S P R I N G 2 0 0 6 - Dental Care of Stamford

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Over the last year we are sure that you have heard the buzz about Dental Care Kids, so we wanted to share our practice vision with
you. Our goal is to offer the best dentistry in terms of professional care and maximum convenience. To do that we have combined
dental specialists with general dentists, which makes it easier for you to have the best of dentistry, all in one single office!
While we have always treated children, we have decided to expand to include specialists in pediatric dentistry. Your kids can get off to
a great start to lifetime dental health and, in the process, begin to love coming to the dentist. Dr. Jennifer, Dr. Tricia and Dr. Narmatha
have joined Dr. Kim on our team as pediatric dentists. Dr. Steve Scher, who has been our orthodontist at Dental Care of Stamford for
many years, treats both children and adults and rounds out the Dental Care Kids team.
The success and rapid growth of Dental Care Kids shows us that our vision was correct. Parents want this level of care for their children,
so we plan to expand the program and build a separate dental office right downstairs “just for kids.” We will still offer parents the ability
to schedule appointments for several family members the same day.
DENTAL CARE CONNECTIONS
To create even more value for our patients, we have found organizations that have similar values as Dental Care of Stamford and
made arrangements for you to try their services. Here is a listing of the newest ones for you and your family:
Equinox Health Club, 72 Heights Road, Darien, CT, (203) 655-2300, Tim Palancia, Manager.
Sportsplex Health Club, 49 Brown House Road, Stamford, CT, (203) 358-0066, Andre Pound, New Member Contact. As a
Dental Care of Stamford patient, you may have 2 free weeks at Equinox Health Club or 5 days at Sportsplex Health Club to try the club.
Lori Baden Photography. Lori’s wonderful portrait photography is on display in the office and she will give all Dental Care of
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DENTAL CARE
OF STAMFORD
Spring 2006
SPRING IS IN THE AIR
After the record-breaking snow fall in February, we
are all ready for warmer days, daffodils and the smell of
fresh cut grass. We hope that all of our friends have had
a happy and healthy winter and are as excited as we are to
welcome the new beginnings of spring.
LOOKING GOOD
Many people are concerned about their facial
appearance, and your smile is a big part of it. If you
are interested in seeing what cosmetic dentistry can
do for you, please ask us the next time you are in the
office. Look at the difference cosmetic dentistry
made for this patient below:
Stamford patients $50 off the price of a sitting fee and 15% off prints ordered. Call (203) 912-4493 and visit www.seemegrow.net.
Kids-U is the brainchild of Bruce Angus and has locations in Stamford and Norwalk. The centerpiece of Kids-U is a huge indoor
play room for kids, but it is so much more. They offer kids camps for summer and school breaks, birthday parties on the weekends
and classes in many disciplines, including gymnastics, music, martial arts, dance, theater, cooking, science, sports and games.
Kids-U programs are structured to promote a genuine sense of accomplishment for every student enrolled. Bruce also offers a free
one day pass for Dental Care Kids patients. www.kids-u.com
Dental Care of Stamford newsletter is published twice a year and is free to patients of Dental Care of Stamford and Dental Care Kids.
Please direct any questions or comments to Dr. Simon at dcsct@optonline.net Copyright ® 2006 Dr. Jerry Simon
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Announcing Smiles for Life 2006
• Looking Good
• Dental Hygiene Corner
• Using NET Time for Home Care
• Easier to Reserve Hygiene Appointments
• Thoughtful Snacking
• Dr. Simon’s Top 5
• Why Preventing Cavities Is So Important
• The Role of Heredity in Dental Health
• Bottled water
• Help Fight Gum Disease with Arestin
• Introducing Dental Care Kids
• Dental Care Connections
Dental Care of Stamford
1500 Summer Street • Stamford, CT 06905
Tel (203) 324-6171 • Fax (203) 348-5392
Email - dentalcare@optonline.net
DentalCareStamford.com
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ANNOUNCING
SMILES FOR LIFE 2006
We are excited to announce the kick off of the 2006
Smiles for Life campaign here at Dental Care of
Stamford. Remember that tooth whitening is
professionally performed with Zoom® whitening
and custom bleaching trays fabricated for you in our
office. The fee is only $275, half the usual fee, and
100% of the money is donated to kids’ charities.
