Dentist? End Of A Problem! E-Book

Corrado Tavelli

• Herausgeber: Bruno Editore
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

How nice would it be to know that you can count on a dentist, serious and professional, capable of ensuring that your mouth gets all the care it needs at all times? One thing is certain. There are so many people who decide not to get treatment because of two fears above all: the fear of the dentist and the economic fear. The result of all this? That discomfort, initially negligible, becomes more and more intense day after day until it becomes unbearable. The risk in such cases is to put a strain on the health of the mouth, consequently going to impact the quality of one's life as well. Yet to everything there is a solution. In fact, if I told you that, in just a few simple moves, it is possible to reduce the emotional and economic impact of dental care to almost zero while ensuring that one's teeth have the well-being they deserve, would you believe it? In this book, the result of more than 30 years of experience in the dental field, I will show you the exact system to save money at the dentist without compromising the quality of dental care.

INSIDE THIS BOOK YOU WILL DISCOVER:

• How to choose your trusted dentist without making mistakes.
• The importance of always keeping your teeth clean.
• How to solve the problem of tooth loss in one session.
• The secret to starting to chew again without the need for dentures.
• How to capitalize on the investment in your mouth.
• The importance of periodically observing one's teeth using a dental mirror.
• The most effective way to live without the fear of the dentist.
• How the loss of one or more teeth also negatively impacts all the others.
• How to save money at the dentist without compromising the quality of dental care.
• ...and much more!

Leseprobe

CORRADO TAVELLI

DENTIST?

END OF A PROBLEM!

How to reduce the emotional and economic impact of dental care with conscious, focused choices: 6 moves and 28 secrets to solve your problems permanently and ethically

Title

DENTIST? END OF A PROBLEM!

Author

Corrado Tavelli

Publisher

Bruno Editore

Website

https://www.brunoeditore.it

All rights are reserved in accordance with the law. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the Author and Publisher. It is expressly forbidden to pass this book on to others, either in print or electronic form, for money or free. The strategies reported in this book are the result of years of study and specialization, so there is no guarantee that the same personal or professional growth results will be achieved. The reader takes full responsibility for his or her choices, aware of the risks involved in any exercise. The book is for educational purposes only.

Summary

Introduction

Chapter 1: How to choose your primary care dentist

Chapter 2: Resolve tooth loss in one sitting

Chapter 3: Restart chewing without dentures

Chapter 4: Capitalize on the investment in your mouth

Chapter 5: Tricks to save money at the dentist

Chapter 6: The most common false myths and mistakes

Conclusion

Glossary

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Hello to all, fellow readers; let me introduce myself, I am Corrado Tavelli, and I have been a dentist for thirty-five years. I have a lot of things to tell you that I am sure will be of interest to you, as they can guide you in the choices that, sooner or later, you will have to make regarding your oral health, that is, your teeth, and what is around them.

You can be assured that what I am going to tell you will be exclusively said for your benefit because too many times, I have been faced with truly dramatic, if not desperate, situations due to poor or irrational choices on the part of many people who, with more judicious choices, could have avoided them and benefited from countless advantages.

I want to leave these brief notes with all those who will have the patience to read them, and even if few or any one of them will find a benefit to their health and their wallets, then I declare myself as of now glad to have taken the time to make them.

Everything in dentistry has changed since I left many years ago, but even today, the subject is constantly evolving, and there is not a month or week that does not present some new thing, sometimes important, sometimes a little less so.

However, not all patients and dentists are aware or up-to-date enough to know about these innovations and, therefore, they either unknowingly (I am talking about patients) constantly put off their dental problems, never facing reality that, more often than not, is not what they believe, but much more "friendly," or they apply valid but obsolete procedures (I am talking about dentists), as they both do not wish to step out of their comfort zone because "it has always been done this way."

"He who leaves the old road for the new knows what he loses but not what he finds," "It is still an untested procedure; therefore, let's wait a while before possibly trying it," and so on, stubbornly refusing to learn innovative techniques and procedures because this takes time and money and, you know, both are precious.

I, unfortunately (or fortunately), am a curious person by nature and have sacrificed many days and weekends over hundreds and hundreds of days devoted to learning new procedures, new materials and new techniques, to exhaustion, sacrificing free time and family, attending courses by colleagues who have developed interesting new paths aimed at simplifying optimize and make less costly the supply chain of dentistry, without detracting from good medical dental practice, making it truly affordable for everyone, including those with little financial means or those who are frail, i.e., the elderly, disabled, poorly or uncooperative, and so on.

To this day, not a month goes by that I don't have one or two weekends committed to following new paths, new brilliant colleagues (and here in Italy, we have so many of them who, with dedication and love for the subject, give prestige to our country all over the world), and every time, really every time, I always bring home some tip or trip, some suggestion or whole procedures that I put into dental practice already by the following Monday.

