wmd news october 2014
DESCRIPTION
ÂTRANSCRIPT
In this issue…..
Patient Appreciation Day
Why Tooth Replacement is Important
West Mountain Dental Referral Network
The Safety of Fluoride
Oral Conscious Sedation
Dr. Abercrombie’s Implant Seminar
Employee Spotlight:
As a Pueblo native, Henrietta
has enjoyed raising her 3
children with her husband and
spending time outdoors. Henri
started working in the dental
field in 1997 and her extensive
experience makes her a
valuable team member here.
Henri is also our ATS (Assist
To Succeed) dental assisting
school instructor and just
started teaching her Fall 2014
class. The next class will
begin January 2015. If you are
interested in a career in dental
assisting, give us a call. Henri
would be glad to answer all of
your questions! She has been
with West Mountain Dental
since its opening in 2010 and
says the experience has been
amazing!
Patient Appreciation Day On Sept 1st we held our Patient Appreciation
Day at the Pueblo Zoo! It was a great way to
thank all of our patients for making West
Mountain Dental the successful practice it is!
The day had a
Hawaiian Luau
theme and
included free
admission to the
Zoo, dinner, a
bounce house,
music by The
Martini Shot and the
CAR GIVEAWAY!
Food options included
hot dogs served up by
Lucky Buns, LLC
owned by West
Mountain Dental
patient Shem, shown to
the left serving up some
delicious dogs, and a pulled pork sandwich
dinner! The Martini Shot entertained the crowd
of 700 with a wide variety of hits, while face
painting and bounce house kept the kids happy!
The grand finale of the evening was the CAR
GIVEAWAY
when we
announced
the winner of
the 2014
Nissan
Versa Note! This winner
was Barbara Proctor
(shown below with Dr.
Murray). We are already
looking forward to next
year’s car giveaway, a new
Jeep Patriot! Thanks again
to all of our incredible
patients
that make
West
Mountain
Dental the
amazing
practice it
is! We
look
forward to
seeing you
next year!
Issue
FOUR
A Monthly Newsletter for our patients, and future patients.
West Mountain Dental News
Why Tooth Replacement is Important After a tooth has been extracted,
some people may opt to not have it
replaced. They may say the missing tooth
“does not bother me and it is not a front
tooth where anyone can see, so why
bother?” This article will let you know
some very good reasons why replacement
of an extracted tooth is important.
The first reason tooth replacement
is important is because bone loss occurs in
a location where there is no tooth. Your
body is very efficient and it does not
maintain tissues that are not needed. When
a tooth is extracted, the bone in the area
stops receiving mechanical feedback from
chewing and, because it is no longer being
used, the body no longer maintains the
metabolically expensive bone in that area.
The result is bone loss. So, who cares if the
bone under a tooth that is no longer there
stays or goes? Well the bone loss does not
just go on under the missing tooth, the
contour of the bone loss is such that it ends
up affecting the teeth on either side of the
missing tooth, compromising their support
and longevity. Here is a series of
radiographs (x-rays) that shows how much
bone can be lost. The first is a picture
showing the tooth before it is extracted.
The second is after the
tooth has been taken out
and some bone loss has
occurred (red line). This
last picture is of the same
teeth after the bone loss
has been repaired with a
bone graft. It is here to
show how much bone
should be between these
remaining teeth. These
radiographs show the
vertical bone loss that
occurs, but there is also
bone loss that occurs affecting the thickness
of the bone.
Here are some
pictures showing how
much bone thickness can
be affected when a tooth is
not replaced. These
pictures show the bone
thickness loss with the
gum tissue and with the
gum tissue reflected.
The second reason tooth
replacement is important after an extraction
is tooth migration. After a tooth is
removed, the neighboring teeth will
migrate in to the void
where the tooth was.
Teeth above or
below the missing
tooth will super-
erupt into the empty
space. Teeth in front
of and behind the missing tooth will lean
to fill the spot. This leaning and super-
eruption compromises the health of the
teeth by lessoning the amount of root that
is secured in bone. Tooth loss also upsets
the balance that must be maintained to
keep a healthy jaw joint. Many painful
TMJ (jaw joint) problems arise because
of the misalignment of the jaw joints
caused by missing teeth and the
misalignment tilting and super erupting
teeth causes. You can probably imagine
the misalignment in the jaw that occurs
when all back teeth on one side are
missing, but the jaw can be destabilized
with just a few teeth missing if it has
altered your chewing habits.
WMD Referral Network
During our recent Patient
Appreciation Day, we were very greatful
to have one of our patients Shem, help us
out by bringing his hot dog stand. It was
really great being able to rely on the
services of one of our own patients and
Shem certainly appreciated the business.
It occurred to Dr Muray and I that
we know many small business owners,
sales people organizations and others
through our practice. From Pastors and
plumbers to chiropractors and car tires, we
know them all and they are all local! Dr.
Murray and I were thinking how great it
would be to spread the word to all of our
patients about the excellent services and
products that can be offered by West
Mountain Dental patients! We have
decided to impliment the West Mountain
Dental Refferal Network to help get the
word out about everything the world’s
best patients have to offer!
We are still working on the exact
form the network will take but it will
most likely be a combination of a page on
our website, and a once a year mailing of
a brochure with picture advertisements
(yellow pages style). If you have a
business and are interested in some extra
advertising and referrals give us a call at
719-547-8338 we would love to discuss
this opportunity with you!
The Safety of Fluoride Recently, a patient brought me an
priontout of a website stating that Fluoride
is dangerous and should not be used. While
fluoride in large amounts can be unhealthy,
and even dangerous (its active element,
fluorine, in certain states, can be harmful)
the fluoride added to toothpastes and
drinking water is completely safe.
