Tooth Crap

This page will have info on things to do with dentistry and dental hygiene :) 






3/13/14

Hillbilly Hygienist Saga Continues

Well, today was the day we started rebuilding my mouth.  Thank the good Lord!!! because I was sick and tired of that flippin' flipper (temporary partial) that was replacing my upper left lateral (#10).  So....I decided to just redo all my upper anterior teeth since the bridge I had from teeth 6 - 9 was chipping anyway.  So we, or should I say my boss cut of the old bridge, reprepped, and took impressions today and Tammy, his assistant made me a great temporary bridge that also takes the place of the flipper tooth #10.  I am SOOOOO happy to be rid of that stupid thing.  I don't know how people wear partials and dentures but I guess you do what you have to do.  I'm not happy I'm not to that point.  I'd drain my retirement fund just to keep from having a partial or denture...hehehehe    So hopefully in 3 weeks I will have my permanent choppers...wooohoooo!!

Smiling from ear to ear... Sherri 

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3/9/14

Well, I haven't blogged about anything dental related in a long time but today is your lucky day...hehehe

I've been seeing a lot of do it yourself dental stuff lately and thought I'd tell you about a few of them.

First...Tooth whitening with activated charcoal. Now this sounded a little strange to me but apparently this has been around for a while. You buy activated charcoal tablets at the drugstore.  This capsules are the same ones they use to help if you've been poisoned.  It's the same stuff they use to pump your stomach with too. Anyways, you break one open and wet your toothbrush  then dab your toothbrush in the black power and brush your teeth with it until they are good and coated then you let it sit there for about 5 minutes or so then you rinse and brush it off.   A couple of the dental assistants at my office actually did this the other day and there was a difference in the whiteness of their teeth.  They said it doesn't really have a taste or anything.  I may try this myself if I can ever make it to a drugstore...hehehe  I think the capsules cost like $6-8.00 

Next...Oil Pulling   Not sure if I wanna try this one because it just sounds right down nasty tasting...hehehe   It seems you take a few tablespoons of oil like olive, coconut, sesame, or sunflower and you hold & swish around in your mouth for 15 minutes.  Also you can like suck it through your teeth.  Sorry but I think I would throw up with this crap.  They say it's good for killing bacteria and stuff.  I can see where they get that because some of these oils can kill bacteria somewhat but I just don't think I'm up for it :-) 

Here's an article on the Huffington Post if you want more info on it. 

Keep Brushing,

Sherri 

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11/16/13

On: Hillbilly Hygienist

Well... Wednesday I went to the periodontist to see if he could do an immediate implant for my broken off upper left lateral (#10) and low and behold he said he could.  So his hygienist Jamie numbed me up.  Jamie and I took our local anesthesia course together about 6 years ago I guess.  She did an awesome job too didn't feel a thing :-)   So the doc takes out the remaining root and then Shannon his assistant does a iCat scan of my head, which I got a copy of being the tech head I am.  I love looking at stuff like that. Any who... then he proceeds to put in the implant.  Boy that was a head rattling experience.  About an hour and a half later implant is in and I'm on my way back to the house.  Now we wait and see if it integrates with the bone and in 4 months we can start to build my new tooth on it.  I hate the appliance I'm wearing to replace my missing tooth though. It's a pain and makes my other front teeth sore if I wear it all day.  I'm getting another type of appliance to replace this one which should be more comfortable but I have to wait till the lab gets it done :/  So right now I am truly the hillbilly hygienist.  

All I want for Christmas is my left lateral...my left lateral...my left lateral...hehehe

Keep Brushing.....

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11/9/13

Oh: For a Dental Professional...

....I have the worst luck with teeth.   You name it and I've probably had it done to my teeth or need it done. 

Today as per our usual Saturday events, my hubby and I had planned to go to the movies to see Thor: The Dark World.  We get to the theater get our usual concessions a large popcorn, medium coke zero and a nachos & cheese get our seats and start munching on our nachos while the advertisements are playing on the screen.  Then the previews start and we get to see a cool 5 minute preview of the new Captain America movie that's coming out soon.  Then the Thor movie starts and we're chowing down on our popcorn.  I'm tired of salty stuff so I have a cherry tootsie pop in my pocket so I pop that in my mouth and after I've worn it down to the tootsie roll center I bite it and start chewing it up. That's when I hear a SNAP and my upper left lateral incisor breaks off right at the gum line.  I freak out start crying and my hubby is wondering what the heck happened and I tell him and I'm still freaking.  He's trying his best to console me...poor guy. We get and leave I call my boss and leave him a message. I tell my hubby we might as well try to finish the movie since there is nothing we can do but wait for him to return my call.  No sooner did we get back in the theater my boss/dentist calls me and says he'll meet me at the office in a hour.  Luckily even though the tooth broke clean off into the gum and I can see the nerve it's not hurting.  Thank the good Lord for that :)  Any who... long story short my wonderful boss fixes me up temporarily so I don't look like the hillbilly hygienist and I have to have an implant done hopefully real soon :)

You know the last time I broke a tooth it was at the movies...hmmm maybe I need to rethink this movie going habit we have... nawww don't think it's gonna happen...LOL

Have a great weekend and don't do that "how many licks does it take to get to the middle of a tootsie pop" thing  ;) 


Keep Brushing....