Or, in the evenings, I find myself engaged in taking courses or virtual meetings with colleagues on specific situations, exchanging opinions and asking for or giving advice and opinions on particularly difficult or unusual cases.

In doing so, I believe, without false modesty, that I have accumulated enormous experience in dentistry and, in particular, in that area of dentistry dealing with implant rehabilitation. On this topic, I was among the first, back in the now distant early 1980s, to study the emerging modern implant discipline with osseointegrated implants, with such masters as Gerald Niznick, the last of the "old great fathers of the implant discipline," or Prof. Massimo Simion.

They passed on to me a love for this wonderful world of rehabilitation, which has opened up new horizons to the now-old dentistry of removable dentures, which today should no longer be seen in people's mouths except in very special cases.

True, even before the 1980s, and again thanks to typically Italian enlightened minds, implants were already being put in place (the Italian school that had, and still has, nothing to envy the Nordic school), but the methods were and are different from each other and not always easy to implement and within reach of all practitioners.

With modern implants, on the other hand, the so-called osseointegrated ones, very standardized principles, procedures and guidelines have been established to the point that, with an appropriate learning curve, most dentists could, indeed should, introduce this dental practice into their dental practice with absolute safety and consequent personal, as well as patient, satisfaction.

Having thus, accumulated so much experience and having rehabilitated thousands of patients, I wondered if somehow I could pass on some advice, suggestions or stimuli to explore certain topics further, and that is how the decision to write this book arose, which does not pretend to be a scientific text in the strict sense, but simply informative, popularizing if you will.

The purpose is to enable patients and colleagues to try other, alternative paths to the perhaps outdated ones they have been advised to follow, hoping that, at least in some cases, I will be able to achieve what I have long aimed for: to make the dentist and the dental session an experience that is no longer terrifying and sometimes paralyzing, but an emotionally peaceful and even financially addressable event.

Precisely because of the purpose described above, the language will be simple and plain, easily understood and sparse in technical terms; in case it is essential to make use of them, there will be, at the end of the book, a glossary with explanations or cross-references for further study.

So, to sum up: who is this book aimed at?

First, to those with problems related to teeth and chewing, understood as proper chopping of food, a prerequisite for proper functioning of the entire digestive system. You might then think of everyone since very few are born with such favourable situations that they do not need at least one or more dental visits in their lives. However, even these chosen ones need to be properly educated on maintaining such a valuable asset with the most basic oral hygiene rules.

But especially to those who - in large company - have problems related to the loss of one or more dental elements and who have realized that even a single missing tooth can cause huge imbalances in the mouth, with even very serious consequences: I am not talking about front teeth, which are visible because almost everyone in the specific case considers - and rightly so - this event as a major cosmetic problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible, but about the loss or lack of back teeth, often, wrongly, seen as unnecessary and therefore useless or unhelpful, and therefore not worthy of replacement.

Then, to individuals with upper or lower total dentures or removable prostheses that replace missing teeth. In such individuals, the problem is often the instability of such garrisons, which require periodic modifications, called relining in jargon, i.e., remakes of the base, tending to tighten them so as to compensate for the progressive and unstoppable resorption of the underlying tissues, and which, despite these procedures, require the use of adhesive pastes, often with an ill-tolerated taste, altering the taste of food.

Moreover, such prosthetic solutions, by constantly burdening the underlying mucosal and bony structure, result, as I mentioned, in its compression, which eventually results in a constant and unstoppable process of resorption of the mucosal support, making them increasingly unstable and uncomfortable.

This eventuality, particularly present in the lower arch due to the presence of the movable tongue, often becomes a real torment, especially in older people who, already having other age-related problems of their own, should at least spare themselves this annoyance.

Then, to those accustomed to going to their dentist occasionally or sometimes even regularly for a checkup or superficial hygiene, often being told that everything is okay, everything is fine, when in fact they are already prey to a dreaded disease called periodontitis. Frequently it is silent, being by its nature insidious. Still, when it manifests with pain in one or more teeth and/or with relative mobility always of one or more teeth it may already be too late to intervene in order to save those teeth from extraction.

I will indicate to them what are the simple tools available to understand or suspect that they are affected and, thus, run for cover by having them examined by a dentist who properly deals with periodontology, which is the branch of dentistry that deals with the prevention and care of the precious structures that surround the teeth themselves, from the narrow gingiva around the tooth collar, called the adherent gingiva, to the mucosa that covers all the remaining part of the alveolar ridge, called the alveolar mucosa, which is usually quite mobile.

