Monday, December 15, 2008

Dental Hygiene Equipment Tip

I want to give a tip every now and then about what makes my job easier. I have found that a couple of extra instruments added to your daily maintenance kits and your SRP kits can make all the difference.

Files are a necessary part to any routine, even if you are a big time ultrasonic user. There are a couple of different names or brands, but I like Hirschfeld Files. They can fit into tight spaces very nicely without extra damage. The can be used to access deep areas without having to completely numb an area. They give you added tactile sensitivity when used with a light touch.

Give yourself or your hygienists a Christmas present and add these or similar files and your patients will like things better.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Being Thankful!

I want to first thank everyone for their interest in increasing their knowledge on how best to help patients. I try to be fun and informative with a variety of things. Some are for my own interests, but most are for yours and your patients.

I cherish your friendship and your support more than anything. Working as a family we can take care of many people and help them to be more health aware and take better care of themselves.

Take some time this holiday season to enjoy yourself and your family. Time and the little things in life are precious commodities that we can't ever get enough of. Also take the time to give to others during this time of need. There are many less fortunate people in the world and in our own communities. It is our responsibility as caring people to help others. In doing so you'll get back 100 times more than you will give.

Say prayers for our loved ones and our health. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Don't Panic

It has been a little bit of time since I've posted here, so today I'm going to give some advice. Most of you know that my hobby is investing and financial matters, and I think that individuals should be very involved in their own futures.

We've heard a lot of talking heads about the economy and personal finances lately. This doesn't really help, it only causes a panic. Unless you are just about to retire, you should be thinking that this time is a great time to be able to invest. Everything you do now will shape your future.

We must cut our personal spending to keep things within our means and normal expenses. Don't be frivolous now! We must personally save more money every month into a savings account for that rainy day. Think of it as a bill that you have to pay yourself every month. It doesn't matter how big or small the amount is, just do it without question. Automatic deposits this way are the best.

Once you do that you must pay down your debt. When the economy is in trouble, you must contract yourself and get rid of things that are extraneous, that includes debt. Start with credit card debt first and then cars and finally the house. Being debt free is a great advantage.

Begin to look at stocks, bonds, and mutual funds like you would if you were investing your own money into buying a company. If you blindly put your future money with someone you don't know without making them accountable, don't expect that money to be there in the future when you want to retire and when you need it.

Why do I spend as much time as I do on knowing the financial world? It's important to know what is going on in the world so that we are better informed to talk with our patients about issues and so we can relate to them when we are recommending treatments. It is also better to take care of yourself. If you are financially secure, then your stress and worry are way less so you can concentrate on your day to day tasks.

Take care and be smart!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Great Time Was Had By All

I want to thank everyone for coming to the Hygiene Boot Camp 2008. I also want to thank Deanne White and Invisalign for being there. I think at meetings like these, I receive more from you than I can possibly give to you. The hygiene community in Oklahoma is a great crowd and highly committed to making themselves and their careers special.

I want everyone to look forward to many years of great adventures with our family learning together. I want to challenge everyone to challenge me to present to you things that you can use to help your careers to be fulfilled and your patients be healthy.

Thank you again!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Gingival Augmentation

Greetings everyone and I hope that you had a wonderful weekend. Summer is over for the most part and now we are into the year-end push. I don't know about you, but it seems that most people base their year based on major holidays or vacations. It's easier to compartmentalize your brain into smaller segments to get your goals accomplished.

Most of you who know me know that I'm a pretty simple person and try to view the world and the tasks of the world that way. You will make fewer mistakes and have fewer troubles if you break everything into small packages. Better organization.

Bear with me, I'll get to the title. Dentistry is no different when it comes to organization. The most efficient and productive offices know that organized systems and procedures make for nicer days, nicer patients, and more productivity.

How does a talk about organization lead to gum grafts? There are a ton of different ways to do grafts, and a lot of reasons to do them. All grafting can be put into one big category which is to make things thicker and stronger. When we have thin tissues, either bone or soft tissue, we have a lot more problems. With thin tissues you will have more inflammation, infection, bone loss, tooth loss, crooked teeth, recession, etc. You all know the problems associated with these issues.

The role of gingival grafting is simply to restore lost structure and prevent further loss. Grafting of gum tissue has been around for a while. And since 1985, root coverage grafting has been achieved successfully. This is important for all of the reasons that were previously mentioned, in addition to successful restorative outcomes and prevention of root decay, which is one of the most common types of decay for your older population.

Grafting of the tissue can be taken from either the palate or a package. In our office we use donor tissue most of the time. In my experience, it works better, is easier to work with, the patient has much less trauma, the matching of tissue is better due to the technique, and the overall experience is less stressful.

That's how it relates to the organization part in the beginning!

