October 2011 CDA Journal

Check out this great article from Dr. Kutsch, published in this month’s CDA Journal!

(Click the picture and you’ll see the link at the top of the page)

Check out this great article, “Everyone Can Smile with Confidence: The Perspective of a Six Month Smiles Provider” by Dr. JoAnne Martens.

http://carifree.com/dentists/science/documents/Everyonecansmilewithconfidence.pdf

For nearly a decade, the CDA Foundation has been an active participant in promoting Caries Management by Risk Assessment in dental practices.

Last January, the Foundation hosted a CAMBRA symposium, gathering researchers, practitioners, policy advocates and insurers, charged with coming up with a strategy to guide the CAMBRA movement. One of the panel speakers was V. Kim Kutsch, DMD, a private practice dentist from Oregon who manages a successful CAMBRA based practice in addition to serving as acting CEO of Oral BioTech, maker of CariFreeproducts, a platinum sponsor of the symposium.

Dr. Kutsch has dedicated his career to seeking out and developing new ideas, technologies and treatment methods that focus on patient care. In the process, he has become an internationally recognized expert in many topics including minimally invasive procedures.

“Minimally invasive dentistry is a rapidly growing trend in our profession and it is a trend we need to take seriously – it’s better for the patient and it’s better for the practice,” Dr.Kutsch said.  “For years, we’ve told our patients to eat less sweets and brush and floss more…but the reality is, caries is a disease about pH and we need to start thinking in terms of demineralization and remineralization as we are looking at the interaction between the pH and the teeth. Once we have educated our patients on what drives the disease and how to correct those factors, then we can recommend products and a prevention program.”

According to Dr. Kutsch, CariFree is  actually a system for CAMBRA that provides a simple protocol for assessing patients’ risk for decay along with a real-time, chairside test to measure bacterial load.  It also includes products for both children and adults that treat and prevent the infection, lowering the risk of future decay.  All CariFree products combine the proven benefits of fluoride and xylitol, along with proprietary neutralizing pH+ technology. Oral BioTech, maker of CariFree products was founded with the purpose of providing the dental profession with a complete solution to treating dental caries as a bacterial infection.

A group of dentists, including Dr. Kutsch, university professors, and other professionals formed Oral BioTech to create products that could make it easy for dentists to test for this bacterial infection and to be able to prescribe highly effective treatment programs.

Dr. Kutsch holds numerous patents for dental materials and technologies, publishes regularly in magazines, journals and textbooks, and speaks at dental meetings throughout the world. He is the founder of the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Dentistry and the Academy of Laser Dentistry.

Manuscripts by Dr. Kutsch and other speakers from the CAMBRA symposium will be published in the October and November 2011 issues of the CDA Journal.

Source: http://www.cdafoundation.org/library/docs/newsletter/0511/article4.htm

Check out this great video of Dr. Kutsch speaking to the Six Month Smiles trainers at the 2011 Townie Meeting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_McOCCXOpk

Find out at Dr. Kutsch’s lecture at the AACD, this Wednesday, from 9:30-12:30 in Room 309!  Hope to see you there.

Our very own Dr. Kutsch was featured in an article in RDH Magazine’s May 2011 issue!  Click here to check it out.

Is CariFree a good fit for your practice?  Typically the offices we work with are seeing one or more of a couple things in their practice.  Your patients are getting cavities! Maybe as little as one a year, but often more.  Our teams are telling us that this is no longer just their pediatric patients, but the teenagers, those going through orthodontic treatment, patients taking medications that are experiencing dry mouth, their elderly patients are living longer, etc.  Could you say that any of your patients fit into those categories?  Maybe your team is looking to increase the production in your hygiene department by increasing the services provided.  It could be that you would like some “insurance” that the large restorative and cosmetic cases that your patients are investing in don’t fail.  Maybe you are looking for ways to increase case acceptance as some patients who are continuing to experience decay are more hesitant to spend money on dental work.  Your team also may be looking to create a unique experience for your patients, a way to distinguish yourself and market in a saturated dental community.  Do any of these things sound familiar to you?  If yes, CariFree is a good fit for you practice!

If you have any questions about CariFree or are interested in scheduling a webinar with your practice, please call 866.928.4445.

Every day I watch the news for just a few minutes before I leave for work. Without fail, for the last few months I have been hearing about crazy weather that is taking over the country. Even here in Oregon we are seeing unheard of snow fall in large quantities late in the season. Regardless of the reason and warnings on the daily news, one can be sure that hundreds of people woke up last month and were both confused and frustrated by the havoc that Mother Nature was raging on their front lawn.

Similar to this frustration, I know that many dental professionals today experience the frustration of not being able to stop their patient’s rampant decay. These patients suffer in pain and confusion, and look to their dental providers for help; help which often cannot be guaranteed. Despite warnings and counseling on diet and risk factors, patients continue to come to their six month visit with additional cavities. At this point, many practices begin to search for a better way to communicate to these patients and ensure that the restorations they place will last.

One great solution that we offer to these searching dental practices is the CariScreen Meter, which acts as a two-part communication tool extraordinaire! Near the beginning of the appointment, the practitioner can swab the patient’s lower linguals to collect a biofilm sample. Using bioluminescence technology, he/she is able to communicate to the patient whether or not they have the high acid producing bacteria that we know will cause decay. Similar to a blood pressure reading, patients are able to put a quantifiable number to their risk. Once establishing this basis, the patient suddenly has a goal to reach before their next appointment, ensuring compliance!