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7/5/13

On: New Tech Crap

Today my hubby had to go to the oral surgeon to have a wisdom tooth, #32, taken out. Every thing went according to plan thank goodness.  When my hubby came out from his appointment he tells me that the dentist used a "drill" (hand-piece) connected to an iPad.  I'm thinking hmmm never heard of this piece of

equipment. So I get on my iPad go to the App Store and wallah there it is iChiropro.  It's pretty cool. You connect the hand-piece to it, there are a variety to choose from for different purposes, and it has preset commands that control it.  There are more and ore uses for our gadgets other than gaming. I saw a tv program not too long ago that was showing apps to use in medical offices or to take vitals of patients while they were at home.  All sorts of neat technology on the horizon.


Until next time....

Keep brushing... 

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6/20/13

On: I'm Pooped

I really hate to wish the week away but OMG this has been a doozy of a work week and I still have one more day to go!  Saturday can't get here fast enough for me.  I can't wait to be sitting next to my honey at the theater enjoying our nacho and cheese together and watching World War Z.  That's our thing on Saturday...movies, nachos, cheese, popcorn coke zero and a tootsie pop LOL.  Then it's off to Wally's for groceries and such.  I know it sounds boring but it's how we roll on the weekend.

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6/9/13

On: Brushing

Ok is it just me or has everyone forgotten what end of the toothbrush to insert in their mouths????

I'm serious!  I'm a dental hygienist by trade and honestly I have had a rash of patients that have mouths full of plaque and food debris.  I am freaking worn out and have only worked 2 days this week by the end of Friday they will have to carry me out on a stretcher at this rate. LOL.  Seriously I care for my clients and try to do a good job but help a sister out please brush your teeth DAILY and THROUGHLY.  I don't even harp on flossing any more after 20 years. I know you're not going to do it so why bother 
but please brush.   :-) 



Until next time ....  Keep Brushing 


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6/5/13

On: Office Fun Crap

Well, it's hump day and I busted my hump at the office today but it's
all good :-)   Busy day at the office again for me which is great.  I like busy but not so busy I can't take a potty break ;)  Pretty uneventful on my side of the office. Had a group of great patients today. We talked and laughed all day.  

My boss's birthday is this weekend and boy do we have a gag gift for him this time...LOL  Good thing he has a sense of humor.  Well, how shall I put this...a "strange" person told him that he should have gotten his dental degree from Wal-Mart. There is more to that story but I'll leave it at that for right now.  So anyway we took that incident and ran with it.  I made up a certificate that states University of Wal-Mart School of Dentistry on it with my docs name on it etc. and then found a Dentistry for Dummies book cover printed them out.  Then pasted the cover on to an old "dummies" book my hubby had and tada! Gag gift of the year...hehehe I can't wait to see his face!!  It's gonna be classic!!  Hope he comes to work in a good mood tomorrow...LOL 

I'll let ya know how it turns out ;) 

Keep Brushing...

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6/4/13

On: Mondays or in this case Tuesday

Well, today was my Monday at the office.  Started off with our monthly office meeting which all in all went pretty good as far as office meetings go.  I really have to say my office is a pretty good place to work most days. The dentists are accommodating and let us dental hygienists use our brains that the good Lord gave us.  I work with 2 dentists and I've been at this office for nearly 16 years now.  I had a full schedule and all the patients showed up YEAHHHH. I have some really great patients that are like my extended family especially the kids that I've watch grow into young men and women who are now going off to or graduating from college.  Since I don't have any children of my own they are like my kids and many of them tell me "you sound just like my mom" when I try to give them advice :-)  I have laughed, cried and sent out too many sympathy cards over the years.  Dental hygiene has been good to me over the last 20 years and I hope to continue giving good care to the folks in my community. 

Oh... and I found out today that you can get your dental degree from Wal-Mart LOL... That's a story for another day....hehehehe 

Keep Brushing....

