Dr. Hedge is now offering six month orthodontics in his Cincinnati, Ohio office. Short term orthodontics utilizes new tooth colored wires and brackets to move the teeth to a beautiful new smile in about six months.

I run across articles in women’s health, beauty, and fitness magazines now and then that have advice about dentistry and dental care. Most of the time the facts are, for the most part, correct, or at least close.

Recently, I had exhausted all of my reading materials at the pool while on vacation and picked up the June ‘08 issue of Self magazine. Under the “beauty NEED TO KNOW” column was an article entitled “Better teeth, happier you”.

“Better Teeth, Happier You Improve your smile and your life—it’s true!”

Self Magazine June 2008, Pages 62-65

Excerpts from this article.

“Smile Wish WHITER BRIGHTER TEETH

Best Fix In fact the near $800 service is the number one most requested dental service… but believe it or not, you can get equally great results for around $40. When used as recommended, at-home teeth whitening products can offer comparable effects to in office teeth whitening treatments”

6 WAYS TO GLAM UP YOUR GRIN Do-it-yourself fixes that lead to a healthier and brighter bite

“Mouthwashes with alcohol can degrade bonding and veneers. Swish with GoSmile Rinse, $25, instead.”

The article also discusses how to straighten your teeth without braces, lengthen your teeth and close gaps with bonding and veneers, and minimizing the effect of a gummy smile.

In reality, there is no comparison between over-the-counter products and professional whitening. Professional products are of prescription only strengths and are often four times the strength. Most dental professionals offer many different types of whitening treatments and costs can be well under $800. The following link is a video I did on the different types of whitening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XdC1CYvviU

The comment in the article about mouthwashes with alcohol weaking the bond to veneers and bonding is simply NOT TRUE. End of story.

Most of what I read is fairly accurate, but when I see journalism like this, I have to refute it.

We see a large number of new patients for consultations on their smiles and how to improve them. We are often a first and only opinion, but many times we are asked to offer a second or third opinion. We encourage our cosmetic dentistry patients to seek other opinions to make sure that they are making the right choice for themselves. Today we had a patient ask us, what questions they should be asking another dentist about their proposed treatment. Here is a list of questions that are important:

1. Have you ever done a case like mine?
2. How many cases do you do like this?
3. Can I see some before and after pictures?
4. Do you have any patient references that I can call?
5. Tell me about your laboratory.
6. Do you do a diagnostic wax up?
7. Do you use a laser to sculpt ideal gum contour?
8. Where did you get your education in cosmetic dentistry?

Dr. Hedge has become the dentist in Cincinnati to offer Glamsmile. Glamsmile is a porcelain veneer technique that was developed in Belgium. The concept is to offer a set of porcelain veneers for $4800 through high technology. The results may be an “8″ versus his tradional “11″ rated veneers, but it can be a nice alternative in some cases. www.glamsmile.com.

Dental veneers are custom-designed shells of tooth-like ceramic or composite resin materials that, when applied over the surface of a tooth, can cover worn or dark tooth enamel, uneven tooth alignment or spacing and chips or cracks. Dental veneers fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry because they create a bright, white smile with beautifully aligned, perfectly shaped and proportioned teeth. Even better, the translucent ceramic quality of today’s veneers provides a more natural look than what’s been available in the past.

There are many kinds of veneers available. The first variation is in the material. Porcelain veneers are the most life-like and durable in the long term. You can expect them to last up to 20 years, depending on care. Composite veneers can look great as well, but typically will not be as durable in the long term.

Within the category of porcelain veneers, there are “pressed” veneers that are cast from molten porcelain. This type can then be finished and polished in the one piece that is cast, or they can be cut back and customized with additional natural colors and translucency in the porcelain to achieve a totally natural look.

A second type of porcelain veneer is called a “stacked” veneer. This is made by mixing a liquid and powdered porcelain in layers and then heated in a furnace under vacuum to make the powder fuse and turn into the porcelain “glass”. Both “stacked” and “pressed” will give the most beautiful and durable results.

There is also a variation in veneer technique, with prep, minimal prep, and no prep veneers. Prep refers to the removal of necessary tooth structure. Some cases may require no preparation at all. This means no shots or drilling http://noprepveneers.com. These types of cases usually involve teeth that are fairly straight with spaces, and no dark teeth. These are ideal for young patients, but can be done on patients of all ages. Minimal prep is the technique that Dr. Hedge prefers. This is the ideal mix of non-invasive dentistry and ideal esthetics. Most often anesthetic is unnecessary and minimal drilling is required.

Dr. Hedge has done thousands of veneers of all types and will recommend the type that fits your cosmetic needs and budget.

