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Toothpaste Roulette
My sister sent me a note recently asking about toothpaste. She saw our recent Facebook post showing a typical “wall of toothpaste” from a local grocery store. She asks, “I’ve often wondered which paste is best to choose, and since there are so many, I almost always...
What Do You Think: Is Dentistry a Service or Commodity?
We change people's lives through dental health if you think about it. Whether improving someone whose health is suffering from pain, infection, or missing teeth to restoring a smile lost from an accident, decay, or otherwise, it has a profound effect. I...
The 5 Developments I’m Thankful For in Modern Dentistry
2018 will be my 17th year in dentistry so I thought it might be fun to look at the progress we’ve made within that time in modern dentistry. Dentistry has significantly evolved in the past 20 years and those advancements are good news for patients! For...
Dental Insurance: Usual and Customary Rates. What does that mean?
You call your insurance company to ask about your dental benefits. The representative at XYZ Insurance Company tells you that your insurance pays at 100% of usual and customary rates for preventive services. “Great,” you think to yourself, and happily...
Living in Fear of the Dead …Tooth
Unlike everyone's favorite film (or TV show) du jour, teeth that lose their vitality don't come back. Teeth, more accurately the pulp inside the tooth which carries nutrients and nerve fibers to communicate sensation, "die" for a number of reasons. This month, I'd...
Why is Tooth Enamel So Important?
Put simply, enamel is your tooth’s protective shell. It’s very strong, incredibly smooth, and beautifully white. Enamel’s strength keeps your tooth from cracking, fracturing and breaking during the everyday things we put our teeth through. Its strength comes from very...
The Different Types of Dentists
There are so many different types of dentists and dental specialists. Plus, they have super confusing names! Here is a description of each type of dental specialist and a little bit about their specific profession. Different Types of Dentists General Dentist: General,...
Should I Purchase Dental Insurance? The Answer Might Surprise You.
A question I have been asked more times than I can count is whether or not a patient should purchase dental insurance. When joining a group policy through an employer is an option, I find it is often worth the investment. However, when it comes to purchasing private...
What’s New at White Dental Studio | Practice Update Summer 2017
In May I was back in Kansas City for my 10-year dental school reunion and the Midwest Dental Conference. It’s a large conference with some amazing educators and presentations. I enjoyed learning some of the latest trends in dental materials used for successful...
What Are You Looking For in a Dentist?
I try very hard to ask the question of every new patient I see early on in our first visit. My favorite answer is that a friend or neighbor recommended you. Isn't that amazing? I make choices off recommendations all the time - who to meet with about technology, which...
Dental Insurance: Understanding Your Maximum
The world of dental insurance is very different from that of medical insurance. If you’re lucky enough to be one of the few people that understand everything about the medical insurance world, you may still be very surprised to find out that dental insurance works in...
It’s Elemental | Why Are Dental Crowns Made of Gold?
Why aren't dental crowns made of silver? I was recently asked by my brother-in-law, with a strong background in metals and engineering, why dental crowns are made of gold rather than silver since silver has a natural antibacterial quality (shout out to you, Lake!)....
Why Do We Have Baby Teeth?
What's the deal with baby teeth? Why is it necessary to have two sets of teeth when one set of teeth seems like it would do the job? Well, baby teeth act as place holders for adult teeth. As a child's jaw grows, baby teeth help to keep the jaw structured and prepped...
Trading Gold Crowns for Gold Medals | Olympics and Dentistry
Dentists are cool and all, but there are a few that have gone above and beyond. So far above and beyond, in fact, that they are competitors in the Olympics! The five Olympians below have one thing in common: they all wanted to be dentists! Mark Spitz is a competitive...
Holy smokes! I got my tooth knocked out. Now what?!
Tooth Knocked Out You have a tooth knocked out. It is in your hand and you are looking at it. What do you do now? Technically speaking, you now have an "avulsed tooth." The definition of avulse is: to pull off or tear away forcibly [Dictionary.com]. 1. Don't touch the...
Dental Chemistry | Just the Basics!
When a person thinks of a doctor, they often think of biology. While it’s true that biology is the major foundation for the medical field, it’s important to remember the roles chemistry play in medicine. Understanding chemistry is a pillar of dental comprehension...
If Teeth Were Characters from “Game of Thrones”
If Jon Snow was a tooth, which one would he be? Let's compare teeth to the characters of HBO's most popular series, "Game of Thrones," and maybe learn something along the way. But first, let's start this post off right... Now on to giving our teeth the names of...
The History of Toothpaste
When you squeeze your strip of toothpaste on to your toothbrush in the morning, you probably aren't concerned with how it all started. We have come a long way since the first oral hygiene pastes were used. It is believed that toothpastes, in some form or another,...
History of the Modern Toothbrush
Have you ever wondered how the toothbrush you use every day (twice, for two minutes) came to exist? History of the Toothbrush People have been practicing oral hygiene for over 5000 years! The earliest styles of toothbrush were made by chewing the end of a stick until...
What Everyone’s Saying!
It’s amusing to look back at my days a year and a half ago. A "busy day" often meant we saw three people! In September, White Dental Studio expanded our available hours and is now open for the full day on Wednesdays! We are also searching for that perfect someone...
Back to School: A Dentist’s Best Advice
It's back to school time! For many of us, this is an exciting, stressful, nerve wracking, and fun adventure as summer winds to a close and our children gear up to go back to the classroom. For some of us (my family included), this is the beginning of kindergarten and...
Tough Dental Terms Defined
"What the heck is my dentist talking about?! Sometimes I feel like I need a dental dictionary!" Recently my wife came across some language related to dentistry which she found intriguing, and that got us thinking: What are some terms we use in dentistry that...
What’s In My Tooth?
As a profession, so many fillings are placed every year that we, as dentists, have nearly become numb to the fact that patients usually don't know what is in their filling with the exception of "it's white" or "it's silver". We are going to review the two most...
Green Your Dental Routine | White Dental Studio
Ooh, that rhymes! Happy Earth Day It's Earth Day! We love Earth Day because it's a great reminder each year that, a) we need to do all we can to preserve our environment starting today and b) we are not alone! It's always so encouraging to see how many people also...