Half of that money is donated to Fairfield County’s
Kids in Crisis. The rest goes to other charities, like
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Please help spread the
word to your friends, family members and coworkers. Look for the posters and signs and please
help us by taking one to put up where you work, at
your child’s school, or your health club. It is a win
for the kids and for you for making a difference, and
you get a brighter smile!
Recent studies from prominent universities have shown
an attractive smile is one of the most important features
of self-image. These studies showed when people met a
person who had an attractive smile, they felt the person
was more honest, more successful, and more pleasant to
be with. Another study showed when two people
interviewed for the same job, had the same
qualifications, and wore the same clothes, the
individual with the attractive smile was more likely to
get the job and even receive a higher starting salary!
BEFORE
AFTER
1500 SUMMER STREET • STAMFORD, CT 06905
TEL (203)324-6171 • FAX (203)348-5392 DentalCareStamford.com
• D ENTAL C ARE N EWSLETTER • S PRING /S UMMER 2006 •
DENTAL HYGIENE
CORNER
SAVE MONEY ON RE-CARE VISITS
Because consistent re-care visits are a key
to better dental health, we want to
encourage you so here is our offer. If you
schedule your next visit while you are in
the office having your cleaning, and reconfirm that appointment at least 2 weeks
advance and keep it as scheduled, we will
deduct $10 from the fee for adults and $5
for kids. It is easy to keep your teeth
healthy and save money at the same time.
USING NET TIME FOR
HOME CARE
These days, we all have too much to do
as it is and adding other tasks makes life
even more stressful and rushed. So how
can you find those extra 5 minutes for a
really thorough brushing and flossing?
NET time may be the answer. NET
stands for No Extra Time. The idea is to
combine activities. No, you cannot floss
while driving to the office in the
morning like that woman who was
putting on her eye make-up or the fellow
reading the newspaper. What are you
doing during the day that requires you to
sit or stand still, but leaves your hands
free? Perhaps watching TV news at night
or before leaving for work in the
morning? How about brushing and
flossing in the shower or tub while you
• 1500 S UMMER S TREET • S TAMFORD , CT 06905 •
DR. SIMON’S TOP 5
take a nice warm soak? How about
putting the prescription strength fluoride
on the brush at the same time as
toothpaste and do the fluoride treatment
while you brush? If you have young kids,
how about everyone doing their night
time home care routine together as a
before bed time activity? See what
creative ideas you can come up with to
make your home care more consistent.
WAYS TO HAVE HEALTHY
TEETH FOR A LIFETIME
1. Pick parents with great teeth
2. Eat sugar less often
3. Use fluoride daily (adults and children)
4. Floss every day
5. Keep up your regular check-ups
By the way, I did not do #1 either, but
it is still never too late to do the other
4 and have healthy teeth for your
lifetime (JMS).
EASIER TO RESERVE
HYGIENE APPOINTMENTS
Thanks to our enthusiastic health
oriented patients, getting preferred
appointments with the hygienists has
been getting harder so we have expanded
our hygiene department. We have two
more hygienists and more dental chairs so
we have more hours of hygiene time
available to our patients. Please take
advantage of pre-booking those
appointments and reserve the time you
need in advance.
THOUGHTFUL SNACKING
the problem. The problem is when
people eat sugar snacks at meals between
meals. The frequency at which you eat
sugar is much more significant in so far
as cavities are concerned than the total
amount of sugar eaten. Also a sugar-filled
gummy bear that sticks to the teeth and
is eaten between meals with absolutely
no nutritional value is much worse than
an ice cream treat eaten once in a while
that at least has some milk and calcium .
We recommend that sugar snacks be
considered as a special event and not as a
daily habit.
