I Want to Keep My Teeth!

Hi Everyone!

I am pleased to introduce to you Gena, our Administrative Manager who presents an interesting perspective about patient perceptions and dental insurance.  Her guest blog post is meant to enlighten you about dental insurance and our ongoing determination to make sure our patients are well informed.  Your comments and questions are most welcome.

Yes, it is true: many of the patients I encounter neglect flossing, to a degree.  I support flossing and think it is as important as brushing your teeth.  Attached is an article by Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, MS suggesting flossing as being even more important due the fact that it is so neglected; I see her point.  Sadly, I've seen literature that suggests even fewer than 13% of patients floss (more along the magnitude of 7%). 

Any individual who has dental insurance may be interested in seeing the attached video and article.  Every dental patient in the state of Washington (and really this country) should be aware of the growing issues with dental insurance.  The largest dental insurance company in the state of Washington just recently announced a huge change.  This change basically reduced the dollar amount covered/reimbursed to dentists and the majority of dental procedures affecting every field of dentistry (Endodontics, Periodontics, Oral Surgery, etc...).  This means that the company basically requires all dentists to do the same work they have been doing, but be reimbursed/paid less for each procedure.  I have encountered people that have casually expressed mixed reactions to first hearing this. 

February is National Childrens Dental Health Month so today I am addressing childhood tooth decay.  The attached ADA article is a fantastic summary of developing excellent care and hygiene habits to prevent issues like caries in young children.  One of the concepts that is briefly summarized and perhaps not touched on as much in this article is the component of conditions being "transmissible"...well, sort of, that is. 

From time- to-time, I will see patients for an examination that reveals they may have been diagnosed or undiagnosed with a jaw joint problem.  They may even indicate that in the past a dentist has diagnosed them with “TMJ”.  To be clear, “TMJ” stands for “Temporo-Mandibular Joint”.  This term represents the interface between the surface of your jaw bone and your skull, or the temporal bone and the mandible or jaw bone.  Your jaw is attached by a complex series of ligaments and muscles to your skull.  Therefore, everyone has a TMJ or temporo-mandibular joint.  If you have ever been diagnosed with a  problem of your jaw joint, the correct, commonly accepted term is actually “Temporo-mandibular Joint Disorder” or “TMD”.  Due to the fact that these are more scientific sounding, anatomical terms it is easy to see why people commonly confuse their “TMJ” with having “TMD”. 

The relationship between an individual’s systemic health and their oral health has been quite a prominent research focus in the past 10 years.  The truth of the matter is, this piece only begins to skim the surface. 

The thought of having a tooth - or sometimes a number of teeth - extracted or "pulled" is never pleasant.  Consider this however:  when a poor or hopeless prognosis (estimate of the likelihood of being able to maintain a status of health) is given to a tooth or teeth in your mouth, it is because the dental professional has considered all of the clinical information specific to this tooth or teeth and determined the tooth is more of a detriment to your health to keep in your mouth and may actually cause more harm to leave it.   

This article might seem a bit out of place to the average person who thinks of the dentist as a professional who only worries about teeth.  The implications of this article have actually been emphasized for quite some time now.  When I attended dental school they taught us to consider ourselves a “physician of the mouth”.   Why is this attitude in schools? 

“…And I might add why is it important for women?  I can think of nothing more exciting to do today since I am snowed into my remote neighborhood that does not own a snowplough than to take some time to convey a few thoughts about this article on our Facebook page which, I feel, drives home some very important points that are equally important for both genders (although it is obvious this was originally written with the intent of targeting a male audience).