Dr. Tom Hedge, of Cincinnati, Ohio has incorporated the use of Perio Protect, a unique new device created to cure periodontal disease.

Perio Protect is a new, home care treatment program for periodontal disease using a dentist-created and FDA-cleared medical device that can deliver doctor-prescribed medications to the source of periodontal infections. These medications address the pathogens that cause gum disease.

We have had always known that placing medicine that will kill bacteria into the periodontal pocket will stop the disease and allow the pocket to heal. The problem has been that whatever you put in there washes out. The pockets have a natural flow of fluid out. Perio Protect trays solve this problem by sealing around the pockets and forcing the medications in. The best part id that the patient can use these themselves at home.

If you have unresolved periodontal disease or have been told that you need surgery, but are reluctant, Perio Protect may be right for you.

Dr. Hedge is the first dentist in Cincinnati, Ohio to offer OraVerse, a local anesthetic reversing agent. Dr. Hedge delivers the medication to the numb area when he is finished working on the area. The numbness will be mostly gone by the time you leave the office. This a great solution for those patients who hate that numb feeling.

Dr. Hedge spent 16 hours this weekend learning advanced techniques in completing orthodontics in six months. This is a great treatment for crowded or spaced teeth where major bite correction is not needed. Adults will appreciate the limited time in brackets and wires and the fact these are tooth colored. Our fee for this treatment is $3950.

Dr. Hedge has written a new web site on the the diagnosis and treatment of the TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) and TMD (Temporomandibular Disfunction). The information can be found at www.ohiotmjdentist.com.

We have started a new program with Springstone Patient Financing to offer no-interest financing for up to 12 months. This will make our dental treatment in Cincinnati more affordable for more people.

- More than 75% of American’s over the age of 35 have some form of gum disease.
- There is a 1 in 7 chance that a pregnant woman with gum disease will will have a regular healthy child that will grow to a normal size.
- Periodontal disease has been linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Our hygienist, Sarah, is an expert at helping you keep this disease under control. Make sure you are disease free. If your gums bleed, at all, you have periodontal disease.

TopDentists has just put together their inaugural list of approximately 220 Top Cincinnati USA Dentists. This list will reveal some of the region’s top dental professionals across the tri-state. These dentists and specialists are chosen through and exhaustive peer review survey conducted by topDentists, Inc, an independant research group based in Augusta, Georgia. This comprehensive list of dentists will be published in the February 2009 issue of Cincinnati Magazine.

Whoopie Goldberg had recently gone through some major dental surgery and was discusted with herself for letting it go so long. She encouraged others to make sure that they see their dentist or to find a dentist before it is too late. Sounds like she may loose many of her teeth. Click on the link to listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-t7Npdwi8c

Many of the patients we treat in Cincinnati, Ohio are surprised when they see our list of symptoms that can be caused by TMJ problems. The list includes:

Headaches
Loose teeth
Worn, chipped, or cracked teeth or fillings
Clenching or grinding
Ditched root grooves
Pain or clicking and popping in joints
Shoulder, neck, and back pain
Numbness in arms and fingers
Pain behind the eyes
Facial pain
Difficulty swallowing
Pain and sensitivity in teeth
Crowded teeth
Receding gums
Ringing or congestion in the ears

These can all be due to an incompatibility of the muscles and joints to the position where the teeth hit. This is especially common in patients who have had teeth extracted for orthodontics. After the extractions, the front teeth are pulled back to fill the spaces and this traps the lower jaw in a position that is in conflict with the muscles. This is also a common cause of relapse with the lower teeth getting crowded again.

A “gummy smile” is seen in patients that show a lot of gum tissue between their top teeth and upper lip. Patients often ask if we can correct this with porcelain veneers. Sometimes we can if the teeth are short with gum repositioning and veneers. If the teeth are the ideal length to begin with, this combination of procedures will not help.

the ideal amount of gum to display is around 2 millimeters. When it gets to 4millimeters, it is sen as unattractive.

In cases where the gums cannot be moved up, the upper lip can be brought down utilizing a lip tac procedure. Dr. Warren Wingate, our periodontist (gum specialist), can remove some tissue in the mouth under the upper lip and bring the lower lip down. Call Corine at 513-777-7017 for a complimentary consultation in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. Hedge is now offering six month orthodontics in his Cincinnati, Ohio office. Short term orthodontics utilizes new tooth colored wires and brackets to move the teeth to a beautiful new smile in about six months.

