Thanksgiving Eve Interfaith Service. Be there!

If you live in or near Skokie, I would love to see you at the following service:

http://www.tbiskokie.org/pdf/2013%20Thanksgiving%20poster.pdf

If you don't live in, or won't be in the Skokie, IL, area, please search on the internet for a "Thanksgiving Interfaith Service" in the area where you will be spending this wonderful holiday.

Below is a slightly modified notice which I sent out a few days ago to my Dental Family. You may have seen this already.

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Thanksgiving Eve Interfaith Service in Skokie!

This is a big deal in my mind. It is a wonderful gathering of our community. This is an event which is very inspirational and brings good people together of many different backgrounds. Belief in God should unite us not divide us! Join your neighbors, friends and families in a celebration of Thanksgiving which will help you view life from different perspectives.
This is an event which is on my calendar as a priority for each year. You, your friends and family may want to have it as a priority on your calendars after experiencing the magic of our diversity coming together at an event like this. Encourage your acquaintances of different faiths or of no faith to attend this event with you and hopefully each of you will understand one another a little better.

The service usually lasts less than an hour and a reception with light snacks and drinks follows. It features inspirational talks by members of various faiths and excellent music as well. It is a great opportunity to mingle with members and leaders of our communities. The mayor and other government officials are usually in attendance.

There is no cost to attend this event. Non-perishable, food items with unexpired dates on them are accepted as donations for the Niles Township Food Pantry. Cash donations will also be accepted which will go directly to the Skokie Community Giving Program. Many attendees contribute and many don't.

I hope to see you at this event or I hope you can attend an event like this some day.

I wish you and yours the best during the holidays and always!

Sincerely,

Dr. Dave McWhinnie

PS If this is not a convenient location for you, search online for a Thanksgiving Eve Interfaith Service in your area. There are many of them held throughout our great country.

Temple Beth Israel

3601 Dempster, Skokie

Wednesday, 7:30pm 

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Holiday Gift to our Dental Family!

We love our wonderful community and especially our Dental Family! It is truly an honor and privilege to be able to serve so many wonderful members of our community to improve their smiles and health.

This letter is being mailed now to our active Dental Family members. It also applies to you if we can help you with your oral health or smile.

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November, 2013

Dear Members of our Dental Family,

Your health, appearance and comfort are the reasons our practice exists. We are proud to be your oral health specialists. You deserve high quality dental care at reasonable fees. Our goal is to keep you as healthy as possible and have your smile looking great by making what you need as easy for you as possible.

The approaching holiday season is a time for giving and receiving. As our gift to you, any newly scheduled treatment done from now until the end of the year will be done at a 10% discount to you.

These reduced fees will be extended to any friend or relative you refer to our office during the holiday season. This is in addition to the $25 credit you may use toward any future treatment with each new patient you refer to our office. You are very important to us and deserve the highest quality dental care at a good value.

We are your health care advocates. As stated in an earlier note to you, if you have dental insurance or a designated health savings account, we would like to help you maximize both your benefits, your appearance and your health. Each year you may be allowed a fixed dollar amount to use for health care. These benefits do not carry over from year to year, so if any of it is not used by the end of the year, those unused dollars are gone forever.

If you have referred friends or family to us for their care recently, we appreciate this very much. If you haven’t, please do so. We need this support.

Please, call Karen to schedule an appointment at your earliest convenience. Spaces are limited and we want to ensure we are able to accommodate everyone. We look forward to helping you and those you care about always.

We wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season.

Sincerely,

Dr. Dave McWhinnie and Team

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We have a wonderful team at our office. It is even better than it was due to the addition of Karen to our team. Karen is a true expert in helping you get the most out of your dental benefits. She is truly a dental benefits expert!

We look forward to seeing you. It truly is a pleasure and an honor to help you with your dental health!

Dr. Dave

Regular dental "Check-ups" save time and money.

The other day we had patients needing 4 crowns who were all seen on the same day. We are also doing a number of other major treatment procedures, recently. It seems too many people are not coming in for preventive treatment and early diagnosis of minor, undetectable [by the patient] problems, which is resulting in the need for more major treatment later. [This is probably related to our poor economy and many people having financial difficulty.]

