Smiles by Payet Dentistry – Welcome!
Welcome to the Dental Blog for Smiles by Payet, the dental office of Dr. Charles Payet, where our goal is to provide Beautiful Smiles and Lifetime Care. This blog will keep you up-to-date on happenings in our office, about our Team, new technologies that we’re adding, articles about how dental care (or the lack of it) impacts your daily life. Here’s a little video to introduce you to me……
doneSmiles by Payet is located in the Morrocroft Professional Park just across from Southpark Mall, in beautiful Charlotte, NC. We provide a wide range of dental services so that our patients can have almost everything they need done in just 1 place. This includes regular check-ups and cleanings, both surgical and non-surgical treatment of gum disease (periodontitis), cosmetic dentistry, fillings, crowns, bridges, veneers, Deep Bleaching, Six-Month Braces, and more.
Technology is a critical part of modern dentistry, as it allows better diagnosis and treatment, as well as making it safer, faster, more effective, and what patients REALLY want……more comfortable! We utilize several wonderful technologies, including the following:
- CEREC CAD/CAM
- Operating Microscope
- Digital x-rays
- Electronic record-keeping
UPDATE!!! We have just added a new service to our practice: 6-Month Smiles. This is a new system of braces that uses a special, practically invisible bracket to help move teeth quickly, comfortably, and safely – usually only in 6 months!
- Dr. Payet now offers Six (6) Month Braces for amazing Smile Makeovers in Charlotte, NC.
There will be more about each of these in upcoming posts, so stay tuned. Also keep an eye on our practice website: www.SmilesbyPayet.com, for even more information.
Of course, the BEST way to get to know us is simply to call and make an appointment today: 704-364-7069, or you can go to the “Request an Appointment” page on our website and send an email, to which we’ll respond very promptly. You can even complete your initial forms online so we’ll have all your information before you even walk in the door – just click the link below:
Complete your New Payet Dental Forms here for Smiles by Payet Dentistry in Charlotte, NC.
Discount Plan for Dental Patients in Charlotte NC offered by Dr. Charles Payet, Smiles by Payet Dentistry
1-Visit Porcelain Veneer
Linda came in to our office today with 1 serious issue: a broken porcelain dental veneer on her upper right lateral incisor (second from the middle). Naturally, since she’d been through the process of getting veneers done previously, she was expecting that she would leave with a temporary (aka provisional) veneer after we’d taken a mold of the tooth, and she’d have to come back in a few weeks to have the real one bonded in. However, she was pleasantly surprised by the end of her appointment today, because thanks to the CEREC AC Bluecam, we were able to make a brand-new porcelain veneer in just ONE visit! No second appointment to bond the veneer in, no temporary veneer, no tooth molds, no second time getting numb……..NONE of that! So judge for yourself…..how did we do?
If you are looking to transform or fix your smile, and convenience is important to you, then give us a call at 704-364-7069 or
Oh yeah…….almost forgot to mention, too….since Linda signed up with our Quality Dental Plan, she saved 20% on her work today!
Six-Month Braces: Case in Progress
People often have difficulty believing that we can really move teeth to create a more beautiful smile in only 6 months. Here’s a case to show just how well it works – Lynn has only had her almost invisible braces on for 2 months, and look how far the gap between her front teeth has closed already!
Best Treatment for Gum Disease
It’s easy for me to tell you that Laser Periodontal TherapyTM is both effective and comfortable, but we both know that it’s easier to believe when you talk to someone who has actually been through it. So, right after we finished up treating a really sweet patient yesterday, we asked her if she wouldn’t mind recording a short video so our other patients could hear directly how easy it was. That said, let me introduce you to Milli:
BIG NEWS! Smiles by Payet Dentistry is moving!!
Well, ok – not quite yet, but the process is beginning, so we’re going to be putting a lot of effort into making sure that EVERY ONE of our patients knows about it by the time it really happens, which will most likely be about the beginning of April, if all goes according to plan (but construction plans always have some glitches at some point, so it could be later, but that’s our target date.
