Today I’m at an anti-aging conference in Provo , Utah. There are many beautiful healthy people at this meeting. It reminded me that you don’t need to be a celebrity these days to have a beautiful smile. However, you should pick wisely in who helps you get those pearly whites that give you confidence.

Over the years, in my journey towards excellence as an esthetic dentist and educator, I have been mentored by many talented teachers. One of them is Dr. Gary Radz, of Denver, Colorado, who wrote a terrific article in 2007 for dentists about doing great veneers. He graciously has given me permission to share some of these ideas with our bloggers in a consumer focused manner.

1.  Make sure the gums are symmetrical and not excessive–a gummy smile or one in which the tissue surrounding the teeth are not balanced will not be pleasant to look at.
2.  Preview your smile with “lab waxup”-see a “blueprint” of your potential results in 3-D before treatment is started.
3.  Be sure to have an experienced ceramist. Cosmetic dentistry is an art and a science that requires talents not only in beauty but understanding materials and bioengineering. That does not come cheap.
4.  Look at the entire smile when setting goals–especially when it comes to whiteness. Be careful of not falling into a trap of treating too many or not enough teeth. The final result should be a smile that is consistently beautiful with no dull spots that are hard to do any touch up bleaching if needed.
5.  Staining under cosmetic dentistry-often beautiful bonding or porcelain is plagued by a gradual increase in black or brown discoloration. While often this is caused by redecay ( or “microleakage” ), the stains can be related to drying agents used when the gums are irritated and/or bleeding. It’s important to not only keep your gums healthy by flossing regularly, but also that the dentist uses the correct astringents that don’t contain iron.
6. Photography is critical to planning your new smile, as well as communicating to the ceramist or a surgeon, if necessary. Digital documentation helps everyone collaborate before and after your smile is created and eliminates many mistakes in achieving your goals.It never hurts to see the photography of the dentist. Are the photos of their own patients?
7. Using 3 dimensional impressions throughout your treatment helps communicate information that is critical for ideal results. The seal around the edges of veneers, as well as, essential contours of the teeth and gums, should be done to”perfection”.
8. Spending the time to communicate your goals and aspirations for your new smile. What are your concerns? What are the limitations that may require orthodontics or surgery? No excuses for skipping this step or not getting fully informed.
9. A balanced and collaborative “triad” between you, the dentist, and a ceramist will create the best possible result. If there is no rapport, trust, and teamwork at the beginning or during treatment, there will be breakdown in communication,alot of unnecessary frustration, and wasted time/ money. Be sure that you have the “right team” from the start.
10. Training and certifications assure you that your dentist has gotten the education and experience to help you. While weekend continuing education courses are great for staying current, the journey of becoming a thoroughly seasoned cosmetic dentist takes years and often is best done through a formalized credentialing program like the one taught at the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Recently, we published an article that exemplifies our “Top Ten List”.

I hope the above information helps many people get the “winning grin” they have always wanted–with out having to have an “extreme re-makeover”. Use the list above as a checklist in your pursuit of a smile that brings you confidence ,comfort,and security for many years to come.

Keep smiling right,

Hugh

smile makeover american academy of cosmetic dentistry, anti-aging, cosmetic dentistry, Dr. Gary Radz, smile make over

As a parent, you hope that one day that your child will meet the right guy or gal and “live happily ever after”. What if the way they smile when you say “Cheese!” can help their marital prospects?

According the latest issue of Scientific American Mind , researchers are finding that exuberance and joy in a child’s smile can affect their marital bliss.

“Pictures of grinning kids may reveal more than childhood happiness: a psychological study from DePauw University shows that how intensely people smile in childhood photographs, as indicated by crow’s feet around the eyes, predicts their adult marriage success. According to the research led by Matthew Hertenstein PhD, people whose smiles were weakest in snapshots from childhood through young adulthood were most likely to report being divorced in middle and old age. Among the weakest smilers in college photographs, one in four ended up divorcing, compared with one in 20 of the widest smilers. The same pattern held among even those pictured at an average age of 10.”

“The paper builds on a 2001 study by psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley, that tracked the well-being and marital satisfaction of women from college through their early 50s. That work found that coeds whose smiles were brightest in their senior yearbook photographs were most likely to be married by their late 20s, least likely to remain single into middle age, and happiest in their marriage; they also scored highest on measures of overall well-being (including psychological and physical difficulties, relationships with others and general self-satisfaction).”

This research makes a whole lot of sense because:

• One of my favorite authors, Malcolm Gladwell discussed “thin slicing” behaviors in his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Observing small hints of someone’s behavior or traits can be instinctively predictive of someone emotional disposition and what they are truly thinking. Using our “gut feelings” more often, we are able to rely on our “adaptive unconscious”–a 24/7 mental valet–that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea.
• Just looking at someone’s ability to grin can give us “rapid cognition” about their positive emotions,  how they respond to others, and ultimately ,according to Hertenstein, “making that individual more open and likely to seek out situations conducive to a lasting, happy marriage”.

It’s gratifying to see that science continues to bolster what we’ve known intuitively for many years. Building a child’s ( and even an adult’s) self esteem has a dramatic impact on their future relationship and career success.

It’s a wonderful gift to see a smile. My Flax Dental staff and I have a greater appreciation of the “ripple effect” in helping others Look Better, Feel Better, and Live Longer.

That new smile warms up not only your appearance, but the instant minute by minute perceptions that people have of you. It becomes a window to your soul.

Hope this helps you and others in making all of your or your children’s lives much happier. Feel free to comment and share.

Keep smiling right

Hugh

Mouth Body Connection, smile makeover anti-aging, cosmetic dentistry, FlaxDental, Malcolm Gladwell, marital satisfaction, marriage success, Matthew Hertenstein, middle age, professional success

Hello again….time really does fly! Between taking care of my family and our wonderful patients, filming a video, as well as lecturing in Las Vegas and Hawaii ( mostly work folks) and assuming my new role as President Elect of the AACD, I’ve had a full plate for someone who is trying to diet.  For the many who have enjoyed the insights and insider information into dentistry and anti-aging, I promise to catch up as well as get back on schedule .

Recently, I came accross a terrific article in Scientific American that shows psychological and medical evidence demonstrating the benefits of smiling.  It has been well known in the literature from Norman Cousins, as well as Sigmund Freud, that humor relaxes you when you are anxious and makes you psychologically more resilient.  However, there has been no scientific evidence to show improvements in curing disease. New research is showing a better correlation. According to the article, “laughter does produce short-term changes in cardiovascular function and respiration, boosting heart rate, respiratory rate and depth, as well as oxygen consumption.” Furthermore, the article reports that laughing at a funny film or TV show demonstrates a decrease in blood concentrations of “cortisol” which is well known for increasing LDL ( the “bad” cholesterol) and weakening the immune system.

In addition, in a recent study by researchers , Lee Berk, DrPH, MPH, a preventive care specialist and psychoneuroimmunologist, of Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, has paired with Stanley Tan, MD, PhD,  an endocrinologist and diabetes specialist at Oak Crest Health Research Institute, Loma Linda, CA. After prescribing a daily “dose” of humor–30 minutes of a funny sitcom or video–to diabetes patients ( who were standardly medicated) and not doing so with a control group , they are reporting 26% increase in HDL levels ( “good” cholesterol) and a 66% decrease in C-reactive protein -both well known markers in heart disease. The control group showed only 3% and 26% improvements respectively. Given the strong relationship of cardiovascular problems with diabetes, they are anticipating the use of humor in creating enhancements in the care of both diseases from an emotional and biochemical point of view.

What a difference it would make if laughter could be used to prevent and treat two of the biggest killers in our society!

It’s exciting to know that there are plenty of healthy medical reasons to smile. Could this be a small key to the fountain of youth? It is starting to look that way.

By the way, if you need some humorous reasons to laugh , go watch a funny movie or an old rerun of the Honeymooners or Seinfeld. Also, there is great article on the Art of Smiling by Tina Su , who has a great blog worth subscribing to.                                                           

Of course, if you or a friend need some help with your smile or your giggle, the Flax Dental team is always at your service. According to he latest  research, it could help save your life.

