Blog – Page 18 – Charlotte Dentist | Cosmetic, Laser, Family Dentistry

A Complete Smile Makeover with Porcelain Crowns for Teeth Damaged by Bulimia

Acid Erosion from Bulimia Damages Teeth There are many reasons patients come to see me for cosmetic dentistry. One of the most common reasons is because their teeth are badly worn down from grinding, often in combination with acid erosion that has eaten away at the enamel. Treating these cases can be complex, because if we don't properly diagnose and solve the problem that caused the worn, eroded teeth in the first place, then any cosmetic dentistry is sure to fail very fast. When Jenni (not her real name, as she prefers to stay anonymous) first came to see me through a referral back in 2005 for a Smile Makeover consultation, she admitted that she had suffered from bulimia as a teen, about 20 years prior. She had recovered from this debilitating disease and had been leading a healthy, normal life for many years, but her teeth had been so eroded that she was extremely self-conscious and embarrassed by her smile. Control the Cause of Erosion, or Your Work Will Fail Since Jenni's original issue had been addressed medically, we were safe moving forward with a greatly decreased risk of acid erosion causing problems again, although bulimics are at a much higher risk of GERD/acid reflux. In cases like this, we use a combination of products to protect the teeth and dental work, because the teeth are still at a greater risk of future decay, due to all the previous damage. I've discussed many of the products we recommend in my post, There's No Such Thing as Soft Teeth, if this is a concern. [...]

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:44:56-04:00 May 25th, 2009|Bulimia, Cavities, Cosmetic dentistry, Porcelain Crowns, Porcelain Veneers|0 Comments

Baby Boomers & Dental Care – Don’t wait until after retirement!

With more and more Baby Boomers approaching or entering retirement, an issue often not considered is their dental health. I think it is actually an important topic to discuss, even more so in today's economy. Many Baby Boomers - my parents included - have put retirement on hold, but it's still not all that far away, and with retirement usually comes the loss of dental insurance and the loss of medical/dental Flex plans that can help a lot with covering the cost of dental care. After that, it's all out-of-pocket. Ouch! So we always recommend a thorough re-evaluation of existing dental work for things that may be on the verge of going bad. Such things could be: Old silver fillings with cavities and cracks that could turn into root canals and crowns or extractions The teeth around the old silver fillings may have cracks that could lead to broken teeth Gum (periodontal) disease Ugly old crowns that could be replaced for a nicer smile in the golden years Replacing missing teeth with dental bridges or implants so you can eat the foods you want Etc etc etc...... This gentleman hadn't been to the dentist in a number of years but knew that he was approaching retirement, so he wanted to come in, get a cleaning, and find out if he needed to take care of anything while he still had dental insurance. Turns out that many of his 30+ year old silver fillings were in really bad condition, with pieces chipping off, cavities forming around the edges, teeth cracking, and gum disease to boot. While the total treatment that he needed involved some gum surgery (not needed for everyone, obviously), the primary issue that we [...]

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:44:59-04:00 May 20th, 2009|Cavities, Cosmetic dentistry, Family dentistry, Porcelain Crowns|0 Comments

Experienced and Affordable Cosmetic Dentistry

Charlotte cosmetic dentist Dr. Charles Payet offers a Dental Savings Plan, even for Smile Makeovers. I've talked about the Quality Dental Plan several times, but something that may be overlooked is that this even covers Cosmetic Dentistry! Imagine you're looking for a Smile Makeover and want to get Porcelain Veneers, like Craig's, in the below picture, and you're concerned about the total fees: Depending on the complexity of the case and your cosmetic desires, a Smile Makeover can run from $1200-2000/tooth in Charlotte, so 10 Porcelain Veneers will cost you $12,000 - $20,000. But imagine that now......simply by enrolling in the Quality Dental Plan with a low annual enrollment fee, you would automatically receive a TEN PERCENT (10%) DISCOUNT!!!!! That would save you $1200-2,000 on your Smile Reconstruction by me - a highly skilled and experienced cosmetic dentist, right here in Charlotte, NC. To make an appointment for a Complimentary Consultation: Request an Appointment Online or call us at 704-364-7069. We'll look forward to meeting you soon!

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:45:02-04:00 May 20th, 2009|Cosmetic dentistry|0 Comments

Dental Discount Plan for Cosmetic Dentistry? You bet!

