The Velscope Oral Cancer Screening device is savings!
Ideal Dentistry is proud to be one of the only offices in Louisville that offers this revolutionary, life-saving technology.
If you missed the broadcast you may be able to view the segment on the video page: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos
Early Visualization Of Mucosal Diseases
VELscope® is a revolutionary hand-held device that provides Ideal Dentistry with an easy-to-use adjunctive mucosal examination system for the early detection of abnormal tissue. The patented VELscope technology platform was developed in collaboration with the British Columbia Cancer Agency and MD Anderson Cancer Center, with funding provided in part by the NIH. It is based on the direct visualization of tissue fluorescence and the changes in fluorescence that occur when abnormalities are present.
How the VELscope Works
The VELscope handpiece emits a safe blue light into the oral cavity, which excites the tissue from the surface of the epithelium through to the basement membrane (where premalignant changes typically begin) and into the stroma beneath, causing it to fluoresce. Typically, healthy tissue appears as a bright apple-green glow, while suspicious regions are identified by a loss of fluorescence, which thus appear dark.
The clinician is then able to view the different fluorescence responses to help differentiate between normal and abnormal tissue. In fact, VELscope is the only non-invasive adjunctive device clinically proven to help discover occult oral disease.
Benefits Patients, Clinicians and Practice
When used as an adjunctive aid in combination with traditional oral cancer examination procedures, VELscope facilitates the early discovery and visualization of mucosal abnormalities, including oral cancer. In one or two minutes, with no rinses or stains required, a VELscope system examination helps healthcare professionals assess their patients€™ oral health. Through the CDT code D0431, an increasing number of insurance companies are recognizing VELscope as an adjunctive screening device. VELscope combines minimal per-patient costs with more effective screening.
At Ideal Dentistry we take your health serious!
Every new patient exam includes a complimentary Velscope Oral Cancer exam!
Our unique, natural and less invasive approach to dentistry has led us to become the destination for patients that try to live a more organic, health oriented lifestyle.
Learn more about the Velscope here: HOW A VELSCOPE EXAM COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
Smile, It’s Natural
Dr. Chris
Did you know that oral cancer steals the life of one American every hour? We don’t hear much about oral cancer, but 34,000 patients were diagnosed in 2007. Only half of patients diagnosed with oral cancer will survive longer than five years. Because it is often detected in the later stages, oral cancer’s mortality rate is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin€™s disease, brain, liver, kidney, or ovarian cancer. Treatment for oral cancer often causes disfiguration and lessens the patient€™s quality of life.
Thanks to an amazing new technology, VELscope, dentists and hygienists can quickly and painlessly screen for oral cancer. VELscope is a fluorescence-based identification system that detects tissue abnormalities and is used in combination with traditional visual exams.
All adults should have an annual VELscope exam because a quarter of oral cancer victims are non-smokers, don’t drink, and have no lifestyle factors to heighten their oral cancer risk. Men over 40 and women between the ages of 20 and 40 are the most prone to the disease. Patients with lifestyle risks, including any tobacco use, daily alcohol consumption, viral infections, autoimmune deficiencies like HIV, and diabetes may need more frequent evaluations.
The screening involves use of a special light to illuminate abnormal cells so that they appear distinctly different from the surrounding normal tissue.
While the statistics on oral cancer are discouraging, when the disease is found and treated in the early stages it has an 80 to 90-percent cure rate.
We are now offering VELscope exams to all our patients. Your health is our number one priority!
Keep Smiling.
The Dental Cycle, and freeing yourself from it, is at the core value of Ideal Dentistry. This whole concept is what sets us apart from all other dental practices.
We work hard at teaching you how to not need our services, rather than find services we can provide for you!
Those services we do provide are performed only at the highest standards, without compromise. Our perfect patient has a beautiful, healthy mouth and body, not a mouth full of bad teeth that we can fix.
This concept goes against the “business” nature of the dental business, but that is ok. The fact is that there will always be enough dentistry to perform, regardless of how successful we are at getting our patients out of the dental cycle, since most dental practice due just the opposite.
At Ideal Dentistry we do not have “tooth vision”, but rather we focus on your entire body. You can live without teeth, but you cannot live very well, or long, with infected teeth or gums. Our job is not just to fix the tooth, but to fix the person.
We are not tooth mechanics, we are mouth doctors. And yes, there is a difference.
