Are You on a Dental Edge?

I regularly see patients with many teeth in a precarious situation. Many are overwhelmed.

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That’s why Belledental’s policy is to conduct an examination and formulate a treatment plan that includes costings and a strategy around care. This strategy component takes into account the normal ups and downs of executing any plan, as well as “back-stops” that give you a picture of where you may be heading dentally in 7, 10 or even 15 or 20 years. These are discussed with you before we commence treatment.

The key elements of management of patients “on the edge” are:

1. Educate - Find out why they have reached this point and institute education/ understanding so that it is avoided in the future (these severe problems are almost always related to diet/lifestyle).

2. Identify and prioritise key teeth. By recognising that not all treatment is of equal footing, we treat the important first and stabilise the urgent for later treatment.

3. Stage treatment – this is critical for these patients. Staging allows for both the spreading of costs and preventing burn out of the patient. Patients often feel a sense of achievement and control by completing a stage and noticing improvement in their condition - it’s encouraging.

4. Offer solutions that are real world. Yes, I know dental rehabilitation can carry $50,000 or even $100,000 price tags in Hollywood. Not only do I find these fees totally unrealistic, but I don’t believe most patients would be well served by these treatments from the perspective of ongoing maintenance costs and complexity.

I would also like to dispel a common myth known as Sleep Dentistry.

Some patients come to me, often with numerous problems and ask if they can be put to sleep to have their dentistry done. This is a Cinderella-like concept – “Let me be put to sleep, and all my dental problems will be gone.” It’s a fairy tale.

If you’ve got dental problems and are looking for durable, real-world solutions, we would love to help you develop a dental health strategy. At Belledental, we are non-judgemental and focused on creating innovative dental solutions that reflect your needs, budget and expectations.

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intouch contributor DR ALEX HUSZTI BelleDental Alex has had a career focused on low-biologic cost reconstructive cosmetic dental care – common sense teeth for life.