April is National Stress Awareness Month

There must be a reason that National Stress Awareness Month and National Humor Month go hand in hand. After all, the first day of the month is April Fool's Day. I debated on whether to saran wrap the door to my bedroom this morning to get my wife to walk into it, but decided this was not a battle I would win. It would have only been funny to one of us!

To bring attention to this month's theme in our office, I'll pose the following question: Do you wake up in the morning feeling fabulous? Not many do, and I've found great success with a night guard system that I use to reduce the clenching and grinding activity in many of my patients. Check out the website, www.HeadachePrevention.com. It shows some excellent illustrations about how our NTI-TSS night guard works to reduce muscle tension and headaches. What better gift to give to your husband or wife than reduced headaches? We see about a 70% reduction in symptoms after 8 weeks of use of the NTI-TSS system. This is a great treatment for National Stress Awareness Month.

March is Nutrition Awareness Month in our office

Heidi and Jessica have come up with some entertaining monthly themes for 2010. This will give us a reason to discuss certain things, and hopefully add some fun to your visits with us.

This month is Nutrition Awareness Month. We've put some samples of 100% Xylitol gum on the front counter of the office. This is truly one of the best ways I know of to help reduce the acids in your mouth that cause cavities. Chewing 8 grams of 100% Xylitol a day (2 pieces, four times a day) is proven to reduce decay. Great stuff for parents with little ones. When you share forks, spoons, etc, you are transferring the bacteria from your mouth to theirs. Did you know that infants have "sterile" mouths - meaning they are not prone to decay until inoculated by someone else. Chewing Xylitol gums or sucking on mints has been shown to prevent the transmission of the bacteria that cause decay to your kiddos.

Obviously, good healthy foods, like apples, lettuce, celery, carrots, etc will have a natural cleansing ability due to their fibrous nature. Green Tea has been shown to improve gum health, via antioxidants.

All in all, just good information to have for you and your family. Check out the Academy of General Dentistry's website for the public: www.KnowYourTeeth.com for more information.

No Patients...No worries

Slow day at the office, so went for a hike at Smith Rock to blow off steam today. Man, I had forgotten how amazing that place is. Only 10 minutes from the office to boot.

Great day for a hike

Going to put in a strenuous 2 mile hike today with Sophia. ;) I think her little legs can do it - she did 2 miles last week, and I sure don't want to carry her. Great day today - 50 degrees, sunny, and new snow on the mountains.

Two Front Crowns In One Visit. . . Just a Good Feeling.

We just completed two brand new front crowns this morning in a single visit for the nicest little old lady. Utilizing CAD/CAM, I was able to fabricate and customize two gorgeous all-Porcelain crowns for her. I love my CEREC. Otherwise, she would have waited 3 weeks to have the lab-made crowns sent to us, and possibly not have a good color match which would send the crowns back to the lab again. Not to mention, a goopy impression and two plastic temporary crowns in order to give the lab all the information they would need.

I know a lot of patients hate coming to the dentist, but I gotta say - Modern Dentistry is amazing! I just love what I get to do every day.