Lucky for this family, Dr. Mason, our pediatric dentist, was also working that day! So, we sent this family over to Dr. Mason’s team to see if he could accomplish the treatment. The patient, nervously asked Dr. Mason if he was going to get a shot. Dr. Mason, with a wink at his father said, “We don’t use needles here.” Since Dr. Mason is an expert in distraction, he talked with this boy all about his favorite things – football and basketball! During the sports conversations, Dr. Mason managed to get the patient numb – just telling him that he was going to “spray some sleepy juice on it” and a few minutes later, the boy was joking around about how funny his lip felt since it was numb! Dr. Mason completed a 3 surface silver filling, so the infection was pretty large and the family was ecstatic. The Dad was super happy to have his son well taken care of medically plus he had a great experience, so Dad said he plans to start coming to HealthPark as well.

If your child is having pain, please give us a call – our dentists are always willing to do an evaluation and diagnose the problem. Often (not always) we can provide same day treatment along with providing the financial information so a family can decide what treatment makes the most sense. To learn more about our emergency services, please watch this video.

Nikea during a cleaning (recognize the patient?)

Nikea, hygienist, had a patient in for a routine dental cleaning. This patient had not come in for 2 years because she is very apprehensive in the dental chair. In the past, we had used laughing gas and topical numbing gel to help her feel more comfortable, but obviously, she was still feeling tense about her visit. She said to “just go ahead” and she would “deal with it.” Since Nikea feels that part of her job is to help patients be as comfortable as possible during dentistry, instead, she held off on the cleaning and started asking more questions.

The patient talked about why she dreaded coming in for dental cleanings and after talking it through, she realized that it was not pain-related. Turns out, she hated the ‘scraping’ noise and the ‘pressure’ of the instruments on her teeth.

With this information, Nikea suggested trying the ultrasonic cleaner. This is a water-based cleaner that doesn’t involve a scraping noise or heavy pressure. With the ultrasonic, the patient was far more comfortable. In fact, she raved to her husband about what a pleasant experience she had!

Moral of the story: If you also find yourself tense during dental visits, talk with your hygienist. She may be able to help you discover your specific concerns – and then help you to overcome them! Here are links to our hygienist pages to meet them in particular: Nikea, Patty and Laura.

Whitening Trays at HealthPark Dentistry

Laura, our dental hygienist, had a female high school student in for a visit recently. She came in after what appeared to be a long day at school. In discussing her treatment, our patient mentioned that if she could change anything about her appearance, it would be to have whiter teeth. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t in her family’s budget. So, Laura gave her a free sample of our whitening trays.

Excitement was written all over our patient’s face. She eagerly listened to the instructions on how to use her trays in order to get the maximum effectiveness with her teeth whitening. As she was walking out of the treatment room at the end of the appointment, she turned and told Laura how much this whitening sample meant to her. She shared with Laura that earlier that day she had been bullied in school. Another female student criticized her appearance. It was obvious that our patient took these hurtful words to heart and now felt that by having whitening trays, she was actually excited to go to school the next day.

What a difference Laura made in the life of this patient.

This study has received much national attention, even though there was no way to statistically validate what people thought they remembered over their lifetime.  No dental records were checked to compare people and memories.  Can you remember even 5 years ago how many dental x-rays you had?  They were asked to remember how many x-rays they had between the ages of 10-50.

Unfortunately, several of HealthPark’s patients have not allowed us to take dental x-rays believing the old adage “Where there is smoke, there is fire!”.

If you are concerned about dental x-ray radiation, don’t be.  Recent advances in dental radiology have made x-rays very safe.  Here are the facts:

Understanding that radiation comes from:

1. Cosmic rays
2. Radioactive materials in the ground
3. Microwaves
4. Television
5. Food

 Steps we take to limit even this amount of radiation:

1. Long cone x‑ray parallels the radiation beam and reduces scatter radiation.  The old pointed head cones throw off great amounts of scatter radiation.  They are no longer sold.
2. Lead shielding (including thyroid shield)
3. We only take necessary X-rays
4. Rinn x-ray holders make the x-rays more accurate
5. Digital X-rays reduce radiation by 60% – we have used digital for almost 10 years

 Why do we take dental x-rays?  To see:

1. Decay between the teeth
2. Bone loss around the teeth
3. Bone support for drifting teeth
4. Abscessed teeth
5. Reference for the future
6. Extra teeth, wisdom teeth
7. Tumors

Every member of our staff that takes x-rays has passed a state board exam on dental radiology.

In our office, these situations require X-rays:

1. Emergencies – a PA x-ray and/or decay x-rays as needed
2. Recall checkups – The healthier the client, the fewer decay x-rays are needed.  A healthy client will only need 1 pair of x-rays every 2 years.  If you suspect decay or there has been decay within one year, then we take 4 decay X-rays.
3. Thorough new client exam – one set of periapicals and decay X-rays
4. 5 year review – Clients who have been in the office at least five years will be offered a “review” new client exam.  At this time, you would take a panoramic film and decay X-rays or a full series of x-rays.