So with your patients, look at the gums and recommend grafting. It no longer has to be done the old painful palatal way if it is not necessary.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Doing What is Right

I apologize for being absent from commentary, but been really busy. Today I want to be a bit philosophical so bear with me. I've noticed a lot of things coming up over and over again, not just in dentistry, but in overall life. You see is all on the news about the government issues, politics, war, other countries, oil crisis, personal finance, and everday life.

What I'm talking about is doing the right thing. Now I'm definitely no prince or angel, but I think that it's important to think that we can do better. Think about our lives for a second. We all have strife and we all live in times of trouble and concern. We have worries and needs and wants. But during all of that, can we do what is right.

I've made comments before about keeping it simple. Everything we do should be simple and kept simple. Treating dental disease should be simple. It is really an easy and basic disease to control and treat. If you control the bacteria, you control the disease. If there are no bacteria present, then you will not have periodontal disease or caries. The trick is having others do that on their daily lives.

The financial crisis that we've gotten ourselves into is the same. People got greedy and they wanted more and more. Bankers wanted more things, consumers (us) wanted more things. We overspend on getting the things so we create another problem of credit card debt. It became a complicated mess. Now it's affecting the entire world, because although we live in this country, everything we do matters to the rest of the world.

We've got to get back to basics. We need to take care of our obligations that we've created. We need to fix the problems and not just cover them up with another fancy band-aid. We've got to take care of ourselves first and then take care of those who are less fortunate. The less fortunate list is much bigger than anyone can imagine. We've got to make life simple again.

When I started this dialogue, I wanted to be able to talk about dentistry and life. We need to talk about life and how dentistry can help that life. I'm going to go through tips and observations, but I'm also going to talk about life, because that is the place where everything that we do starts from. Take care!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Your Website

You probably know this already, but we've got your website up and running. It is constantly a work in progress so it will change often and need to be visited many times. I also want to have constant feedback from you on not only the good, but the bad as well. I'm not afraid of change or someone telling me when I'm wrong.

Remember, this is for you. You can get out of it what you put into it. Please email us any questions or concerns often.

Thanks so much for being who you are and doing what you do.

Be Aggressive!

I think that the majority of people in the world tend to be conservative. No we are not talking about political views, but in everyday life. We are afraid to put it out there or tell the truth when it comes to tough situations. I think dentistry is no different. I know that I tend to shy away from things and go with the easy way for most things.

I think that this does our patients only harm and no good. Think about things from the periodontal perspective. If you have a deep pocket, over 6 mm, and you know from your daily study of the dental literature that you can't get that area clean, but you don't want to hurt the patient or charge them more, you gloss over the area.

Now think about what you've done. You've left a nidus for infection, because the bacteria and the 400 layers of biofilm that exist in that area are still present. But now you've sealed up the top half of the pocket. Now it takes a few days to fester but you've created a periodontal abscess.

Now the patient will be in pain, need antibiotics, and have to see the periodontist, hopefully me. This could have been avoided if you noticed the area, gave a bit of local and scaled out the area with an antibiotic placed, we prefer Arestin.

In this case, being a bit more aggressive would have been the right thing to do and the healthy thing. First do no harm! This is easier for experienced hygienists than newbees, but they'll learn.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Time

We all have demands on our time these days. Work, family, free time (whatever that is!). But we need to give ourselves the time to accomplish tasks, no matter how small they might be. It the world of teeth there is a lot of emphasis placed on time and productivity. Of course we need to keep this in mind while doing things, but this is not the way the world works or is successful.

Think of all the things that have to be done during a periodontal maintenance or "cleaning" appointment. We won't get in a discussion of timing things, but let's just understand that there is a lot going on there. Each patient deserves the appropriate amount of time for their individual needs. I have some patients that only have 2 teeth, now their appointment is obviously much less than someone with 32. But during this time, you still have to give the same value for that patient.

Hygienists are constantly in the battle of quality versus time with their dentists. Dentists think that more patients per hour is the key, and that is completely wrong. It has been proven time and again, not only in dental practice management studies, but in all aspects of the business world, that decreasing time is not the best way to increase profits.

With saying that comes the other side of the coin. If you have someone who is very slow at doing something, because that's their style, then you have to make an adjustment. It is not fair to you, your other hygienists, or your patients if you have someone who is just plain slow. They will end up costing you a lot of money over the years. But if you can equate everything, then you can get a good fee that is equally fair to the patients and to yourself and to the hygienists.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Straight Teeth and Periodontal Health

As a strong advocate for overall periodontal health through prevention, we often forget about some of the issues that cause or contribute to this disease. Now if you look at research that talks about periodontal indices for health, plaque, gingivitis, etc., they all will say that it doesn't matter if the teeth are straight or not. I say hogwash to that. Let's look at the majority of the population and how well they behave.

Most patients will not floss unless they get something stuck in their teeth and then they yell and say, "Hey Ethel, where's that string to get stuff out of your teeth?" This is pretty typical. Now we also know that the orthodontists of the world would love to have everyone in braces so that we could all have straight teeth. Most people do this for cosmetics, but the best reason to do so is to keep things cleaner and healthier.

