It’s that time of year again. Valentines Day is just around the corner. Every year we remember (hopefully) to get our significant other candy presents and heart felt gifts. This year The Center of Dental Professionals and A Kids Place Dentistry wants you to show your teeth “the love.” Milk chocolate and candy hearts can be harsh on your pearly whites. That is why we are suggesting you try out some of these romantic food ideas from our Pinterest page.
Image Source: Spend with Pennies.com
1. Strawberry Roses: These cut strawberries make the perfect culinary snack. The rose pattern is fairly easy to make and your friends and family will think you are quite the gourmet chef.
Image Source: Snapguide.com
2. Heart Shaped Carrots: Top your salad appetizer with some of these festive heart shaped carrots to really set the mood. Simple touches like these are easy to do and only require a little creativity (thanks Pinterest).
Image Source: blog.celebratethebigandsmall.com
3. Heart Shaped Cheese Platter: This cheese plate is another great idea to host a party or treat as an appetizer before a long romantic meal. You can add hard meats like salami to the mix if it needs some variety.
Image Source: Ilovetocook.org
4. Mozzarella Cheese Filled Hearts: These delicious cheese filled hearts are made with mozzarella and a roasted red pepper pesto. Yum!
Image Source: krokotak.com
5. Cupid’s Hot Dog Hearts: We know that hot dogs aren’t a staple of French cuisine, but having something fun for kids can make Valentines Day all the more special!
For more great ideas like this, please visit our Pinterest page or any of our other social media sites.
The Center of Dental Professionals and A Kids Place Dentistry want to encourage you to have a fun Valentines Day and remember to brush your teeth after enjoying any sweets this holiday. Visit any of our wonderful dentists at our 2 office locations in Salt Lake City, Utah for more information on oral health. To make an appointment call (801) 747-8018.
Helping Your Grandchildren Learn About The Dentist
By David L. Steed
For many, the dentist can be a daunting experience. He is often thought of as the one who inflicts pain with rudimentary implements while getting paid handsomely to do it. While this isn’t true, anxiety about the dentist affects many of the patients we see every day, especially young children.
A Kid’s Place Dentistry tries to alleviate some of that fear with our child friendly services and doctors that care about patient comfort. Parents and grandparents can also help stem many of the fears that accompany a child’s first visit to the dentist. You are your grandchild’s greatest ally when it comes to learning about the world and using teaching materials like books, movies and games can help them see the dentist in a more positive light.
A great resource for kid friendly learning materials can be found on Pinterest.com. The Pinterest website operates like an online scrapbook where people can share creative projects and pin them to virtual pin boards. The Center of Dental Professionals page on Pinterest has many great ideas for learning about how to maintain a healthy mouth, including printable materials to share with your children.
One of our favorite project ideas from Pinterest is to take a large building block or styrofoam egg carton to use as teeth. By applying salt dough or clay between the grooves you can teach young children the importance of flossing with a string of yarn. This tactile project is fun and engaging for young minds that will remember how much fun they had when they go to their next dental appointment.
Take a children’s building block and add a little dough to teach kids the importance of flossing.
Another strategy to prepare them for their first visit to the dentist is to read books or watch educational videos while answering any questions they might have. It is an excellent way to bond with your grandchild and gives them safe environment to learn about potentially frightening experiences. With websites like Youtube, Hulu and PBS, you can find educational programs about visiting dental offices and maintaining proper oral health for free. Many popular programs such as The Magic School Bus series and Sesame Street have episodes about the dentist that are great fun for kids.
For reading materials the website wegivebooks.org has some of the newest and most popular children’s titles for free. You can browse their collection of thousands of books and easily search by subject, genre, author or title. The non-profit organization has many fun books to read with your family including “A Trip to the Dentist,” by Penny Smith.
At a Kids Place Dentistry we try to make the experience at the dentist as fun of a learning experience as possible. We know that going to the dentist can be scary at times, but our team of dental professionals is invested in your children’s oral health. If you have any questions about children’s dentistry or where to find more great learning materials please visit our website dentalprosutah.com or contact our offices in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Tonight is the arrival of the first ever College Football Playoff. The Heisman winner, Marcus Mariota and the Oregon Ducks will take on Urban Meyer and his Ohio State team. It will be an excellent match for the inaugural championship game.
While we hope that no players will be injured, it is important for athletes to take proper precautions to protect their bodies. This includes things like helmets, pads, braces and other appropriate attire for the grueling physical nature of sports like football. One thing that often gets overlooked by athletes is protection for their teeth. While a helmet can protect a football player’s mouth, it is important to remember when playing other contact sports like basketball and hockey to wear a properly fitted mouth guard. This can help prevent injuries such as chipped or broken teeth that may cost thousands of dollars to repair.
