We have figured it out! The average dental office is focused on fixing, repairing, and treating damage caused by hard tissue (tooth) infection or supporting soft tissue infection by various species of bacteria.
We have figured out that you can keep fixing and fixing teeth, but you will end up with a mouth full of restorations if you don’t address the root cause!
The root cause is that the bacteria we are fighting are incredibly invasive, opportunistic, tenacious, and destructive life forms! Research is beginning to uncover they are smarter than we used to think, giving off chemical messages to other bacteria, utilizing their differing “gifts” and anatomical differences to invade and destroy their hosts.
The answer is found in the hygiene chair!
Although the standard interval is to see your dentist/hygienist every 6 months, this cannot apply across the board to every single person. People have huge variances in the hardness of their teeth, not only on a person by person basis, but even within the same mouth or arch.
They also have differing populations of bacteria, viruses and fungi in their mouths. They have different saliva viscosities and saliva flow rates,, different diets (which is huge) and the grooves of their teeth can be shallow and fused well or deep like a crevasse in the ice that traps bacteria and food to fester and decay.
So every person should definitely visit us at least every 6 months. But some should come Every 4 months, 3 months, or even more often if their teeth, gum condition, or plaque and tartar index is high.
In our office, we focus on visits in the hygiene chair because it keeps things under control, keeps problems small, and this prevents us from having to do repair work, especially larger projects like root canals, implants, etc. which are more time consuming, expensive, and basically no fun for the patient, the doctor, or the staff! Yes, although we are expertly trained at repairing the teeth, we would much rather see you and all your friends regularly for cleanings than see you infrequently for more involved repair procedures.
So, we encourage prevention. We recommend sealants to keep sugar out of the grooves of your teeth, fluoride varnish application after cleanings to harden the enamel, and very regular cleanings and inspections to catch things early and keep things from turning into big problems.
We utilize the Diagnodent laser scanner to find hidden decay, and use it during the removal of decay we do find as decay left behind continues to grow under restorations. After decades of utilizing the diagnodent we feel it is a necessary and important tool which prevents misdiagnosis, and digitally informs us of the size and depth of any bacteria in a tooth.
We also offer a “Pick and Polish” for our patients of record at an extremely discounted rate to encourage everyone to come in and get the tartar removed from the problem areas of their mouth, and get their teeth polished professionally. This 15 to 20 minute treatment helps keep the bacteria from gaining a foothold and makes your regularly scheduled cleanings much easier! Plus, it just feels good!
So that is why we are different. We want to see you a lot! But only for cleanings 99% of the time! This philosophy will conserve teeth structure, and number of teeth retained in people’s mouths, and we hope to change dentistry and how people view dentistry when they convert to this paradigm, and make their dental visits as easy and carefree as a haircut!
PKT DDS
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