Our new location? 4601 Park Rd., at the corner of Park Rd. and Abbey Place, which is 1 stoplight south of the intersection with Woodlawn Rd. It’s hard to miss – a big, six-story building with a big monument sign in front, and on the front of the building it says “OrthoCarolina.” Only a few minutes away from our current Southpark location, it will be much easier to find, and the new office will be on the first floor – conveniently and directly located across from SouthPark Pediatrics, a big pediatrician’s office.
More details will be coming soon! We’re so amazingly excited about this – completely redesigned office for efficiency and smooth flow, all of your treatment will be easier, faster, more comfortable, less cramped, and ultimately even better than what we already provide. You’re going to LOVE IT!
News segment with Terrie Reeves & Dr. Payet on “Train for Life”, on TVNews 14 in Charlotte – coming soon!
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of recording a short interview with the Founder and President (and one of my patients) of the Wellness Coalition of America, Ms. Terrie Reeves, for her weekly segment on TVNews 14 (every Sunday) called “Train for Life.” Each week, Terrie interviews people in different areas of life, all of which are somehow related to our total health and well-being. My first interview was how dentists can be an important part of your health-care team, because many diseases can be diagnosed through various conditions that come up in the mouth – diabetes, leukemia, gum disease – especially this one, because it has been shown to be linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and more. You can see the video segment that was aired in late spring 2009 at this link: Dental Health and Total Body Health Links (please note that the video must be viewed on Internet Explorer or Safari, but does not play on Firefox – sorry!).
Well, today we’ll be recording 2 new segments to be aired this fall. The first will be on the NTI-tss, an FDA-approved and non-medication treatment for Chronic Migraine and Chronic Tension Headaches, and the second spot (won’t air until November) will cover the most effective and comfortable treatment for periodontal (gum) disease available: the LANAP (Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure) protocol, which can only be performed by a dentist licensed in the use of the Periolase MVP-7 free-running pulsed Nd:YAG dental laser.
I’ll be sure to post links to each of these as they become available! I must admit, it’s kind of fun to become a local expert on dentistry for the media. 
Periodontal disease and Erectile Dysfunction? Seems crazy, but just maybe connected!
Wow – this one even surprised me! Check out this summary of a recent study from the Journal of Sexual Medicine:
Erectile dysfunction might be associated with chronic periodontal disease: two ends of the cardiovascular spectrum.
Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Zrifin, Israel. yzadik@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION: Both chronic periodontal disease (CPD) and erectile dysfunction (ED) are associated with cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, including smoking and diabetes mellitus. However, the association between ED and CPD has never been studied. AIM: To study the association between ED and CPD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. Prevalence of ED, prevalence of CPD, ED severity. METHODS: The study population consisted of 305 men who filled the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) questionnaire in order to detect ED and assess its severity, and underwent a pair of standardized posterior dental bitewing radiographs in order to detect CPD. SHIM questionnaire scores 21 or less represented ED. Alveolar bone loss of >or=6 mm represented CPD. RESULTS: The mean age of included men was 39.5 +/- 6.7 years. Overall, 70 (22.9%) men had ED and 13 (4.3%) had CPD. CPD was significantly more prevalent among men with mild ED (P = 0.004) and moderate to severe ED (P = 0.007) in comparison to men without ED. CONCLUSIONS: ED might be associated with CPD. These preliminary findings are consistent with theories that associate these conditions with systemic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and atherosclerosis.
Ohhhhh, and I apparently forgot to mention (Oops! 
): if periodontal disease is something you need treated, and you want the absolute best treatment currently available, please request a Consultation/Exam with us by either of the following ways:
Call 704-364-7069,
OR
Request an Appointment Online
Want more info on LANAP, the PerioLase, and Gum Disease Treatment in North/South Carolina?
Ok, then you’re in luck! Here is a video that will give you pretty good information about periodontal (gum) disease in general, as well as about conventional non-surgical and surgical treatment options, and then about LANAP (Laser-Assisted New Attachment Protocol).
