Q-What is the difference between a crown and a veneer?

A-Veneers are thin, custom-made shells crafted from tooth-colored materials designed to cover the front side of the tooth. A small amount of tooth enamel must be removed to accommodate the shell. Veneers are mainly used for cosmetic purposes. A crown covers the entire tooth surface to the gumline & is custom-crafted. We generally use all porcelain or ceramic crowns for aesthetic reasons. A crown makes the tooth stronger and improves its appearance. Crowns are also used to cover dental implants. Because of their thickness more tooth enamel must be removed in the preparation process. 

Q- What's the Difference Between Gingivitis and Periodontal (Gum) Disease?

A-Gingivitis (gum inflammation) usually precedes periodontitis (gum disease). However, it is important to know that not all gingivitis progresses to periodontitis.

In the early stage of gingivitis, bacteria in plaquebuild up, causes the gums to become inflamed (red and swollen) and often easily bleed during tooth brushing. Although the gums may be irritated, the teeth are still firmly planted in their sockets. No irreversible bone or other tissue damage has occurred at this stage.

When gingivitis is left untreated, it can advance to periodontitis. In a person with periodontitis, the inner layer of the gum and bone pull away from the teeth and form pockets. These small spaces between teeth and gums collect debris and can become infected. The body's immune system fights the bacteria as the plaque spreads and grows below the gum line.

Toxins or poisons - produced by the bacteria in plaque as well as the body's "good" enzymes involved in fighting infections - start to break down the bone and connective tissue that hold teeth in place. As the disease progresses, the pockets deepen and more gum tissue and bone are destroyed. When this happens, teeth are no longer anchored in place, they become loose and tooth loss occurs. Gum disease, in fact, is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. 

Q-What is a smile makeover?

A- Teeth can tell your age……that is, only if you let them. A cosmetic smile makeover can subtract years from your appearance. This smile makeover involves nonsurgical modifications, where the smile is broadened, teeth are brightened, and the lips are made to appear fuller. As people get older, their lips usually lose elasticity and become thin, wrinkles develop and their face begins to show their age.

Smile design takes into account the entire picture, where the lips and gums act as the frame for the esthetically enhanced teeth. Just as different frames complement different paintings, the design and modifications of one’s smile are considered on an individual basis. The focus is to improve the entire smile. Fixing just one or two teeth is like renovating one or two houses on the block. It makes everything else look worse. Esthetic dentistry is not patchwork; it is important to concentrate on the entire smile. The dental profession is currently undergoing an esthetic revolution, where materials, techniques and equipment have enabled the dental practitioner to produce high quality, highly esthetic restorations that are predictable and minimally invasive. While some people may turn to their plastic surgeon for a face-lift, the cosmetic smile makeover may eliminate the need for that in some cases.  

Although it is not officially summer yet, it sure feels like it (except for all the crazy rain!). Hot days are already here and the kids are out of school.

This summer is exciting for us because it is the first summer that we have our 3D imaging machine, Galileos. We are already discovering all the benefits this technology has to offer our patients!

Problems can be seen with a 3D image that a regular dental xray may not pick up, which allows us to give the proper care and avoid potential toothaches, root canals and tooth loss.

We are currently one of a small hand full of offices in the entire Kansas City area that has this technology, and the only office in Olathe with it. One of the really cool things with this technology is the ability to precisely plan dental implants to replace missing teeth.

With 69% of adults between 35 and 45 years old missing at least one tooth, this is an extremely helpful tool. We have helped many people so far this summer replace missing teeth with dental implants while utilizing our new technology and is so cool and fun!

Using our Cerec machine (same day crown technology) we can propose a tooth in the area where a tooth is missing, and, using the Galileos we can propose where the implant will be. These two technologies can integrate together to give a proposal of the final outcome, before the procedure even begins! We are THE ONLY office in all of KC that can do this! This information is also sent to a special lab that makes a surgical guide for the surgery so that the implant gets placed in the exact location as proposed. Wouldn't it be nice if we could predict the exact outcome in everything that we do in life!

Click on this link to view a video of this process - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzH0FZodNcM

This is a screen shot of a proposed implant in Galileos:

Our entire office was recently in St. Louis for a one day team building seminar with one of the premier dental office consultants, Gary Kadi.

We all caravaned out to St. Louis after work on Thursday, stopped in Columbia for some food and arrived in St. Louis about 11pm. Even though the hotel messed up our reservation that we had had for 2 months, we were all able to be in bed by 12:30am to be ready for the 7:30am start time the next morning.

It was a high energy seminar that was truly remarkable! Gary Kadi is an awesome speaker and his ideas about the business side of dentistry and the team building aspect of dentistry are fantastic. We all agreed that it was well worth traveling 500 miles in two days to attend!

Everyone made it home with some fresh knowledge about how to make our office more efficient, and ultimately, to continue providing our patients with the best dental care in the Olathe and Kansas City area.