MMS Endodontic's online newsletter for October and November 2018
UNIONTOWN, PA 625 Cherry Tree Lane Uniontown, PA 15401 (724) 438-0600 CUMBERLAND, MD 1415 River Ave. Suite B Cumberland, MD (240) 362-7107 MORGANTOWN, WV 9000 Coombs Farm Dr. Suite 304 Morgantown, WV 26508 (304) 594-1670
October/ November 2018 www.mmsendo.com info@mmsendo.com
Giving Back to Vets in Need
At MMS Endodontics and MMS Dental Implants and Periodontics, giving back to the community is a big part of who we are. This November, and in honor of Veterans Day, we wanted to show our appreciation for our local veterans. On Monday, Nov. 12, our MMS Endodontic locations will be open, along with our MMS Dental Implants & Periodontics location in Morgantown, West Virginia. At our MMS Endodontic locations, we will be offering free root canals to vets. At our periodontics office, we will be offering free periodontal screens, as well as X-rays. Our periodontics office can be reached at 304-906-4900 or info.mmsperio.com. If you have veteran patients or know a veteran in need of endodontic work who cannot afford treatment, give us a call. We can work with you and your patients to get them scheduled for our Nov. 11 event. Veterans Day itself has a remarkable history. It started as Armistice Day in the U.S. — a day recognizing the end of World War I. This year marks 100 years since the end of World War I. It ended with an armistice on Nov. 11, 1918 — at 11 a.m. In 1954, Armistice Day became Veterans Day — the day to honor those who served in the military, rather than a day that commemorated the end of World War I. That war may have been over, but people continued to serve, just as they do today, to protect our freedom here at home. And when it comes to veterans, one organization that I want to mention is Operation Welcome Home ( welcomehomewv.com ), which is based in Morgantown, West Virginia. As our country takes time to pause and honor our military vets, we wanted to do our part with the skills we have at our disposal.
The mission of Operation Welcome Home is to help vets as they re-enter civilian life. As vets, and the family and friends of vets, know, getting back into the swing of things after serving comes with its share of challenges. Operation Welcome Home offers support to vets, including resources to help them find jobs in the civilian job market. They hold job fairs and help connect employers with potential hires. We believe the more resources for vets, the better. We encourage you to be on the lookout for any vets who may need endodontic treatment. Again, we are a phone call away and scheduling vets for free treatment on Monday, Nov. 12. – Drs. Minchau, McBride, Stiles, and Reed
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WV (304) 594-1670 | MD (240) 362-7107 | PA (724) 438-0600
XYLITOL STARVES THE BAD BACTERIA IN YOUR MOUTH The Sugary Substance Dentists Actually Recommend
If you’ve ever seen the 1971 classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” then you are familiar with the fictional sugar-filled labyrinth from which some of the most scrumdiddlyumptious sweets are delivered to the world’s candy stores. To children, the chocolate river, Everlasting Gobstoppers, and Fizzy Lifting Drinks are the mouthwatering epitome of fun, but adults might look at all that sugar and run away screaming. According to the American Diabetes Association, added sugar may be the unhealthiest aspect of the modern diet. Fortunately, the natural sweetener xylitol provides a healthier alternative.
insulin levels. This spike can lead to insulin resistance, weight gain, risk of heart disease and cancer, and several other serious health-related issues.
Why Do Dentists Recommend It? Many dentists recommend using xylitol-sweetened chewing gum— no, not the kind that turned Violet into a giant blueberry. Studies indicate that xylitol can prevent tooth decay. One of the leading risk factors for tooth decay is a type of oral bacteria called Streptococcus mutans. Having traces of this bacteria on your teeth is normal, but when there is an abundance, your immune system starts attacking it. These attacks often lead to inflammatory gum diseases that can cause gingivitis. To stay alive, these bacteria feed on sugar from the food you eat,
What Is Xylitol? Xylitol is a white, crystallized sugar alcohol. It looks and tastes like sugar, but
it has fewer calories and only has a negligible effect on blood sugar levels. You can find small amounts of it in many fruits and vegetables, which is why many define it as “natural.”You can also find xylitol in birch trees, but more often than not, scientists make it in a lab using the plant fiber xylan. Xylitol is considered a healthier choice than fructose, especially high fructose corn syrup, which spikes blood sugar and
but oddly, they can’t process xylitol. If you replace your sugar intake with xylitol, the bacteria will still eat it, but their energy pathways will become clogged and they will starve. It is not often that a dentist recommends that their patients chew on sweets, but consuming this sugar can do wonders for your teeth and gums.
MMS Case Study
This 44-year-old male presented to our office with a draining sinus tract associated with tooth #25 and a history of trauma to the area. The tooth had mid-root internal resorption and was necrotic. Non-surgical endodontic treatment was performed, with the addition of an MTA root repair to the resorptive defect. The four-year recall shows complete apical healing and the tooth remains asymptomatic.
