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Stem Cell Update from Save-A-Tooth
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Children’s Dental Health Month
St. Paul’s Calvary Child Care
February is Children’s Dental Health Month. As part of our commitment to the community and the American Dental Association, via the New Jersey Dental Association, we were able to bring dental education and a bunch of smiles to St. Paul’s Calvary Child Care Program. Jennifer Dennisseur and Dr. Schonberg talked to both children and staff. The children were given some basic tooth brushing instruction, and advice on snacking. There was even a fact or two appreciated by the teachers. Starting children out with the proper habits in crucial to long term good habits. These children are on their way to a cavity free life!
Guns, Gas and Gums
Samuel Colt, famous inventor of the Colt pistol, needed money to promote his new invention. So he took to the road in the mid 1830’s as “the celebrated Dr. Coult of New York, London and Calcutta” and performed nitrous oxide (laughing gas) demonstrations. He was apparently very convincing and very successful. Whether he immediately influenced any dentists is not known, but what is known is after that laughing gas and dentists became like peanut butter and jelly: a great pairing. Laughing gas has a very mild anesthetic effect at very big levels, more noticeably on the gums. Since Colt used the money he made from his laughing gas demonstrations to promote his gun business, it was left to Horace Wells in 1844 to show how laughing gas could be in dentistry. From guns to gas, and gas to gums
Clear Correct…an Invisalign Alternative
We now officer Clear Correct, an Invisalign alternative to clear tray orthodontics. Clear Correct offers a cost saving advantage. For patients, this can be hundreds of dollars, depending on the type of case. Like Invisalign, clear trays are generated by computer controlled, digitally scanned dental impressions of the teeth. The trays are worn 24×7 except for eating. The beauty and comfort of this systems becomes apparent once you take the trays out to brush your teeth: no wires to get tangled up on, and no brackets to cut your lips and cheek. Call today at 973-379-2730 to ask how Clear Correct can change your smile, and even your life!
Snow Day!
Due to the snow, the office will be closed Thursday, February 13th. We plan to resume office hours on Friday at 9:00 am, unless this #@T^!!! snow is still falling! Poor Cupid is underdressed for the monumental task tomorrow. We wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day.
French Fry Update…darn
No doubt given enough time researchers will find everything we love to eat is no good for you. The latest research on French Fries has touched off a panic with the discovery of Acrylamide in the fries. It seems in high amounts, acrylamide causes cancer in lab animals (reminds me of the cyclamates scare in the 80’s). Like all things, it really is a matter of amounts, and the amounts given the lab animals was in greater excess than what humans would consume. Then consider, all foods cooked at elevated temperatures have chemical changes, including the formation of acrylamide! Since man discovered fire and cooked his first mastodon burger, acrylamide was present. So, do we worry about the latest findings? At least no one has shown French fries are bad for your teeth…yet!
Welcome Our New Additions
We hope you will welcome the newest member of our team, Anna Bombita, an experienced dental hygienist. Anna has a wonderful outgoing personality, and delivers a high level of care to her patients. Anna compliments Dan Araujo, our other hygienist who is out on maternity leave, and is about to welcome her own new addition sometime in February. Dana will remain in the practice, as will Anna.
Holiday Wishes
The Holidays bring out the best and worst in us. Let us hope we are evolving toward a better world, albeit with a few major bumps in the road. But it should be incumbent upon all of us to challenge ourselves to help make the world a better place. Whether that means making a donation to a charity, or not screaming and yelling at someone, it all helps. I wish we all could learn to be more tolerant of others, especially their differences, whether they be of color or religion. And I wish you all a Season Greetings and Happy Holidays.
Rosie the Riveter
Norman Rockwell created the image 70 years ago when American women joined the ranks of employment during World War II. Rockwell based his image of Rosie the Riveter on May Doyle, a nineteen year old who worked in a dental office in Arlington, Massachusetts. She worked as a phone operator in the office and probably never held a riveter (and hopefully not a dental drill either).
Halloween Candy is not the Culprit
Halloween and candy have become synonymous. As a dentist, one would expect me to rail against the evils of sugar. While the fermentable sugar in most candies is cavity causing (cariogenic), there are other factors in the equation of cavity formation: immune response and home care being very important too. But frequency of consumption is also a major factor, for with each incident of eating fermentable sugar, such as sucrose, the bacteria in your mouth produce acid which lasts about twenty minutes. This acid attacks the tooth to cause the hole known as a cavity. It would be better to eat 10 lbs of candy in one sitting, then to have one little candy bar and break off a piece and eat it (20 minutes of acid attack), and then break off another piece an hour later and eat it(20 more minutes of acid attack, and then have another piece an hour later (20 more minutes of acid attack)…well you get the picture. It is frequency, not quantity that counts with respect to caries (the disease process causing cavities). Now, despite this, the acid production can be minimized by good flossing, and brushing after eating sugary substances. So enjoy your Halloween candy: just eat it with less frequency, and brush afterwards!