The Southern Women’s Show from a Dentist’s View

Well, it’s been almost 2 whole days for Smiles by Payet Dentistry here at the SWS, and it’s been a blast.  Admittedly, as a happily married guy, I’ve probably not enjoyed it as much as the women or as if I were single 🙂 , but it’s been a blast as an exhibitor for the first time (it won’t be the last for sure).  We put a lot of work into our booth, so of course we’d love it if you stopped by Booth 204-206, which is right by the Fashion Stage to the left of the Main Entrance. A couple of my awesome staff, Rosie and Kay, set it up with some help from Kay’s friends, Patti and Chuck. Check it out:

It’s a lot of fun watching people, of course, and it’s been fun watching people and getting to talk to so many as they go by, or as they stop and ask questions about our Oxyfresh Fresh Breath products, the Quality Dental Plan, 6Month Smiles Clear Adult Braces, Laser Periodontal Therapy, or Tip-Edge Braces for Teens.  Since I have my camera with me, fellow professional photographers do stop to chat as we’re shooting the fashion shows (it’s easy to spot us with big white lenses LOL); we’ve also gotten to meet a number of the models after they’ve finished their shows, and I’m excited to say that several have already made Complimentary Consultation appointments for Whitening or Braces.  It’s also been flattering to have their Moms ask me to shoot some pictures of their daughters for them.  🙂

It’s been great having some of my staff here helping out, and I think they’ve gotten to enjoy themselves a little, too, based on this shot of Marie:

There was a great fashion show in the  late afternoon; a mom with whom I talked for a while asked me to take some pictures of her daughter, so here she is: Lindsay Baker, Miss Teen NC-World 2010!

There was a fun demonstration by one of the Arthur Murray Dance Schools mid-afternoon.  Made me really wish my wife and I had more time to get out for ballroom dance again!

And………..there is a Firefighter’s Fundraiser coming up in a few minutes, but I’m not sure I’ll be taking pictures of that event.  LOL

So come on by, ask us questions, and we’ll tell you about our specials and chat while the shows are going on.  🙂

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Saving Teeth from Gum Disease and the Trash Can – Ain’t This Awesome?

Having practiced dentistry now for 12 years, I’ve seen a lot of different stuff, tried different technologies, different techniques, etc.  Most of it works pretty well, some of it we discard and look for something new or better, and occasionally we scrap the new and return to the tried-and-true techniques and methods that have been around for a long time.  The ultimate goal, of course, is to provide the best dentistry possible that will last the longest time, right?  Because after all, I know that you want to sit in my chair as little as possible.  🙂

Of all the different things we do, though, there is now 1 that is just so incredibly satisfying to provide our patients, and that is LANAP, or Laser-Assisted New Attachment Protocol, which we perform with our Periolase MVP-7 laser.  First of all, it’s is just pretty cool that we have a laser!  (Imagine here Dr. Evil from Austin Powers putting his fingers up and saying “Laser”  LOL)  But what’s simply AWESOME about having the Periolase is what we can do with it, and that is to treat periodontal (gum) disease more comfortably and effectively than anything else available.  Because of how amazingly well the Periolase works, it is just this terrific feeling we get every time we treat a patient, or when we see patients coming back in for follow-ups, because they actually LIKE coming to see us!  And I have to tell you, there aren’t many things that patients WANT and LIKE coming to see us about.  The other one, of course, is our 6MonthSmiles Clear Adult Braces – adults love getting their smile looking good so much faster than they ever imagine, and more affordably, too.

So let me show you just 1 example of why it is so satisfying helping people save their teeth from the trash can, because it is so typical and normal of what we see on a regular basis.  Colleen had LANAP done in December 2009, which means it is just at 9 months since her treatment.  She is getting ready to start 6MonthSmiles in September, which will help even more, but notice that her front teeth have already improved in position just by getting the infection under control.  Just how much of an improvement is this? Well, in the before picture, we had not even treated her yet, but in the After picture, it is immediately after a gentle cleaning……and her gums look great!

No wonder we love doing LANAP!  If you’re concerned about losing your teeth to gum disease, please call us today at 704-364-7069 or Request an Appointment Online.

Please let us know what you think about this amazing result or if you have any questions in the Comments section below.  Thanks!

Six-Month Braces if you have Gum Disease? YES!

Patients with periodontal (gum) disease often end up being very embarrassed about their smiles, because as the disease progresses and more bone is lost, the teeth start drifting.  It’s not uncommon to see the teeth flared out with a lot of spaces between them, or the bottom front teeth really crowded as the teeth shifted with the bone being lost.

Very often, these cases are the kind that would respond very well with our 6MonthSmiles Clear Adult Braces, but there’s a little problem……if you try to move teeth with braces while there is active gum infection going on, you will only make the situation worse, with the result being even more bone loss, more gum recession, and eventually even looser teeth than before you started.  While it might seem like your smile is improving during the process, once the braces came off, and the support they provided was gone, you’d suddenly realize you were closer than ever to losing your teeth entirely.  So it’s not uncommon that people simply become resigned to not only having gum disease, bad breath, etc., but to living with a smile that embarrasses them.