A simple mouth guard can be purchased for $5-$15 at a local sporting goods store and ready to use in just a couple of minutes. They can be a little awkward to use and make talking difficult, but will save time, money and pain. Your local dentist can recommend brands and sizes for your athletic needs. They can help instruct you on how to prepare a mouth guard before use and how to maintain it. Mouth guards can save teethe and help you maintain a healthy smile.
For More information about mouth guards and other ways to prevent oral health problems please visit The Center of Dental Professionals in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Oral health is one of the most important things that we can teach our children and it can be so much fun! Young kids love to learn about everything that is going on around them. Learning about their teeth with sensory activities can make future trips to the dentist more enjoyable for parents. Here is a fun project that you can do with your children to help them understand the importance of flossing.
Things you will need –
An egg carton or building block piece
A soft bristle hair brush
Yarn to act as dental floss
Play-doh or tissue paper
The first thing you will need a large building block piece or an egg carton to act as your teeth. Show your child how the teeth feel and compare them to the ones in their own mouth. You can then prepare the teeth for the experiment. Take your egg carton or building block and stuff bits of play-doh or tissue paper sporadically through the teeth. These act as bits of food that your child will need to try to remove by brushing the teeth with their pretend toothbrush (hairbrush) that you have given them to use.
After a couple minutes of brushing ask them if they were able to get all of the food out from between the teeth. Hopefully the answer is no so that you can teach them the importance of not only brushing their teeth but how flossing between teeth helps maintain a healthy smile. Give them the piece of yarn and show them how to make soft strokes between the pretend teeth. Carefully remove the bits of tissue paper or play-doh, being mindful to explain that the gums holding their teeth are delicate.
This is a fun and easy activity to do with your kids. For more information about your children’s dental health please visit A Kids Place Dentistry in Salt Lake City, Utah. You can make an appointment by clicking here or by calling our offices at 801-747-8000.
Do you have shiny white teeth for the school year?
Whether you go to school or not, having healthy teeth is important. But for students both young and old, school is a very social place and having a nice smile can make a big difference in the confidence and ability to excel.
As the 2014 to 2015 school year kicks off, what better time is there to come in for a check-up and to make sure you won’t have any dental problems as you focus on learning. After all, it is much easier to schedule an appointment before your busy schedule starts, and there’s less of a chance that maintaining your oral health will fall between the cracks when the homework starts piling up.
So whether you are in 1st grade, 12th grade, or college, call us and make an appointment today!
Hi, my name is Bryant. I’m 26 years old and… I hate celery. It’s too stringy, gets stuck in my teeth, and the taste is pretty forgettable.
Why does this matter? Well, my dear wife recently made me a plate of food which included something called “Ants on a log.” Yep, it was celery, but with a peanut butter filling and sweet raisins on top. It looked pretty much like, well, ants on a log and… I liked it! For some odd reason, my aversion to celery vanished and I ate every one of those ants and the logs they sat on.
Okay, so here is why that story is relevant: This month is Fresh Fruit and Veggie month, and it got me thinking how so many fruits and veggies can taste so good and still get overlooked, in favor of processed foods with loads of salt, sugar and fat poured into them. Take my apple, for example. My wife (bless her heart) packed it into my lunch today and it’s still sitting on my desk. It’s getting close to quitting time now, and I still haven’t taken a bite out that big, juicy looking orb. The pack of grasshopper cookies just a few feet away, however, has been visited by me at least a few times throughout the day. What gives?
The fact is that our brains are programmed to go after food with high fat, sugar, and salt content. Back in the Stone Age, things like that were hard to come by so the brain made them taste really, really good to let us know that we shouldn’t pass up on them. Well, our brains are still telling us that, and it’s hard not to listen. Maybe in a few million years, our brains will have adapted to the abundance of fat and flavor we have in the 21st century, but until then, we’ve got to find a way to balance our diets despite the appeal of that stuff.
Given the situation we are in, I wonder if things like Ants on a Log could help us achieve a more balanced diet. I know someone out there is probably thinking, “dude, peanut butter filled celery isn’t much better than a cookie.” I concede that point, but now that I’ve had the ants on a log, I might just be able to eat celery without the peanut butter or ants – oh, I mean raisin. Think of it as some kind of… gateway vegetable.
Now, celery itself doesn’t seem like the most nutrient rich vegetable or fruit that is out there, but if you take the same concept as Ants on a Log and apply it to other vegies and fruits, you might find something delightful and healthy. The ultimate goal, of course is to eat fruits and veggies just the way they are, but for kids and people like me who never learned to eat their veggies, maybe this could be a successful strategy. I wonder if some kind of mushroom treat could help me get over my fear of mushrooms (that would be the day).
