CEREC, which is an acronym for CEramic REConstruction, was first introduced in 1987. The porcelain used in a CEREC crown is made by a process called sintering. This means that the porcelain is heated below it’s melting point, so that the resulting product is stronger and more able to resist breaking due to the forces of biting and chewing. The CEREC system uses CAD/CAM technology. First, an infrared photo is taken of your tooth. Using the software provided by CEREC, your dentist is able to design your crown using 3D imaging. This information is sent to the milling machine via wireless or direct wired transmission. Next, the block of CEREC porcelain is put in the milling machine. With the press of a button, the machine can make the crown in 10-15 minutes. When the crown is done, your dentist can permanently cement the crown in place with a strong dental cement. That’s it!  You now have a new, natural-looking crown made in about an hour with no messy impressions, no temporary crowns, less dental anesthesia and in one dental visit!

For those of you who have lost weight through diet and exercise, but still are bothered by excess body fat deposits, liposuction may be for you. Liposuction, or lipoplasty, is a surgical procedure that improves body contour by removing excess fat deposits from the area between the skin and muscle. Liposuction involves a small stainless steel tube (known as a cannula) that is connected to a powerful suction pump. While the patient is under anesthesia, the cannula is inserted into the fat through small incisions in the skin.  The fat removal procedure creates tiny tunnels through the fatty layers.  After liposuction, the tunnels collapse resulting in improved body contour.

After the liposuction surgery, compression garments or elastic bandages are put on the treated areas to control swelling and compress the new body contours. Healing may take several months while post operative swelling decreases. Results can be long-lasting provided there is no significant weight gain after surgery. Areas of the body that are most commonly treated with liposuction are the hips, stomach and abdomen, thighs, buttocks, and the face. Liposuction will only remove fat, it will not remove cellulite.

As with any surgery, there are risks involved. Possible side effects may include uneven contours, rippling or loose skin, skin or nerve damage, and irregular pigmentation around the treated area. There are plenty of things to know before having cosmetic surgery. Ideal candidates are adults within 30% of their ideal weight who have elastic skin and muscle tone.  A person must be a healthy, non-smoker with no medical conditions that can affect healing. Lastly, ideal candidates must have a positive outlook and realistic goals for what they want their body to look like. If you believe you are a good candidate for liposuction, you should contact your physician to schedule a consultation to review what liposuction can do to help you achieve the body you have always wanted.

Brite Smile is all the rage in dental whitening but is it worth the hefty cost?

Brite Smile is the latest trend in in-office teeth bleaching. This system uses blue-light technology with 15% hydrogen peroxide whitening gel to lighten teeth up to 8 shades lighter instantly. Since there is no laser or heat, Brite Smile claims their bleaching system is the most comfortable method of whitening that can be achieved in only 1 hour.

In addition to their in-office treatment, Brite Smile makes “To Go Pens” which are a portable brush-tip applicator of whitening gel for on-the-go bleaching “touch ups.”

After the in-office bleaching, some patients may report discomfort of some type, including sudden sharp pains or a dull to moderate ache as well as “burning gums & lips.” With the Brite Smile procedure costing around $300 or more per session, it’s fairly pricey compared to other treatments. There are many teeth whitening options available, including in-office and at-home teeth whitening treatments. Each teeth whitening treatment has its pros and cons, so talk to your dental professional or browse DoctorBase.com to find dentists in your area that offer Brite Smile.

Wish you could go back in time? Restylane can help!

Restylane can make you look in the mirror and take you ten, and even fifteen years, back. Restylane is a non-animal hyaluronic acid most commonly used for lip injections to give a fuller appearance to lips and has been successfully used to fix and erase aging marks around the face. Aging can cause sagging of the cheeks and give lines around the mouth and eyes that give an aged appearance to someone’s face.

The wrinkles and sagging that cause harsh looking creases and folds are a natural aging process which happens because of loss of collagen and elastin fibers under the skin. Certain lifestyles such as smoking and constant frowning can cause stress marks in your face which can take ages out of a young and healthy look. Besides treating yourelf to Restylane, make sure to quit smoking if you are a smoker and find time to relax and decompress from daily life stress. Sometimes simple lifestyle changes can make a huge difference in your health and well-being!

Restylane is a good choice to treat deep lines around the mouth and to achieve fuller lips; it will smooth away wrinkles and even smooth the area around the eyes.  The procedure is non surgical, and is performed at the doctor’s office.  The area that will be performed is numbed with local anesthetics, and the actual Restylane procedure takes about 20 minutes. Some side effects may include mild swelling and some bruising, and the intensity of these reactions will change from patient to patient. Patients should stay away from sun for the first two days as well report to doctor if any abnormal reactions are noticed.  Patients can go home right after procedure, and results are noticeable within a week.

