It's one thing to tell our clients that Zoom! is a heat sensitive tooth whitening system. It's another to tell them that it uses a special whitening gel to make your teeth bleachy-keen in a matter of hours. But it doesn't really answer the burning question; what the heck is all that chemical and intense light power actually doing inside your mouth? Here's where you'll get your answer.
The Gel
The whitening gel is actually a mixture of hydrogen peroxide -- yep, the same stuff you buy at the drug store -- in a viscous fluid. It's designed to remain stable at room temperature, but to become reactive as it gets hotter. As it gets hotter, the hydrogen molecules break away from the oxygen forcefully, driving the oxygen molecules into and through the stains that sit atop your tooth enamel. It's actually much like using OxyClean, but instead of activating with water, it activates when hot.
The oxygen molecules are much smaller than the complex molecules that make up biological stains, and act like a tiny chemical sandblaster, with thousands of oxygen molecules pushed at a high rate of speed (at least, on a molecular scale) into the stain. They literally shatter the stain's molecules and separate them from the tooth enamel. The enamel, on the other hand, is dense enough and strong enough to withstand the oxygen barrage with zero noticeable damage.
Light Activation
The light activator, while it gets all the credit, is actually the least interesting part of the whole setup -- its function is to heat up the gel quickly and thoroughly without burning your lips or gums. In other systems, green intense lights are used to accomplish this goal (green being the type of light your tissues are least sensitive to), but in Zoom!, the light combined with chemical activation is much like the heat coming from your Nu-Wave oven. That makes it stronger than its competition, but requires that the dentist put a protective covering over your gums before turning the intense light on your teeth.
And that's that -- Zoom! is a mystery no longer.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
What Whitening Is Best For You?
We actually get a surprising amount of requests for our Zoom! whitening service here at the office, and the one thing we never get tired of seeing are those occasional clients that we have to say 'no' to. Not because we like saying 'no' to people, but because they're always happy to have a less involved procedure suggested to them.
Why does this happen? It's simple, actually -- it has to do with how white your teeth already are. Tooth whiteness is measured on a common shade scale of 1 (just had fresh porcelain veneers put on) to 20 (seriously yellow or brown.) Even Austin Powers would come in at about a 13 -- twenty is really really dark. A typical client of ours comes in with somewhere between a 4 and a 10.
Here's the thing -- Zoom! treatments are powerful stuff. They're meant to take that 10 and make him a 3. If you walk in the door and your teeth are already at a 3, you're probably going to to go through everything the other guy did and walk out the door 1 1/2 to 2, because there's only so much whiter that your teeth can possibly get -- and you'll get about the same results from a different, faster, less expensive whitening procedure. (If you have a 3 and you insist on reaching all the way up to a 1, we're going to tell you that you may want to get porcelain veneers to achieve the optimum white color that you want.)
So what other whitening options do we suggest for people who already have near-perfect teeth, but aren't going to shoot for the perfection that is veneers? The classic; we'll give you a take-home kit that uses dental trays and a bleaching gel that you wear either overnight or for a short period each day that will give you the results you're looking for in a couple of weeks for a little less than Zoom!
Zoom! is awesome -- but it's not necessary for everyone, and we don't want to charge you for something you don't need.
Why does this happen? It's simple, actually -- it has to do with how white your teeth already are. Tooth whiteness is measured on a common shade scale of 1 (just had fresh porcelain veneers put on) to 20 (seriously yellow or brown.) Even Austin Powers would come in at about a 13 -- twenty is really really dark. A typical client of ours comes in with somewhere between a 4 and a 10.
Here's the thing -- Zoom! treatments are powerful stuff. They're meant to take that 10 and make him a 3. If you walk in the door and your teeth are already at a 3, you're probably going to to go through everything the other guy did and walk out the door 1 1/2 to 2, because there's only so much whiter that your teeth can possibly get -- and you'll get about the same results from a different, faster, less expensive whitening procedure. (If you have a 3 and you insist on reaching all the way up to a 1, we're going to tell you that you may want to get porcelain veneers to achieve the optimum white color that you want.)
So what other whitening options do we suggest for people who already have near-perfect teeth, but aren't going to shoot for the perfection that is veneers? The classic; we'll give you a take-home kit that uses dental trays and a bleaching gel that you wear either overnight or for a short period each day that will give you the results you're looking for in a couple of weeks for a little less than Zoom!
Zoom! is awesome -- but it's not necessary for everyone, and we don't want to charge you for something you don't need.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Introducing Zoom! And Other Smile Brightening Options
Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt would like to help usher in the season by reminding everyone that spring is the season of new life, growth, and new friendships! It's time to shake off the winter blahs, do some spring cleaning, and get ready to reconnect with life. That makes it a great opportunity for teeth whitening (or 'smile brightening' as we prefer to call it around the office.)