POST-OP
PRE-OP
4 YEAR RECALL IMAGE
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Facing Patient Anxiety
Dental anxiety is extremely common. Many people will put off dental treatment due to fear. It’s a complex fear that varies depending on the person. Some people fear pain, while others may fear the general sense of being enclosed as they sit in a chair with a person hovering over them. Patients also don’t always communicate that they are worried or anxious about treatment. So it’s often up to the doctor or assistant to identify that the patient is anxious, which is usually done by observing the patient as they come into the office or sit in the dental chair. It can be challenging for doctors and staff to figure out how to handle an anxious patient, as the source of anxiety isn’t necessarily the visit to the dental office alone. Anxious people often deal withmultiple sources of anxiety, though when they are in for treatment, or if they are in pain or discomfort, their anxiety can be heightened.
Dr. Leesa Scott-Morrow, a clinical psychologist writing with the AAE, has a few tips for dealing with patient anxiety:
“Don’t let the patient’s anxious fear infect you with anxiety.”Anxiety can be contagious, in a sense. As a doctor working with an anxious patient, youmay become more aware of your state of mind and even become nervous or anxious while prepping for treatment. “When you sense that you have an anxious patient in front of you, do not attempt to comfort the patient with a barrage of words.”Anxiety canmake it difficult to understand words and situations. Be straightforward and clear. Finally,“Remember, the patient is scanning your face. What they see there will have far more impact than any words youmight say. Feel confident, and you will look confident. Feel caring, and you will look caring.” You want to be a person they can count on and trust. You never want to scold or lecture a patient about missing an appointment or avoiding a treatment. This would guarantee they will avoid treatment in the future. Confidence canmake all the difference.
‘The Art of Learning’
A Chi ld Prodigy Rethinks Success
This is a book about a journey. It chronicles a life of international chess tournaments, high-stakes martial arts competitions, a boy who found too much success, and the man who had to relearn everything because of it. Yes, “The Art of Learning” reads like a gripping, emotional memoir, but make no mistake — Josh Waitzkin’s work doubles as an effective guide for business owners striving to attain perfection in their fields. Josh Waitzkin’s name will be familiar to longtime chess fans and movie buffs alike. As a child prodigy, Waitzkin won his first national chess title at age 9, which quickly made him an international sensation. His father, Fred Waitzkin, wrote the renowned book “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” chronicling his young son’s journey into the world of chess. This then inspired the movie of the same name. Now, one does not normally think of child prodigies as being great sources of insight into finding success. By definition, prodigies are exceptional — exceptions who operate on a different playing field than most. But Waitzkin firmly positions his journey through the chess world as the antithesis of what he calls “the art of learning.”
will be brittle in the face of adversity.”Waitzkin was very gifted at chess, and he didn’t have to push himself early on, but by the time he did find challenging opponents, he found loss and adaptation impossible to handle. It wasn’t until he stepped out of the rigid grids of chess and into the flowing movements of tai chi that Waitzkin was able to formulate a guide to success.
Appropriately subtitled “An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance,”Waitzkin’s story of grappling with childhood stardom and climbing the brackets of the tai chi chuan circuit is full of wisdom applicable to anyone looking to achieve mastery in their field. With compelling personal anecdotes and a unique perspective on what success really looks like, “The Art of Learning” is a fresh, vibrant addition to the personal development genre. 3
As the author states, “The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we
WV (304) 594-1670 | MD (240) 362-7107 | PA (724) 438-0600
9000 Coombs Farm Dr. Ste. 304 Morgantown, WV 26508
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WV (304) 594-1670 MD (240) 362-7107 PA (724) 438-0600
www.mmsendo.com | info@mmsendo.com
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Free Endodontic Treatment in November
The Sugar You Should Be Eating
Case Study
How Do You Deal With Patient Anxiety?
Discover ‘The Art of Learning’
The Surprising Origins of Trick-or-Treating
Why There Are Kids on Your Porch Asking for Candy THE HISTORY OF TRICK-OR-TREATING
As Halloween looms and you load up your grocery cart with candy, you may ask yourself, “Why do I provide these spooky gremlins with a sugar high every Oct. 31, anyway?”Well, when your doorbell starts ringing around 6 p.m. this All Hallows’ Eve, you can thank the Celts for this tradition of candy and costumes. Halloween itself is a kind of mishmash of four different cultural festivals of old: two Roman fêtes, which commemorated the dead and the goddess of fruit and trees (not at the same time); the Celtic Samuin or Samhain, a new year’s party thrown at the end of our summer; and the Catholic All Saint’s Day, designed to replace Samuin and divorce it from its pagan origins. Long before there were young’uns on your porch dressed as Thanos with candy-filled pillowcases in hand, the Celts believed that Samuin marked
an overlapping of the realms of the living and the dead. To trick the spirits leaking into our world, young men donned flowing white costumes and black masks — a great disguise when ghosts were about. The Catholic Church was never a big fan of these pagan traditions, so they renamed it “All Saints’ Day” and gussied it up in religious garb. By the 11th century, people were dressing up as saints, angels, and the occasional demon instead of spirits. Eventually, costumed children started tearing through town begging for food and money and singing a song or prayer in return — a practice called “souling.” But when did they start dressing up as Minions? Starting in the 19th century, souling turned to “guising,”which gave way to trick-or-treating in mid-20th-century America, and the costumes
diversified. So put on some clown makeup and a big smile, scoop up a handful of sweets, and scare the living daylights out of ‘em— ‘tis the season!
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www.mmsendo.com | info@mmsendo.com
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