A Dangerous Myth

From MSN Health & Fitness:

UV-activated teeth whitening

Nine Cosmetic Treatments to Rethink // Close-up of woman's smile (© Mario Castello/Fancy/Photolibrary)

Why get it: Who doesn't want a mouth full of gleaming, pearly whites? Most whitening methods rely on hydrogen peroxide solutions, but some companies claim the hydrogen peroxide works better and faster when combined with UV lamps.
The problem: New research shows UV lamps don't boost the bleaching process, and even worse, can be dangerous. In February 2009, research published in the online version of the Journal of Prosthodontics showed no difference between teeth whitened with a combination of hydrogen peroxide and light or heat lamps, and those whitened with the solution alone. A January 2009 study in the British journal Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences went further. Not only does light-activation not work, the article reported, but it also exposes users to startlingly high levels of cancer-causing UV radiation. One lamp the team tested gave a dose four times as high as what you'd get from sunbathing for a full afternoon in midsummer.

Off to San Antonio!

Next week the entire office is winging their way to San Antonio, Texas for the ADA Annual Conference. We'll have 1 day of play, 3 days of seminars and a day of travel.

The courses sound amazing and we're all hoping to learn a lot of new and exciting things!

This also means lots of new pictures to share here, and in the office.

Congratulations to our contest winner!

Congratulations John! Thanks for your comment, and enjoy your new toothbrush!

*^~Blog Contest~^*

Enter our blog contest for a chance to win an Oral-B Triumph toothbrush with Smart Guide technology!

A $150.00 value, this is the first and only toothbrush to provide visual, while-you-brush feedback for optimal brushing. Did you know that 45% of subjects in a clinical study were shown to brush too hard, which can lead to gum recession? Oral-B Triumph with SmartGuide can tell you when you’re brushing too hard, so you’ll be confident that you’re brushing your best.

Also, users were 4 times more likely to brush the dentist-recommended two minutes versus brushing with a manual toothbrush. The smart guide timer makes it easy to track 30 seconds of brushing in each quadrant. A smiley face appears after the two minutes.

The contest is simple - just check out our website. WWW.GVDENTAL.COM Read about our office and staff, all the incredible new technology we have, our gallery of smiles and then post a comment on our blog telling us what feature you like best about our website. The blog link is on the website!

Include your first name, and at the end of July we will randomly choose a comment and post the winner!

The contest will run from June 18, 2008 to July 31, 2008. Make sure you check back with our blog on August 1, 2008 to see if your comment won.

VelScope Oral Cancer Detection

Oral cancer has often been called the “forgotten disease of medicine”.

This year over 34,000 new cases of oral cancer are expected to be found compared to 11,000 cases of cervical cancer. The death rate is expected to reach almost 8,000 compared with 3,700 from cervical cancer.

Dentists now have an opportunity to make a change in these staggering rates due to new technology. The VelScope oral cancer screening system uses light and has achieved a specificity of 100% when discerning between normal tissue and invasive carcinoma.

Dr. Vander Vliet believes everyone should be screened annually for oral cancer since the profile of typical oral cancer patients - 40’s, smokers, drug users - is no longer valid; many people who do not fit this profile are diagnosed with oral cancer. The current five year survival rate is just 52% but when diagnosed early the survival rate can be as high as 80-90%.

New York City!!

Every year it's tradition for the office to make a trip into NYC to the Greater New York Dental Show at the Jacob Javits Center.

The staff looks forward to going, they SAY it's because of all the exciting dental products and demonstrations - but we all know it's because of the dinner at Carmine's restaurant after the dental show.

This year our Benco Sales Representative, Preston, joined our group.

Here are some pictures of our day...

The Case Against Soda

Obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, tooth decay. From the very first sip, due to its acidity, even unsweetened soda starts to wreak havoc on your body. It corrodes the teeth, confuses the appetite regulating hormones in the digestive tract, attacks the bones and encourages the organ breakdown that leads to diabetes.

Several studies confirm that adults who drink three or more sodas a day have up to 62% more decayed, missing and filled teeth than those who drink less.

Switch to drinking the healthiest beverage of all - water!