orthodontist

Science Friday: An Amazing New Kind of Orthodontic Treatment

December 23, 2011 By Catherine Hughes 1 Comment

Orthodontists: Get ready to speed up the time it takes to wear dental braces!

OrthoAccel Technologies has announced the FDA clearance of their AcceleDent device, a removable gadget that an orthodontia patient wears in their mouth for 20 minutes a day.

The device works by accelerating teeth movement through vibration when used in conjunction with conventional braces.

In the clinical trial, the appliance exhibited an acceleration of teeth movement of 106% during the initial alignment phase and 38% – 50% during closure of extraction space.

In a statement released by Dr. Dubravko Pavlin, professor of orthodontics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, he exclaimed, “With an increase in rate of tooth movement observed in our study the orthodontic treatment time could be shortened by at least 5 months during the first two stages of orthodontic treatment.”

Here is the video promo for the AcceleDent device –

What do you think about this new dental science technology?

For more on the AcceleDental device see: Brace Yourself: AcceleDent Device Could Cut Orthodontic Treatment Time in Half

Filed Under: Dental Products, Science Friday Tagged With: braces, cosmetic dentistry, dental braces, Dental News, dental science, dentist, dentistry, orthodontics, orthodontist, science friday, technology, video marketing

Science Friday: Chew Tougher Food to Avoid the Orthodontist?

December 9, 2011 By Catherine Hughes 1 Comment

Can chewing more beef jerky lead to less visits to the orthodontist for braces?

ScienceDaily.com is reporting that new research by Dr. Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel of the University of Kent is indicating that many of the common orthodontic problems experienced by people in industrialized nations is due to a soft, modern diet.

Dr. von Cramon-Taubadel tested the long-debated theory that the transition from a largely hunter-gatherer to an agricultural subsistence way of living in many parts of the world causes the jaw to grow too short and small relative to the size of the teeth.

The doctor compared the shape of the skulls and lower jaws of eleven globally distributed populations against models of genetic, geographic, climatic and dietary differences. As reported in ScienceDaily, she found that lower jaw shape was related to the dietary behavior of populations, while the skulls were strongly related to the genetic relationships of the populations.

The lower jaw indicates whether populations are primarily hunter-gatherer or agriculturalist in nature. It is the chewing behavior that causes the lower jaw to grow and develop differently in different subsistence groups, while the skull is not affected in the same way.

Maybe we should be having jerky for breakfast instead of oatmeal?

What are your thoughts?

For more on this story see: Jaw Size Linked to Diet: Could Too Soft a Diet Cause Lower Jaw to Stay Too Short and Cause Orthodontic Problems?

Filed Under: The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: Dental Care, Dental News, dental science, dentist, dentistry, dentists, ortho, orthodontics, orthodontist, science friday

Orthodontic Braces: Taxpayers Spent $424 Million for Children in Texas

September 6, 2011 By Jim Du Molin 2 Comments

In June of this year, The Wealthy Dentist published a story about Taxpayers footing the bill for orthodontic braces in Texas.

In Texas, Medicaid pays dentists for orthodontics per procedure, instead of a lump sum for the “finished mouth” of straight teeth.

This has made Medicaid orthodontia a lucrative dental business in Texas.

WFAA-TV of Texas has been investigating this story for the last six months and has uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars of questionable Medicaid spending on dental braces for children in Texas. Their news reports prompted federal investigators to now audit the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which controls the Medicaid funds.

According to the WFAA website -

In a letter to the state, the Inspector General says it will examine the “authorization process for orthodontic treatment” under Texas Medicaid. “The objective of our audit,” the letter continues, “is to review the State’s controls to ensure that only medically necessary orthodontic cases are paid.” The time period covered by the audit is September 1, 2008 through May 28, 2011.

The new station’s investigation revealed that during that period, Texas taxpayers spent $424 million on orthodontic braces for children under Medicaid. Taxpayers spent $100 million in 2008, $140 million in 2009, and $184 million in 2010, state records show.

Texas dentist, Dr. Christine Ellis, who teaches at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has twice traveled to Washington in an attempt to convince lawmakers to scale back Texas Medicaid orthodontics payments and divert funds for more pressing dental needs.

Her attempts fell on deaf ears. According to the WFAA-TV article, Ellis said, “There’s no response. No one is putting the brakes on this thing.”

Billy Millwee of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is now telling WFAA-TV that if taxpayers money has been lost, the Attorney General might take action to get it back. He went on to say that Texas will have a new managed care Medicaid dental program beginning next spring.

For more on this story see: Feds Investigate Texas Dental Medicaid Program and Taxpayers Footing the Bill for Braces in Texas.

Filed Under: Dental Editorials, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: braces, Dental Care, dental embezzlement, Dental News, dental practice, dentist, dentistry, dentists, health care, Medicaid Fraud, orthodontic, orthodontics, orthodontist

General Dentists Offer a Variety of Orthodontic Options to Patients

August 2, 2011 By Catherine Hughes Leave a Comment

orthodonic options Recently the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) reported that over one million adults are wearing braces. New technologies have widened the options for braces and made them attractive to dental patients of all ages.

No longer do patients fear having a “mouth full of metal.”

We conducted a survey that asked dentists what type of orthodontic options they now offer at their practice.

This was their response -

Conventional braces — 22%
Ceramic braces — 19%
Lingual braces — 6%
Invisalign® — 22%
Inspice ICE® — 4%
ClearCorrect® — 10%
Simpli 5® — 6%
Smart Moves® — 4%
RW II® — 3%
Red White & Blue® — 4%

“I have done orthodontics as a GP for 24 years.” (General dentist)

“Patients value the option of avoiding bands and brackets.” (Urban dentist)

“I prefer fixed orthodontia, as it is easier to keep the patient compliant.” (North Carolina dentist)

“Pre-treating arch discrepancies including posterior cross bites with removable orthopedic appliances allow you to finalize many cases with Invisalign®.” (California dentist)

Filed Under: Dental Surveys, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: ADA, braces, Dental Care, dental practice, dentist, dentists, Invisalign, orthodontist

Dentists: What Orthodontic Options Does Your Practice Offer? (survey)

July 15, 2011 By Catherine Hughes Leave a Comment

take the TWD dental survey on the cost of veneers Dentists: please participate in our survey on orthodontic options.

As part of The Wealthy Dentist dialogue on dental practice management and marketing, we offer weekly surveys and invite your participation.

In order to understand different perspectives on the dental industry, we have developed surveys to canvas a diverse group of dental practices on their view of the dental industry, what constitutes current good practice in dental marketing and quality care.

The information collected will be used to prepare articles for The Wealthy Dentist readership.

The survey should take no more than 90 seconds to complete -

If you’d like to be notified about future dental surveys, please sign up for our weekly newsletter in the right sidebar.