The very first key to thoughtful snacking
is to limit the junk foods that you buy
and bring home from the store. When
you do your shopping, drive the
shopping cart around the junk food aisles
in the market. If you don’t bring it home
you can’t eat it. Pick appropriate times
and occasions for snacks and stick to it.
And watch out for the “hidden” sugars
like in ketchup, breads and packaged
foods, because every sugar contact counts
towards cavities.
We know that eating sugar is not good
for our teeth; we also know that sweets
are associated with fun and parties.
Instead of saying never eat sugary treats,
let’s do it more thoughtfully. Eating a
sugar snack once in a while is not really
• T EL (203)324-6171 • F AX (203)348-5392 •
WHY PREVENTING
CAVITIES IS SO
IMPORTANT
When a tooth develops a cavity, the dentist
puts in a filling. That is very important to
stop severe damage, pain, infection and
even tooth loss. But what most people do
not think about is what happens next.
Most people think that once a dentist puts
in a filling that is it…forever. But that is
not true. After all, we eat and drink hot
and cold things, we chew hard foods and
many people even grind their teeth day
and night. The tires on your car wear
out, the heels on your shoes wear out, the
house needs to be repainted, the faucets
start to leak and so do your fillings.
Every filling will eventually lose its seal
and start to leak. And when that
happens, you start to get another cavity
under the filling. This cycle of fill, leak
and refill is what leads to crowns and
root canals on teeth over the years.
Keep your check ups regular, at least 2 X
a year and more often if you have braces
or a problem with plaque or have
inherited weaker than average teeth. Let
us carefully inspect old fillings regularly.
If we can catch a leaking filling early, the
new decay will not be that deep and the
new filling will not have to be so big.
That means that it will likely hold up for
a longer time. All cavities are not
avoidable, but we are here to help. Do
not fall into the trap of “it must be OK
since it does not hurt (yet)!”
THE ROLE OF HEREDITY
IN DENTAL HEALTH
For many of us dental problems run in
our family. That is really true. Some
people do inherit stronger teeth.
Unfortunately for most of us, it is too late
to pick different parents, so we need to do
the best we can with what we have.
BOTTLED WATER
Many people are
concerned that the
quality of municipal
water is not what they
want for themselves
and their family so
they prefer bottled
water. Children under
age 17 need to drink fluoridated water
for decay prevention. Adults do not get
any benefit from fluoridated water.
Most bottled water does not have
fluoride added to it and that robs your
young family members of the protective
power of fluoride. Some of the bottled
water distributors are adding fluoride so
either use those brands or ask us about
appropriate fluoride supplements for
both children and adults.
HELP TO FIGHT GUM
DISEASE WITH ARESTIN
For those of us with weaker teeth, we
need to use more fluoride (even as
adults), brush and floss more often, eat
sugar less often and come for more
frequent check-ups and cleanings to get
those hard to reach places really clean.
Same for those of us with more of a
tendency to gum disease. Come for
cleanings 3-4 times a year and use a
power toothbrush like Sonicare or an
irrigator, and the newest high-tech
toothpaste like Oxyfresh and
Therasol mouth rinse. Go to
www.DentalCareStamford.com and click
on the prevent button for the best
preventive oriented information on
dental health.
Many of our patients have long been
asking,” Why can’t we just put some
antibiotic stuff in those pesky gum
pockets to help fight the germs?” After
years of saying, “Uh, well, you know…”,
we do have an answer. Arestin is an
antibiotic powder that can be placed into
gum pockets that regular cleaning and
flossing does not cure and can be an
alternative to periodontal gum surgery.
The procedure is performed by the
hygienist at the same time that they do
the scaling and root planning (deeper
cleaning under the gum line). The
antibiotic lasts for up to 14 days to kill
the germs and helps the infected gum
pocket heal. Of course you still have to
have regular cleanings with the hygienist
and do your home care like flossing and
irrigation. We are excited to use this new
weapon against gum disease.
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