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Blog
Dealing with Infection Control
April 10th, 2013
As you may be aware, there has been widespread news coverage involving the investigation of an Oklahoma oral surgeon for allegedly poor infection control practices and delegation of dental procedures. Because of this I want to share with you our procedures. I want to assure you in my dental practice, we follow stringent infection control procedures. Also, as your doctor, I only delegate procedures to my staff that they are licensed or qualified to perform per state regulations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed special recommendations for use in dental offices which we follow.
Non-disposable instruments are cleaned and sterilized using a steam autoclave between patients. Disposable items are placed in special bags and containers for special, monitored disposable. We either throw it away or sterilize it! Over the past few years more and more items have become available as single use or disposable and we continue to add those items to our practice.
All dental staff involved in patient care either scrub their hands with antimicrobial soap and water, or waterless antimicrobial gel. We also change masks and gloves between patients. All treatment room surfaces are cleaned and decontaminated after each patient.
Your safety and well-being is our priority. If you have concerns regarding this topic please call us and we will discuss our procedures with you. You can also visit the American Dental Association’s website at www.mouthhealthy.org and see a video on this topic.
Thank you,
Gary Andreoletti, DDS and Team
Do Whitening Pastes, Rinses and Strips Work?
February 11th, 2013You’ve probably heard the commercials and seen the products on the shelf, but do whitening toothpastes and whitening strips actually work? There are a few important facts to consider and often times these facts are in the fine print.
Whitening toothpastes can whiten your teeth, but probably far less than you would like. Generally, you can expect surface stains to disappear after a few weeks of use. The problem, the actual whitening ingredient barely has time to work after the stains have been removed. Whitening toothpastes contain only about 3 to 4% of the actual whitening ingredient, which will require lots of diligent brushing to see any lightening results.
Whitening strips contain a much higher concentration of the whitening ingredient than the pastes. The whitening agent stays on the teeth much longer, therefore the results are improved. The problem with the strips is the higher concentration has been reported to cause tooth sensitivity and it can take several weeks of applications before you see any results.
The whitening rinses that have more recently popped up on the market are not any better than the whitening toothpaste. The rinse is on your teeth for such a short amount of time, that it could take weeks or months to see even a small benefit.
If you are looking for the quickest and most effective whitening results then contact us. At Gary Andreoletti, DDS we use two types of processes or even a combination of both. One is a custom tray made for you to take home and use, the other is a whitening system applied in the office. There are stabilizers and desensitizers in these professional products to keep the whitening effective and reduce temporary sensitive teeth.
At the end of the day the pastes, strips, and rinses are not a complete waste of money. You can use them to maintain your pearly whites after you’ve had them professionally whitened.
Are You Getting Enough Sleep?
January 9th, 2013Lack of sleep or trouble sleeping can lead to serious health problems. It’s important to make sure you are getting enough quality sleep. Often times people think they’re getting the proper amount of Z’s, but quickly determine their sleep is being interrupted by an undiagnosed condition like sleep apnea.
A simple test called The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is used to determine your level of daytime sleepiness. How likely are you to doze off or fall asleep in the following situations, in contrast to feeling just tired? Use the following scale to choose the most appropriate number for each situation:
0 = no chance of dozing
1 = slight chance of dozing
2 = moderate chance of dozing
3 = high chance of dozing
THE EPWORTH SLEEPINESS SCALE - What’s Your Chance of Dozing?
- Sitting and Reading
- Watching TV
- Sitting inactive in a public place (e.g a theater or a meeting)
- As a passenger in a car for an hour without a break
- Lying down to rest in the afternoon when circumstances permit
- Sitting and talking to someone
- Sitting quietly after a lunch without alcohol
- In a car, while stopped for a few minutes in traffic
The Results
To check your sleepiness score, total the points
- 1-6 = Congratulations, you are getting enough sleep!