I just attended a course on Lumineers In Cincinnati last week. I have done many veneer cases with a no preparation technique, but have yet to use the Cerinate Porcelain that Lumineers are made from. The esthetics that I had previously seen with Lumineers were not up to the quality of what my lab technician in Utah was capable of doing. I went to this course to see for myself. Although many of the cases were nice, I still feel that our hand made stacked porcelain veneers offer more natural translucency.

http://www.dentalhealthcenter.com/lumineers.htm

Below is a case I did with minimal preparation. There was no need for shots or anesthetic to do this case.

Many people have dark teeth due to Tetracycline stain. Many have been told that their staining is due to Tetracycline and it is, in fact, not due to Tetracycline. No matter what the cause, there is hope with deep bleaching. Deep bleaching involves a very specific technique with a combination of home use trays that are designed and fabricated to seal the bleaching material on the teeth and an office treatment that uses unique bleaching chemicals that whiten deep into the teeth. Treatment involves three visits and a commitment to nightly home treatment. The results are incredible.

One in five adults have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Almost half of snorers have OSA. People with sleep apnea are 23 times more likely to have a heart attack. Being overweight increases your odds only 7 times and smoking 11 times. Sleep apnea is over twice as likely to kill you as SMOKING! An oral appliance is the recommended first line of treatment for most Obstructive Sleep Disorders. Here are a series of questions that will tell you if you are likely to have Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Do you snore?

Do you have high blood pressure?

Has anyone reported that you chock or gasp for air while sleeping?

Do you wake refreshed?

Are you excessively tired during the day?

What is your neck size?

ANC Adjusted Neck Circumference

NC x 2.5 + Hypertension (4) + Snoring (3) + Choking (3)

<43 Low Probability

43 - 48 Intermediate Probability

> 48 High Probability

16 x 2.5 = 40
17 x 2.5 = 42.5
18 x 2.5 = 45

Ask Dr. Hedge about an oral sleep appliance to let you breath and get a full nights sleeep.

Scott Smith holds the world record for the longest competitive drive at 539 yards, fastest golf ball speed at 222 miles per hour, and fastest swing speed at 164 miles per hour. Dr. Hedge hopes to help him beat the records with his Pure Power Mouth Guard. The Pure Power Mouth Guard is computer designed to the optimal body muscle balanced position. It enhances athletic speed, power, and balance. The PPM is being used in almost all sports to enhance performance. The Florida Gators basketball team was the latest team to embrace the PPM.

We have become the sole provider for this amazing sports mouthguard. Check out the comments from my colleague in Florida, Dr. Scott Wagner:

From Scott Wagner:

Just to update everyone….

My team and I, Chuck, and Terry, were in Gainesville on Friday to do the work-ups on the Men’s and Women’s basketball team. We got set up around 10:30AM, and the players were supposed to start arriving around 11 (staggered times per my request). Well, go figure, they all showed up at the same time! Regardless, we hammered it out and did 6 work-ups in couple hours. Admittedly, I was a little jealous of Chuck and Terry as they were getting to shmooze with the players and coaches, meanwhile, my team and I were sweating it out getting the impressions, bites, etc.

The cool part was having Chuck do the tests on all the players after we produced several K7 bites. He would test them in their natural bite, then with the PPM/K7 bite. The cool part was the difference between the bites. BIG HINT: Take several bites when you are doing this…..because some turned out great and others didn’t. Fortunately, we got a really strong bite on every player. Even the biggest doubter (Marreese Speights) was giggling like a little school kid at how weak he was normally, then how strong he was with the PPM bite.

We had a special treat……. near the end of the morning, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, and Chris Richard from the National Championship team walked in. They were all intrigued by what we were doing. Before I knew it, Chuck was doing the pen test on Al Horford….. and he was astounded at the difference. The best part was that he had his regular mouthguard that he wears to play and practice in. Chuck did the strength test on it first, then with the pen. Al was blown away!!!! Unfortunately, those 3 guys had to be elsewhere, or we would have done PPM work-ups on them too. I expect to get a phone call from Al in the next couple of days. Chuck and Terry ran into Chris Richard at their hotel later and he wanted one too.

The word is spreading fast. The buzz around the locker room was really cool. Jai Lucas (son of former NBA player and coach John Lucas) is a freshman for the Gators. He wasn’t one of the players we got to work on (because he’s a freshman), but you could tell he was excited to get one as he said, “I heard this new mouthguard is bada$$”.

More later…..

Thanks to Chuck and Terry for flying in. They did get the treat of going to the Florida-Tennessee football game. The Swamp was rockin! I know they had a great time, except for the blazing heat and humidity!

Success abounds!
Scott

Our porcelain veneers are all custom made one at a time in our laboratory in Las Vegas.  Colors and translucency’s are blended to give a natural look.  Every case is photographed and e mailed to Dr. Hedge for approval on shape, color and contour prior to the final glaze and polish.  This ensures that every case is the best it can be.