The dental cycle is, essential, the perpetual nature of seeing a dentist for the rest of your life, expecting a problem to be found almost at every visit. These problems become larger, more costly, and more uncomfortable with time. In my opinion, the Dental Cycle is an epidemic and since it has been going on for so long most patients accept it.
There is a better way, but it requires you putting your health, including your teeth, first, for a while. Quality dentistry is not cheap. Nor is quality medical care, quality cars, quality schools, etc. You always get what you pay for, that simply is a rule of life that we all try to break occasionally, with little success. The sad truth is that most patients “trust” their doctors, and dentists, to do what is best for them. The problem with this is that there is no “one level” of dental care. Dental care varies from exceptional to poor and is not related to how nice the dentist may be. You only find out that your nice dentist delivers mediocre care after you had a lot of problems or switched dentists. At that point any “fixes” will be much more expensive.
Daily we get new patients at Ideal Dentistry that have researched dentists until they found us. These patients often are in their 50s, frustrated, and have already heavily invested in their dentistry which now is failing, again. I feel for these patients, as getting their oral health restored now is not only expensive, but a long process. Plan your exit from the dental cycle as soon as you can!
If patients knew how closely their body’s health is tied to their oral health, then I would not have to perform half the dentistry I now do. And if patients could see what infected gums and poor dentistry looks like then they would take care of it immediately. But, unfortunately, unless there is pain most patients feel their mouths are in good shape.
So, when you are a patient at Ideal Dentistry we show you what your dentistry looks like, we give you an honest opinion of its quality, and we tell you how healthy your mouth really is. Then, we offer to teach you how to fix the problems and get your mouth back to optimal health, escaping the dental cycle once and for all. We guarantee that the dentistry we deliver is world class – the same quality dentists would demand for their own mouths.
So, if you want a dentist that delivers the cheapest dentistry available, tells you that seeing the hygienist every 6 months is ok since your insurance will only pay for that, then we are not for you. But, if you want a dentist that treats you like he does his own family, putting your health needs first and not delivery “supervised neglect”, then we are for you.
Keep Smiling.
Although perhaps not the first, Ideal Dentistry is proud to be one of the mercury-free dental practices in Louisville. Silver mercury fillings were invented as a cheaper alternative to gold fillings and have been in use since long before World War I! (They were first used in Paris in 1820).
Mercury, which is the material that makes up 50% of these fillings, is more toxic than lead, and who would allow a lead filling in is or her mouth today? So why would you allow a mercury filling?
Europe and Canada have very tight restrictions and bans on this material. The USA is lagging behind this safety trend.
This recent Courier-Journal article puts the debate over the toxicity of these fillings in the spotlight again:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101205/FEATURES03/312020004/-1/CUST01/
If you have any more questions about these silver mercury fillings, their safe removal, and their best alternatives, then please contact Ideal Dentistry, your mercury-free dentist.
I have NEVER placed a silver mercury filling since I graduated – I follow the golden rule in dentistry: “If I would not use it in the mouths of my family, then I will not use it in my patients’ mouths either.”
Keep smiling.
Super White Teeth – some love it, some hate it. It is a personal preference. What it really comes down to is what type of teeth do YOU like?
A smile is very personal – actually, I think a smile is just about as personal as you can get. It needs to reflect who you are and what you are trying to say about yourself. If you never said a word but smiled really big people would know more about you than you may imagine.
The white smile above is easily identified. It is Simon Cowell from American Idol. It says something about Simon. He specifically chose to get porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns that are as white as it gets. It is bold, powerful and in your face. Does that reflect who Simon is? I think it does.
Does Simon’s smile look “natural”? I don’t think so, but I also don’t think he told his dentist that he wanted a natural smile.
When you are considering a smile makeover you need to be honest with yourself. What type of smile do you want? White? Natural? Powerful? Sexy? There are so many different types of teeth shapes and colors. One size does not fit all!
Cosmetic Dentists that have a lot of experience in smile makeovers know that first and foremost we need to determine what type of smile you want, and since you are not a dentist you won’t be able to tell us what type of line angles you prefer. So, I ask my patients to cut out at least 3 smiles they love and 3 smiles they don’t from magazines. Then at our consultation we discuss the smiles and this is how I find out what you like. Now I can create a wax model of your smile prior to ever touching your teeth! You will be able to see what our goal is and then watch the transformation take place. There is no guesswork.