We use them to text, share videos, check our stocks, phone home, and thousands of other uses, so why should we use our cell phones to manage our health?  Associate Press reporter, Lauran Neergaard, writes of this growing trend in her article “From texting to apps, using cell phones for health.”  This trend is called mobile health (or mHealth) and is defined as using mobile devices to support the medical and public health needs of a population.  In her article, Ms. Neergaard gives the example of a diabetic patient who uses a special cell phone application to enter his daily blood sugar measurements.  Based upon preset danger thresholds, the patient receives text messages telling him what to do if his readings are too low or too high.  His doctor can then use this information to track his progress and then to give him the appropriate advice. Ms. Neergaard also cites examples of liver transplant patients reporting fewer organ rejections after receiving text messages that  remind them to take their medications.  In addition, dieters in a program at the University of California, San Diego lost more weight when they responded to text reminders about healthy food choices than those patients that were given printed dieting advice.

Utilizing health related cell phone apps can be useful in helping people with chronic health problems take control of their disease.  By receiving instant feedback and information, patients may eventually become better informed to make the right decisions to improve their health.   While the elderly are less likely to use their cell phones for health issues, cell phone apps for health could be used to provide important health education for the home bound or those people in foreign countries where there is limited access to health care.  This would provide health care providers with a way to diagnose and track diseases while increasing their ability to provide ongoing medical information for this under served portion of the population.

Technology is advancing everyday! With sophisticated equipment comes improved diagnosis and treatment planning for dental procedures. Many offices are now turning to i-CAT Dental Imaging.  The i-CAT Cone Beam 3-D Dental Imaging System puts forward advanced 3-D dental imaging that is a low radiation alternative to traditional dental x-rays, and it’s even safer for the planet!

Three-dimensional imaging technology provides more accurate viewing of impacted supernumerary or abnormal teeth.  The i-CAT also provides accurate, cross-sectional slices of any desired location in the mouth. This cutting edge technology can compare structures in the mouth in relationship to other anatomical structures, such as roots, the nasal area, and sinuses to enhance the treatment by understanding the tooth’s position and its relationship to adjacent teeth and structures.

Another alternative technology for 3-D dental imaging is the Galileos 3D Imaging System by Sirona. You can browse DoctorBase.com to see if a dentist near you is using the i-CAT Cone Beam 3-D Dental Imaging System.

Root canals get a lot of bad press.  Even President Obama, in his first State of the Union address, said that the bank bailout was “as popular as a root canal.”  While I’m sure that no one actually looks forward to getting a root canal, they don’t deserve all this negativity. Let’s look at some common myths about root canal therapy to try to separate fact from fiction.

Myth #1:  Root Canal Therapy is Painful

The reality is that most root canal treatments are done because a tooth is already painful.  For many people needing a root canal, eating foods that are hot or cold can send searing pain up and down their face.  The result of a root canal is a pain-free tooth enabling a person to enjoy food again.  In fact, with dental anesthetics, most people do not experience any pain during root canal treatment.

Myth #2:  Having a Root Canal Requires Several Dental Appointments

Most root canals can be completed in one to two appointments.  The number of appointments needed is determined by the amount of infection present and the difficulty of the tooth anatomy.  The dental crown or cap that is needed to put on the tooth after a root canal is necessary, but is not considered a part of the root canal treatment.

Myth #3:  Root Canals Cause Illnesses

In the early 1900’s, Dr. Weston Price reported that if bacteria is trapped in the tooth after a root canal is completed, then diseases such as heart disease, kidney disease, and arthritis may result.  Recent research has not been able to duplicate Dr. Price’s findings.  In fact, there are hundreds of different kinds of bacteria that can be in our mouths at any time.  Even a healthy mouth free of cavities and gum disease has bacteria present! Researchers believe that Dr. Price’s (almost 100 year old) findings may be due to an unsanitary lab and inaccurate research techniques.

Myth #4:  Teeth Should Hurt Before You Have a Root Canal

A tooth may not hurt and still need a root canal.  The nerve in the tooth may be already dead from a past injury.  If this is the case, a person will not feel pain even if the tooth is infected.  In such cases your dentist will diagnose the need for a root canal with x-rays, and hot/cold tests during your dental exam.  If a tooth starts to get darker, or you notice a “pimple” on the gum, see your dental professional right away.  The pimple is a sign of a draining infection, that if not treated can damage the gums of adjacent teeth.

Myth #5:  Root Canals Do Not Last Long

This myth comes from the possibility of a tooth breaking months after root canal therapy.  After a root canal is completed, a crown/cap should be placed on the tooth to protect it from getting brittle.  If a filling is put on the tooth instead, over time the forces of chewing will weaken the tooth causing it to crack or break.  If this occurs, it is not the root canal that has failed, but the improper restoration on the tooth that has failed.

