• perfect color
• perfect brightness
• close gaps
• fix chips
• straighten crooked teeth
• doesnt stain! (drink all the coffee, tea and red wine that you want without worries!)
  

Something to think about there…….

 

 

 

Dental vanity?

Fixing those teeth and whitening them are the latest rage in tooth care these days. Smile makeovers are the buzz these days. No longer do you have to be content with your teeth. Cosmetic dentists across the nation are changing smiles with various cosmetic dental treatments. Porcelain veneers have been the big buzz over the past few years. There are different types of porcelain but the veneer that’s getting a lot of publicity these days is Lumineers by Cerinate. Their porcelain is exclusively made at the Cerinate Smile Design Studios owned by Denmat Corporation. Their unique difference is they are applied to the patient without having to remove tooth structure as they can be made contact lens thin. This new dental procedure is a non invasive and can be reversed wheras traditional veneers cannot as tooth structure has to be removed. This is not in any way suggesting traditional porcelain veneers are not the answer to improving your smile. In fact most hollywood celebrities that have those perfect smiles have traditional porcelain veneers, there’s not question that the esthetic results is amazing. A few questions that come to mind with Lumineers are the limitations of their use. Its seems that only those that have fairly straight teeth qualify as in many cases tooth structure has to be removed to obtain an esthetic fit so that they look very natural. Time will tell with this new dental procedure. Information regarding the esthetic effectiveness and longevity will be more available as time moves on. For now, lumineers may be worth looking into for consumers that are unhappy with their smile.

Shut up! ;-)~

“A Dentist is the only Man who can tell a Woman when to open and shut her mouth.”

I couldnt resist

How cute is that? All of this dentist and dental talk has me searching for way to lighten it up a bit. Enjoy!

How do you find a dentist?

I did a google search for *find a dentist*. There are a ton of great resources out there these days to help you find a good dentist in your area. Here are just a few I found.

This one from the ADA. http://www.ada.org/public/directory/index.asp

http://dentistdirectory.com/

http://www.everydentist.com/

http://1800dentist.com/

http://www.dentists.com/

Here is one to help you find a great pediatric dentist for your little ones. http://www.aapd.org/finddentist/

Don’t forget the best dentist in tampa.Then there is always word of mouth, I think that is the best way to find a good dentist. Find out who your friends or family use and how long they have been using them. That will give you an idea of whether or not you want to try them out for yourself as well as seeing if they are convenient to your home, work or school.

The Top 10 Signs Your Dentist Is Crazy

1. Keeps trying to sell you extra teeth.
2. His restrooms are labeled “Bleeders” and “Non-Bleeders”
3. Pumps gas into the waiting room in advance.
4. Does an extensive search for cavities…dental and body.
5. He…ummm..licks his tools clean.
6. Gets mad when you mention that 4 out of 5 dentists surveyed line.
7. When you come to from being under the gas, he’s quick to insist that you wore your pants backwards when you came into his office.
8. Wears a necklace made of human teeth.
9. Has a grindstone in the office for his tools.
10. Insists that a Novacaine shot is something that he’ll buy you at a bar if you just go out with him.