Does Your Partner's Snoring Keep You Awake?

        

     Recently magazines have been carrying advertisements for gimmicks that are supposed to treat snoring.  If your partner keeps you up half the night with snoring, you may be tempted to try anything.

     There is a professional way to put an end to snoring by treating the cause instead of the symptom.  We use the TheraSnore appliance to help our patients who have a problem with snoring and sleep apnea.  This appliance uses a scientific approach and was developed by Dr. Thomas E. Meade.

     The TheraSnore has been tested by universities, sleep laboratories and other professional groups.  These tests show that the adjustable TheraSnore really does work more than 93% of the time.

     Almost everyone snores occasionally, in fact one-third of the world’s population snores regularly.  Of that one-third 90% snore because, while sleeping your tongue and the tissue around the soft palate relax and falls back, blocking the airway.  Due to this lack of air, your body panics and increases the speed of the air inhaled.  This increased speed causes the tissues at the back of the throat to vibrate and cause the snoring noise.

     Besides making life more unpleasant for significant others, snoring may be an indicator of sleep apnea, a serious, deadly health hazard.

     A recent study by Harvard University and Boston’s Brigham and Woman’s Hospital found that simple snoring increases the chance of cardiovascular disease by 33% in women.  Previous studies of men with sleep apnea revealed serious health consequences, such as stroke.

     It takes us around 30 minutes or less to fit a TheraSnore appliance.  It will take you approximately 4 to 7 nights to adjust to wearing it.  By the end of the week, you should  be sleeping comfortably and soundlessly and with a happy partner by your side.

     We think we’ve saved a lot of marriages with this device.

    

     For more information on other dental topics, please visit DrTav.com

    

Differences Between Dental Plans

     I have been talking lately about dental insurance to shed some light on this confusing subject.  Recently I was asked about dental plans that can be purchased by individuals at very low cost.  I was asked, “What’s the difference?”  That’s a good question.  You need to know if the plan you are looking at is in fact a plan that covers a certain amount per year and certain percentages based on the dental procedures, or, if the “plan” is a discount program.  A discount program has a fee schedule that it establishes for each dental procedure and this reduced fee you pay to a dentist that participates in their plan.  The fees are drastically reduced, so practices that participate rely on a high volume of patients to offset their losses.  An office that is committed to excellence and personal service would have a higher overhead and would most likely be unable to participate in such a program.

     Dental discount programs don't pay any of your health care costs.  They require you to pay a fee for a list of dentists who are willing to offer disounts to members of the program.

     Do the math. Try to calculate what your total payment for a discount plan will be for a given amount of time. You could be responsible for paying a substantial amount up front, in addition to monthly fees and other costs. The costs of the program may total more than the savings you anticipate.

    

     A discount program also deprives you of freedom of choice because you will get no benefit from the program if you choose a dentist that isn’t on the discount list.  Even if you have conventional dental insurance, make sure your plan gives you the freedom to choose your own dentist and still receive your benefit.

    For more information on other dental topics, please visit DrTav.com

More to Know About Dental Insurance

     The benefits you can receive from your insurance program are dependent on the amount your employer pays the insurance company.  In order to make a profit, the insurance company must pay out less in benefits than they collect in premium.  To limit their expenses, the insurance industry has created various restrictions which have nothing to do with your individual needs or health such as:

1. An annual limit.  Regardless of the treatment you need, they only pay so much per person per year.
2. Excluded treatment.  Regardless of the treatment you need, certain things are not covered like cosmetic work or in most cases, dental implants.
3. Fee limitations.  Regardless of the specifics of your case, only so much may be paid for any particular treatment.
4. Frequency limitations.  Regardless of what you might need, they will pay for a procedure only so often.  An example is a dental cleaning which may be “payable only twice a year” regardless of your gum condition that may require cleanings three or four times a year.
5. Procedural limitations.  Regardless of what treatment might be best for you, they may only pay for the least expensive treatment possible.  For example, they might only pay for a removable bridge when a fixed bridge would be better or they might only pay for a filling when a cap is clearly a better choice for your tooth.
6.  Time limitations.  Regardless of when you want to do the treatment, they may request that you notify them in advance of your intended treatment.  They cannot require you to get a pre-estimate prior to treatment as a condition to paying you your benefits.  They will always pay you what you are entitled to.  As a matter of fact, our experience has often shown that pre-estimates prior to treatment are actually more likely to stimulate a rejection of coverage.

     Please remember that while it is nice to have the insurance program pay for as much of your treatment as possible, and finances are sometimes a consideration, your decisions on what treatment you choose are best based on your own best dental health interests.