Something very important to know: the Periolase MVP-7 dental laser, made by Millenium Dental Technologies, and for which the required training is provided by the Institute for Advanced Laser Dentistry (IALD), is the ONLY dental laser available that can be used with LANAP. DON’T BE FOOLED INTO THINKING THAT ANY OLD LASER CAN DO THIS! There are only 4 doctors in Charlotte, NC (as of today September 17th, 2009) who can offer this treatment to you, including me; make sure it’s the real deal. Dr. Robert Gregg and Dr. Delwin McCarthy, who founded Millenium Dental and developed the Periolase and LANAP, are passionate about protecting patients from harm by dentists who don’t have the right background or understanding of lasers, which is why they patented the protocol with the FDA. Only doctors who complete the initial 3 days of training receive a license and laser.
New tooth-colored fillings sensitive? They should not be!
When most people think of “bonding,” they are thinking of tooth-colored dental fillings, or composite fillings. To be completely technical for a moment (I try to avoid that as much as possible to not bore you ), “bonding” is actually the series of steps and the products we dentists use to make the tooth-colored fillings actually STICK to the teeth. OK – technical moment is over. Whew, aren’t you glad of that?
An issue that many patients have experienced in the past, is that their new tooth-colored fillings seem to be mildly or even extremely sensitive to cold, and sometimes hot, foods and drinks, even just to tapping your teeth together. Naturally, it’s not a fun experience, and one that all conscientious dentists try to avoid for their patients, but even in 2009, when one would imagine there is a solution, many patients still run into this problem. Here’s the thing, though……..THERE IS A SOLUTION!
OK, you’re probably asking, if there’s a solution, why is it still a problem? Well, it’s simply a matter of technique, really, and getting the technique for bonding is actually more difficult than it might seem to be. In addition, just as in the rest of the world, there are MANY bonding products that dentists can use when doing tooth-colored fillings, but just because the companies that produce them supposedly have research behind these products, they’re not all they’re always promised to be. Some work better than others in strength, sensitivity, durability…..and it can honestly be rather tough to sort through all the stuff that companies throw at us, just like for physicians with all the stuff pharmaceutical companies throw at them. So it is CRITICAL that dentists really stay up on the latest research, but here’s the thing…..just because something has the “latest and greatest, newest and most improved,” labels all over it, that doesn’t mean it actually works as well as the old stuff all the time.
There’s one other REALLY CRITICAL FACTOR for long-term success of composite fillings, and that is keeping the teeth DRY while the bonding is placed and activated, then the filling material is layered into the tooth. Saliva contamination is one of the most common reasons for bonded fillings to be sensitive, and it’s also one of the most common reasons bonded composite fillings fail earlier than they should. There are a couple techniques dentists can and SHOULD use to do this – a Rubber Dam or something like the Isolite2 Dryfield Illuminator system. Both are pretty inexpensive for the dentist to have (we have both and use them as appropriate), both are pretty easy to use, and to tell the honest truth, they actually make it EASIER for us to complete your dental work faster and with better results. I really don’t know why not all dentists use 1 or the other; I can’t imagine practicing without them, ’cause it’s a lot harder to get good fillings!
So there you go: 2 of the most common reasons why bonded, tooth-colored, composite fillings are often sensitive to hot and cold foods/liquids or even just tapping your teeth together.
The good news in our office? I’m fortunate to actually know the man who basically INVENTED bonding, and I not only use the techniques he teaches, but I even use the most current materials that he himself has developed and/or recommends, and I can honestly say that ALMOST NOONE who gets tooth-colored fillings in my office ever has hot/cold sensitivity afterwards. There are rare exceptions, ’cause I’m not going to claim perfection, but they’re quite rare indeed.
Congratulations to our Dental Assistant Marie W. – she had her baby boy!
It was a little bit earlier than ANY of us had expected, so it’s probably a good thing we hadn’t started an office pool on when the baby would come, but Marie had her baby boy, Bryce Adam, on Thursday August 27th around noon! Hooray! There were some minor complications, but nothing really major, so both Mommy and Baby Boy are already home and doing well. She is hoping to return to full-time in about 6 weeks, but it may be a bit longer. We’ll all be looking forward to her return, and hopefully we’ll get a few pictures to show him off!