Again, to individuals terrified of even the idea of undergoing a dental examination. Here they will understand that they should go to the sudi of those professionals who dental practice proper sedation, i.e., dental anxiolysis, which should be part of all practitioners' cultural and practical background.

Finally, to those who would be willing to do anything to replace their old removable prostheses with something fixed and comfortable but who, still very often, too often, are told either that there is not enough bone or that they are too old to be treated with implants, or because they have a very precarious health condition that contraindicates being able to be treated with implants, or finally to those, increasingly frequent who would be interested but who have few economic resources and who, for this reason alone, cannot afford these fixed solutions.

Only in the case of truly serious situations, from the point of view of general health, can it be seen as a problem. In many cases, with work done between professionals of different specialties or performed in protected settings (equipped health facilities), it can still be solved satisfactorily.

In the other two cases (supposed lack of bone and too old an age) I say that it is always possible to use implant-supported fixed prostheses, at any age, and I will come back to this with the various solutions we have available nowadays.

In the case of precarious economic conditions, one can still perform fixed and comfortable work while spending relatively little, with certain expedients that we will see together.

Basically, by the end of this reading, you will be able to:

 Perceive more accurately on your own the problems present in your mouth;

 Determine which ones are most urgent to address to avoid greater trouble;

 Look for a competent practitioner in the field who can help you live with these problems by managing them, or dealing with them, as appropriate, at one operational time or by phasing interventions over time;

 Recognizing true business professionals from crows disguised as doves (Cdad)

 Implement a policy of savings without sacrificing anything to quality, finally arriving at an ideal condition in which you may not even see your dentist again (or very rarely) but only your dental hygienist once or twice a year.

 Improve your self-esteem and relationship with others by presenting yourself with a splendid calling card: your smile and always pleasant breath!

Happy reading and ... smile; you are on the right track.

The book will, therefore, follow this path:

Chapter One: tips on choosing your dentist; a right encounter solves problems, while a wrong one chronizes them or worsens them. Some evaluations are given to laypersons as to whether or not they have come to the right place.

In the second chapter, I will discuss how to solve the most frequent urgency that can occur: traumatic loss, or from other causes, of an anterior or posterior tooth, which requires immediate, problem-solving intervention.

In the third chapter, I will discuss how it is possible to go from a situation of complete edentulism (total absence of teeth) with the presence or absence of prostheses, most often unsuitable, or painful or moving, to a simple solution, which in a few hours allows one to return to chewing like in the old days and go out the same evening of the surgery to dinner with friends.

In the fourth chapter, I will discuss the importance of properly maintaining one's teeth and implants to preserve them indefinitely for up to a hundred years or more.

A few simple instructions correctly and regularly carried out enable you to achieve this result and put, so to speak, the physical and financial commitment you have undergone in the safe.

In the fifth chapter, I will tell you how it is possible to save money at the dentist's office without decreasing the quality of the work done and without resorting to dangerous referrals from so-called "low-cost" clinics.

In the sixth chapter, I will tell you about the false myths or false beliefs that many people still have on the subject of "mouth, teeth and surroundings," and how it is possible to discover some very dangerous situations that perhaps you have without your being aware of them; these are abnormal situations due to various problems and they concern bruxism or clenching, which mostly occurs at night, but which we are observing more and more frequently during the day as well; or, the more dangerous, sometimes lethal, problem of sleep apnea, which, if undetected and treated, can lead to serious consequences that can escalate to heart attack, stroke and many other diseases, both acute and chronic.

I will put several references or links in the compendium, first and foremost my direct contact, which will enable those who wish to do so to explore the topics covered and possibly discuss them with the author of this book, again freely and free of charge.

Lastly, a glossary of terms of interest to the subject.

Let's get started!

Chapter 1:How to choose your treating dentist

Perhaps you have never heard of the figure of the dental hygienist, which is actually relatively new since, for the past few years, a special degree program has been established for it. For now, it is enough for you to know that the dental hygienist supports the dentist in their work and helps you to maintain a situation of perfect health of your mouth, showing you how to achieve this and providing a thorough cleaning of your teeth with highly professional maneuvers (for a more in-depth knowledge of their duties, I refer you to the glossary in the appendix of this book).

At this point, it is safe to say that you have gotten an idea of the problem, albeit superficially; now you need an expert to take you by the hand and show you exactly what your current situation is and how to maintain or improve it.

Warning: now comes the most important point of this book; to err here would be tragic, while to make the right choice is to set yourself on the path toward the ultimate resolution of your relationship with your mouth and teeth.

The first saving is the correct therapeutic choice, which the dentist you choose will formulate based on the diagnosis of your problems. This therapeutic choice need not be the most expensive. Still, it must be chosen from a range of therapeutic alternatives that will have to evaluate the biological and economic cost/benefit ratio.