This is also relevant because here at the Center of Dental Professionals we are interested in the health of our patients and community. Eating fresh fruits and vegetable is good not just for your overall health, but for your oral health as well.
So if you think the Ants on a Log strategy might work for you or your kids, I’ve searched far and wide across the endless expanse of the World Wide Web to gather up fun serving suggestion for fruits and vegetables. Here they are for your enjoyment:
Utah remains one of the states in America with no comprehensive statewide certification when it comes to education and careers in dental assisting and dental administration. This may be an issue for students who are looking to maximize opportunity and minimize expense. It also causes some students to over- pay expensive tuition fees because they do not know all the facts.
“If all a student wants are the skills necessary to become a successful dental assistant, such as state required certifications in CPR and radiology (exams regulated by the Utah Board), then why pay full tuition at a college or applied technical school when they can go somewhere else and get the very same certifications and education for far less money?” says Chief Executive Officer of The Core Foundation, Christie McCutchan.
The facts: Dental assistants in Utah only need to pass a radiology exam approved by the Utah Board that meets the criteria established in Section R156-69-604. All dental assistants must also currently have either Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) certification. These are the only two required certifications to become a dental assistant in Utah.
All accredited and non-accredited dental assisting programs offer these required certifications, but at widely differing tuition pricing. At Salt Lake Community College of Applied Technology the tuition cost is $16,000. At Vista, the program would cost $14,000, but The Core Foundation offers the very same certifications for $2,999 and all of the above offer the same legal certifications required for a career in dental assisting.
“We are not sure why people looking to get into the field of dental assisting are paying ridiculous, and quite frankly exorbitant , tuition fees when there is no statewide certification,” says McCutchan. “Most students do not realize that unless they are looking to transfer these basic dental assisting credit hours towards a degree in dental hygiene (RDH), there are other, far less expensive, ways of achieving the very same goal.
The Core Foundation is a newly registered school focusing on educating and preparing students for a career in dental assisting and administration. Since there is no statewide regulation governing this process, The Core Foundation is one of the few schools that offers students a true, academic setting complete with classrooms, textbooks, comprehensive curriculum and the opportunity to gain practical hands-on application in their three dental facilities.
This training is held not only in general dentistry, but in a specialty surgical center and pediatric clinics, providing students with a substantially more well-rounded education than many of the other programs out there. Offering a certificate of completion, along with the necessary state certifications required for dental assisting, The Core Foundation began offering classes in summer 2010.
Never in history have patients been so bombarded by dental marketing. Dentists around the nation promote cosmetic makeovers and implant “teeth-in-a-day”. While this is a legitimate treatment option for a select few; health, genetics, habits, age, desired esthetics and finances may require the doctor to provide alternatives to suit the needs of all patients. With this in mind, patients today have questions! Below are the most frequently asked questions regarding dental implants.
Do I really need dental implants?
People don’t “need” teeth to live. However, beautiful, long-lasting, worry-free teeth make life much more enjoyable. Imagine smiling and eating with confidence! No more self-conscious smiles in family pictures due to missing teeth. No more eating on “your good side”, you know, the side with no dental problems. Imagine, no more ill-fitting dentures!
Doesn’t it hurt and take a long time to heal?
Advances in technology and techniques have significantly improved the patient’s dental implant experience. Computer-guided surgery and laser dentistry allow many procedures to be completed in one day with NO cutting of the gums! This significantly reduces the pain and healing time after the procedure. Most patients are comfortable with simply taking over-the-counter medications for the minimal pain associated with this procedure.
Will I have to go without teeth as I heal?
Before TreatmentAfter Treatment
Sylvia had trouble with her existing partial dentures and was interested in implant therapy. Her main concerns were: not having teeth as she healed, post-treatment pain and healing time.
Incorporating the latest technology and techniques allowed Sylvia to be successfully treated with little discomfort the day of surgery and deliver beautiful teeth the same day.
How many implants do I need?
This varies from patient to patient. A frail 93 year-old female would require less implants than the 40 year-old construction worker twice her size. The goal is to use the least number of implants to achieve what the patient desires without sacrificing durability and predictability of the final outcome.
After a thorough evaluation and a 3-D x-ray, the doctor and patient will consider: health, genetics, habits, age, desired esthetics and finances. After weighing the benefits and limitations of each doctor recommended treatment option; the patient and their family usually decide what’s best for their personal needs whether it be 1, 2, 4, 6 or no implants at all. Patients, with their newfound understanding of dental implants, should be able to make this decision for themselves.
I’m too old for dental implants?
Two months ago Ellen, a 93 year-old patient, came to my office for a second opinion. She had only one tooth remaining in her lower jaw and very little jawbone left to support a denture.
