Welcome to Our Cosmetic Dentistry Blog

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how thankful we are to be a part of each of your lives. I just saw a patient on Monday that I remember seeing as a 2 year old who is now entering college. How did she get so old, when I didn't?! So many of my littlest patients have grown and now have jobs or a spouse and some even have kids of their own! I don't take any moment for granted with my own children as I have seen yours grow up so quickly. By seeing them every 6 months instead of every day like you do, I feel like I have their lives on fast-forward and see how very quickly it goes.

I've also enjoyed growing with my adult patients. I've watched many of you get married and have children, or my older patients are able to update me on their latest grandchild. I have several families whom I am privileged to see four generations. Thank you for letting us share in the happy times and know that we are praying for you during the sad times. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie, Same Time Next Year, but this couple meets once a year for twenty or thirty years and each time they meet up, they hear about the trials and joys of the past year. I feel that way with so many of you. I feel like I have a bookmark in a thousand books and as each of you come in, I hear the next chapter.

When I went to dental school, I had no idea that this would be the best part of being a dentist. But it is. The relationship I have with each of you is special. And I know you guys have watched me grow up too. From opening this practice at age 25 (looking 15 at the time) and having the most common question be, "How old are you?" to our early 30's when for 4 straight years either Dr. Tiller or I was pregnant, to now as we both have (gasp) teenagers!

You have all been a blessing. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and thank you so much for sharing your lives with us.

Labels: fall, joy, Thanksgiving

Well, it's almost Halloween, so that means it's almost time for our Annual Tooth Fairy Halloween Candy Swap. As always, the day after Halloween, the Tooth Fairy will pay kids 10 and under $2 per pound of Halloween candy that they are willing to part with. The Tooth Fairy is always happy to invest in tooth futures, so she asks Drs. Powell and Tiller to collect for her during the day because she is asleep (she works nights, you know).

For every pound of candy we receive, Drs. Powell and Tiller give $5 to the Capital Area Food Bank so that they can buy and deliver healthy food to kids of Central Texas. We actually usually collect over a hundred pounds of candy from children and in turn, donate over $500 to the Food Bank!

So this year, have your little one trade in that sugar for cash, and we can donate more money than ever to the Capital Area Food Bank. We would much rather fill tummies than teeth!

Hope to see you on November 1!

If you have been a patient of ours for years, you know what to do when you see us pick up the gauze. You stick out your tongue, because we are about to check it for oral cancer. I laugh that I don't even have to say it now, you see the guaze and out goes the tongue. Every 6 months, we check your mouth and tongue for any suspicious lesions. As with all cancers, early detection results in the best outcomes. That's why that 1 minute check is probably the most important part of your routine care. Oral cancer is actually the sixth most common type of cancer and unfortunately can spread faster than most other types.

If we see an area of mild to moderate concern, we will take a brush biopsy. This is very easy and painless. We have a little brush that looks sort of like a pipe cleaner. We rub it on the area and then wipe it on a slide. This is sent off to a laboratory and checked for abnormal cells. From there we know if the area is healthy or if it needs further testing.

Oral Cancer Screenings are one more way that we make sure we are taking care of you, not just your teeth.

Labels: cancer, dental exam, oral cancer, preventative care

Like many of you, I'm sending my kids back to school next week. As I was shopping for school snacks, I thought it would be a good to give you a dentist's point of view on school snacks and lunches.

I love for my kids to have healthy snacks like fruit, veggies, nuts, cheese or yogurt when they are home, but when school starts that can be less than practical (and definitely not cool). Some snacks are better than others, however.

The bad list:
Fruit roll-ups and fruit chews - they may contain fruit, but are very sticky and sweet. Even the ones that are all fruit. Fruit is sweet for a reason even if it's natural it is still sugar and concentrating it into a sticky sheet is bad news for teeth.
Juice boxes, sports drinks, soft drinks - stick to water or milk. Juice is high in sugar and both the American Dental Association and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend no more than 8 oz. a day, so a glass with breakfast is plenty.
Candy - I know a sweet treat might bring a smile, but save it for when he gets home from school and can brush after, maybe try a cookie or pudding instead, so it's not straight sugar.

The good list:
Fluoridated water - either tap water in a water bottle or if you use disposables then look for Dannon Sport or Ozarka Jr. as they both contain fluoride.
Dipping lunch or snack - it's amazing how much more fun fruit is when you can dip it in peanut butter, Nutella, cream cheese, dressing or yogurt. Sort of a kid version of fondue. Just chop up a bunch of different things and provide a couple dips. Goes well for the elementary crowd.

Also, remember to send them to school with a retainer case if they have an appliance. Napkins are the number one killer of retainers!!

Hope everyone has a good first week of school!

It's true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...even for teeth. Therefore our goal is to not only beautifully restore your smile when needed, but to work with you to find the underlying cause, so that we can prevent the need for future treatment. If you have short, worn, or fractured teeth, you may need a crown or veneers to restore your smile, but just as importantly, you may need a night guard if together we determine that these problems are due to grinding your teeth at night.
If you frequently have areas of decay, we will review your home care and perhaps add fluoride or a prescription mouth rinse to prevent the need for future fillings or crowns.
Even straightening your teeth with Invisalign or other methods can be preventative, if the misaligned teeth are making it difficult for you to keep them clean.
Probably the most important prevention, however, is regular dental care so that we can catch these problems as they are starting or when they are small. We feel if we are doing our job well, we should be able to report, "perfect check-up" for most of your visits. Our goal is not to just to make you healthy, but to keep you healthy.

Okay, when you think of teeth, green is not a color that pops into mind! Nor does dentistry seem like an area that can be particularly environmentally conscious. But here at Powell and Tiller Dental Care, keeping up with the latest in technology is helping our planet as well as our patients.

Digital X-rays not only provide excellent diagnostic value, they are also quite environmentally friendly. Developing X-rays required the use of chemicals which we had to dump and change daily. The films themselves eventually end up in landfills as did all the bottles that all our chemicals came in, not to mention the fuels used to get all the films and chemicals to our office. Now, we just scan in films and create virtually no waste. Not only that, if you need your X-rays transferred to a specialist or due to a move, we just email them. No materials for duplication and no fuels for shipping.

Another great technological advancement that has allowed us to be more green is our digital impressions. Most offices use thousands of plastic trays and pounds of impression material per year which all end up in landfills. Our 3-D digital impressions eliminate that waste. Our patients love them because they don't have to gag on a mouthful of goop, but instead just have a few pictures taken with a special scanner. We love them because they exceed the accuracy we could ever achieve with traditional impressions. Our planet loves them because we don't add all that waste to landfills and once again, to send them, we just hit "send" and no carbon emissions in cyberspace to get them to the lab.

We are committed to keeping up with technology. It turns out it provides more than just optimal dentistry. It can be one more way that we can go green!

Monday, November 2, 2009, is the date of our Annual Halloween Candy Swap.

On the first working day after Halloween each year, kids 10 and under can bring in their candy to our office and trade it for cash! We will pay them $2 per pound of Halloween candy that they are willing to part with. We also give $5 per pound of candy received to the Capital Area Food Bank so that they can buy and deliver healthy food to kids of Central Texas. We actually usually collect over a hundred pounds of candy from children and in turn, donate over $600 to the Food Bank!

Every year at this time, our youngest patients receive a letter from the tooth fairy telling them that we handle this collection for her since she works nights and is not available during normal waking hours! She says she is always happy to invest in tooth futures.

So this year, have your little one trade in that sugar for cash, and we can donate more money than ever to the Capital Area Food Bank. We would much rather fill tummies than teeth!

Hope to see you on November 2!