Fluoride is an element found
naturally in the environment especially here
in Southern Colorado. In fact, Fluoride’s
helpful effects were discovered right here,
near Colorado Springs! In the early 1900s a
dentist named Frederick McKay moved to
Colorado Springs where he noted that many of his patietns had brown stained teeth that
were also very resistant to cavities. The
condition known then as “Colorado Brown
Stain” is known today as Fluorosis. Floride,
in too high of a concentration, can cause
fluorosis. It took many years but Dr. McKay
was able to proove that it was the fluoride
in the local well water causing the Colorado
brown stain and that, in lower
concentrations, it was benificial to teeth.
Unfortunately, today there is a
large, misguided movement against
Fluoride. Some cities have actually
considered no longer fluoridating their
water supplies. The anti-fluoride activists
cite any number of conspiracies and ill
health effects they claim come from
Fluoride, and cite cherry-picked sources,
many of which are out of date and
discredited by recent research.
As a dentist who is dedicated to the health of my patients, I want to assure you
that the vast majority of scientific evidence
suggests that fluoride, in the propper dose,
is completly safe for your body and is
benificial to your teeth making them
resistant to decay!
We’re giving away a NEW JEEP! That’s right! We’re giving away a 2014 JEEP PATRIOT in September 2015 at our
Patient Appreciation Day. Get entered to win this Jeep by referring a
friend to West Mountain Dental! Visit our website to learn more!
www.westmountaindental.com
Oral Concsious Sedation Testimonial of the month: “Easy access, very pleasant staff and Dr. Murray made my dental work painless!” -Jane M.
tooth tip: A water pick can make a good addition to your daily oral hygiene routine. While most studies suggest it is not a replacement for
flossing it does help to keep your mouth cleaner and gums healthier. Here at West Mountain Dental we have seen good results with healthier gums when our patients start using a water pic!
I believe one of the best services
we offer here for our patients at West
Mountain Dental is oral conscious
sedation. There are many people who
avoid going to the dentist and getting
much needed treatment because of fear
and anxiety. Nationwide, it is estimated
that up to 30% of the population avoids
going to the dentist because of fear.
Sedation dentistry is ideal for these
people and can help them get the
dentistry they need. The goal of oral
conscious sedation is to make the patient
feel very relaxed and calm, but still be
awake and responsive to requests from
the dentist or others. It is not like general
anesthesia where the patient is
unconscious. That being said, many of
our patients are so relaxed they sleep
through the entire procedure. The
medicine we use to induce the sedation
has an additional effect of causing
temporary amnesia, meaning the patient
usually does not remember most of what
went on during the appointment.
The sedation appointment starts
with a comprehensive exam in which a
full medical and medication history is
recorded. The dentist will then check for
any drug interactions or medical
conditions that need to be addressed. If
everything checks out the patient is given
an appointment, usually in the morning
and fasting for 12 hours before the apt is
required. The night before the procedure
the patient takes one pill then a second pill
1 hour before the appointment. This is so
the apprehensive patient has a good night’s
rest and arrives to the office as anxiety free
as possible. A third pill is given when the
patient arrives at the office. The patient is
allowed to rest quietly for about 40 minutes
while the third pill takes effect. It is very
important for the patient to be allowed to
relax as much as possible. The medicine
we give is powerful, but if a patient is not
allowed to relax, or if the patient is fighting
the medicine, the sedative effect will be
greatly diminished. After 40 minutes the
patient is started on Nitrous Oxide and the
procedure is completed.
If you would like to know more
about oral conscious sedation, give us a call
here at West Mountain Dental. We would
love to talk to you about it!
Implant Seminar Are you missing a tooth or multiple teeth?
Do you have an ill-fitting partial? Do you
have a lower denture that you cannot wear
because it is uncomfortable and does not
stay put? If you answered yes to any of
these, then I urge you to come and see my
Dental Implant Seminar next Wednesday,
October 1st at the Pueblo West Library at
6:00PM. Light snacks and beverages will
be provided. This will be a great
opportunity to learn about dental implants
and have all of your questions answered
about these incredible restorations!
From all of us at
West Mountain
Dental, thank you!
Back Page
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” -Vince Lombardi “Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity than is required to accept misery and poverty.” -Napoleon Hill
In order to better serve our busy patients, West Mountain Dental is proud to announce extended evening hours and Saturday appointment availability!
M…7:00AM - 7:00PM Th.…7:00AM - 7:00PM Tu...7:00AM - 7:00PM F…...7:00AM - 2:00PM W…8:00AM - 4:00PM S(by apt)8:00AM - 2:00PM
In The Next Issue: CAD CAM dentistry, one visit crowns!
The Safety of Amalgam (Silver, Metal) Fillings
Dental Insurance Benefits -are yours being wasted?
Implant Retained Dentures and partials
141 S. Purcell Blvd. Ste 120
Pueblo West, CO 81007
Contact us at 719.547.TEETH www.westmountaindental.com
West Mountain Dental News is a publication written by
Dr. Arthur D. Abercrombie who is a native to Colorado
and is West Mountain Dental’s new Partner Dentist. Dr.
Abercrombie’s main focus is in implants and he is
currently working towards becoming an Associate Fellow
of the prestigious American Academy of Implant
Dentistry. He has taken over 300 credit hours of
comprehensive implant continuing education including
completion of the AAIDs Maxicourse. If you have any
questions or comments on this issue of West Mountain
Dental News, or anything about dentistry in general, Dr.
Abercrombie welcomes you to email him at: