Health

What questions should I ask a new dentist?

Trying to find the perfect new dentist doesn’t have to be challenging or time-consuming if you know what you’re looking for in the first place. Start out by writing down any of your concerns or conditions, as well as questions.

Questions will vary from person to person. Maybe you’re moving somewhere completely new and have no idea where to start. Perhaps you don’t like your dentist and want to switch. Or maybe your current dentist is closing their practice and you need to go somewhere else.

Regular dental visits are extremely important for maintaining healthy teeth and a perfect smile. Finding a dental practice and a dentist that’s right for you isn’t a very difficult job when you know what you are looking for and are aware of the questions you should ask your dentist. Good communication is the key to a healthy relationship. Your connection with your dentist depends on how effectively you communicate with them.

Discussing your health concerns, dental habits, fears, and apprehensions with your dentist makes a big difference. After all, this is the person who will look inside your mouth every 6 months. Hence, you must be comfortable with your dentist, especially when asking questions! Here are some questions that you must ask when going to a new dentist.

 

How Can We Improve My Dental Health?

Dental health can be improved when you and your dentists work together towards the same goal. Share your routine with your new dentist and get the necessary guidelines about brushing and flossing. You can ask about what kind of toothbrush you should use and how often should you replace it. Ask your dentist to demonstrate the right way to brush and floss. Your dentist will guide you about the frequency of your dental visits. You can discuss the oral hygiene products that you are using or wish to use. Your dentist will give suggestions about your fluoride intake, night guards, and bad breath. Be sure to inform your dentist about any pain, discomfort, or anything out of the ordinary that you’re experiencing.

How Is My Current Dental Health?

A new dentist will most probably examine your entire oral cavity, including teeth, gums, jaws, tongue, and throat. You’ll be checked for lesions, wounds, bumps, cavities, plaque, tartar, or signs of teeth grinding. They’ll assess your overall dental health and will be able to give you a proper analysis. Once this is done, they’ll discuss your treatment options and preferences. This is a good time to ask your dentist any questions about your current oral health, and any ways you can improve your oral health.

What Ways Can I Optimize My Dental Health Through Diet and Hygiene?

Your diet and oral hygiene impact your oral health in many ways. Ask your Dentist about ways you can adjust your daily routine to support any dental treatments or needs you may have. What foods may impact your teeth for better or worse? What daily habits will support your goals? Your Dentist may be able to advise specific changes that will help to support what they are doing to treat or maintain your oral health.

 

What is Causing the Pain in My Teeth?

Oral pain and discomfort can be caused by a range of different factors, from broken or cracked teeth to tooth sensitivity. If there is a problem, it can be detected easily during your routine exam with the help of your bi-annual x-rays in most cases. However, you should always tell your dentist exactly where you feel the pain because it’s not always apparent from an exam or x-ray. Because of this, ask your dentist about any discomfort or pain you’re experiencing so that they can check it out.

Should I Consider Teeth Whitening Treatments?

Whitening treatments are a great way to improve the appearance of your teeth and reverse years worth of stains. Dental offices have different types of whitening treatments and asking your dentist about the available options will help you determine which is right for you. For example, most dentists offer in-office whitening treatments that take about an hour.

What Procedures Can Improve the Strength of My Teeth?

Fluoride treatments and some dental procedures can help improve the strength and resiliency of your smile. Your dentist will offer a range of these treatments, and you can receive recommendations according to what you’re hoping to achieve. Fluoride treatments are most often done for smaller children, but many adults benefit from them if they have weak teeth that are more susceptible to cavities. You may also benefit from some types of cosmetic dentistry, such as dental crowns, bridges, or implants to improve the strength and appearance of your teeth, depending on the extent of the dental damage.

 

Do I have any dental health conditions I should know about?

This question will start a conversation about the current health of your smile, providing insight into how you can improve it.

What are your payment and financial policies?

It’s always important to understand the financial policies of your dental practice, so ask this question before starting treatment.

What is your continuing education policy?

The science and practice of dentistry is constantly changing, and your dentist should be attending continuing education to keep up with the latest. Don’t be afraid to ask how they stay current with new treatments and technologies.

 

Why Are My Teeth So Sensitive?

If you have sensitivity issues, it’s important to ask your dentist about the causes and what you can do to control the sensitivity. Tooth sensitivity can be caused by a myriad of issues, such as orthodontic work, whitening treatments, certain medications, cracks in your teeth, or dental decay. If your dentist can discover the cause of your sensitivity, it may help to diagnose other issues or prevent it from getting worse.

Should I Be Concerned About Gingivitis and Gum Disease?

Your dentist can give you product recommendations as well as oral hygiene techniques that should be utilized at home to prevent gingivitis and other forms of periodontal disease. When gingivitis is left uncontrolled, it can become worse and affect the overall integrity of your oral health. Gum disease can cause swelling, pain, bleeding, bad breath, loose teeth, and even result in your gums receding. Ask your dentist for the best tips on how to lower your risk for gum disease.

At What Age Should My Child See a Dentist?

Now is a great time to get answers to questions about your family’s oral health as well. If you have recently had a baby, you may be wondering when they should go in for a visit. Most babies should see a dentist when their first tooth erupts, but many dental professionals will recommend them going to see a pediatric dentist when they are between one and two years old.

Things You Can Do To Make Your Chiropractic Adjustments Last Longer

One of the biggest complaints people have in going to a chiropractor is that they think they it may require frequent adjustments to reduce pain and feel their best. The truth is, chiropractors recommend the number of chiropractic adjustments your body needs to reach your health goal. Every person is different. Your treatment plan is completely personalized to help your body recover. However, there are a few things you can do to help your chiropractic adjustment last longer, stay strong between appointments, and reach your chiropractic treatment goals faster.

Choose a doctor you trust.

A chiropractor understands the importance of how all of the systems in your body affect one another. His or her goal is to help you address you get out of pain and develop a plan to help your body operate at its peak

Plan your visit.

To get the most out of your chiropractic visits, plan your schedule to fit with your chiropractor’s recommendations and block your time accordingly. A good chiropractor will

Ask how you’re feeling since your last visit and about your progress

Find misalignments (subluxations) or other issues

Educate you about what is going on with your body

Provide a recommendation for your care

Treat you while making any necessary adjustments to the plan

Drink plenty of water.

Drink water. Drink more water. Then, have another glass of water. Water is extremely important to allow your body to get rid of any toxins that were released during a chiropractic adjustment and helping your body heal. Drinking water can also help your body avoid toxic release symptoms after an adjustment like fatigue, headache, or tight muscles.

Stick with your treatment plan.

A medical doctor prescribes an antibiotic with a recommended dosage and frequency to help you recover from a bacterial infection. Similarly, chiropractors provide a recommended number of visits and frequency to help your body recover from an injury OR to help you reach a health goal.

 

Tips for Selling Products in Your Practice

I recently had a conversation that went like this:

“I’ve never really had good in-office retail sales of products I offer and recommend.” “Really?” I said, “How do you display products in your clinic that your patients can purchase from you?”

It seems pretty self-explanatory, but I think a lot of providers fall into this same trap… after all, your practice is a practice, not a retail shop, and you’re a healthcare provider, not a retail pro. But at the same time, there is no better way to offer the products you have available for patients than with a nice display. This is called visual merchandising and there is some science and strategy behind making things look appealing to your patients/clients

Keep some stock on hand

If you offer products to sell to your patients, but you’re always tapped out of everything, that doesn’t look or seem very convincing. Keep the products you’re trying to sell in stock. You don’t necessarily need 100 rolls of every color of RockTape, but if it’s baseball season and your patients love the Royals, for example, it would be smart to have some on-hand for those patients who need it. Having to place orders all the time to re-up your stock gets costly in and of itself, so track what you sell the most and keep some in stock at all times.

Have a dedicated display area

You don’t have to go overboard with your display, but it’s a good idea to keep all your retail products together. You don’t want logo items for the office on one wall, supplements on another wall, tape hidden in the back where no one can see it, analgesics behind the front desk, etc. Dedicate a wall to retail items using some nice display shelving

Organize and group products

Within your display area, keep similar products grouped together. Pillows, tape, topicals, supplements, etc. should all be grouped together by their type rather than having things just piled on the display without any rhyme or reason.

Lines on lines

Your display area should be nice and linear. Straight rows across and then keep the same product in columns front to back. In other words, don’t just throw all your products into a cubby and call it good. Line up all the rows of colors and patterns you have across the front so patients can see what you have. Put duplicates behind the ones that face forward, or keep your extra stock in storage where you can get to it quickly. Also, while it sounds fussy, grouping things by color adds visual appeal, too. Keep your blacks, greens, blues, reds, etc. all grouped together and it looks awesome.

 

Times a Chiropractor Can Make You Feel Better—and Things He Should Never Even Attempt

Chiropractors have the rep as the doctors who crack your back—but is that all they do? Spinal manipulation, also called chiropractic adjustment, is indeed one of the primary treatments chiropractic doctors use,

Condition Chiropractors Can Help: Back Pain

The research is there to back up adjustments as a treatment for back pain. A 2016 research review in the journal PLoS One, for instance, concluded that chiropractic care works as well as physical therapy—a staple treatment medical doctors would prescribe for low back pain, with few negative side

Condition Chiropractors Can Help: Migraine

Spinal manipulations address some problems that occur from the neck up, too. In an study, two months of spinal manipulation nearly cut in the half the number of migraines participants had monthly, from nearly eight to about four. Some experienced even more dramatic improvements: 22 percent of patients had a 90 percent reduction in their migraines, while another 50 percent experienced significant relief.

The same doesn’t hold for regular old tension headaches, though—that dull ache in your head brought on by stress and similar conditions.

Condition Chiropractors Can Help: Sports Injuries

Sports injuries also fall within a chiropractor’s purview, says Hayden, who treats runners, golfers, and dancers, among others.

 

Signs You Should See a Chiropractor

Seeing a chiropractor can yield many benefits that dramatically improve one’s physical and emotional well-being. Yet many people think to see a chiropractor only when something has gone wrong, or when they can no longer tolerate their pain symptoms. A chiropractor can help prevent something from going wrong in the first place.

Headaches

Headaches can be caused by a number of factors, including dehydration, malnutrition, oxygen deprivation, or a misalignment in the neck or spine. A chiropractor can help to relieve headaches and improve blood flow, which will increase the amount of oxygen that is supplied to the brain.

Joint or Muscle Pain

If you are experiencing pain in your muscles and joints, your first reaction should not be to get the aspirin out of your medicine cabinet. Your pain could be due to problems with musculoskeletal alignment.

Your Job Requires You to Sit for Long Periods of Time

If your job requires you to sit for long periods of time, especially hunched over a keyboard, it is not uncommon to wind up with very poor posture. Poor posture puts unwanted pressure on the upper back, neck, and shoulders. The pressure can cause the discs and bones to shift enough to cause problems such as a slipped or herniated disc.

Chronic Back Pain

One of the most obvious signs that a chiropractic visit is needed is if you are experiencing chronic back pain. There are multiple factors that can contribute to back pain, such as posture, how long you’re on your feet each day, and the type of work that you do

 

Things To Consider When Choosing A Chiropractic School

If you’re interested in becoming a chiropractor and making your mark in this amazing field, you’re probably wondering how to choose a school that will teach you the best methods for chiropractic care. Here, we’re going to help you out by giving you five tips so you can select the perfect chiropractic school for you!

Builds Professional Skills

The first thing you’ll want to look for in a college program is that it will help you build professional skills. As someone in a professional field, you’re going to need to develop specific skills to be successful

Helps You Know About Clients

When selecting a chiropractic school, you’re going to want to go somewhere that will teach you how to interact with potential clients at your practice. A chiropractic office is a business, and like any business, you’re going to want to have learned how to interact with clients.

Develops People Skills

To be successful in the medical field, you’re going to need to have people skills. After all, no one wants to go to the doctor’s office and feel uncomfortable talking to the medical professional that they’ve hired to help them.

Teaches Relevant Information

Sure, you already probably know the human skeletal system pretty well if you want to become a chiropractor, but you likely only know the basics. That’s totally okay, that’s why you need to go to school!

A DERMATOLOGIST FOR YOUR SKIN PROBLEMS

A dermatologist is a doctor that specializes in treating skin, hair, nail, and mucous membrane disorders and diseases.

They can also address cosmetic issues, helping to revitalize the appearance of the skin, hair, and nails.

When to see a dermatologist

If skin, hair, or nail symptoms are not responding to home treatment, it may be time to seek professional attention.

If concerns are cosmetic, a person can seek out a specialized cosmetic dermatologist.

It is important for people to discuss any upcoming dermatological treatments with their insurance providers, who often do not fund cosmetic procedures.

Be sure to obtain copies of any medical reports, consultation notes, and diagnostic test results to assure the insurer of the medical necessity of the treatment.

 

What to do if you have an urgent issue

If you have an urgent issue, getting a dermatology appointment can sometimes be tough. Currently, there aren’t enough specialists to meet patient needs, and many focus on surgical or cosmetic rather than medical dermatology.