There may be three possibilities:

The first is that you already have a referring practitioner who takes care of your oral health to your satisfaction, you feel satisfied and fulfilled in your relationship with him, and you would suggest him to your friends or acquaintances. In that case, this book is not for you, and I do not understand why you purchased it.

The second case is, perhaps, the one that concerns you: if you have a dentist but have not been seeing them for some time, or you go occasionally when you have a more or less serious problem. This kind of approach can be very dangerous and absolutely must be corrected, as I will indicate below. What I will tell you about the following case, i.e., point three, applies to verifying your dentist's professional character.

This point concerns you if you do not have a referring dentist and if you need to search for one. So, let's start with the situation that I think is very common: you do not have a referring dentist. How do you go about choosing the right one? (Or to check whether the one you see occasionally and only for emergencies is right for you)?

Normally, there are many criteria for choosing a dentist, some good, some not so good, and some to be absolutely avoided. Let's look at them together.

1. Word of mouth: ask relatives, friends and colleagues for advice if they have a dentist they are satisfied with and can recommend. This is a widespread method for choosing a dentist and can be effective with some precautions. Is the person you ask for information and advice about their dentist trustworthy and serious?

Observe his teeth as he speaks to you: are they pleasant and apparently healthy or neglected or, even worse, with missing or badly filled teeth? Does he tend to hide his smile so as not to show his teeth? Does he have bad breath?

If you notice any of these things, do not follow any advice given by this acquaintance of yours; conversely, if you do not notice any particular problems and everything seems okay, take his advice or get the name of his dentist. Then you will need further verification, which we will see before making an appointment with him.

2. Online research: search online for reviews and ratings of dentists in your area to get an idea of other patients' experiences. This can certainly be a good start, but it still to be checked.

3. Proximity to home: One of the most usual ways of choosing one's dentist is to have their office as close to home as possible, preferably under the house.

Here the way can be even more risky, mind you: there can be the best professional in the world, loaded with professionalism and humanity, under your house, but basing one's choice, as many do, only based on this criterion is not good, because the ultimate goal is to put oneself in a position to meet them once or twice a year, and therefore it is absolutely not worth relying on an anonymous professional just for greater convenience in reaching them.

4. Advertising in magazines or newspapers: can be an effective way to find the right professional. However, it must be said that, generally, those who advertise through print or Web media have a complex structure with a conspicuous number of operators who, while they can provide excellent services, however, tend to depersonalize the professional-patient relationship and make the work to be done dispersive, so if you opt for such a choice you must always have, within the structure, a contact person who can talk to you at any time you wish and who coordinates the work of the whole team.

5. Dental clinics advertised and found in large cities: these are not to be dismissed out of hand, as they offer, more often than not, quality services and guarantee multidisciplinary care (i.e., an approach involving multiple sectors and disciplines to solve a problem or achieve a specific goal) at reasonable costs.

However, one has to be careful about two things: the first is that there is always a professional figure of reference, even if, in the course of treatment, one is referred to different professionals, and the second is that, in general, these centers tend to offer free first examinations and treatment plans (beware! No one gives something for nothing), but also free x-rays (orthopantomograms, i.e., so-called panoramic), which, precisely because they have not been paid for, are usually not delivered at the patient's request, in order to bind the patient to the facility itself, leading them to avoid other consultations uncritically ("I've already had an x-ray here anyway, I don't ask for more opinions").

Obviously, this is not the way it works everywhere. Still, suppose there should be a case of refusal to the -legitimate- request for X-ray or other documentation (even if not paid for) after the first visit, forcing further X-rays at a second or third office. In that case, this is ipso facto grounds for saying "no" to such an environment.

In addition, these clinics are essentially structured to do business and, when faced with complex treatment plans, they tend, after the initial specialist visit, to pass you by the office in charge, where a specially trained figure will convince you to sign a contract in full without giving you time to ponder and reflect or discuss it at home, with advance payment for all services.

Thus, if you decide to stop treatment after starting it for all sorts of causes or because you have something to dispute, you are in the difficult situation of getting a refund of the excess paid.

Sometimes these (I repeat: for-profit) companies go bad financially, they close down, and the joke is that those who signed up for financing are forced to honor it without getting anything or almost anything in return, as has already sadly happened, even with us unfortunately.

6. Your general practitioner also dental practices as a dentist: this is an increasingly uncommon situation, fortunately, but it can happen, and you may be tempted to take him as your dentist out of convenience, psychological subservience, and various other reasons.

Granted that I know very good practitioners who do general dental practice and dentistry simultaneously, I must add that it is almost an exception to the rule.