Do you have any coats hanging in your closet, stuffed in drawers, thrown in the attic or basement that are still wearable? If so, why not drop them off here at our Charlotte dental office from now (November 10th, 2015) up until March 21st, 2016, and we will be donating them on a regular basis to local charities for those in need during the predicted cold and wet winter ahead.
Wow, I had no idea it had been quite so long, but I discovered tonight that I just recently passed 5 years of dental blogging. Can you believe that? How & Why Did I Start Blogging? Back at the end of 2008, as the USA was in the early stages of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, my practice was desperately struggling for business. So many Charlotte employers were laying off employees like crazy, and people were understandably choosing their mortgage and grocery payments over dental work, so we needed to find a way to attract more patients. Since we needed a new website but couldn't afford to pay someone to do it, I decided to learn myself, and so began my journey into website design and writing, and I got hooked. So how much has been involved in my blogging over the last 5 years? Here are a few stats: 35 Pages 167 Blog Posts (An average of 2.75 posts per month!) 264 Comments on the blog Over 360 images of all kinds added The blog has been read in over 150 countries around the world (BTW - the dip you see near the right side is when we stopped tracking for a short period after the website redesign was launched :-) ) Blogging is Fun (and Wordpress Makes it Easy) What started off merely as a way to build a good website to attract patients, though, has become a genuine passion. Heck, if it hadn't, I sure wouldn't keep doing it! And besides this dental website/blog, in the last few years, I've started 2 more blogs and built a photography portfolio website, to boot: Now [...]
As much as our goal is to help people keep their teeth healthy for their lifetimes, sometimes it’s just not workable. Sometimes too many teeth have too big cavities to make them work fixing, sometimes the periodontal disease is too bad even for LANAP to fix, sometimes it’s just too expensive, and sometimes, people just don’t care. Whatever the reason, sometimes a denture, or plate, is just the right thing, and when it is, we aim to make them the best we can. Dentures Don’t Have to be Ugly While dentures are never truly a replacement for teeth (we tell patients that they’re better than no teeth, but don’t expect them to feel or work as well as real teeth do), when they’re made well, fit well, and use high-quality materials, we can not just give you some function back, but we can actually help you smile again. […]
If you've been following the news at all, you have surely seen images of the unimaginable devastation caused in the Philippine Islands by Typhoon Haiyan, which stuck on the morning of Friday, Nov. 8th. Reports of more than 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of people displaced, their homes utterly destroyed, difficulty getting aid to those in need....it's simply heart-breaking. And I would like to help.......will you help with me? Fine Art Photography Prints for Sale - Proceeds to the Victims As many of our patients know, I am a passionate photographer both inside and outside the dental office. If you've been to our office, you've seen a few of my fine art prints of Oregon. While photography is mostly just a serious passion, I do have a photography website, CDPayetPhotography.com, and I do sell Fine Art Prints, as well. Thanks to the suggestions of a dental colleague, Bernie B. Villadiego, who also has a real talent and passion for photography, I've decided to use my photography as a way to help the victims of the devastating typhoon. Here's how it works, and I hope that you will consider helping: Through December 31st, 2013, I will donate 100% of the proceeds from ALL prints, to the Red Cross Typhoon Relief Fund. Prints range from $15 for a 4x6, up to $200 for a 20 x 30 ThinWrap (ready for mounting), and will be shipped directly to you from my professional printing lab. These are stunningly beautiful Fine Art Prints would make wonderful gifts or decoratations for your home or office. These are just a few of the photos available to purchase. Please visit www.CDPayetPhotography.com to purchase your prints directly, and I hope to [...]
When people think of "cosmetic dentistry," they usually think of things like porcelain veneers and teeth whitening; most don't think of dental braces, but really, braces ARE a form of cosmetic dentistry, and they're often a much more affordable and conservative way to give you a great smile. Dental Braces and Cosmetic Tooth Bonding for a Beautiful Smile When Ashley first came to see us a few years ago, she was very unhappy with her smile due to very crooked teeth and her "peg lateral incisors." Peg laterals are a surprisingly common occurrence; for whatever reasons, the second tooth on each side (pretty much always on the top teeth, never seen it happen on the bottom teeth) is very small, so they look like pegs. Since a beautiful smile depends on proportions as well ad tooth structure, these little teeth can really throw a smile off, even if the the teeth themselves are naturally beautiful, as Ashley's are. Because her bite was also "off" by quite a bit, and she was willing to take the time to fix that, along with the crooked teeth, we did not do Six Month Braces for Ashley, instead opting for comprehensive orthodontic treatment, which took about a 1 1/2 years. And this past week, we did some conservative cosmetic bonding to build up the pet lateral incisors to look normal-sized. Before and After Smile Photo of Braces & Bonding for a Great Smile Why Bonding Instead of Veneers? While we could have done porcelain veneers for Ashley, there were several reasons why we decided together for bonding: With bonding, we completed the treatment in just 1 visit, about 2 hours long Absolutely NO DRILLING on the teeth! Bonding costs [...]