- 7-8 = Your score is average
- 9+ = Call Dr. Andreoletti’s office to see if treatment may be needed
Dental Assistant Featured in The Business Times
November 29th, 2012Jessica Kloeppel, the newest member to our team was recently featured in the Grand Junction Business Times. Jessica has been a wonderful addition to our practice. If you have not met her yet, you are in for a real treat! Click here to read the article: http://thebusinesstimes.com/dental-assistant-joins-fruita-practice/
A New Face Has Joined Our Team!
November 15th, 2012
Dr. Gary Andreoletti is welcoming Jessica Kloeppel to his team. A graduate of the Expanded Duty Dental Assistant program through the University of Colorado Sciences Department, Jessica joined Dr. Andreoletti’s team in August of 2012. Jessica brings more than 18 years of dental experience to the practice. As a certified Expanded Duty Dental Assistant you will find her working side by side with Dr. Andreoletti. “It’s wonderful to have such a passionate and motivated individual by my side,” says Dr. Gary Andreoletti, DDS. Jessica is dedicated to making oral health a priority. “It’s a joy coming to work every day. I truly love helping people get their smile back,” says Jessica.
Taking the Bite Out of Your Bite
November 6th, 2012It may seem very trivial, you open your mouth and you close your mouth. Not much to it right? WRONG! Your bite can be packing a very powerful punch when it comes to hidden problems and pain. In fact, a new report in the Journal of the American Dental Association revealed occlusal conditions, commonly known as bite conditions are the most under diagnosed and undertreated pathology in dentistry today. When your bite isn’t lining up properly, you are creating excessive forces in your mouth. These unnecessary and powerful forces will result in sore sensitive teeth, broken fillings, cracked teeth, an abscess, TMJ and headaches.
The good news is modern day technology is allowing us to better diagnose and treat the problem, rather than the symptom. At Gary Andreoletti, DDS our team uses a device called the Tekscan to determine where the forces lie in your bite. The Tekscan is very new technology and is not found in most dental offices in Western Colorado. It’s a computerized bite analysis instrument that identifies the contact of teeth on a real-time basis, showing the force intensity of each tooth. This allows us to adjust and balance forces with a degree of precision never before attainable.
The picture below is a “movie” taken with the Tekscan. Light forces appear in blue and the heaviest forces are red. As you can see, two teeth are hitting much more heavily than the rest. Those two little teeth are packing a powerful punch and are causing a world of hurt. In most cases this is an easy situation to correct. The key is to catch the problem before it has time to cause any damage or pain.
So take the bite out of your bite by calling and having us check for excessive unbalanced biting forces.
Schedule Your Check-up Before the End of the Year
October 10th, 2012With the New Year quickly approaching make sure to schedule your second annual dental check-up and cleaning before the 2012 insurance year comes to a close. We can’t stress enough the importance of routine checks of your oral health. Even if you take excellent care of your teeth and gums at home, you still need to make sure you schedule a check-up and cleaning at least two times/year. This allows us the opportunity to check for problems that you may not see or feel. Keep in mind many dental problems don’t become visible or cause pain until they are in more advanced stages.
The Battle to End Bad Breath
October 6th, 2012Do you notice people stepping back a bit when you’re talking to them or maybe even your wife or husband’s kisses becoming much shorter and not nearly as sweet? Could it be….BAD BREATH? Even some of our closest family and friends don’t tell us about that unpleasant odor being emitted from our mouths. You could be suffering from halitosis, or in laymen’s terms bad breath. But whatever you call it, the unpleasant condition can be a cause for embarrassment.
There are several common causes for halitosis: poor oral hygiene, dry mouth, your diet, and brewing infections. Let’s tackle the easy one first, poor oral hygiene. If you are not brushing and flossing, you are probably not getting food particles off the biting surfaces and in between your teeth. This can allow the bacteria in your mouth to build up, causing bad breath.