I've talked about our Smiles by Payet Dental Discount Plan several times, but something that may be overlooked is that this even covers Cosmetic Dentistry! Imagine you're looking for a Smile Makeover and want to get Porcelain Veneers [...]

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:45:06-04:00 May 19th, 2009|Cosmetic dentistry, Dental Insurance, Porcelain Crowns, Porcelain Veneers|0 Comments

Just how outrageous is dental "insurance?" Check this out!

As a practicing dentist for almost 11 years now, in a practice that does accept assignment of dental insurance benefits, I have seen almost every conceivable attempt by dental insurance companies to hold up payment, deny payment, or anything they can do to keep the money that should rightfully help pay for your dental care. But this one took the cake for me, and I have to share. Which insurance company? Metlife. Seriously........they said there was not enough missing tooth structure due to decay or fracture on these teeth, and therefore they don't need crowns. Are they CRAZY!!!!!?!?!?!?!? [...]

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:45:09-04:00 May 18th, 2009|Broken tooth, Bruxism & Parafunction, Cavities, Cracked tooth, Dental Insurance, Dental photography|0 Comments

Replacing Dental Crowns with Black Lines at the Gum

What's the Black Line Under Old Crowns? Here's a case from a few years ago where the patient was really unhappy with his old, yellow, ugly old Porcelain-to-Metal crowns, partially because of the dark grey line at the crowns' edges. That black line between the gum and crowns was from the metal inside the crowns showing through. He only had crowns on the top 6 front teeth (a bad idea), and he wanted all of his teeth bright white, and he'd gotten the crowns initially because of severe Tetracycline staining of his teeth. They were the darkest teeth I've EVER had to treat. I'll post something soon about how to create a beautiful smile despite tetracycline-stained teeth, but for this I simply want to show that dental crowns that are used to create a Smile Makeover can be just as beautiful and natural-looking as all-porcelain crowns. Replacing ugly old porcelain-and-metal crowns with a dark grey line at the gums with porcelain-to-gold crowns that look beautiful, natural, and white - to cover tetracycline-stained teeth. Most New Dental Crowns Have No Metal Especially with our Same-Day Porcelain Crowns, we almost never need crowns with metal inside them anymore, but there are occasions that it's still a good choice, as with tetracycline-stained teeth. If this is the kind of dentistry you'd like, Request an Appointment Online or call us at 704-364-7069. We'll look forward to meeting you soon!

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:45:12-04:00 May 8th, 2009|Cosmetic dentistry, Porcelain Crowns|0 Comments

Baby Boomers – get your teeth fixed before you retire when you still have dental insurance and flex plans to help pay

With more and more Baby Boomers approaching or entering retirement, an issue often not considered is their dental health. I think it is actually an important topic to discuss, even more so in today's economy. Will You Have Dental Insurance After Retirement? Many Baby Boomers - my parents included - have put retirement on hold, but it's still not all that far away, and with retirement usually comes the loss of dental insurance and the loss of medical/dental Flex plans that can help a lot with covering the cost of dental care. After that, it's all out-of-pocket. Ouch! So we always recommend a thorough re-evaluation of existing dental work for things that may be on the verge of going bad. Such things could be: Old silver fillings with cavities and cracks that could turn into root canals and crowns or extractions The teeth around the old silver fillings may have cracks that could lead to broken teeth Gum (periodontal) disease Ugly old crowns that could be replaced for a nicer smile in the golden years Replacing missing teeth with dental bridges or implants so you can eat the foods you want Etc etc etc...... Old Silver Fillings Might Need Replacing This gentleman hadn't been to the dentist in a number of years but knew that he was approaching retirement, so he wanted to come in, get a cleaning, and find out if he needed to take care of anything while he still had dental insurance. Turns out that many of his 30+ year old silver fillings were in really bad condition, with pieces chipping off, cavities forming around the edges, teeth cracking, and gum disease to boot. While the total treatment that he needed involved [...]

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:45:15-04:00 May 6th, 2009|Cavities, Porcelain Crowns|0 Comments

13yo girl with back pain, headaches, jaw pain, acid erosion of teeth, ADD, gastric reflux, sleeps poorly….