Small problems in dentistry quite often progress to become major problems if not found in early stages. See your dentist at least once a year and it will save you the need for major treatment and save you money also. This is frustrating for those of us who are focusing on keeping our 'Dental Family' healthy!

Please let us help you by contacting us at: http://smilesofskokie.com/contact/
My professional purpose is to help you with your oral health.

Our office schedule is also updated almost daily on our website at: 
http://smilesofskokie.com/hoursmap/

“Hopeless” tooth condemned by gum disease specialist saved.

We had a very nice lady come back to us after seeing a dental gum specialist and staying away from our office for too long. She didn’t come back to our office for 3 and 1/2 years. Her front tooth had bleeding gum around it and it was quite loose. She was very upset about being told she needed to lose this upper front tooth because it was, “hopeless”. She wanted a second opinion.

The gum specialist in Evanston works with someone who does restorative dentistry also. The fees they were charging were very much higher than our fees.

Becky was motivated and I have a laser for treating gum disease. Her bite was adjusted and the diseased area was treated with an Nd:YAG laser. It worked! The gum health is now within normal limits and the tooth is firm. [For dental professionals: 8mm pockets are now 3+mm. Excellent!]

Becky is very happy! We saved her a lot of trauma and money.

If you would like a second opinion about some proposed dental treatment which you find questionable, please come to us for a no cost, 5 minute, QL [Quick Look] appointment with all the information you can bring [x-rays, treatment plan, ....] and I will be happy to give you a quick assessment. We may very well need to do a more complete exam but I will do my best to enlighten you with some suggestions in regard to your problem with our QL appointment.

If you have a simple question in regard to one problem of any kind we will be happy to see you for a very short appointment and at least give you some idea as to how serious your situation is. This, again, would be a no cost, QL or Quick Look appointment.

We are in practice to help people with their oral health!

We would be happy to help you!

Skokie Health Department survey request.

If you visit or live in Skokie, please completed this survey:

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Hello Dr. Dave,

I am writing to request that you complete the Community Health Survey in the link below, and consider sharing with others who would be willing to assist the Skokie Health Department (Rotary Members?). We are conducting the survey to establish the top health priorities for Skokie for the next 5 years, and are seeking wide community input. A blurb describing the survey is below, along with a link to the electronic version. We will publish the results of the survey later this year.

Thank you for your help, and please call me if you have questions!

Catherine


Please take a moment to answer a short "Community Health Survey" for the Skokie Health Department. The survey is being conducted to assess community health needs, as part of the state re-certification requirements. This process will identify the top health priorities for Skokie for the next five years.

The Health Department is seeking input from persons who live, work, attend school or enjoy events in Skokie. If you prefer, paper copies are available at Village Hall, or by calling ... 847-933-8252 . Here is the link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C3LSS5G

Thank you for your assistance!


Catherine A. Counard, MD, MPH
Director of Health
Village of Skokie
5127 Oakton Street
Skokie, Illinois 60077
....

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Thanks!

Tooth surface abrasion, gum recession and toothpaste.

Toothpaste abrasion and brushing too hard and long have been known to cause gum recession and wear of teeth and exposed roots for years. This is now getting more attention in the media and has been researched more carefully.

Please refer to these links:

http://www.epinions.com/content_3128664196

http://www.saveyoursmile.com/toothpaste/toothpaste-d.html

http://jada.ada.org/content/135/11/1516.2.full

I definitely recommend using the lowest rated abrasivity toothpaste with fluoride and a tartar control formulation.

Please also remember to only brush your natural teeth with a soft or extra soft toothbrush. All of us should only brush 5 to 10 circular strokes along the cheek and lip sides of the teeth and the tongue sides of the teeth. The chewing surfaces can be brushed more vigorously. This will help avoid gum recession and root surface wear. Brushing harder does NOT replace flossing. All of us need to floss every 36 hours also to prevent plaque from hardening into tartar.

Remember you don't need to brush AND floss all of your teeth every day, only the teeth you want to keep!

Thanksgiving, a great holiday!