A condition called Dry Mouth can also be partly to blame. This occurs when the flow of saliva decreases. This can be caused by various medications, salivary gland problems or continuously breathing through the mouth. Without enough saliva, food particles are not cleaned away leaving behind a bad smell. If you suffer from dry mouth, your dentist may prescribe artificial saliva, may encourage you to suck on sugarless candy or suggest you increase your fluid intake.
Persistent bad breath may also be indicative of gum disease or a brewing infection. Oftentimes people with sinus or lung infections, bronchitis, diabetes, and even some liver or kidney diseases may be experiencing halitosis. If your dentist can’t find what’s causing the smell, they may refer you to your family physician.
And you know the old adage you are what you eat, well this definitely rings true for the source of bad breath. Foods such as garlic and onions break down into chemicals when digested. Those chemicals get into the blood stream and eventually into the lungs and when you exhale the odor comes out.
So what should you do? Make sure you see your dentist for regular checkups, brush your teeth and tongue at least twice a day and make sure to floss daily. It’s important to note mouthwash is not the answer, it will only temporarily mask the odor. If you find yourself needing a breath freshener to hide unpleasant mouth odor, make an appointment to visit your dentist as soon as possible.
Contributing Source: American Dental Association
Knowledge is Power
September 19th, 2012As the fall season quickly apporaches, I have a couple of exciting seminars I’ll be attending to further my knowledge and in turn give you the best care possible. This month, I’ll be in Albuquerque, New Mexico attending a seminar presented by one of the leading dentists for diagnosing and treating problems caused by an imbalanced bite. Symptoms include sore jaws and teeth, migraines, headaches, broken teeth and worsening of periodontal disease, just to name a few. I’m particularly excited about this seminar because it will help me to diagnose signs and symptoms caused by excessive forces and uneven bite patterns early and help prevent the problems that are associated.
In October, several members of my great team and I will be attending a conference on Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a great Sleep Summit with Pulmonologists, ENT specialists, and several medical and dental sleep disorder specialists to discuss the causes and treatments of sleep apnea especially including the dentist’s role.
I hope all is going well for you. I’m looking forward to sharing with you the most current information in the world of dentistry.
The Energy Drink Confusion
September 6th, 2012It’s no surprise that after a hard day on the field or the courts children and teens often reach for energy or sports drinks to quench their thirst and re-hydrate. New studies are indicating that is not the best choice. As a dentist, for years I’ve been telling patients to limit their consumption of soda and juice, but now the tide is changing. Popular energy and sports drinks are even doing more damage to teeth than sugary colas and they have little if any nutritional value. New research is showing that these drinks not only damage teeth, but some products contain substances that can be harmful. So, what do you need to watch out for?
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there’s a huge difference in the ingredients of sports drinks and energy drinks, they are not one in the same. Energy drinks contain substances that act as stimulants. Caffeine, guarana and taurine are just a few of the ingredients found in many popular energy drinks. In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Pediatrics determined that some cans or bottles of energy drinks can have more than 500 mg of caffeine, that’s equivalent to 14 cans of soda. Due to these shocking findings, I warn my young patients to stay away from these artificial drinks altogether.
When it comes to sports drinks, they may have a little more benefit to your young athlete, but I would still stay clear. Sports drinks have ingredients that are intended to replace water and electrolytes that are lost through sweating, but they also have a lot of sugar. Typically, sports drinks contain extra calories that kids don’t need and the extra sugar and erosive acids can dissolve enamel on the teeth leading to tooth decay. Plus, studies show in most cases they are just not necessary to replenish your body’s nutrients. Before, during, and after physical activity, water really is the best medicine. Your body needs it, craves it and it’s the healthiest choice.
I realize that you can never say never…so if on occasion your athlete reaches for a sports drink versus water make sure they don’t swish the fluid around in their mouth, never rinse a mouthguard with a sports drink and do your best to reduce the number of sports drinks that are being consumed.
Contributing Source: American Dental Association and Journal of Pediatrics