The CariScreen Meter is absolutely vital for reassessing the patient’s infection. After completing the treatment cycle, it is necessary to determine if we were successful in converting the biofilm to non-cariogenic.  Re-performing the test shows the patient whether treatment was successful, or whether or not additional treatment is required.  The meter also allows the provider to continually re-screen the patient every six months or once a year to ensure that the patient will not experience decay. By offering preventive care to the patient, the dental practice is not only able to differentiate itself from others in the area, but offer a new level of overall patient care!

If you would like more information about how to get started with CariFree and implement the CariScreen Meter, please give us a call here in the Sales Department at 866.928.4445. Thanks, and stay warm!

Every month we have the great opportunity to highlight another one of our successful CariFree practices.  I think it is important to continue to recognize these practices that are taking a leap and implementing CAMBRA as part of their program.  We understand it isn’t always easy but it’s definitely rewarding.  These practices also have a unique opportunity to offer their patients a standard of care that no other dentist in their area may be offering.  Often when we are embracing change, stepping out of our comfort zone, and entirely shifting the way we think about something, that transition isn’t always smooth.  So we especially want to recognize the practices that are willing to take this on!

I am excited to announce our featured practice this month.  I was given the opportunity to work with this team as their coach and I can personally tell you, they are a great team!  They are motivated and dedicated to giving their patients the standard of care they themselves would want for their friends and family.  Lakeside Dental with Dr. Todd Hansen, Dr. Kara Conry and hygienists Holly Ierino and Laura Goldberg are located out of Duluth, Minnesota.

I asked that Holly express to me what initially sparked their interest in CariFree and why they decided to implement the system. She said, “We initially decided to implement CariFree after doing some research on Caries Risk Assessment and found that CariFree had a great chair-side bacterial assessment. We were looking to provide our patients with a more comprehensive exam and educate them further on what they can do to reduce their risk for decay.”

This team also shared with me what the biggest impact has been in their practice from implementing CAMBRA and CariFree. They said, “We are so excited to share CariFree with our patients and educate them on the disease process of decay and how to change their bacteria, along with their risk factors, to be less susceptible to decay in the future.  We are seeing patients take a more proactive role in changing their dental habits and they are excited about it like we are.  We have several families that have had decay for years and now we are able to educate and treat them with CariFree.”

I also asked if there were any patients who have gone through the CariFree program that stand out to them.  They had two patients in particular that they felt were special cases.  Holly recently had seen a mother of 3 who came back for her recheck after finishing the treatment and her number went from 3956 to 645.  She had 3 cavities filled just before she started her treatment and 2 of her children also have had decay.  Now, they are all using CariFree and chewing xylitol gum. She was very faithful about using the products and said her whole family has changed at least a few of their habits that were risk factors for decay.  The second patient they spoke about was a perio patient that had a CariScreen score of 9796 and refused treatment at their initial visit. Then at the 3-month recall appointment the patients’ score was 9753.  After lots of education, she finally understood that she was very high risk for decay and agreed to start the treatment.  She has had a lot of decay in the past and is now excited to finally make a change!   This shows that while it may not always resonate the first time with patients, it’s important to keep educating them.

Lastly, I asked Holly what struggles they have come up against since starting the program, as this is one of the most important things to address when implementing CariFree and CAMBRA.  Seeing other practices that have attempted it, gone up against the challenges and conquered them, that is the best evidence that anyone can do this.  Lakeside Dental’s biggest struggle when implementing CariFree was making sure that all the clinical staff as well as the office staff was knowledgeable about the disease process and confident to inform their patients.  She said, “We have had some patients with high CariScreen numbers and numerous risk factors that decided to wait on treatment, but we are continuing to educate those patients of their disease and allow them to make the informed decision to start or to refuse treatment.  I do feel that as we continue to swab every patient at their recall appointment, we will continue to educate them and have a greater number of compliant patients.”

Again, we thank Dr. Hansen and the rest of the team at Lakeside Dental for helping us pave a path in dentistry to offer our patients the best care possible and keep their best interest at heart.  Your patients in your practice are lucky to have you!

One question I often hear when speaking with practices that are unfamiliar with CariFree is what the difference is between a live one-on-one webinar and a recorded webinar that can be found on the website. I’d like to take a moment to discuss the benefits of both forums, and why listening to a webinar is the next step for a team interested in implementing CAMBRA and CariFree into their office.

Recorded webinars are a best for those dental professionals who do not have at least thirty minutes to dedicate to an interactive presentation. With the ability to stop and play the recording as often as one likes, as well as easy access to the webinar regardless of time or location, recorded webinars offer great insight into the underlying science behind CariFree. After completing one or more of these webinars, the viewer can then call in with any additional questions or to request further information.

Interactive webinars are ideal for those teams who would like a comprehensive view of the products, protocols, and underlying science. The one-on-one format makes it easy for participants to ask questions and truly investigate whether or not CariFree would be a good fit for their practice. This is generally scheduled with the whole team, including the dentist, hygienist(s), assistant(s), and any other members of the team who are curious about CariFree.

Both the recorded webinars and the interactive webinars are available free of charge. Interactive webinars can be scheduled with a sales executive Monday through Friday from 7:30 am-4:00 pm PST. Recorded webinars can be found on the website, under the webinar tab.

If you would like to learn more about CAMBRA, CariFree, or how to implement a caries risk-assessment program into your practice, we are here to help! Please feel free to call or email us here in the Sales Department.

Thanks!