Dr. Hedge and Dr. Kathy Frazar from Houston, Texas have started a “grassroots” effort to have dentists do their part in saving energy and helping out our planet. At your next dental hygiene visit, you will receive a Compact Fluorescent Bulb instead of a toothbrush. Dr’s. Hedge and Frazar are encouraging dentists nationwide to join in the effort.

There are 120,000 dentists in the United States. Each has an average of 800 patients. That would amount to almost a hundred million bulbs with just one check up.

If every patient took it home and replaced an incandescent bulb 60 watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people!

This would seed an avalanche of people replacing other bulbs. Once you replace one and see that it provides the same light and with the education that it will last for ten years and use 75% less electricity, it is a no brainer to go out to the hardware store and replace the rest. The average home has between 50 and 100 sockets!

www.DentistsforthePlanet.com

Results of a study conducted by an independant research firm provide new evidence that a beautiful white smilehas a direct effect on successful interpersonal interactions, both socially and frofessionally.  The study shows that a whiter smile substantially affects how others think of you when you first meet.

According to the study, which included simulated job interviews, simulated first dates, and a quantitative onlive survey, more than half of the study participants were more likely to be hired (58%) and receive larger salary offers (53%) after their teeth had been whitened.  I would assume that the same would apply if they had veneers or Invisalign to straighten the teeth. 

The study also found that evaluators expressed greater interest in continuing their interaction or “date” with more than half of the study participants (54%) after their teeth had been whitened.  Visable from 200 feet, a white smile is the intense focus of what other people look at and a sign of our warmth, confidence, and health.

During simulated job interviewwfound that a majority of the study participants were viewed to be more professional (65%0 and more confident (61%) after their teeth had been whitened.  On their simulated first dates, more than half of the study participants were viewed to be more outgoing (59%) after their teeth had been whitened.

This patient is absoloutely thrill at the results of her Invisalign case.  It took 15 months.  Notice that she used whitening gel in her Aligner and got whiter as well.  We include whitening with all of our Invisalign cases.

www.Dentalhealthcenter.com

We are going to try something new in Cincinnati, utilizing new and commonly owned technologies.  If you have a digital camera, a computer, and an internet connection, you are all set.  You can take a few pictures of your smile and e mail it to Dr. Hedge.  He can then give you an idea of what might be possible.

Here is what you will need to do.  Get your digital camera and set it in Program Mode. Turn your Flash off.  This is the Lightening bolt symbol with a slash through it. If you can, boost the ISO as high as it will go, usually 800 or “High”. You will need a helper to take the picture. It is too hard to take it on yourself. Have the shooter stand about a foot away and zoom in to the corners of the mouth. Take a straight on smile and at one at each side. Make sure the camera finds the focus.  

Wash your hands and use your index and middle fingers on each side of your mouth to retract your lips out of the way.  Take two pictures here.  One biting together and one slightly open so the bottom teeth show.

E mail this to Corine and she will forward them to Dr. Hedge so he can evaluate the possibilities that cosmetic dentistry can offer and e mail you back. Corine@DentalHealthCenter.com.

This is what happens if you use a flash.

www.Dentalhealthcenter.com

The pull of gravity on facial tissues is not a significant component of facial aging.  The loss of fat from beneath the skin and sun exposure play the biggest role.  A dull worn smile can add even more years to your appearance.

Many people are reluctant to have traditional veneers done because they do not want have their own teeth shaved down.  This has always involved shots of anesthetic and drilling.  This new technique allows us to make extremely thin and strong veneers that give the patient white straight teeth with no drilling or shots.  The contact lens-like veneers are bonded directly to the tooth in cases where larger teeth are desired for a more ideal arch form.

Imagine having a tooth repaired painlessly without shots for anesthesia. Researcher’s at the University of Buffalo’s school of dental medicine are conducting study’s to see if the upper teeth can be anesthetized using a spray anesthetic  normally used by ear, nose, and throat physicians  when operating on the nose.

A new study was just reported in the New England Journal of medicine indicating that healthy gums will allow for improved bllod flow in arteries and veins.  More than one in three Americans over the age of 30 have some form of periodontitis, or gum disease.  Cardiovascular Disease is the number one killer of American adults.  This only makes sense, but now has strong evidence to prove it.  Gum disease allows for the hundreds of strains of bacteria and fungus that are native to the mouth to directly enter the blood stream and infect the entire body.  Many of these strains of bacteria have an affinity to attach to blood vessels and the heart.  Intensive periodontal therapy to eliminate gum disease in the mouth can and will save lives.  Get your gums checked if you have and cardiovascular diseases.

This patient wanted his bite to come together in the front and for his teeth to be straight and white. Invisalign treatment was
performed by Dr. Thomas Hedge and completed in under eleven months. The added benefit was that he whitened his teeth at the same time by placing whitening gel in his aligners. Whitening is complimentary with every Invisalign case.