Myth #6:  It is Better to Pull the Tooth Than Get a Root Canal

Dentists want to save teeth, not pull them.  Your real tooth- even one with a root canal and a crown, requires less treatment (and less money) than replacing a pulled tooth with a dental implant or a bridge.  If taken care of properly by daily brushing and flossing, a tooth that has had a root canal can last a life time.

Are we smarter if we keep our wisdom teeth? I don’t know about that, but “wisdom teeth” or the third molars usually come in at early adulthood or when we enter the “age of wisdom.” Third molars can be impacted or never come down. Sometimes they erupt or come down but there is usually not room to be part of the whole mouth. They can vary in size and rotation, which can make them difficult to clean. In the rare instance that these teeth can fit in the mouth properly without restriction and can be kept clean, they can stay. But as I said, it is very rare. It is better for the person, dental hygienist, and dentist if the wisdom teeth are extracted.

Inevitably, people hear the word extraction and it conjures up all sorts of negative thoughts. In reality, it is not that bad. If you follow the post operative instructions properly there should be no problems. Problems occur when people try to do too much right after the surgery. Things like drinking through a straw, not keeping up on pain medication, or not resting. Given the chance, the pain and discomfort of extractions will dissipate.

Without the wisdom teeth, you shouldn’t notice any difference in your smarts!

Say goodbye to 2-dimensional, uncomfortable dental x-ray images and films. Introducing, Galileos 3D Imaging System by Sirona which provides amazingly high resolution superiority and has the lowest achievable dose of radiation. In fact, Galileos has 10 times less radiation than a conventional CT scan.  Galileos has meticulous anatomical detail which allows the dental patient to have superior treatment and predicted outcome in future dental procedures as the dentist can accurately see the patient’s unique anatomy.

The Galileos 3D Imaging System is available in 2 different versions- the Galileos Comfort and the Galileos Compact. The Galileos Comfort is intended for oral and maxillofacial surgeons, dental clinics, private clinics, and orthodontists.  The Galileos Compact is designed for use by general practitioners and oral surgeons and in dental implant practices.

With an extremely fast scan time of 14 seconds in addition to minimizing radiation exposure, the Galileos 3D Imaging System has numerous advantages for both the patient and the clinician. Taken as a whole, Galileos looks as if it may be the wave of the future.

Everyone wants a dazzling white smile- it’s a sign of health and beauty. But which is the best way to achieve that? There are many modalities to achieve a whiter smile. One may not be better than another but the question of time and money are the biggest factors. I have had the fortune of trying all of the modalities. I can honestly say that they all achieve a whiter “bleached out” smile.

ZOOM! Teeth Whitening

The first and most expensive is ZOOM! Teeth Whitening or in office bleaching. A dental professional applies a strong amount of bleach to the teeth and a blue light activates the bleach on the teeth. It can make the teeth eight shades whiter, which can be great! It takes about 45 minutes for the bleaching time but there is extra time to safely protect the gum tissue. The best thing about ZOOM! is that it is a fast process and the teeth will stay whiter longer.

Teeth Whitening Trays

The next modality is at home teeth whitening trays. The trays are a soft plastic that fit around just the teeth. A small amount of bleach is applied to the wells of each tooth in the tray and then placed in the mouth. There are different strengths of bleach to use at home, but normally the trays are worn for only 30 minutes or 60 minutes. In about two weeks of use, the teeth can achieve a six shade improvement. The best thing about at home teeth whitening trays is that you can control the amount of use. If you happen to have sensitivity one week in, you can stop, and if you are happy with the shade, then you are done. The other great thing is that you can do touch up bleaching whenever you feel like it.

Teeth Whitening Strips

Teeth whitening strips or gel is a good way to bleach the teeth when you are low on cash. They are sold over the counter and can run between $20-$40. They are applied over the upper and lower teeth and are worn for an hour. The best thing about the teeth whitening strips is their cost. You will achieve a whiter smile but it takes some time and energy. The strips have the least amount of bleach and can get a bit messy. Most people do not like to use them because they slip around and do not stay in place for the full hour. Usually the teeth will get about 3-4 shades lighter.

Teeth Whitening Toothpaste

Finally, “whitening” toothpaste is a tricky modality. It says “whitening” but in fact it does not bleach the teeth. Instead, it has an abrasive quality that removes debris from the teeth well, which in turn can appear whiter.

Bleaching is a great way to make the teeth white. There are so many great teeth whitening options to chose from. As always, white teeth look nice, but having a healthy smile is really what’s best!