It is truly one of my favorite holidays. It is nice to get together with friends and family with a focus only on enjoying one another and being reflective on the wonderful world we have to live in.

Hopefully you will be able to spend some time over this holiday weekend appreciating the world we live in, including your significant others of many different degrees of separation. According to some of the latest research for the social media, we are closer to anyone else in the world than 6 degrees of separation.

The world seems huge but it really isn't that large. Hopefully we will be mindful of that in every aspect of our lives and behave accordingly. It is truly best to think globally and act locally. All of us have a direct impact on our part of the world and our part of the world is a significant part of the entire planet.

My best to you and yours during this holiday weekend and always!

Watch for our new, totally redesigned website.

We are in the process of remaking our professional office website. Fortunately we are employing some very competent help in the form of Mike Yublosky of www.diywebjem.com who is quite proficient in setting up this type of technology. He has done some wonderful work for us already.

The new website will be on a WordPress platform. We will have space for all of our Dental Family to post comments directly on the website on its blog pages. This is a very convenient way to participate and share your questions with me and the rest of our dental family at Smiles of Skokie.

I am personally very excited about this. The new design will make it very easy to communicate with everyone and update the information the website contains in a very simple fashion also. It will be a wonderful resource for all of us.

Technology provides all of us with GREAT tools!

We had a patient in the other day who had a tooth fracturing under an old bridge and porcelain fracturing away on the same bridge. The tooth supporting the bridge on the other side was still bonded to the bridge. Without the proper instrumentation it can be virtually impossible to remove the bonded bridge from the still solid tooth it is bonded to. Fortunately I have in my office the ideal instrument for this and it wasn't too much of an issue. We removed the bridge cleanly and without any visible damage to the underlying tooth.

For more information on the wonderful technology we have at Smiles of Skokie, please visit our website at http://www.smilesofskokie.com/ or http://www.caredental.com/equipment.html at your leisure.

I love my iPhone too! It makes staying in touch with my 'Dental Family' much easier.

Hope all of you are having a great day!

Dental Implants are GREAT!

We just had a patient in a few minutes ago who has a front tooth replaced with an implant. [He is also getting one for a missing molar now.] It looks GREAT! We had to have him go to our local lab for some custom shade matching but the results are well worth it. It has been in place for a few years.

We are in the process of restoring 5 more implants now. The materials needed to start on 3 of them are ready to go and just arrived today. We will be placing 2 more on Thursday.

This is not an inexpensive process but it is the best way to do this. The surgeon's cost is in the neighborhood of $2200. The restorative process done with me is about $1600. This results in a total cost of about $3800 if only one tooth is being replaced. This tooth could very well last the rest of your life though. It is well worth it in my opinion and that of many of our patients.

Another patient was inquiring about getting dental implants earlier this afternoon also.

PerioShield is available at my office.

We have it for $10 per bottle.

We will be in the office from 9am until 2pm on Saturday, tomorrow.

Patients BEWARE: Dental implant only offices with fast treatment.

Unfortunately there are many examples of poorly done dental treatment from large corporate organizations. There are examples in one hour whitening, there are retailers who attempt to setup dental clinics, there are orthodontic treatment advertisers, there are porcelain veneer specialty brands and there are now large entities providing dental implants through mass advertising. There have been problems with all of these over time.

I very recently had a new patient come to me for a complete evaluation of his oral health. One of his primary complaints was in regard to a recently placed and restored molar implant. This was done at a greater fee than he would have paid through my office and our surgeon, and it was a problem. His complaint was that food was constantly accumulating in this area every time he ate. Unfortunately the only solution is to replace the slightly cheaper stock implant crown adapter [abutment] with a new one and this would mean replacing the crown also at a cost of about $1600. He is going to think about this.

He was told to return to the health care provider of this restoration to get this problem addressed. He is considering this option.

Please contact me if you have any dental questions. It is my pleasure to be of service and help to you. This is one of my major reasons for practicing dentistry.

I wish you and yours the best of health always!

Perioshield at Smiles of Skokie. Revolutionary rinse!

This appears to be a very significant breakthrough for those of us with gum disease. Perioshield is a new product which is classified by the FDA as a 'dental device' and it is a rinse. It is basically a mouth wash. It is to be used twice a day after flossing and brushing.