Sherri 

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6/2/13

On: Volunteering 

Today I had the opportunity to help my community.  I live in a city just north of

Chattanooga, Cleveland, TN.  While I'm not originally from the area I have lived here for nearly 17 years.  As you can tell from my previous posts, I am in the business of dental hygiene.  Well, the Remote Area Medical came to our area today to do dental, medical and vision care for those in need and some of us from my office volunteered to help.  What an experience this was for me.  I've done other volunteer work though my office (I'll tell you about that later) but this was really cool just to see how the pull this off in the cafeteria of a high school.  They have rows of mobile dental units lined up, I think there were about 40+ chairs. I was at chair 34.  They do free cleanings, filling, & extractions.  They use a mobile x-ray unit called Nomad to take x-rays on the go.  Everything is sterilized just like in an dental office by autoclave.  They have rows and rows of dental instruments and equipment.  It's like a well oiled machine.  I was honored to get to help out.  The downside is you have to stand up to do your treatment which is hard on these 50+ year old legs and back but it was worth it to see the smiles on the faces of those I got to give care too. I had one 12 year old girl who just kept laughing at my crazy jokes and she looks up and "says you are just too funny".  Made me feel great that she was at ease with me.  Then I had the shall we call him the "character" what a hoot he was to treat.  Well, I suppose it takes all kinds.  

All in all it was an awesome Sunday morning.  If your interesting in volunteering for RAM check out their website at www.ramusa.org  to see if they are coming to your area or if you want to travel that's cool too.  We had volunteers from many states at our clinic. I met one male RDH from FL and another volunteer who was a nursing student from CO.  So you don't have to stay close to home if you don't want. Make it a vacation with a purpose!  

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6/2/13

On: Flossing

I'm sure most of you hate going to the dentist.  I hear it every day from my own patients. But be honest it's not all that bad. Dentistry and dental hygiene have come a long way over the years I have to admit myself.  In the 25 years that I've been in dentistry, 5 as a dental assistant and the last 20 as a Registered Dental Hygienists, I my self have seen plenty of changes. Some for the better and some not so good.  The good stuff is the technological advances that I've seen such as DNA testing for periodontal disease, digital radiology, advances in oral cancer detection & decay control just to name a few. I will address some of these new technologies in future blogs. But today I want to talk about the old FLOSS.  

I know, I know you don't wanna hear the "F" word from your hygienist.  Well, I think you're going to be surprised about my feeling as a hygienist about floss.  I think floss is crap. Most people don't use it properly anyway so why bother. Plus no one wants to use it a for one thing anyway, not even me.  Yes, you heard me right. I hate to floss! I didn't say I didn't clean in between my teeth.  No you didn't hear or read that.  I said I hate to use floss. I tell my patients that I think it's because I floss their teeth.  I figured it up one time and I floss over 32,000 teeth a year.  That's a lot of flossing!! So I'm adding mind to that number...hehehe Besides there are many other means of cleaning between your teeth than just using string. I say most people are "allergic to string" anyway...LOL 

Let's talk about some of my favorite floss alternatives.

Proxabrushes  or Interdental Brush
There are a myriad of different proxabrushes now. Every shape and size is available.  Gum makes some nice ones shown here.  

Also Dentek makes a quality product and their prices seem to be a little more affordable.  

I love their Easy Brushes.  They come in a variety of sizes in a bag of 16 and cost less than $4.00 at most department stores like Wal-Mart & Target.

Electric Flossers

Waterpik makes a cute little battery operated flosser. The tip of it is even coated with a whitening substance.  I've not tried the particular version but I've used an older model and it was ok.  Better than not cleaning in between your teeth at all anyway.  I always say "somethings better than nothing". 

Oral-b has the Hummingbird flosser.  It's just regular floss and the handle vibrates. Not very inventive really. 

Recently added to the flossing market is the Sonicare AirFloss.  I

purchased and AirFloss at a dental conference in 2011 when it first became available. I really like this device.  It works really well speaking from my own experience. I've even used it after I brushed and gotten lots of stuff out from between my teeth and I'm a great brusher if I do say so myself :)  The way this little gadget works is there is a reservoir on the handle that you fill with water. I like to put mouthwash in mine for a minty flavor ;) Then you place the tip between your teeth and press a button and it sends blast of liquid and air between your teeth and forces the plaque and debris out. 

So you can see you don't have to use string to clean between your teeth anymore. There are plenty of other options and some of them much better than floss too.  I've only touched on a few examples there are many, many more.  All you have to do is search around and find what works for you. One size does NOT fit all. Keep trying things until the next time you see your hygienist she says... "What have you been using? Your oral care is so much better than last visit."  You'll be happy because your preventive care visit will go much better and you won't get the old flossing lecture from your hygienist. 

Have a great day and happy interdental cleaning!! 

Keep Brushing...