Share the Care-A Referral Story

July 19, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Dr. Buck @ 8:32 pm

So some of our patients have been asking about our Share the Care program and want more information.  Our staff and I value each and every one of our patients.  We do not have a large type of practice that herds our patients through as fast as possible.  We take our time to properly diagnose, treat, and provide the best care possible.  In a time when customer care is lacking in our society, we try to do the little things to make your experience the best possible.  Services such as reviewing insurance benefits for you, Tempur-Pedic chairs, wireless headphones, laughing gas, and just a friendly staff with a smile are all benefits that we can provide to make your experience a good one.

So back to the original question about the Share the Care program.  Because we value and enjoy the times we have with our patients, we would like to see new patients just like our existing patients.  So this is a referral program in which we provide incentive for our current patients to send us their friends, family, and collegues.  So there is a monetary incentive; send a friend or family member and we give you each a $50 credit in our office.  There is a food incentive (they say happiness is found through the stomach afterall); you get a complimentary pizza and cheesy bread at Papa Murphy’s for sending in a friend or family member.  And lastly, you have our thanks for trusting us to take care of someone you care about.  So the next time your new neighbor or work friend asks who your dentist is, send them our way and rest assured that we’ll take good care of them.  Or if you’re just hungry for a good pizza, refer them our way.

Protect those chompers!

July 2, 2010

Filed under: Family Dentistry,oral health — Tags: — Dr. Buck @ 12:38 pm

So as summer moves forward, kids are at playgrounds, riding bikes, and playing sports.  From a dentist’s perspective, this is the time of year that we see the most fractured front teeth.  Outside of caging our kids indoors, mouthguards are by far the best way to prevent those injuries.  We all know that kids should wear mouthguards during football and hockey, but athletes need to also wear them in other sports as well such as baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.  Mouthguards not only protect the teeth, but when an athlete is hit in the lower jaw, they absorb the forces.  This protects the joint, ligaments, and muscles and can lessen the effects of a concussion. 

The National Youth Sports Foundation for the Prevention of Athletic Injuries, Inc. found that 0.7% of injuries were in the orofacial area in football as opposed to basketball in which 34% of injuries were in the orofacial area.  This is because football athletes are required to wear mouthguards.  It was also estimated that the repair, reconstruction, and/or replacement of one broken front tooth of a teenager will cost between $10,000-$15,000 during a lifetime.

So there are basically two different types of biteguards.  Over-the-counter boil and bite mouthguards and custom made mouthguards.  Boil and bites are inexpensive and easy to use, but usually don’t fit very well and don’t last long either (see below).

 

 This is a boil and bite mouthguard after only  a few weekes of wear. 

Custom mouthguards are specific to the athlete’s teeth and bite which allow them to last longer and do the job they were intended to… protect the teeth and absorb the forces.  It’s a simple procedure of taking upper and lower impressions then a lab fabricates the mouthguard with any colors or logos that you want.  They are more expensive, but if an athlete injures a tooth or the joint, the costs can me very high along with the possible long term treatments and discomfort that comes with such injuries. 

So if you or someone in your family is interested in learning more about mouthguards or would like us to fabricate one, please give us a call.  Regardless of what type of mouthguard, please wear them.  I’d rather have a discussion about mouthguards versus how we’re going to repair a broken tooth.