A cosmetic dentist has the training and experience to deliver the smile you want. When it comes to something as personal as your smile, make sure you get what you want!
Why do you see a dentist?
Is it because you think you should?
Are you worried about loosing your teeth?
Do you want a beautiful white smile?
Everybody sees a dentist for their own reasons. Today I would like to talk a little about what every dentist should do first and foremost – Protect and restore your whole body health.
This seems like an obvious “duty” of a dentist, as there is nothing more important than your body. BUT, I see new patients weekly that have many fillings, crowns, veneers, you name it but their oral health, and consequentially their body health, is very poor. When I explain to them that we need to take a step back and look at the infections, including the gum disease, first, they are surprised – nobody has mentioned this before and they just had their teeth cleaned not too long ago, and everything was fine. How sad is that.
All new patients in my office go through a very thorough exam and presentation. Then I present treatment plans based in a simple 3 step process:
1: Infections: Gum disease, bone infections, hopeless teeth, etc.
2. Decay: Tooth decay, fractures, broken fillings, etc.
3. Esthetics and Function: Veneers, nightguards, etc.
I never veer from this order as that would be unethical. It seems that #1 above, especially gum disease, gets neglected most of the time. It is no surprise that the #1 reason for malpractice lawsuits is the failure to diagnose periodontal (gum) disease.
So, after you had a consultation with your dentist make certain #1 above comes first, your health depends on it!
Cosmetic dentistry often requires a dental technician to fabricate the indirect restorations such as porcelain veneers, crowns, onlays and inlays. The dentist prepares the tooth and takes a mold which is then sent to the dental lab. From this point on it is up to the skill of the dental technician. They need to create a restoration that fits perfectly, is made out of the finest materials, and matches the existing teeth in the mouth – not a small task.
Above is just one of the articles that my dental technician wrote for a respected dental journal called QDT (Quintessence of Dental Technology) about cosmetic dentistry. Together I have written several articles for this invitation only journal with my technician.
Below is a list of essential elements to look for when considering cosmetic dentistry, as they relate to the dental laboratory:
- Who is the dental technician that will fabricate the restorations? (Veneers, crowns, etc.) Specifically, what qualifications does this individual have? Ask for pictures of work completed by this technician. Many dental offices do not have a relation with the technician and send their indirect restorations (crowns, veneers, etc.) to a “lab” that has many technicians. You never know who will make your tooth. Can we say “assembly line”? The only reason for doing this is cost – there are absolutely no other benefits to a dental practice other than it being cheap. Cheap and top quality do not go together. You need to know who will make the dentistry that is going into your mouth, and you need to know that they are extremely good at what they do. Find the website for your laboratory and see for yourself what they advertise.
- What materials are going to be used in your restoration? Gold – what type? Porcelain – what type? Yes, it makes a big difference. Nearly pure gold is still the longest lasting restoration we can place as dentists. Yes, it is not cosmetic, but it lasts and still has its uses. That being said, there are different levels of gold quality that dentists can select: High Noble, Noble, and Base Metal. The only metal I feel that should be used in the mouth is High Noble gold alloy. Everything else is a compromise (it has trace elements that you do not want in your mouth)- it is cheaper for the dentist. With regards to porcelain, there are too many different types to mention. Your technician needs to be familiar with each of them and be able to use the best material for your unique situation. Some porcelains are stronger than others, some are brighter, some fit better, etc. If this restoration is going to last a very long time than it is important to use the best materials.
- Excellent technicians cost more.You are not only paying for the materials used to make your tooth, but for the skill of the operator. Just like the skill of the dentist, experience matters. A plastic surgeon places better sutures than a general doctor. A highly trained cosmetic dentist is better at cosmetic dentistry than a general dentist, and a highly trained dental technician is obviously better than a regular “fresh” dental technician. Often I have patients come to me for second opinions while in treatment. If they want the other dentist to complete the work I supply them with the information about which technician to have the dentist send the tooth to for fabrication. To date none have actually sent work to these technicians because the fee is too high. As we all know, you get what you pay for. So, the other dentist has the tooth made at his/her regular laboratory and guess what – the patient has sensitivity, the bite is wrong, the tooth looks horrible, and we have to redo the whole thing in my office. This happens almost weekly. The moral of the story: Get it done right the first time!
Before you buy a car you do what? You research everything about cars, right? I sure hope so.