For our New patient Children

1. By age 4 – We take upper and lower occlusal x-rays by age four to rule out supernumerary (extra) teeth, growth and  development defects, and congenitally missing teeth.
2. By age 5
   1. Decay X-rays
   2. Check decay (pulp aberrations)
   3. Growth and development of 6 year molars
   4.  Thickness of enamel in primary dentition
   5.  Enamel discolorations
   6. More than 6 years old, or younger with decay – 2 decay X-rays (largest size possible) and a panoramic X-ray to check growth/any abnormalities

Finally, other researchers are responding to this article with comments including

1. “very flawed study”
2. “biologically impossible”

If you have further questions, please ask us. For our patients in the Tipp City, Troy and the entire Dayton Ohio area, we understand that this topic has raised a level of concern. We are happy to be a resource for you as you seek to understand this study and make the right health care choices for your family.

Dr. Smith and Dr. Pierson are happy to provide a second opinion for you. If you want a second opinion on just one tooth and you bring in your current x-ray, then we provide a second opinion for free. If you would like a second opinion on an extensive treatment plan and again, you bring in your current series of x-rays, then for just $75 our general dentists will provide a thorough exam and consultation.

If you’re interested in a second opinion, please check out our page: http://healthparkdentistry.com/services/second-opinions/ and contact us to schedule today!

The Groupon Guide to: Impressing Your Dentist

During every routine cleaning, your dentist will eventually ask you if you’ve been flossing—most likely already knowing the answer—and even saying “yes” elicits only a slightly approving murmur. Impress your dentist once and for all with any of these dentist-dazzling tactics:

• Complete the obsolete TV Guide crossword puzzle in the lobby with your staggering knowledge of mid-1990s procedural dramas.
• Use vegetable dye and a diamond-tipped toothpick to tattoo your enamel with the logo of your dentist’s favorite minor-league baseball team.
• Have a completely discernible conversation despite your dentist knowing full well that they asked you “How’s work?” immediately after putting their fingers in your mouth.
• Clean your own teeth in front of the dentist using their implements. Compensate them for parts but not labor. Arrange for Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” to be playing as you walk away.

Happy Monday everyone!

Ohio Dental Association Legal Director Keith Kerns, Dr. Scharnhorst, Dr. Smith and Jill at the Day at the Statehouse

Dr. Charles Smith spent a day in Columbus to meet with our state legislators on dental health issues last week. As part of the Ohio Dental Association, Day at the Statehouse event, Dr. Smith met with 130 dentists from around the state to hear an update on legislative issues in dental care. Representative Richard Adams and Senator Bill Beagle were each kind enough to meet individually with Dr. Smith so he could share his perspective on these dental issues. Each of our elected officials were warm and welcoming to Dr. Smith and these meetings seemed to be helpful for our legislators to know how a local dentist feels about important dental care issues.

Along with Dr. Smith, Dr. Scott Scharnhorst (a senior dentist at The Ohio State University) and Jill Nesbitt joined in on these legislator meetings. It’s a real thrill to feel part of helping our state legislators make decisions based on dental issues we understand well and work with every day. Watching our legislators understand our dental care issues and ask good questions also gives us a sense of the challenge of being an elected official charged with making decisions on a variety of industries and topics that no one could be an expert in all areas. It was also a great time to both congratulate and thank both Senator Beagle and Representative Adams for their roles in helping to bring Abbott Labs to Tipp City!

Dr. Smith has donated his time to meet with our elected officials in this manner every year for over 25 years.  He feels this is part of his civic duty and he hopes to help our community be stronger through his volunteerism. If you have questions about dental care legislative issues, just ask Dr. Smith!

Early Friday morning, Dr. Smith was busy working in the lab, so I asked him “What are you working on?”

He replied, “I’m putting a set of dentures back together. His dog ate them.”

Seriously? I had to hear more about this story – so I talked with the fellow to hear the whole thing. Here’s the story:

Our patient has a 100 pound blue bitbull named Champ. Champ is a great dog. Well, for dinner that night, our patient enjoyed some barbecue ribs. After dinner, he relaxed on the couch, watched a little tv, drank a couple beers and fell asleep. As usual, he took out his denture and set it aside.

His son (who lives with him) came in about 1am and good, ole’ Champ came to the door to greet him – wearing his Dad’s dentures! Being a good son, he took the denture from Champ and put it up in the container in the bathroom where it’s always kept.

Next morning, when our patient wakes up, his son is grinning at him, “So, Dad, how’s your teeth?”

“They’re fine.”

Son says, “Are you sure?”

Our patient says, “Well, they’re right here in the bathroom container where they always are.”

Son says, “Are they alright?”

That’s when our patient heard the rest of the story – and then called us first thing in the morning to see what we could do. With 40+ years experience, Dr. Smith was able to work his magic. He rebuilt the entire back of the denture, luckily Champ hadn’t eaten away any of the teeth, so Dr. Smith added the pink gum section. With a reline to fit the newly-formed denture, our patient was thrilled to walk away with his original denture, fitting well for only $400 (the cost of the reline). He was especially happy to have avoided the cost of a brand new denture (normally around $1300) since his was only a year old!

Our patient said now he knows that Champ really loves barbecue – and the guys at work are still laughing.