tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10829176644208887562011-08-14T10:12:06.592-07:00Tim RaineyII DDS FAGDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07405012274322004324noreply@blogger.comBlogger31100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082917664420888756.post-75711479611085355792009-07-25T08:14:00.000-07:002011-08-14T05:57:14.384-07:00So, is it worth it to get an electric toothbrush and put away that old manual one. Well, in my opinion absolutely. Don't get me wrong, the manual toothbrush is great and people can do a fine job with it, but there are disadvantages. The biggest problem I see in my <a href="http://victoriatxdentist.com/">dental practice</a> are those perfectionists, as I like to call them. They want to do such a great job brushing that they brush too hard. Sometimes so hard that they can actually wear away the tooth and gums. The electric does not depend on hand motion, so it automatically will help prevent that erosion from happening. <br /> <br />When I say electric tooth brush, I am referring to sonic toothbrushes. There are several on the market, but I personally prefer the sonicare. The way it works is it vibrates at a very high frequency as you move it across the teeth. The sonic energy is capable of putting much more beneficial energy to clean away stain and plaque than the old manual brush will. So get a sonicare and I think it will be hard to go back to that old toothbrush again.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1082917664420888756-7571147961108535579?l=boernelifetimedental.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tim RaineyII DDS FAGDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07405012274322004324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082917664420888756.post-15333147085926078052009-07-20T09:19:00.000-07:002011-08-14T05:57:32.400-07:00There are so many different opinions out there on this topic, without a whole lot of consensus in this country. Here is my own personal professional opinion. <br /> <br />Amalgam fillings are the silver fillings that everyone has seen. They are a mixture of silver, mercury , and other ingredients that hardens after being mixed. For years, this material was the standard as far as filling materials went. Today I feel like we have better materials and in particular <a href="http://victoriatxdentist.com</a> or composite. <br /> <br />The preparation, or shape in which the cavity is removed, is much larger with silver fillings. More tooth structure needs to be removed since there is not a bond between the silver and tooth. With tooth colored fillings, they are bonded in place so we only have to remove the decayed tooth structure and leave the healthy tooth structure. The most minimal amount of treatment necessary can help decrease the chance for future crowns or cracked teeth i the future.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1082917664420888756-1533314708592607805?l=boernelifetimedental.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tim RaineyII DDS FAGDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07405012274322004324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082917664420888756.post-35325350397294650432009-07-20T05:39:00.000-07:002011-08-14T05:57:47.310-07:00So, as I dentist I get a lot of questions about dental insurance. I am no insurance expert, but I would like people to understand it from the point of view of someone who sees it every day. <br /> <br />Dental insurance started in the 70's, with the maximum yearly benefit being about $1000. I am told that at the same time you could purchase a Ford Mustang for around $3000. I think everyone has an idea what a mustang would cost today, maybe $20000 to $30000. Now you would expect the insurance maximum to keep up accordingly, right. Well, the typical yearly maximum that we see is still around $1000. <br /> <br />You will hear insurance companies say that they cover something 100% or 50%. That can be a little misleading since the fine print will say that the percent coverage is a percentage of this "UCR". UCR (usual and customary) is an imaginary number that the insurance companies base their percentage that they cover. As you can imagine, the number is almost always always less, sometimes much less, than real fees that you would find if you surveyed dental offices. The insurance companies will not provide us the dental offices with these URC fees either. <br /> <br />So how do we figure how much they will actually cover, well we try to look at other instances that we have dealt with that particular company and what they paid. Or, we have to make the best estimate that we can. Either way we are estimating since they will not tell us exactly. <br /> <br />Another caveat of dental insurance is the "preferred provider". What this means is that they are "preferred" by the insurance company since that office has signed a contract with the insurance company. Why would the dentist do that? The dentist is then put on the list for the insurance company providers, so it is marketing. The insurance company requires the dentist to only charge fees according to a list that they are given. As you can imagine, the fees that the insurance company designates are substantially lower, sometimes 30to 40% lower than average dental fees. This sounds good for the patient, but sometimes the dental office has to make up for this loss in other ways, such as seeing more patients in shorter appointments. Ask yourself what you would do at your work if your employer wanted the same results, but asked you to take 40% less of your salary. We want our patients to have the highest quality dental treatment, so we take the time to provide all options and let the patient, not the insurance company, choose what is best for them. <br /> <br />So I don't want to paint a completely negative picture about <a href="http://victoriatxdentist.com</a>, I just want people to know what "coverage" really is with dental insurance. It usually doesn't cover completely, but is an added benefit that pays a portion of the patients dental treatment. If you have dental insurance through your employer then that is a fantastic benefit. If you don't, then that's OK too. You should do your own math on how much you would spend a year on oral health checkups and hygiene visits versus how much is spent on premiums. Sometimes people are better off making their own dental savings account or health savings account rather than giving that money to the insurance company. Each case is different and each person should do what is best for their family. <br />In our office, we are glad to do everything that we can to maximize the patients benefits for they treatment they want.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1082917664420888756-3532535039729465043?l=boernelifetimedental.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tim RaineyII DDS FAGDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07405012274322004324noreply@blogger.com0