Keep smiling right,

Hugh

Mouth Body Connection american academy of cosmetic dentistry, anti-aging, c reactive protein, CRP, Flax Dental, loma linda university, norman cousins, Seinfeid

Just recently, Flax Dental collaborated with the Queen of Hearts Foundation to promote awareness about the mouth body connection between women’s heart disease and gum infection.

Here are some important facts to know:

• More than 500,00 women die of heart disease annually-breast cancer deaths are estimated at 40,000-making heart disease the number one killer of women
• According to many past and recent research studies, it has been shown there are two obvious cardiovascular biomarkers caused by gum disease-C-reactive protein (CRP) and Lipoproteinassociated Phospholipase A2 ( Lp-PLA2).
• Any gum disease that is diagnosed and treated early enough has enormous impact on improving the chances of decreasing heart disease (more details)

At a recent event in our office we raised funds to help QOHF continue their outreach educational services. Their founders, Katy Attebery and Carmen Perez are very passionate about saving lives. We are proud to be associated with them.

We hope you will join them too–not just helping yourself, but also helping a friend.

Changing lives and saving them adds so much energy and gratitude to what we do every day at Flax Dental.

We hope everyone can be just as lucky.

Until next time, keep smiling right

Hugh

Mouth Body Connection anti-aging, biomarkers, c reactive protein, Carmen Perez, CRP, Dental, heart disease, Katy Attebery, phospholipase a2, QOHF

I thought of the title of the old Fats Domino song recently as my Flax Dental staff and I watched Diane Sawyer’s recent show on ABC’s Good Morning and 20/20 ” Heroes of the Hills”  http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6889704.  As we watched the film, you see young children in the poorest parts of Appalachia drinking Mountain Dew soft drinks like most kids have milk.             

The Results: rampant tooth decay that ultimately leads to tooth loss. According to the Centers for Disease Control, this region of Kentucky now leads the nation in having the great number of missing teeth.

For those who don’t know,  Mountain Dew and many other “energy drinks” have high sugar, high caffeine, and high acid contents ( with pH levels below 4) that literally “eat your teeth”. Mountain Dew is very popular because of it’s caffeine content is 50% higher than Coke or Pepsi. It supposely helps with depression, etc. for many kids.

• For many children in Appalachia, many get Pepsi in their baby bottles
• Some have as many as 12 cavities by the time they are 2 years old
• Many grow unable to attempt cleaning their teeth because they are so tender and painful

Thankfully, Edwin Smith, DDS has come to the rescue in his roving dental office, a converted 18 wheeler, to help these children break the habit and make their mouths healthy and smiles white once again.

Although Pepsi, Co. has denied responsibility in the past, the company recently donated $150,000 to help out Dr. Smith.

That’s very nice. Just a lttle late in the game. Kind of reminds me of a cigarette company donating a gym to a school for exclusive rights to a cigarette machine in the cafeteria.

What really would be great is if Pepsi–and every softdrink maker out there–would prominently display the acid content, sugar levels, and caffeine amounts so that people would realize the dangers of what they are drinking.

Even better, since psychologists have shown that “Showing often leads to doing”   

Put a picture of child who has several dark cavities and missing teeth on each can with a warning label!

What are your thoughts or comments?

Dental Health anti-aging, centers for disease control, Dental, Diane Sawyer, edwin smith, fats domino song, Flax, FlaxDental, wellness, white smile

After several months of updating, I am very happy to restart our Blog to share the innovative artistic and scientific side of lifelike and durable cosmetic dentistry as well as update you on the latest information on anti-aging and wellness that goes beyond our website www.FlaxDental.com .

As my Internet friend Seth Godin shared with many others at the beginning of the year: ” The opportunity this year is bigger than ever: to lead change, to create a movement in a direction you want to go. While the rest of your world huddles and holds back, here’s a golden chance to use cheap media, available attention and great talent to make something that matters.”

The intent of this forum is to not only increase your knowledge to inform yourself and your friends. I want to encourage comments and question so that we have a collaborative relationship as we do with our patients. The important thing is to learn and grow so that we make “something that matters”.

I am looking forward to spending this journey with you. 

Hugh

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