So what's the connection amongst all these things? Is it possible there's one condition/issue that is a primary driving force behind all of these that, if addressed, could make an amazing difference in a young girl's life......for her entire life? The answer is (of course, or I wouldn't be asking such obvious leading questions, right? LOL :-) ) YES!!!! So what's the driving force behind all these health-issues, and what can be done about it? SLEEP APNEA!!! Let's list all those conditions out again and start connecting the dots: Lower back pain (no history of any accidents or trauma -- this one is a bit of a stretch, but since there are no other contributing factors, and she's been checked for scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and cleared, the fact that she's been suffering from back pain is most likely due to the muscle spasm involved in the other issues, and perhaps she needs a new mattress for better lower back support. Long history of headaches (decreasing somewhat recently, but still significant for a girl only 13 years old) - quite a bit of research now indicates that both chronic tension and migraine headaches are connected to sleep disorders, and it makes sense - if you can't breathe well at night and your brain gets less oxygen than it really needs, your brain/nervous system will get hypersensitized; any little trigger will make it go haywire, make muscles spasm like crazy, and result in headaches. Jaw pain/TMJ pain - Same as with the headaches; when the nervous system goes haywire, the muscles spasm like crazy, and your jaws will hurt; the joints get way too much pressure and pain can result, also the tissue in the [...]

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:45:18-04:00 May 5th, 2009|Bruxism & Parafunction, Cavities, Sleep Apnea & Snoring, Snoring, TMJ Problems, Migraines and Headache Relief|0 Comments

A story about Kat, her migraines, and her NTI nightguard

I'd like to supplement the last post about Kat's treatment with the story of a discussion we had after an appointment sometime in 2008, when she'd had her NTI-tss nightguard for about 18-20 months. It demonstrates just how "miraculous" a treatment the NTI can be for chronic migraine headaches. When Kat first came to us, she had suffered migraine headaches for as long as she could remember (I'm not allowed to tell you how long that is, of course - a gentleman never asks nor tells a lady's age!), and she had tried practically every medication, had every scan done, had allergy testing done, massage, chiropractic, physical therapy..........you name it, she'd tried it. I think the only thing she hadn't done was Botox, 'cause she doesn't like that idea. 2 weeks after starting to wear her NTI, Kat came in for her first follow-up visit and told us in amazement and pleasure that the ONLY headache she'd had in those 2 weeks was the day after drinking a bit too much and forgetting to wear her NTI. It was one of the first days in years she had no headache and no migraine! And that continues today....... But the cool thing.....because sometimes people are hesitant to pay $600+ for a "nightguard" from a DENTIST, of all people, to treat their headaches......after she'd had her NTI for those 18 months, I asked her the following question: [...]

By Charles Payet| 2014-05-21T18:29:22-04:00 May 4th, 2009|Patient Testimonials, TMJ Problems, Migraines and Headache Relief|0 Comments

Dental Implant Bridge Smile Makeover in Charlotte

Some Smile Makeovers are easy, but some are complicated and require combining several techniques to get the best result. The following is an example of one that used 3 different procedures in our Charlotte dentist office: A bridge on 2 dental implants Six Month Braces NTI nightguard for migraine relief Cosmetic Dentistry with Dental Implants When Kat first came to us in August 2006, she was ready to improve her smile, and she had some major complicating factors. She knew about the significant gum recession, was unhappy about the dark metal lines around her dental bridge, and wanted to brighten/straighten her whole smile. But beyond that, she had some more problems: Crowded lower front teeth that were banging against the back of the upper dental bridge She clenched her teeth intensely, pushing the lower front teeth powerfully against the back of the upper dental bridge A history of chronic migraines that did not respond to conventional treatment, and as she'll tell you in a heartbeat, she tried EVERYTHING. The 2 teeth holding up the bridge had cracks in the roots A very high smile line, meaning that - when she smiles big - her lip rises way up high so that even the gums show (most people don't do this) Two Dental Implants for a Bridge We spent quite a while talking about how all these things fit together and all the possibilities to give her a beautiful smile she would love. We finally decided on the following: [...]

By Charles Payet| 2017-06-09T20:45:20-04:00 May 2nd, 2009|Cosmetic dentistry, Dental implant(s), Six-Month Braces, TMJ Problems, Migraines and Headache Relief|0 Comments