Our General Dentistry Services encompass all your wellness needs. At Natural Dentist Associates we will prepare with you a customized dental hygiene plan that incorporates at home care, routine dental examination and comprehensive, proactive treatment. Working with you, our goal is to prevent tooth decay and disease so you can enjoy a healthy, natural smile for […]
Category: Family Dentistry
I had three old fillings that needed to be replaced. Natural Dentist Associates.
Dr. Baer found that I had three old fillings that needed to be replaced. I was scheduled quickly and everything went well with minimal discomfort. The staff is very nice and the environment calming. Joanne H.
Do I really need to get my teeth X-rayed at the Dentist?
Do I really need to get my teeth X-rayed at the Dentist? (What if I’m pregnant?)
Yes! But let us reassure you that we only take X-rays when necessary.
X-rays reveal issues that we simply can’t perceive with the naked eye. This is very important in the prevention of dental problems. The alternative of having a mouth of infected teeth is far riskier, health wise, than the supposed risk of radiation from a dentist’s X-ray machine.
At our practice, we use digital X-ray imaging. For what it’s worth, these machines emit only a tenth of the radiation given off by earlier generations of X-ray machines. To put it in perspective: You get more radiation from carrying a cell phone around in your pocket all day.
One interesting misperception that we sometimes hear is that pregnant women shouldn’t get an X-ray. Again, we don’t take X-rays except when necessary, and we care deeply about our patients’ health, but—a mother’s mouthful of infected teeth is far riskier for the health of her baby than the exposure of an X-ray machine. Studies have shown a connection between oral infections and low birth rate and premature birth.
This issue is even addressed on the American Pregnancy Association website, by the way, so you don’t have to just take our word on this:
“Preventive dental work while pregnant is essential to avoid oral infections such as gum disease, which has been linked to preterm birth…
“No single diagnostic x-ray has a radiation dose significant enough to cause adverse effects in a developing embryo or fetus.”
The site suggests that expecting mothers should perhaps wait until after the child is born to do cosmetic procedures, such as tooth whitening. We would tend to agree with that recommendation.
How to get my children to Brush Teeth Properly
How to get my children to Brush Teeth Properly?
There certainly has been no lack of marketing and research money spent for the purpose of encouraging kids to take care of their teeth over the years.
A couple of years ago, some dentists tried getting kids to brush their teeth ‘Gangnam Style’; more recently, the Minions have been recruited to try and make dental hygiene more fun for kids. We wouldn’t be surprised to see a new set of hitting storeshelves later this year, after the new Star Wars movie comes out. Whatever works!
Kids need to brush 35 times on each side of the mouth, using seven strokes in five areas.
Many free or cheap Apps for smartphones designed to encourage kids to brush longer use music as way to try and keep them brushing.
In our household, we’ve had some success in getting a child more interested in brushing her teeth with a new type of chocolate-flavored toothpaste called Theodent. This line of fluoride-free toothpaste is carried at Whole Foods. Despite being chocolate-flavored, Theodent pitches itself as being more healthy than other toothpastes in that it can be swallowed; by contrast, it is not recommended to ingest most toothpastes containing fluoride.
In other kid-related dental news, there’s a website that purports to track how much money parents are leaving under their kids’ pillows whenever the “tooth fairy” comes to visit.
Apparently, the amount of money kids get per tooth has been known to fluctuate up or down in accordance with the S&P 500. In 2014, according to The Original Tooth Fairy Poll, kids received an average of $4.36 per tooth from the Tooth Fairy in 2014, that’s up from $3.50 the previous year. The site estimates that parents (or, the tooth fairy) left kids $255 million in 2014.
There are many different toothpaste options such as Colgate, Tom’s of Maine. There has been no study done comparing Kids tooth brushing compliance and the taste of tooth paste.
My Mission of Mercy Maryland Volunteer Experience
My name is Jennifer Tipograph DDS and as a dentist I have the ability to use my skillset to give back. I can use my own two hands to help people that cannot afford dental care. I have the power to alleviate pain, allow someone to eat, and most importantly smile again. My desire to volunteer began in a free clinic while studying at Virginia Tech. Since then, my passion to help the less fortunate has become a part of who I am.
I have done dental mission work inside and outside the United States. The most recent was on September 5th, when I volunteered at the Mid-Maryland Mission of Mercy (MOM) & Health Equity Festival. The two day event was held inside the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland. It provided free emergency dental care to more than twelve hundred poor and underserved people. The patients from the local communities started lining up at 10:00 PM the night before. They came with their blankets, food, and neglected teeth.
Upon walking into the arena, my breath was taken away. The basketball court had been transformed into a makeshift dental clinic with one hundred dental chairs organized into rows by discipline. Through a collaborative effort from dental and health care professionals, Catholic Charities of Washington, and the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity we were provided everything from local anesthetic to a fully functional dental unit. Along side eighteen hundred volunteers at the Mission of Mercy Maryland, we provided one and half million dollars worth of free dental care. We performed assessments, cleanings, root canal therapy, restorative fillings, CEREC crowns, and extractions. We provided prescriptions when needed, patient education every time, and most importantly empathy for how they felt.
At this event, I saw teeth that were just as bad if not worse than the teeth I have seen in the third world countries where I have volunteered. I saw patients cry tears of joy and appreciation. I was thanked every time and was given many hugs throughout the day.
The feeling one gets after a day of giving back is hard to describe. It is addicting, empowering, and self-rewarding. It is something that gives “being a dentist” another meaning.
I highly recommend volunteering to anyone and everyone. I know we are all busy, but even if it is one afternoon a year the impact one can have is life changing.