Our first thought on the question of “Is there anything worse for your teeth than tobacco” was “maybe a hammer and chisel.” But that isn’t exactly a fair comparison, as we can’t think of anyone who would willingly subject their teeth to a good breaking with a hammer. And yet, people willingly use tobacco products, often quite eagerly. Smoking leads to all kinds of problems, including bad breath, tooth discoloration, increased plaque/tartar on the teeth, increased risk of gum disease, and increased risk of developing oral cancer to name a few! For a complete list, please look at the excellent articles on WebMD http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/smoking-oral-health.
Our office has always taken the approach that most smokers/tobacco chewers understand that their habit is not good for them. We work hard to accept our patients in whatever dental health they come to us. You should never receive a lecture from us. We will, however, offer to help a patient in tailoring a program to help them stop smoking/chewing tobacco if they would like assistance. We have found that some of the new medications have been helpful in assisting a patient to break the habit. If fear is helpful in stopping, take a look at some of the photos of the oral cancer consequences of tobacco use. They are not for those with weak stomachs. It may be why you find so few tobacco users in the dental profession. As always, we are here to help with all your dental needs.
Making smiles happen,
Your Davidson Family Dentistry team
First time visitors to Davidson Family Dentistry are many times amazed at all of the art work displayed within the walls of Davidson Family Dentistry. Everywhere you look there is something new to entertain the mind whether your interests run from classical art, whimsical, historical or political. The art work also raises questions in the minds of visitors and the purpose of this blog entry is to answer some of those questions.
“Where did all this art work come from?”
Dr. David Davidson is the collector and has been a collector since he was a young boy. His tastes are wide and diverse and he has collected art work from many different places including his travels to other countries, auctions, art shows, and art dealers. A few pieces have been commissioned from local artists to support the Iowa art community. Most of the autographs have been collected personally along with all of the photographs. Because of his varying interests, the price must always be right to make a purchase. He learned early on in the world of art that good things can happen to those who wait, whether it be when the dollar is stronger, later in the auction or a different auction or a later trip. He can be heard telling patients that he often spends pennies on the dollar for each acquisition. Dr. Davidson remembers every acquisition and is always willing to discuss a specific piece of art with a visitor. There are also black notebooks over the coat rack that describes all the art work that was here in 2005 for the grand opening of this clinic. A future retirement goal of Dr. Davidson is to update the notebooks.
“Are your dental prices higher to pay for all of this art work?”
At Davidson Family Dentistry, we compare our prices regularly using fairhealthconsumer.org and various American Dental Association survey sites to make sure that our dental pricing is reasonable as compared to other dentists in the Des Moines market. Because we use top dental equipment, supplies and labs and we hire and keep some of the highest trained (as well as the nicest) dental professionals, we realize that we cannot be the lowest cost supplier of dental care in the Des Moines area. On the other hand, because we are a larger dental clinic we are able to obtain better pricing from suppliers and we can better utilize our dental space so that we can pass those savings on to our patients.
Some of the art work on display at Davidson Family Dentistry is still owned by Dr. Davidson and is only shared by him at the office. Most pieces, especially those contained in the public areas or in the individual dental operatories, are owned by the clinic and will continue to be here even after his retirement.
“Why do you have so much art work?”
Many people think they know the answer to this question. Visitors will assume that the reason there is so much art work in our office is to support Dr. Davidson’s hobby of collecting. The assumption is only partially correct. There is also a true dental reason for all of our art work. Our goal is to make everyone as relaxed and comfortable during their dental appointment as humanly possible. One of the ways we can do that is to not look like your typical dental office. This is especially true for our high anxiety patients who come to us for sedation dentistry. If your mind is occupied with many interesting and fun things to look at and think about, then it can’t make a standard dental procedure into something scary. It’s the same reason we let you select music to your taste to listen to during your dental visit and the reason we play relaxing but mind-stimulating music in all of our public areas. Dr. Davidson also believes that being around natural beauty, beautiful music, beautiful surroundings, and beautiful art inspires our dental team to perform the “dental arts” to the highest level.
Making smiles happen!
The Davidson Team
For those of you who have recently had your teeth cleaned, you may have noticed a strange “goop” that was painted on your teeth at the end of your appointment. That goop is fluoride varnish, and it is the absolute best way to protect your teeth with fluoride. Not only is it easier to apply than the old “bite in these trays with a vacuum between them for four minutes,” but it protects your teeth up to four whole months! That’s fantastic! What isn’t fantastic is that most dental insurance plans will only pay for fluoride varnish once a year, if they cover it at all.