I run across articles in women’s health, beauty, and fitness magazines now and then that have advice about dentistry and dental care. Most of the time the facts are, for the most part, correct, or at least close.

Recently, I had exhausted all of my reading materials at the pool while on vacation and picked up the June ‘08 issue of Self magazine. Under the “beauty NEED TO KNOW” column was an article entitled “Better teeth, happier you”.

“Better Teeth, Happier You Improve your smile and your life—it’s true!”

Self Magazine June 2008, Pages 62-65

Excerpts from this article.

“Smile Wish WHITER BRIGHTER TEETH

Best Fix In fact the near $800 service is the number one most requested dental service… but believe it or not, you can get equally great results for around $40. When used as recommended, at-home teeth whitening products can offer comparable effects to in office teeth whitening treatments”

6 WAYS TO GLAM UP YOUR GRIN Do-it-yourself fixes that lead to a healthier and brighter bite

“Mouthwashes with alcohol can degrade bonding and veneers. Swish with GoSmile Rinse, $25, instead.”

The article also discusses how to straighten your teeth without braces, lengthen your teeth and close gaps with bonding and veneers, and minimizing the effect of a gummy smile.

In reality, there is no comparison between over-the-counter products and professional whitening. Professional products are of prescription only strengths and are often four times the strength. Most dental professionals offer many different types of whitening treatments and costs can be well under $800. The following link is a video I did on the different types of whitening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XdC1CYvviU

The comment in the article about mouthwashes with alcohol weaking the bond to veneers and bonding is simply NOT TRUE. End of story.

Most of what I read is fairly accurate, but when I see journalism like this, I have to refute it.

We see a large number of new patients for consultations on their smiles and how to improve them. We are often a first and only opinion, but many times we are asked to offer a second or third opinion. We encourage our cosmetic dentistry patients to seek other opinions to make sure that they are making the right choice for themselves. Today we had a patient ask us, what questions they should be asking another dentist about their proposed treatment. Here is a list of questions that are important:

1. Have you ever done a case like mine?
2. How many cases do you do like this?
3. Can I see some before and after pictures?
4. Do you have any patient references that I can call?
5. Tell me about your laboratory.
6. Do you do a diagnostic wax up?
7. Do you use a laser to sculpt ideal gum contour?
8. Where did you get your education in cosmetic dentistry?

Dr. Hedge has become the dentist in Cincinnati to offer Glamsmile. Glamsmile is a porcelain veneer technique that was developed in Belgium. The concept is to offer a set of porcelain veneers for $4800 through high technology. The results may be an “8″ versus his tradional “11″ rated veneers, but it can be a nice alternative in some cases. www.glamsmile.com.

Dental veneers are custom-designed shells of tooth-like ceramic or composite resin materials that, when applied over the surface of a tooth, can cover worn or dark tooth enamel, uneven tooth alignment or spacing and chips or cracks. Dental veneers fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry because they create a bright, white smile with beautifully aligned, perfectly shaped and proportioned teeth. Even better, the translucent ceramic quality of today’s veneers provides a more natural look than what’s been available in the past.

There are many kinds of veneers available. The first variation is in the material. Porcelain veneers are the most life-like and durable in the long term. You can expect them to last up to 20 years, depending on care. Composite veneers can look great as well, but typically will not be as durable in the long term.

Within the category of porcelain veneers, there are “pressed” veneers that are cast from molten porcelain. This type can then be finished and polished in the one piece that is cast, or they can be cut back and customized with additional natural colors and translucency in the porcelain to achieve a totally natural look.

A second type of porcelain veneer is called a “stacked” veneer. This is made by mixing a liquid and powdered porcelain in layers and then heated in a furnace under vacuum to make the powder fuse and turn into the porcelain “glass”. Both “stacked” and “pressed” will give the most beautiful and durable results.

There is also a variation in veneer technique, with prep, minimal prep, and no prep veneers. Prep refers to the removal of necessary tooth structure. Some cases may require no preparation at all. This means no shots or drilling http://noprepveneers.com. These types of cases usually involve teeth that are fairly straight with spaces, and no dark teeth. These are ideal for young patients, but can be done on patients of all ages. Minimal prep is the technique that Dr. Hedge prefers. This is the ideal mix of non-invasive dentistry and ideal esthetics. Most often anesthetic is unnecessary and minimal drilling is required.

Dr. Hedge has done thousands of veneers of all types and will recommend the type that fits your cosmetic needs and budget.