If you do have an urgent need for a dermatologist,  do it this approach:

• Call your dermatologist and discuss your symptoms in detail.
• If you can’t get in to see him or her right away, call around and find an office that can see you sooner.
• Keep in touch with your first choice to watch for cancellations.
• See your primary care provider and ask him or her to reach out to your dermatologist.

Some offices, particularly those in academic medical centers, offer same-day appointments for patients with urgent problems, he says. Otherwise, for serious problems, you can expect to get in within two weeks. As a last resort, you can seek assistance in the emergency department.

 

How to Choose a Doctor to Treat Psoriasis

A doctor who specializes in skin care, called a dermatologist, can be a big help with your psoriasis. He’ll be up to date on all the triggers you should avoid, symptoms, and treatments.

When you look for a dermatologist, start by asking your primary care doctor for a recommendation. You can also check with the American Academy of Dermatology, which has lists of specially trained doctors. A nearby medical school is another resource.

Questions to Ask a Dermatologist

Ask these questions to help you choose the right doctor for you:

• Does your office accept my insurance?
• How quickly can I schedule a visit?
• Do you have patient references?
• Are you available after hours?
• Do you have evening or weekend hours?
• Do you have a special area of interest in skin care?
• How many patients with psoriasis have you treated?
• Do you offer biologic therapies for psoriasis?

 

Top  Common Skin Problems

If you’re living with skin problems, you’re probably facing a lot more challenges than people think. Individuals with recurring dermatological issues potentially face a number of emotional hurdles as well, including things like depression and lack of confidence.

Luckily, there are answers. The dermatology field has advanced by leaps and bounds and can provide solutions for a large number of skin conditions. The first step is pinpointing exactly what the issue is. You can then seek out the proper medical help you need.

To help you on your road to clearer skin, we’ve compiled a list of the most common dermatology problems and their symptoms.

1. Acne

Definitely the most well-known of all dermatology problems, most of us went through some degree of acne during adolescence. However, acne can persist well into adulthood and become more than just a few pimples.

Acne happens when the area between your pores and oil glands get clogged. Depending on the severity, this may happen on the face, neck, shoulders, and back. The symptoms, which are easy to spot, consist of whiteheads and blackheads. More severe cases result in sores deep under the surface of the skin. This is referred to as cystic acne.

2. Eczema

This condition, also called atopic dermatitis, can affect both children and adults. The condition is usually chronic, but the symptoms and flare-ups come and go.

There’s no cure for eczema, but a dermatologist can provide relief and help reduce the symptoms.

Eczema may appear all over the body and causes dry, itchy skin along with red, rash-like patches. You may also experience tiny bumps that secrete fluid. This condition tends to accompany hay fevers or asthma, so make sure you tell your dermatologist if you have either of these.

3. Psoriasis

This is one of the more severe dermatology problems on this list. Psoriasis can be disfiguring and very uncomfortable, but there are ways to reduce the symptoms. This is a genetic disease, so find out if there’s a history of it in your family.

A person with psoriasis experiences an excess buildup of skin tissue. This creates a red, splotchy appearance with flaking skin on the affected areas. It’s common for psoriasis to first appear on knees or elbows, but, it can also spread to other areas of the body including the scalp, hands, and chest.

4. Sunburn

When you think about dermatology problems, you probably don’t consider sunburn. However, a severe sunburn can be extremely damaging and may require medical attention.

Prevention is the best approach when dealing with sunburn, so make sure you always use a strong sunscreen. This is important, as frequent sunburns could result in a higher risk of skin cancer.

If you notice blistering and swelling, you have a bad sunburn. You may also get a headache or fever. You should apply aloe to your burns, but if you feel you need more intensive care, see your dermatologist.

5. Hives

Unlike psoriasis, which is a genetic condition, hives occur as a reaction to a number of possible external factors. You may get hives after an insect bite, or if you have a bad reaction to certain foods or medications. Hives appear as red welts on the skin. They’re typically raised and very itchy.

It’s possible for hives to go away on their own, but in some cases, they last for months. In this case, you’ll need medical help. Your dermatologist may recommend an antihistamine along with topical ointment.

 

Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a condition that causes the loss of pigmentation (or color) of the skin. It appears as lighter splotches or patches of skin with undefined borders. Vitiligo can affect any part of the body, such as skin, hair, or even the pigment of your eye. Although the exact cause of vitiligo is unknown, the condition is not life threatening or contagious.

Vitiligo can be treated with the goal of restoring some of the color that is lost. Topical medications, light therapy, and the excimer laser are commonly used options for treatment. Our providers can recommend the treatment that may work best for your skin.