     For more information on other dental topics, please visit DrTav.com

Some Important Information If You Have Dental Insurance

     While many people have dental insurance, very few understand what it does and how it works, or what rules it has and why these rules exist.  This information will help you understand your insurance better.  We think it’s important that you understand that your dental insurance isn’t dental insurance at all.

     Dental insurance is unlike any other type of insurance and so insurance companies have developed some unique policies.  We think once you have this information much of the confusion you might have about dental insurance will be cleared up.

     In general, insurance has four requirements:

1. We want to protect something specific against loss.  Things we insure are our house, our car, even our life.
2. The loss must be undesirable and infrequent.  No one wants to have their house burn down, have their car stolen, or a gall bladder infection requiring surgery.  The insurance company can count on you trying to prevent the loss.
3. The occurrence of loss must be unpredictable on an individual basis, but statistically predictable on a group basis.  In other words, you never know if or when you might have a car accident or need your gall bladder removed, but the insurance company can predict that out of every 100,000 people a certain percent are likely to have their car damaged or need an operation in a given year.
4. The cost of the loss must be individually predictable and the risk known in advance.  The premium charged by the insurance company is based on this.  For example, if you want to insure a 1991 Ford Mustang that costs $16,000, the insurance company knows what it usually costs to fix or replace the car.  The risk of loss is known in advance.  The premium can therefore be calculated in advance on an individual basis.

     Dental insurance is actually entirely different because:

1. Dental disease is not specific.  It could be decay, gum disease, broken or chipped teeth.  It could even be crooked teeth that one person may want to fix and another might not want to fix.
2. Most people do have dental disease.  Cavities and gum problems are extremely common despite the fact that people don’t want them.
3. Dental treatment needs vary from person to person based on things like how often people go to the dentist.  People may even choose to go to a dentist more often when they have insurance.  People who get medical insurance do not decide to get their appendix out to take advantage of their new insurance.
4. The dental insurance is contracted on a group basis by a company for its employees.  No one really knows the dental needs of any one person or the potential risk (cost to repair the dental problems).

     You can see that dental insurance really doesn’t satisfy the requirements of insurance at all because dental disease is not specific, not infrequent, not unpredictable in occurrence, and not predictable in cost.  Dental insurance really is a program established by your employer to give you an extra benefit of employment and not really insurance at all.

     Our next blog will discuss the restrictions the insurance industry has created which have nothing to do with your individual needs or health.

     For more information on other dental topics, please visit DrTav.com.

Partial Dentures vs. Implants? Chew on that one.

For those of you who remember the famous Spy vs. Spy comic books, dentures vs. implants may seem to be different sides of the same coin, but the truth is the choice is easier than you might think. Check out the Q&A below.

Q. I am thinking of getting dental implants to replace the removable partial denture I now have.  I can hardly chew with it, and food always gets stuck under it.  I think implants will be a great investment in my health.  How long does an implant last?

A. You can feel that you’re making a very sound investment.  Implants have remained in patients’ mouths for as long as 30 years.  With the proper preventive maintenance program, you can ensure the long-term success of your implants.  The implants should last a lifetime with your proper daily maintenance and regular maintenance scheduled with us for hygiene and exams.  Periodically, the teeth that are supported by your implants may need to be replaced.  The timing varies with the dental materials used.

Bone loss can impact denture function

Q.  I wear a lower denture.  What will happen without treatment?

A.  When you lose your teeth, you gradually lose the bone that holds them in your jaw.  As this bone shrinks, problems with a lack of bone lead to increased discomfort, increased movement of your denture, lack of retention and sharp, painful ridges, movable gums, and sore spots.  The tongue also enlarges to fill in the spaces.  With tooth loss, a five-fold decrease in function happens and the diet shifts to softer foods, which has a bad effect on your nutrition.  When bone is lost, numbness to the lower lip or even fracture of the lower jaw can be a possibility. In addition, the progressive bone loss can make it difficult, impossible, and more expensive to solve your problem.  You could need more implants or extensive treatment, or we will not be able to provide the treatment we recommend now.

When Is A Silver Lining Not So Good?

When it's in your teeth!

Q. Why is it important to replace old silver fillings with a crown or onlay?

A. Old silver fillings usually have leakage around the margins, which means that bacteria is getting in between the filling and the tooth and can be a cause of tooth decay or the nerve of the tooth dying (when the nerve dies a root canal therapy is needed on the tooth).  Silver also acts as a wedge and can actually eventually help to fracture a tooth.  If the fracture is vertical, the tooth has to be extracted.  A crown encircles the remaining tooth structure so it protects it and an inlay or onlay is prepared by a laboratory to fit perfectly to the tooth and is more protective to the remaining tooth structure than silver.  Fillings prepared by the lab can be done in porcelain to match the existing tooth structure and are a great cosmetic choice.