Another doctor had recommended 4-5 implants and a permanent denture for $22,000! Considering her age, we thought this may be over-treatment. We always recommend starting with the least expensive, least invasive treatment. She left our office smiling from ear to ear with 2 implants under a beautiful new denture. When asked if it was worth it Ellen replied: “I can’t believe I didn’t do this 15 years ago!” If otherwise healthy, a patient’s age plays only a practical role in treatment.
Which doctor should do my implants?
Bob Before TreatmentBob After Treatment
Bob was a regular at his dentist friend’s office for years. Bob knew his complex dental needs required a specialist. He wanted his surgery and dentistry done by experienced specialists who treat cases similar to his on a daily basis. His dentist was honest with him and let him know he does not do implant surgery every day and recommended him to our office. He now smiles and eats with confidence only weeks after beginning treatment. We want to work with your current dentist to ensure a healthy long-lasting smile.
Prosthodontists are the only dental specialists recognized by the American Dental Association to place and restore implants. They have attended three additional years of post-doctoral training after dental school to perform the surgical placement of dental implants, crowns and/or denture restorations. Confusing appointments and fees between multiple doctors is unnecessary!
When IV sedation and/or complex surgery is required, Dr Cameron Egbert, an Oral/Maxillofacial Surgeon, is available in the office to ensure your safety. Oral Surgeon’s attend an additional four to six years of post-doctoral training after dental school and are trained in anesthesia, management of patients with severe health problems and oral and facial surgery.
It is important to ask what type of training your dentist has when it comes to dental implant treatment. Over half of the patients I see come to me with implant problems that could have been avoided if managed by a specialist from the beginning of treatment. With a combined eleven years practicing the latest and safest techniques, you can rest assured there is no more advanced dental office in Utah to care for your implant needs.
We sincerely hope this helped resolve some of your concerns regarding dental implants.
If you have any other questions please call for a complimentary, no obligation consultation 801-747-8018. You deserve to have your best smile possible!
Dentists suggest a number of tips for parents to prevent the decay of baby teeth:
Take an infant to a dentist before the first birthday for an assessment of cavity risk, even if the child has only a few teeth.
In general, brush the teeth of children 2 or younger with a bit of fluoride toothpaste twice a day. At 2, start to use a pea-size dollop.
Reduce snacking. Eating any starchy or sugary food causes the pH level in the mouth to drop sharply, leaving teeth awash in an acid bath — murder on enamel — for 20 minutes until saliva normalizes the pH. The frequency of exposure to acid is more important than the sugar content of food.
Do not share utensils with a child or “clean” a pacifier in your mouth, then give it to your infant.
Research has shown that parents or caregivers with active tooth decay can pass cavity-causing bacteria via saliva.
Brush preschoolers’ teeth for them. “They are not in a position to effectively brush their teeth until they are 7 or 9,” said Dr. John Hanna, the director at the pediatric dental surgery clinic at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
Utilizing a “team approach” when treating complex TMJ cases does more than just reduce patient stress and apprehension but, more importantly, facilitates a seamless transition from one treatment to another, creating the optimum scenario for satisfied patients and providers alike. Here at The Center of Dental Professionals, we have a Surgical Prosthodontist and two Oral Surgeons on staff to do just that. You may be asking yourself how this tandem approach to TMJ treatment differs from other treatment options; here’s how:
Pre-surgical TMJ options with Dr. Nicholas Egbert, Surgical Prosthodontist
• Reviews patient history for pertinent trauma related to TMJ, medical and dental;
• Provides comprehensive head and neck exam;
• Diagnosis of the joint problem via loading of the joint;
• Mounts casts for fabrication of proper TMJ splint and records pretreatment occlusion;
• Provides splint therapy in conjunction with physical therapy for 6-8 weeks;
Surgical TMJ options with Dr. Cameron Egbert and Dr. Niven Tien, Oral Surgeons
As the TMJ treatments above suggest, patients have a variety of options to explore before surgery becomes their only option. However, if surgical management of the temporomandibular joint is the only option, a qualified Oral Surgeon, working with a patient’s Prosthodontist, is critical to a patient’s treatment success. Here are some of the benefits an Oral Surgeon can offer:
• Provides medical management;
• Exams are administered under anesthesia;
• Performs arthocentesis / jaw joint washout
• Performs arthoplasty
• Performs discectomy
• Provides total joint replacement options;
• Returns patient to general dentist for follow up care.
Suffering with TMJ disorders is painful and oftentimes even debilitating for patients but working with a qualified team of specialists will best provide your patients with the relief they need to live pain-free and productive lives. To learn more about our “team approach” to TMJ treatment, please call our office to speak with one of our specialists directly. We look forward to working with you and increasing your patients’ satisfaction!
If you feel you may suffer from TMJ disorders call us today at 801-747-8018 for a Complimentary Consultation.