Absolutely! As an example of how, let me tell you Michael's story: "Ever since I had that crown done, it hurts to bite down!" Michael first came to see me not because of a dental problem, but because he was taking over our office computer network in the fall of 2010. However, as he was resolving some network issues, we got to talking about the office, the kinds of things we do, just general stuff. And at one point, he mentioned that he hadn't been to a dentist in about 3 years, because the last time he went, the doctor cemented in a crown, and it had been hurting him ever since every time he bit into food. No sensitivity to cold or heat, just biting down, especially into chewy foods. CALL Your Dentist if it Hurts to Bite Down After a Filling or Crown Naturally, I told him the first thing he needed to do was to call the dentist and have them check it out, but he refused, saying that he just didn't like their office. So naturally, I suggested he let me take a look. Finally, he agreed. On exam, the crown looked perfectly good! The edges (we call it a "margin") were well-sealed to the tooth with no gaps, the shape was good, color was a pretty good match. THEN I used the piece of blue marking paper (yes, it is kind of like carbon paper, if you're curious) to have him bite down, which made a mark on the crown where the teeth came together. The mark was broad and dark, right in the middle of the crown, and all the marks on the teeth in front and behind were [...]
One of the most common questions we get when people come for their dental check-ups and cleanings is, "I seem to be having bad breath a lot recently; how come?" Alternately, they may ask if there are any products we recommend to help get rid of bad breath. Remarkably, there is little good information available on why people have bad breath, and almost just as little information on what to do about it. So here are my Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) on the Causes of, and Treatments for, Bad Breath. Causes of Halitosis, aka Bad Breath Acid Reflux - this is IMO one of the MOST COMMON, but MOST UNDIAGNOSED causes of bad breath. Just think of how awful your mouth feels and tastes after throwing up? Well, chronic acid reflux, or GERD, is basically the equivalent of throwing up a little bit on a regular basis. If it happens at night, when your saliva levels are lower anyway, and it just sits in your mouth, it suddenly becomes obvious how reflux/heartburn leads to bad breath. Your Diet - do you eat a lot of onions, garlic or strong spices? These are some of the most common dietary causes. Gum Disease - the most common one of all, naturally. If you have a serious, chronic bacterial infection in your mouth, then of course your breath will stink. Dentists and hygienists are often amazed at how many people function in society with breath that can be smelled the moment someone walks in the door. Poor Brushing & Flossing Habits - even if you haven't developed real periodontal disease, even bad gingivitis can be a real issue. Brushing does a good job of getting plaque off the [...]
What is "Dental Bonding?" When most people think of "bonding," they are thinking of tooth-colored dental fillings, or composite fillings. To be completely technical for a moment (I try to avoid that as much as possible to not bore you ;-) ), "bonding" is actually the series of steps and the products we dentists use to make the tooth-colored fillings actually STICK to the teeth. OK - technical moment is over. Whew, aren't you glad of that? :-D "Owww! My New White Filling is REALLY Sensitive! WHY?" An issue that many patients have experienced in the past, is that their new tooth-colored fillings seem to be mildly or even extremely sensitive to cold, and sometimes hot, foods and drinks, even just to tapping your teeth together. Naturally, it's not a fun experience, and one that all conscientious dentists try to avoid for their patients, but even in 2009, when one would imagine there is a solution, many patients still run into this problem. Here's the thing, though........THERE IS A SOLUTION! OK, you're probably asking, if there's a solution, why is it still a problem? Well, it's simply a matter of technique, really, and getting the technique for bonding is actually more difficult than it might seem to be. In addition, just as in the rest of the world, there are MANY bonding products that dentists can use when doing tooth-colored fillings, but just because the companies that produce them supposedly have research behind these products, they're not all they're always promised to be. Some work better than others in strength, sensitivity, durability.....and it can honestly be rather tough to sort through all the stuff that companies throw at us, just like for physicians with all [...]
I sure wish I had the HD video hookup for my dental microscope already, but since I don't yet, I'll keep showing you stuff with my Canon cameras. :-) One of the most incredible benefits of the microscope is the ability to work on levels of detail that aren't even imaginable without one. And that means that I can do VERY VERY VERY VERY SMALL, CONSERVATIVE fillings. I use teensy little burs to remove the absolute minimum amount of tooth structure, not really big ones that dig out way more than necessary. I just wanted to show you an example of how this looks using a patient from this morning; the benefits of this are pretty obvious:
Just to keep people informed on what's going on on the web in Charlotte when it comes to the Six-Month Adult Braces that we offer, I've added a new website - check it out! www.CharlotteSmileMakeover.com