Our office has recently gotten a brand new whitening system installed -- the Zoom! system by Phillips. Zoom! is a laser whitening system that takes about an hour. A special wax is placed on your gums to protect them, then put a whitening paste on your teeth. Finally, you'll get an implement in your mouth to keep your lips open and teeth slightly apart, and we'll shine a big old laser onto the whitening paste.
You repeat the processes a few times in a single visit, and then spend 48 or so hours avoiding foods and drinks that might stain your teeth. Once the new whiteness has 'set', you're good to go and you can resume eating and drinking normally (though we encourage you to continue avoiding the most staining foods and drinks like coffee, tea, curry, and so forth.)
Of course, Zoom! isn't the only whitening option that our office has to offer. We have a variety of whitening options that range from the industrial-strength versions of the kinds of kits you get at the local drug store all the way up to our porcelain veneers, which can turn almost anyone's teeth into pearly beauties.
If your smile is keeping you down this Spring, don't keep it locked away -- get it beautified and turn it loose! It's so much more fulfilling to smile with all your heart in it.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Why New Chairs?
In our newsletter this month, we mentioned several things that we've done around the office to improve the quality of our patient's visits, and the first thing we listed was 'new chairs'. We've had a few people inquire as to why, on a list that includes several high-end new dental machines and other improvement, we chose to put new chairs first on the list.
The answer is simple: it's a matter of dental ergonomics.
The Dentist's Perspective
For Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt and their hygienists, the difference in chairs is important for a few reasons:
While you only spend a few — maybe twice that at the maximum — hours in the chair vs. the thousands of hours the dentist will spend maneuvering around the chair, we nonetheless bought these chairs with your comfort in mind:
The answer is simple: it's a matter of dental ergonomics.
The Dentist's Perspective
For Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt and their hygienists, the difference in chairs is important for a few reasons:
- The headrests and narrower shoulder areas allow for better maneuvering around you during a procedure, keeping things moving during a longer, more complex operation.
- Height adjustment on the chair allows the dentist to sit comfortably and work without having to strain upward or downward.
While you only spend a few — maybe twice that at the maximum — hours in the chair vs. the thousands of hours the dentist will spend maneuvering around the chair, we nonetheless bought these chairs with your comfort in mind:
- Adjustable head/neck rests ensure that you're never supporting the weight of your head or contorting yourself to let the dentist get to whatever he's working on.
- Lumbar and pelvic support mean that you won't get up with a stiff back no matter how long you've been sitting — and even if your muscles do start to feel a little tense, the built-in massager will take care of that in a hurry.
- Highly adjustable head and footrests allow us to adapt our chairs for almost anyone (though if Sultan Kosen comes back for another visit, we'll probably still need a special chair for him.)
Friday, February 22, 2013
Going Green Is Better For Everyone NOW — and Later
The ecological movement is nothing new — people have been worried about the fate of our nation's wildlife since back when Roosevelt first moved the Division of Forestry from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior. But for much of the past several decades, the complaint has been that being ecologically conscious was expensive and not worth the effort.
Several recent developments in green technology have proven that 'wisdom' quite wrong, and they've given us at Dr. Eric Johnson's office the ability to make life better for our patients (and the world) at the same time.
Here are a couple of great examples:
Digital X-Rays
Digital X-rays have pretty much every advantage over traditional X-rays. They don't require developing, which means less nasty chemicals out there (and in our own cupboards). They require less radiation to get a clear picture, which is better for our patients and our techs. They allow for instant previews of the X-ray, which means less waiting around for the slides to develop. And they're cleaner and easier to read, meaning more accurate and quicker assessments of what's actually wrong with your teeth.
With digital X-rays, everyone wins; you, us, and the Earth. Read more about digital X-rays on our web site.
Green Cleaning
There are a few basic categories of cleaners out there, but one thing that they almost all share is that they're quite toxic and bad for the environment. The one that doesn't fit in, however, is the one that we use: the colloidal micelle-based cleaner. This stuff is awesomely powerful, because it's made of molecules that are smaller than the grease and other biological molecules that they clean up. The effect is like a microscopic sandblaster separating the molecules from whatever surface they're clinging to for easy wiping up. The real benefit, though, is how incredibly safe they are; so much so that you could drink the stuff without issues.
Colloidal micelles let us clean the office often without doing anything to your system except making it glad for the cleanliness. Again, it's a three-way win.
Several recent developments in green technology have proven that 'wisdom' quite wrong, and they've given us at Dr. Eric Johnson's office the ability to make life better for our patients (and the world) at the same time.
Here are a couple of great examples:
Digital X-Rays
Digital X-rays have pretty much every advantage over traditional X-rays. They don't require developing, which means less nasty chemicals out there (and in our own cupboards). They require less radiation to get a clear picture, which is better for our patients and our techs. They allow for instant previews of the X-ray, which means less waiting around for the slides to develop. And they're cleaner and easier to read, meaning more accurate and quicker assessments of what's actually wrong with your teeth.