When the teeth are straight, food is naturally cleansed and is easier to take care of at home and in the dental office. Straight teeth are not just about cosmetics, but are important for a sound bite and periodontal health. I would say that straight teeth and a straight bite is much more important for a healthier body than they are for cosmetics.

Braces and straight teeth are not just for a pretty smile and I think that we lose sight of this a lot. We need straight teeth for better periodontal health which we all know leads to better overall systemic health.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Gum Disease and the Whole Body

A Healthy Mouth = A Healthy Body

Many studies show that healthy gums and bones of the mouth can lead to a much healthier body because the amount of bacteria that is circulating through the body is greatly reduced. There is a tremendous amount of support for the link between gum disease and many other problems that exist in the body, mainly heart disease, lung disease, pre-term babies, diabetes, and many others. New research has also identified early links of brain diseases, arthritis, and even certain types of cancers.
Although we have known that gum disease causes the loss of bone and teeth, which is extremely damaging to the mouth and a big problem for eating, speaking, and smiling, we now know that dental disease can lead to serious systemic diseases.

So What Are You to Do?

Gum disease needs to be diagnosed and treated like any other disease. There are many treatments for gum disease based on the severity, that can be tailored to each person. Most preventative treatments need to be modified based on new evidence, but prevention is still the best overall treatment. It is never too early to start preventing the chain reaction of diseases. Even children can get gum disease.
A periodontist is an expert in all types of gum disease. They are dental specialist who’s entire job is to make sure that the foundation of your mouth is in the best care. Just like a sound foundation is necessary for a long-lasting building, the bones and gums must be taken care for good health. If teeth are missing or need to be replaced, they can place dental implants, if disease is present then they can correct it, and if preventative treatments need to be done, they can direct a plan that will lessen the chances of future systemic disease.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Dental Insurance continued

There is a limited amount of money that the insurance company will pay, and it's about $1500.00 and no more. Most treatment will not be covered because they don't want to help you out, they want to line their own pockets. They will also delay claims for months because the longer they hold their money the more interest they earn on it.

Many times, the treatment that is needed is not covered or will not be covered in its entirety, and it puts the dentist in a bind as to how to treat an area without doing bad work.

Dental insurance should be considered a bonus and not the only way things are done. Most of the time the insurance company doesn't have a clue as to what you need.

One more thing that bothers me is that when a claim is submitted, they will deny it because they can't agree on the same way to do it or they say that there are other treatments available. This is completely wrong since they are not there and they don't know what we know about your mouth.

Take advantage of dental insurance, but don't hang your hat on it!

Dental Insurance

I hear things all the time about dental insurance and if it is going to help out. My simple answer is it is going to help but it will not pay for everything.



The basics are that dental insurance is not like medical insurance and it really isn't considered insurance, like say your car or house. There is only a certain amount of dental insurance that is available

Friday, January 4, 2008

New Year's Resolution

I have noticed that a number of my patients are in need of very simple treatment to get their gums and teeth in good health. The simplest type of treatment, that is the most cost effective, and which reduces the future cost of dental treatment the most, is to simply have your teeth cleaned every 3 months. This simple event could save countless dollars in the future as well as pain and a cosmetic nightmare.

I know that most people will say that "my insurance only covers a cleaning twice a year" or something along those lines, but that doesn't mean that you can't have them cleaned more often. People have become too dependent on what their dental insurance will do. More on this soapbox later.

Mountains of research show that more frequent professional cleaning of teeth will result in much less bacteria in the mouth so less gum disease and fewer cavities. Make a New Year's resolution to take charge of your oral health by increasing your cleaning frequency to every 3 months. We'll talk more on what type of cleaning you should be getting later on.

Have a great and healthy day!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Welcome to My Thoughts on Dental Health

I want to welcome everyone to the first installment of my blog on Dental Health. Let me first give you some background. My name is Robin Henderson and I am a dentist in Oklahoma City who specializes in Periodontics and Dental Implants. Most people don't know what a periodontist is, so the simple explanation is that I am a dental specialist, specializing in the foundation of the mouth, mainly the gums and bones. When people have gum disease, they come to see me.

I've been in practice since 2000 and I basically treat any problem associated with the gums and bones. That means bone rebuilding, implants, gum disease, and a lot of other things. I work very closely with your regular dentist to make sure that your mouth stays as healthy as it can.

I wanted to begin this blog to talk about things in dentistry that I see all the time. I'd like to be able to answer questions when they come up and share some observations that I see on an every day basis. My primary reason for this blog is to be a voice for people, in a non threatening way to get answers to questions. I obviously don't have anything to gain by this except giving you the correct information. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there, and i would like to set the record straight.

I hope that this will be helpful for anyone interested.