Perioshield has been shown to reduce dental plaque and bleeding by more than one third in clinical studies. This is not a systemic drug with systemic side effects but a locally acting 'device'. In my mind this is the best way to handle health problems. Too many 'drugs' have far too many side effects and we don't need to add to the number of drugs in use today.

Here is an online link to the manufacturer's information:

http://us-professional.gumbrand.com/departments/operatory-products/gum-perioshield-oral-health-rinse/products/new-perioshield/

All of us [with our own teeth] still need to floss and brush, carefully, at least once a day but those of us with tendencies to develop gum disease may greatly benefit from this product. Those of us with gum disease susceptibility should also be very careful with our diets and perhaps take nutritional supplements to help build up our own resistance and health to be at its best to fight off this tendency.

Please tell your friends and neighbors about this if they have ever mentionend having gum problems to you or if you have ever noticed significant mouth odor from them. Bad breath is a pretty reliable indicator of gum disease.

Unfortunately Perioshield is not available through local retailers yet. We are ordering some for sale in the office for $10 per bottle because we feel this is a great product which you should be able to get as soon as possible which is why my team and I are making this available to you in our office.

Email in regard to a friend of one of our "Dental Family" & root canal treatment.

Hi, _____;

Please see my response inserted into your text below.

I hope you, _____ and all of yours are well.

---
I wish you & yours the best always!
Dave McWhinnie
Text & Voice: 847-906-3202
www.SmilesOfSkokie.com
Mobile: davidmcw3@gmail.com
Blogs: http://dave-mcwhinnie.blogspot.com/
http://drdavesmilesofskokie.blogspot.com/

On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 10:56:42 -0700 (PDT), ____ _______ wrote:
> Hello, Dave.
>
> I have a question for you, please. I have a friend at work who may or
> may not be the victim of questionable dental practices. Allow me to
> explain. She had a root canal done on of her upper, center-most teeth.
> Within two days of this surgery, the color of the tooth began to
> darken. Concerned about losing the tooth, not to mention the
> appearance issue, she went back to visit the dentist. On the latter
> visit he told her that this discoloration is normal, and that one must
> wait fully six months after a root canal to see if the tooth
> recuperates its health and can be, for lack of a better word,
> “saved”.

When a root canal is done on a tooth there shouldn't be much discoloration. A root canal treated tooth [in particular an upper front tooth] needs to be sealed with a temporary filling material which should prevent it from discoloring and help prevent the root canal treatment from failing. The discoloration I don't understand at all. A tooth treated in this manner should also be restored with bonding material within a few to 6 or so weeks after the root canal. Then it should be restored with a crown within a year of the completion of the root canal treatment. These are standard practices within dentistry. Root canals in these teeth almost always work. The success rate is in excess of 95%.

>She also is thinking that if the tooth is this dark after
> a few days, what will it look like after six month?

This is a good question.

>The worst case
> scenario, the dentist says, is for the tooth to die, in which case he
> says the optimal step would be replacement with a tooth implant.

The tooth is already devitalized and thought to be dead after a root canal. Failure entails an infection which won't heal or usually redevelops within a relatively short time after the root canal is completed. Root canals can, however, fail years after the treatment is completed.

>
> Does this sound like standard and proper practice to you, please?

Perhaps there is something lacking in the communication but it does sound questionable to me.

> Does it sound as if a second opinion may be needed here?

I think that would be a good idea. I would be happy to assess the situation. I do a lot of this type of treatment.

>
> I appreciate your time and trouble, whenever you may have the
> opportunity to answer this.

It is my pleasure and honor to be given the opportunity to express my professional opinion here. I appreciate your concern and efforts on behalf of a friend of yours.

>
> Thanking you kindly in advance,
>
> ____

Please let me know if I can be of further help.

Sincerely yours,
Dave

Good day yesterday.

We saw one patient I did some veneers for a year or so ago. I couldn't tell which teeth they were on without doing a close examination. It is great to have such wonderful materials and labs to work with that this is possible. Cosmetic/aesthetic dentistry sure is FUN!