The old adage of “penny wise, dollar foolish” comes to mind on the issue of dental insurance treatment of fluoride. Fluoride has been shown to not only help with strengthening your teeth and making them resistant to decay but it decreases sensitivity which is a common patient complaint.
That profound cavity protection truly should be applied more than once a year to get the most protection possible. To help with getting that second fluoride covered, Davidson Family Dentistry has established its price for fluoride varnish to cover two varnishes with one price. The patient pays for the first treatment and then the second one is free. Under the Davidson Family Dentistry membership plan, two fluoride varnishes a year are covered with your membership fee.
Next time you are in the dental chair and the hygienist asks if you want fluoride, please do not let your dental insurance companies make a poor decision for you. While it may be a few dollars out of your pocket now, it will likely save you money in the long run.
Making smiles happen,
Davidson Family Dentistry
One of our Facebook friends suggested that we do a post on all of the things we do to make the young patients in our office feel at ease. Her quote was “[My son] might be squirmy in the chair at times, but he has never been afraid of going to the dentist. He looks forward to going. Anytime I say he has a doctor’s appointment, he says, “With Dr. Michael?”
It all starts with the scheduling and matching our doctors’ personalities with our younger patients. Dr. Michael Davidson has two young children himself and is our high energy dentist. He does great with those children who are high energy as well. He will make the appointment fun – singing and talking about super heroes – and it is common for children to ask to stay because they don’t want the appointment to end.
Dr. Amanda Vonnahme also has two young children and is our doctor who does well with the quiet or timid children. She is soothing and has a calm, friendly voice and manner. She is great at talking to not only the parent at the visit but directly to the child to help develop the trust.
Dr. Justine Stemper and Dr. John Biegert have adapted their style with children from their personalities and watching the other two dentists. Dr. John’s style following more closely to Dr. Michael’s and Dr. Justine’s style following more closely to Dr. Amanda’s. [We tend to use first names with the children because it makes them more approachable and it avoids some of the harder to pronounce last names.]
Many patients will fondly remember having Dr. David Davidson as their dentist since they were children. While he will occasionally still see our younger patients at the request of parents and grandparents or the needs of the schedule, he has mainly passed that torch down to the younger dentists.
Occasionally, we will make the referral to a pediatric dentist if we feel that there are dental issues that they should see or if we feel that the younger patient would be better served in that environment. At Davidson Family Dentistry, it is all about doing what is best for the patient.
While it brings us great satisfaction to help new adult patients overcome their phobias and help them develop good dental health, it is extremely rewarding to watch the children in our practice develop beautiful healthy smiles and lifetimes of great relationships with their dentist.
Making smiles happen,
The Davidson Team
Truthfully, this isn’t much of a battle. The electric toothbrush wins. They are proven to clean teeth more thoroughly and keep you from brushing too hard when you let the brush do the work for you (a problem many people do not know even exists). They also are easier to use, help time your brushing to the proper duration, and even help you use less toothpaste because the toothbrush heads are smaller. The only advantages that manual toothbrushes have are that they are cheaper and they can be more portable. However, currently we have a $20 mail-in rebate on the Oral B electric toothbrush at our office and we price our preferred Oral B electric toothbrushes so that our patients get the advantage of our savings. So for everyone who already has an electric toothbrush, keep using it! For people who do not have an electric toothbrush, please consider getting one. Your teeth and gums will thank you.
Making smiles happen!
The Davidson Team
Posted August 5th, 2015Welcome to the new Davidson Family Dentistry blog. We hope to have it be a fun mix of educational and enlightening material for everyone. Many of the planned topics are answers to common questions that we receive from patients in the chair or when we visit with people. These we will attempt to discuss in lay terms and not as a scholarly presentation. Occasionally, we will add updates about our office and our staff so that you are able to know us better. Another goal is to have each entry be only a few paragraphs in length.
Our blog authors will vary. All will be written by one of the members of the Davidson Family Dentistry team. We do not plan to purchase blog entries as we have seen many dental offices do. All entries will be viewed by the management at Davidson Family Dentistry prior to being published and if they concern a dental topic will have a dentist’s or dental hygienist’s prior review. The current thought is to create a blog entry a couple of times a month.
If you have ideas for us or if a blog entry creates further questions in your mind, please don’t hesitate to contact us. As in all we do, our motto of “Quality Dentistry, Affordable Service and Compassionate Care” is the reason behind our actions.
Making smiles happen,
The Davidson Team
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