With digital X-rays, everyone wins; you, us, and the Earth. Read more about digital X-rays on our web site.
Green Cleaning
There are a few basic categories of cleaners out there, but one thing that they almost all share is that they're quite toxic and bad for the environment. The one that doesn't fit in, however, is the one that we use: the colloidal micelle-based cleaner. This stuff is awesomely powerful, because it's made of molecules that are smaller than the grease and other biological molecules that they clean up. The effect is like a microscopic sandblaster separating the molecules from whatever surface they're clinging to for easy wiping up. The real benefit, though, is how incredibly safe they are; so much so that you could drink the stuff without issues.
Colloidal micelles let us clean the office often without doing anything to your system except making it glad for the cleanliness. Again, it's a three-way win.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day! Let's Talk About Your Kids' Candy
All those little candy hearts your child gets at school for Valentine's Day are mildly frightening for some parents — and some dentists! But with a little bit of attention, it's OK to allow your kid to enjoy his/her Valentine's Day candies without ruining their future oral health. Here are a few tips from Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt:
- Dole Out the Candy Sparingly: You should be in control of when your child has access to candy, and you should be careful of how much they eat at a time. Not only can 'boom and bust' candy eating result in a fussy kid, but you might also be setting them up for insulin resistance and its concurrent obesity and risk of diabetes.
- There's A Reason Behind 'Dessert': The classical wisdom of eating real food first and dessert afterwards has a lot of value. Eating sweets just after a meal does a couple of things. First, your saliva is still flowing easily and will have an easier time cleaning the teeth of extra sugars. Second, the sugar will mix with the meal in your child's gut and thus you won't get the same kind of blood-sugar spike and resultant 'high' you get if you give them candy in the middle of the afternoon.
- Watch the Ingredients: It's a strange time we live in, when 'sugar' is considered to be one of the least offensive ingredients on a candy's list, but it's true. If you have the ability to steer your child away from fructose (including agave, which is actually higher in fructose than HFCS), do so — but that said, if you're following the first two guidelines and you can't avoid it, a little corn syrup or Red #40 isn't going to have a noticeable effect on your average kid. The important part is your awareness and attention — that way if something does set your child off, you'll at least have a notion of what it may be.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Responsibility, Concern, and the Power of a Third Party
Adding a third party to any transaction can have any number of interesting effects on how things work out. In an ideal situation, a third party can act as a facilitator, making certain that details work out in everyone's favor — so much so that it becomes a no-brainer to have a third party on hand to make sure that everything happens smoothly.
At Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt's office, we believe that there are some ways in which having a third party responsible for things is enormously beneficial to our patients. We always acknowledge that we're responsible for everything that happens inside these walls, and we work hard to keep our clients foremost in our minds — but there are some things that are better placed in other people's hands.
For example, we don't do the maintenance and sterilization of our own equipment anymore. Not because we disliked the task, and not because we're lazy or even that we had any problems in the past — but simply because having equipment that is clean, fully-functioning, and ready to use is important enough that we feel like we should have someone assigned to the job full-time.
Equipment cleaning and sterilization isn't the only job we outsource to other companies, either — we have experts come in and refill our bathroom soap beakers, clean our front door mats, and so on as well. We choose to leave those details in the hands of people that are professionals in their respective fields, because it lets us focus on the things that matter most — serving you.
Just like taking responsibility for your child sometimes means hiring a baby sitter, or taking responsibility for your home sometimes means hiring a painter, taking responsibility for your patients sometimes means hiring experts to take care of the details that help make our office a healthier and friendlier environment.
At Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt's office, we believe that there are some ways in which having a third party responsible for things is enormously beneficial to our patients. We always acknowledge that we're responsible for everything that happens inside these walls, and we work hard to keep our clients foremost in our minds — but there are some things that are better placed in other people's hands.
For example, we don't do the maintenance and sterilization of our own equipment anymore. Not because we disliked the task, and not because we're lazy or even that we had any problems in the past — but simply because having equipment that is clean, fully-functioning, and ready to use is important enough that we feel like we should have someone assigned to the job full-time.
Equipment cleaning and sterilization isn't the only job we outsource to other companies, either — we have experts come in and refill our bathroom soap beakers, clean our front door mats, and so on as well. We choose to leave those details in the hands of people that are professionals in their respective fields, because it lets us focus on the things that matter most — serving you.
Just like taking responsibility for your child sometimes means hiring a baby sitter, or taking responsibility for your home sometimes means hiring a painter, taking responsibility for your patients sometimes means hiring experts to take care of the details that help make our office a healthier and friendlier environment.
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