Now There is a Way!

As one of only 4 dental offices in the city of Charlotte (along with 1 in Salisbury and 1 in Fort Mill, SC) with the Periolase MVP-7 dental laser, with which we perform Laser Periodontal Therapy^(TM), a patented procedure that treats gum disease more effectively and more comfortably than any other procedure currently available, we can actually regenerate bone and healthy gum attachment.  And THAT is why it allows us to offer patients a way to not only save their teeth from gum disease and dentures, but also to give them a smile to be proud of once again.  Why is that exactly?  Because – in the absence of active gum infection – moving teeth with braces actually stimulates bone growth!  When you combine the major reduction in infection and inflammation with the healing effects of the laser, AND you add the bone stimulation of tooth movement and alignment through braces, it’s like a double benefit.

In the case of crowded teeth, improving alignment also makes it easier to brush and floss, too, and this is still an important part of maintaining healthy gums and teeth over the long term.

Over the next 6-10 months, be on the lookout here for some truly dramatic smile transformations for patients by combining 6MonthSmiles and LANAP.

If you are unhappy with your smile and are worried about losing your teeth and being forced into dentures, call us at 704-364-7069 or Request an Appointment Online.  This is a great time of year to plan for LANAP, because we can divide the treatment into 2 halves (right side then left or vice versa, starting with the worse side) in December and January, which will allow you to use 2 years of dental insurance benefits and reduce your out-of-pocket expense.  If you don’t have insurance, you’ll love our Quality Dental Plan, a terrific dental discount plan that we offer in the Charlotte area, that gives you a 20% discount on all treatment ; if you want monthly payments to fit the cost into your budget, we also offer CareCredit Interest-Free Dental Payment Plans.  Our goal is to make it affordable for you to get the treatment you need, so you can have the smile you want!

Is There a Comfortable Treatment for Periodontal (Gum) Disease? YES!

I just got off the phone with one of our patients from yesterday for whom we had done LANAP, also known as Laser Periodontal Therapy^TM, as I wanted to check and see how she is doing today.  And even though I have heard the same exact story practically every single time, I still find it wonderful to hear, and so I wanted to relate it to you (I’ll ask her at her first follow-up appt. next week if she wouldn’t mind doing a short video herself):

Bear in mind……this lady has moderately advanced periodontal (gum) disease, and so when we were doing her treatment yesterday, we had to do a LOT, not just with the Periolase itself, but also with the ultrasonic scaler/cleaner that we use to remove all of the tough tartar build-up; to treat her whole mouth took about 2.5 hours, so she was in our office for quite some time.  Fortunately, she was able to watch Dr. Phil during the procedure, which kept her pretty well distracted LOL.

So what did she say when I asked her how she felt immediately afterwards and also today?  Basically, she said that she took just 1 (ONLY ONE!!!!) 800mg Ibuprofen tablet yesterday “just in case,” but since then, she has had practically no pain, and only a tiny bit of soreness, and she has not had to take ANY further pain medication of any kind!  That is one of the things I simply LOVE about doing LANAP — even though we are treating the gum disease very aggressively, the physical properties of the laser stimulate healing so much and soothe the body so much, that patients are always amazed at how well they feel afterwards. Seriously……think about it…….we really did laser gum surgery for 2.5 hours, and she is having ZERO pain today.

She’s also excited because we will be starting her 6MonthSmiles Clear Adult Braces in just a couple weeks, too, in order to correct the spacing between her front teeth and give her a beautiful smile back.  When I finally get to post the Before/After pictures in just a few months, it will be just incredible to see the difference, so stay tuned!

Best Treatment for Gum Disease

It’s easy for me to tell you that Laser Periodontal Therapy^TM 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:

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.

Zadik Y, Bechor R, Galor S, Justo D, Heruti RJ.

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.

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 $345 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 $195 EXTRA PER PERSON!

Theoretical Employer Scenario:
10 Employees x $345 = $3450 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 $197 = $1970; so now you’ve paid a TOTAL of $5,420 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 $345 annually to enroll, and you only add $197 extra per family member per year.  So you can enroll a family of 4 for a TOTAL of $936.  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:

1. 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).
2. 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).
3. It does help you afford the treatment you want and need.

Treating Gum Disease with a Laser – Effective, Comfortable, and No Scalpel or Stitches!

I’ve been really updating my website to reflect the exciting new technologies that we’re implementing here at Smiles by Payet Dentistry in Charlotte, NC, so I wanted to let people know about that here so they can be updated: Laser Treatment for Gum Disease in Charlotte NC.  In addition, now you can visit our website devoted strictly to Periodontal (Gum) Disease Treatment with LANAP.