I just attended a course on Lumineers In Cincinnati last week. I have done many veneer cases with a no preparation technique, but have yet to use the Cerinate Porcelain that Lumineers are made from. The esthetics that I had previously seen with Lumineers were not up to the quality of what my lab technician in Utah was capable of doing. I went to this course to see for myself. Although many of the cases were nice, I still feel that our hand made stacked porcelain veneers offer more natural translucency.

http://www.dentalhealthcenter.com/lumineers.htm

Below is a case I did with minimal preparation. There was no need for shots or anesthetic to do this case.

Many people have dark teeth due to Tetracycline stain. Many have been told that their staining is due to Tetracycline and it is, in fact, not due to Tetracycline. No matter what the cause, there is hope with deep bleaching. Deep bleaching involves a very specific technique with a combination of home use trays that are designed and fabricated to seal the bleaching material on the teeth and an office treatment that uses unique bleaching chemicals that whiten deep into the teeth. Treatment involves three visits and a commitment to nightly home treatment. The results are incredible.

One in five adults have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Almost half of snorers have OSA. People with sleep apnea are 23 times more likely to have a heart attack. Being overweight increases your odds only 7 times and smoking 11 times. Sleep apnea is over twice as likely to kill you as SMOKING! An oral appliance is the recommended first line of treatment for most Obstructive Sleep Disorders. Here are a series of questions that will tell you if you are likely to have Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Do you snore?

Do you have high blood pressure?

Has anyone reported that you chock or gasp for air while sleeping?

Do you wake refreshed?

Are you excessively tired during the day?

What is your neck size?

ANC Adjusted Neck Circumference

NC x 2.5 + Hypertension (4) + Snoring (3) + Choking (3)

<43 Low Probability

43 - 48 Intermediate Probability

> 48 High Probability

16 x 2.5 = 40
17 x 2.5 = 42.5
18 x 2.5 = 45

Ask Dr. Hedge about an oral sleep appliance to let you breath and get a full nights sleeep.

Scott Smith holds the world record for the longest competitive drive at 539 yards, fastest golf ball speed at 222 miles per hour, and fastest swing speed at 164 miles per hour. Dr. Hedge hopes to help him beat the records with his Pure Power Mouth Guard. The Pure Power Mouth Guard is computer designed to the optimal body muscle balanced position. It enhances athletic speed, power, and balance. The PPM is being used in almost all sports to enhance performance. The Florida Gators basketball team was the latest team to embrace the PPM.

We have become the sole provider for this amazing sports mouthguard. Check out the comments from my colleague in Florida, Dr. Scott Wagner:

From Scott Wagner:

Just to update everyone….

My team and I, Chuck, and Terry, were in Gainesville on Friday to do the work-ups on the Men’s and Women’s basketball team. We got set up around 10:30AM, and the players were supposed to start arriving around 11 (staggered times per my request). Well, go figure, they all showed up at the same time! Regardless, we hammered it out and did 6 work-ups in couple hours. Admittedly, I was a little jealous of Chuck and Terry as they were getting to shmooze with the players and coaches, meanwhile, my team and I were sweating it out getting the impressions, bites, etc.

The cool part was having Chuck do the tests on all the players after we produced several K7 bites. He would test them in their natural bite, then with the PPM/K7 bite. The cool part was the difference between the bites. BIG HINT: Take several bites when you are doing this…..because some turned out great and others didn’t. Fortunately, we got a really strong bite on every player. Even the biggest doubter (Marreese Speights) was giggling like a little school kid at how weak he was normally, then how strong he was with the PPM bite.

We had a special treat……. near the end of the morning, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, and Chris Richard from the National Championship team walked in. They were all intrigued by what we were doing. Before I knew it, Chuck was doing the pen test on Al Horford….. and he was astounded at the difference. The best part was that he had his regular mouthguard that he wears to play and practice in. Chuck did the strength test on it first, then with the pen. Al was blown away!!!! Unfortunately, those 3 guys had to be elsewhere, or we would have done PPM work-ups on them too. I expect to get a phone call from Al in the next couple of days. Chuck and Terry ran into Chris Richard at their hotel later and he wanted one too.

The word is spreading fast. The buzz around the locker room was really cool. Jai Lucas (son of former NBA player and coach John Lucas) is a freshman for the Gators. He wasn’t one of the players we got to work on (because he’s a freshman), but you could tell he was excited to get one as he said, “I heard this new mouthguard is bada$$”.

More later…..

Thanks to Chuck and Terry for flying in. They did get the treat of going to the Florida-Tennessee football game. The Swamp was rockin! I know they had a great time, except for the blazing heat and humidity!

Success abounds!
Scott