What about cosmetic dentistry? The internet is a vast source of both good and bad information. So, how do you know which is which?
Cosmetic Dentistry 101 is the beginning of a simple series of blog entries that describe the basics of cosmetic and quality dentistry that you must know before getting it yourself.
I love outline formats. It allows me to quickly scan for the important stuff, so this blog will be written mostly in that format.
1. All Cosmetic Dentistry Is Not Created Equal
This seems like a pretty straightforward point but far too often is ignored when “shopping” for a cosmetic dentist. You really do get what you pay for. The dentist not only has to have the skill, experience and passion to deliver top quality dentistry but he/she also needs to charge appropriate fees to pay an equally talented technician to create the work! It is not like one size fits all. Each and every tooth is a sculpture, a piece of art. For this reason, you need to decide what type of cosmetic dentistry you are looking for – a Ferrari f50 or a Toyota Accord. Both are cars, both drive, but there are certainly differences that we all could quickly point out. Quality cosmetic dentistry is light years different than average cosmetic dentistry.
2. Cosmetic Dentistry Takes Time
Time is the most valuable asset for everyone, including a dental business. It is, after all, a business. If something takes a long time, then it costs the dental practice more money in overhead. So, top quality cosmetic dentistry takes more time, which costs more money. If a smile makeover is promised in a short time, be wary. Does the dentist seem rushed? Does the dentist place his/her own fillings? Does the dentist see mostly 1 patient at a time or is the practice a mill? What type of dental practice is this – meaning; does the dentist do enough cosmetic dentistry or are they “practicing” on you? Observe if the dentist is rushed. How much time do they spend with you? How long is your consultation? Are questions welcome? Are emails responded to? If they are rushed now, why would they not rush your smile makeover? Are you a number, and if yes, is it number 1 or 1 out of 100 that day?
More coming soon!
Porcelain veneers, the best way to get the smile of your dreams, now available without sacrificing tooth structure!
Here is a recent smile I had the privilege of creating. This young lady has everything going for herself and now she has a smile that compliments her outgoing persona.
The beauty of such a veneer case is that her own tooth structure is still below these permanent porcelain veneers. We straightened her teeth with Invisalign so that we would not have to cut the tooth structure and then placed porcelain veneers that match her eyes! Yes, her eyes. Your smile is part of your whole face, and the color of your eyes need to match your teeth.
A smile makeover included more than just “teeth”. You need to look at the whole face, the lips, the eyes, the profile.
Keep smiling!
Porcelain Veneers, what are they anyhow? Dentists often speak a different language. That is how we are trained in dental school. We sometimes forget that this technical jargon really means very little to our patients, so let me break it down for you.
A “veneer” is a covering over a tooth. Just like a veneer floor is a covering over a floor. It is a very generic term. Veneers can be made of of porcelain or plastic/composite. The goal of a veneer is to change the shape, color and function of the tooth.
Now, there are many brand names such as Lumineers, Da Vinci veneers, Cerinate veneers, to just name a few. They are essentially the same things, veneers.
Patients come to see me all the time wanting “veneers”. That is misleading, since nobody wants veneers, but rather a good looking smile. Veneers is just one way to get there, and not always the best. Everybody has seen some pretty bad veneers…Chiclets.
Since there is no specialty in cosmetic dentistry, dentists can not advertise that they specialize in cosmetic dentistry. We are all essentially general dentists. Some of us have continued our education in cosmetic dentistry past the normal level, such as becoming accredited with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. This shows that the dentist has achieved a high level of competency in cosmetic dentistry and is most likely able to provide you with the smile you are looking for. This advanced training requires the understanding that veneers are just one way to achieve a better smile.
Now back to veneers.
Veneers are bonded to the tooth, permanently. Once a veneer is bonded onto a tooth you can not remove it without destroying the veneer. The veneer becomes part of the tooth. The do not “pop off” as many patients ask me. If a veneer comes off then there is a serious reason for it. It is very rare. Not everybody is a candidate for veneers, so case selection is also very important.
Porcelain veneers do not stain, but the tooth below the veneer can. This means that although the porcelain itself does not discolor, it is very thin and is affected by the tooth below it. Usually only minimal change in color is seen over time.
Composite, or plastic veneers do stain. That is the main difference between composite and porcelain.
Now, that being said, veneers are a great way to rejuvenate your smile. Designed correctly and maintained properly veneers can make a life changing difference.