In the meantime, we are joined by Somer D., a Certified Dental Assistant (just like Rosie), who will be taking over Marie’s responsibilities in providing the same excellent care for our patients. Somer worked for me temporarily several years ago, too, and this provided a good opportunity to have her back. Since we have seen a steady increase in patients over the summer, we hope to be busy enough by the time that Marie returns, that Somer will be able to stay on with us either part-time or full-time. She has a great smile and personality and is a hard worker, just like Marie, so I’m confident you will enjoy having her assist during your appointments.
Quality Dental Plan: Charlotte’s BEST Dental Discount Plan
Thanks to some connections across the country, I am very pleased to announce another exciting development in our dental practice that we truly believe will benefit patients, and that is the Quality Dental Plan, the first nationwide dental discount plan that is truly designed to be AFFORDABLE to both employers and individuals. In fact, we plan on going out into the small business community to promote this as an affordable way to offer dental benefits to their employees and for their employees to get better dental coverage than with traditional or even PPO dental insurance. So just how does the Quality Dental Plan work?
For Employers:
Talk about economical and simple to administrate: all you have to do is pay a 1-time annual fee of $295 per employee……AND THAT’S IT! You have now provided each employee with dental benefits that far exceed what they can usually get from typical dental insurance. No monthly deductions, no monthly payments, and I’d bet about anything that you will be paying less than you currently pay for your company’s dental benefits. It COMPLETELY eliminates your administrative work except that all you have to do is let us know if you add or subtract any employees during the year. THAT’S IT! And if you want to add a little more value for your employees, you can sign up their family members for ONLY $150 EXTRA PER PERSON!
Theoretical Employer Scenario:
10 Employees x $295 = $2950 annual enrollment. You’re done.
Say each employee has 1 family member, so you decide you want to cover them, too. So 10 family members x $150 = $1500; so now you’ve paid a TOTAL of $4,450 and ALL of your employees and their 1 family member now are members of the Quality Dental Plan and have benefits in our office. And you’re done!
Individuals/Families:
If you read the scenario for employers above…..it’s the same idea. All you do is pay $295 annually to enroll, and you only add $150 extra per family member per year. So you can enroll a family of 4 for a TOTAL of $745. So it’s pretty darn simple.
So what do you GET with the Quality Dental Plan?
This is the best part (what you’ve really been waiting for ):
- Initial Comprehensive Exam, Complete Set of X-rays, and Routine Child or Adult Cleaning
- At your 6-Month Check-up, you get your Six-Month Exam and Routine Child or Adult Cleaning
- Free Custom Whitening Trays!
- And for the entire 12 months following enrollment, you get 20% OFF ALL OF OUR SERVICES WITH NO ANNUAL LIMIT!
Yes, you read that correctly – 20% off all kinds of treatment. Of course, there are some conditions that go along with the deal, but compared to what so-called “dental insurance” companies offer, they’re insignificant. So let’s compare the Quality Dental Plan with “dental insurance:”
“Dental insurance” – you only get $1,000-1,500 per year, which has to cover your 2 “free” cleanings/exams/x-rays, and then you get whatever is left. Maybe a few fillings or 1 crown, and after that it’s all out of your pocket.
OR
Quality Dental Plan: Your 2 routine child/adult cleanings and x-rays and exams are all included in your enrollment fee, and thereafter 20% off everything with NO LIMITS. Say you need 5 crowns, well, you get 20% off of each crown, which means that by the time you’ve paid for 4, the last one is almost free when looking at our standard fees. 10 veneers? 20% off! Six-Month Braces? 20% off! Say you need 5 crowns, 10 veneers, AND Six-Month Braces? 20% off EVERYTHING.
Ok, so you may be thinking, “What’s the catch? Why does Dr. Payet do this?” Well, it’s for a few simple reasons:
- It SERIOUSLY simplifies our administrative work, ’cause we don’t have to deal with insurance companies (that’s reason enough to do it right there, honestly).
- When you’re able to afford the treatment you want and need, it keeps me busier (my staff much prefers that to me being bored and stir-crazy).
- It does help you afford the treatment you want and need.
