Mobile Dental Care

May 22, 2007 by ·

Mobile  Dental  Care
 

Question:  I have read  your ad that you have in the Senior Living News on Portable Dental Services and have some questions about what you provide.  My father is at home with my mother who watches him.  He had some health issues that has kept him from getting out of the house and now he has a need for a dentist to come to the home.  He has developed a tooth ache which comes and goes.  I just recently saw the ad a couple of  weeks ago and am interested in more information.  Your phone number is on the ad, but thought it would be easier to write you.  Could you please explain what you do and how you do it?
 Thank You, J. Peterson
 

Answer:   
I have been treating patients with mobile dentistry in the comfort of their own home for about 5 years now. We use specially made portable dental equipment.  Most of it has been designed for the military, but has been modified for our particular use. I have redesigned a portable dental chair that is very comfortable for the patient.  We also have the ability to take x-rays and view them instantly on our computer using our digital x-ray system.  I utilize a small, but powerful light mounted on my magnifying glasses to see what I do.  Our portable mobile dental unit provides suction, air/water spray and vacuum just like you would expect to find at our Shelby township office setting.
              With mobile dentistry, we can provide all of the services we do in our office including, x-rays, examination, extractions, root canals, fillings, cleanings, porcelain crowns, dentures. Our fees for mobile dental care are the same as those at our office. The only additional charge is our home visit fee which can range from $90-$120 per visit depending on the distance we have to travel.  Since we individualize the necessary dental treatment plans, we don’t know what treatment is necessary until we do a thorough exam and x-rays. Because we only see 2-4 patients per day and have a limited amount of time devoted to mobile dentistry, we do not participate with Medicaid or Medicare.  Also, because we provide this service only on Thursdays we are limited to traveling to Oakland and Macomb counties. 
Before any dental treatment is started, we will provide you a written estimate of the recommended home dental care. We are well aware that most of what we do is to eliminate pain or just patch up things. For those who want cosmetic dentistry or complex restorative dental treatment, we can also provide this. In fact, we extracted a tooth and placed a dental implant for a patient before!   The decision is always left up to the patient and family whether we do some, all or none of the recommended home dental treatment.  This is also why we request that the person in charge of your father be present during the first home dentistry visit.  This way we can show you the x-rays and discuss candidly what is recommended.   We do offer financing, payment through major credit cards, check or cash.  We do ask that payment is made in full when the home dentistry services are provided.  We will bill your insurance and take care of the paperwork as a courtesy. 
 

Whether we see your dad in his bed or in our dental chair depends on whether he can be moved, but we are very accommodating in what we do and how we provide the home dental care. Mobile dentistry requires great flexibility on our part without compromising the quality of the dental care. 
 

 People are usually quite amazed when they see all we can do in their home.  Patients are usually referred to us for mobile dental care by home health agencies, hospice, or other avenues, but we would be happy to talk to you specifically about your father and what his needs are, Feel free to contact Sande at (586)873-5567 or visit our web site at www.TheGentleDentist.com/mobile_dentistry.htm.

 

Filed Under: General Dentistry, Mobile Dentistry Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fosamax update

May 22, 2007 by ·

Fosamax update:  ( As it relates to dental surgery and necrotic jaw.)

 

For more information on this topic please visit our web site at www.TheGentleDentist.com and click “In the News” tab.  Under the “drug concerns” section you will find archived articles written on this subject.  Because we had an overwhelming response for more information when the articles were first written, I felt it was important to add as current information became available. 

 

I just attended an advanced implant grafting course in South Carolina a couple of weeks ago and some very current information was presented for patients who have been on medications to increase bone density secondary to osteoporosis and cancer therapy. 

The body naturally deposits new bone (osteoblasts) and eats away old bone (osteoclasts) in regular healthy bone metabolism.  The bisphosphonate medications actually make bone more dense, but at the expense of decreasing vascularity (blood supply) and inactivation of the bone cells called osteoclasts which are responsible to eat away the dead bone cells.    Jaw bones are more susceptible to bone death after tooth extraction or other invasive dental procedure because jaw bone has the highest metabolism. Other bones in the body do not change over nearly as fast as the jaw bone does.

 

We now know that the bisphosphonate medications used intravenously to strengthen bones after breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple mylenoma therapy affect the jaw bones the most.  These are commonly known as aredia and zometa.  Oral medications used to treat osteoporosis such as fosamax don’t affect the bones to the extent the intravenous medications do.  The key seems to be the duration of usage.   If these medications are used for less than a 3 year duration the prognosis is good that they won’t have a problem.  If it’s use is greater than 3 years there is more of a concern that jaw bone death could take place after dental surgery.

 

There are blood tests called CTX that can be performed to assess the relative safety of  surgical procedures in patients who have been using the bisphosphonate drugs.  When using this information and bone density tests we can now assess the likeliness of potential future complications. 

 

Of course the best way to prevent these major problems is to be proactive and inform your physician that you need a dental assessment before the treatment is started.  It is much more prudent to remove teeth, place implants, or have oral surgery accomplished 4-8 weeks before you go on these medications.  For more information on the current protocol please call us at 586-247-3500

Filed Under: Drug Concerns, General Dentistry, Mouth pain