We also started a crown for another patient which should work out very well. We delivered a whitening system for another patient and thanks to my wonderful team everything went well. It is a great feeling to know we are helping our 'Dental Family' as well as is possible at this point in time.

I am always looking for better ways to help all of our 'Dental Family'.

We had an 8 year old and an 11 year old in yesterday who are brother and siter. They are both flossing all of their teeth daily. This is GREAT! Once the habit is formed and a patient gets accustomed to a healthy, clean mouth they are much more likely to maintain this healthy routine for life. These two will have minimal dental problems and as a result better overall health throughout their lives. How about you?

It is nice to be back in the office after a long holiday weekend. I did have fun though in a number of ways. It was a nice holiday weekend. My wife also arrived home from the Philippines yesterday. It is wonderful to have her home.

We could be busier. We would like to keep our entire team comfortably busy. Michelle, our hygienist, would like to be working more hours. If you can think of any friends, relatives or neighbors, who have teeth, and who might benefit from our help, please refer them to us. We appreciate this vote of confidence when you refer new patients to us very much.

Medications to prevent heart attack or stoke from blood clots.

There are some major changes in the way we handle your medications if you are taking this type of medication. We will not be suspending anti-clotting medications nearly as much as we have in the past.

The American Dental Association has a very good article which includes very recent research which I would recommend you discuss with your physician if this pertains to you. There are 2 versions of the newest recommendations at the following website link, one of which is for patients and the other for dental professional. Please read it if you are taking this type of medication.

http://www.ada.org/2526.aspx?currentTab=2

We are fortunate to live in an environment where improvements in health care are always progressing through research and clinical evaluation of all of our treatments. There are always improvements in the way we treat and medicate our 'dental family' which is our professional promise to you.

We also treat handicapped patients.

We are handicapped accessible. We recently joined www.jjslist.com to allow us to be more easily found by future, new, challenged members of our dental family. We enjoy taking care of all of your friends and neighbors. We take special pleasure in helping those with more difficult circumstances. After all, we are in the oral health care field to care for and help all of our friends and neighbors. We take great pride in our work of helping others.

Toothpaste and abrasion.

Toothpaste abrasion and brushing too hard and long have been known to cause gum recession and wear of teeth and exposed roots for years. This is now getting more attention in the media and has been researched more carefully. Please refer to these links:

http://www0.epinions.com/content_3128664196

http://www.saveyoursmile.com/toothpaste/toothpaste-d.html

http://jada.ada.org/content/135/11/1516.2.full

I definitely recommend using the lowest rated abrasivity toothpaste with fluoride and a tartar control formulation.

Please also remember to only brush your natural teeth with a soft or extra soft toothbrush. All of us should only brush 5 to 10 circular strokes along the cheek and lip sides of the teeth and the tongue sides of the teeth. The chewing surfaces can be brushed more vigorously. This will help avoid gum recession and root surface wear. Brushing harder does NOT replace flossing. All of us need to floss every 36 hours also to prevent plaque from hardening into tartar.

Took a short trip to Florida the end of last week.

Here is a link to the photos I took:

https://picasaweb.google.com/davidmcw3/2011May57BeachBlastPanamaCityBeachFlorida?authkey=Gv1sRgCKyH296NrKWNzwE#

It is always nice to get back too though.

Radiation worries are now on everyone's mind.

Dear All, I have been letting you know about our minimal radiation exposure dental x-ray system somewhat regularly but it bears repeating in light of the disaster in Japan. There is no level of radiation which is desirable. However, until we have a better way of checking for your health or lack of it in regard to medicine or dentistry we are stuck with it.

Our phosphor sensor plate system requires the least exposure to radiation of any x-ray system available. It actually requires 33% of the radiation which other electronic sensor systems need to produce a good image.

I actually had to replace one of our x-ray machines when we bought this system for you and our office. There was no way to set the old machine to a low enough exposure to get a good image.

Please do a Google search if you would like. You will find there isn't a more sensitive system available than what we have for you at Smiles of Skokie.

Your health is our primary concern. We are interested in keeping you as healthy as possible dentally and medically.

We thank all of you for letting us help you as members of our 'dental family' at Smiles of Skokie!