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My grandfather used to joke that he didn’t have a sweet tooth, he had thirty-two sweet teeth. Some days, I sure feel like I’ve inherited those genes. Fortunately, a natural, healthy sweet alternative called xylitol is becoming more widely available to us. Xylitol has been around for a long time; it is a five-carbon sugar alcohol derived primarily from birch trees. It is found in some fruits, berries and vegetables and is produced in the human liver, which is why it’s safe for humans to consume.

What makes xylitol unique and increasingly recommended by dental teams is that it not only doesn’t cause cavities, it actually helps prevent them. Cavity-causing bacteria are unable to metabolize xylitol, so it is not converted into tooth-dissolving acid, as sugar is. This hinders the bacteria’s ability to grow. Xylitol contains about 40% of the calories that sugar does and is safe for diabetics to use.

For decay reduction, between six and ten grams of xylitol per day is recommended (three to five servings). Xylitol is available in gum, candy, toothpaste and mouthrinses, as well as in crystalline form. These products can often be easily found online (websites include www.drjohns.com, www.Carifree.com, www.spry.com) and in health food or local Market of Choice stores. We have several xylitol-containing products available in the office. If you haven’t tried it yet, ask us for a sample at your next visit!

I just returned from the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. In addition to the Alamo, Riverwalk and some great Tex-Mex food, we heard a LOT of the newest information and research in using oral appliances to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
For those unfamiliar with sleep apnea, it is a destructive condition where people stop breathing for up to a minute, often several times per hour, during sleep. The chronic lack of oxygen causes damage to our blood vessels and tissues and thus contributes to hardening of the arteries, cardiovascular disease, strokes and a huge host of chronic medical conditions. Sufferers sleep poorly and are often chronically tired, interfering with their memory and enjoyment of life and increasing their risk of accidents while driving.
Obstructive apnea is most often and effectively treated with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, however many people find this treatment difficult to tolerate for a variety of reasons. People who have been diagnosed with mild to moderate apnea, are unsuccessful in using a CPAP machine, or who just snore loudly to the distress of their family members may often find successful relief with an oral appliance.
To learn more about this and whether you or a family member may be suffering, visit our Obstructive Sleep Apnea page and talk with your medical doctor.

Here’s a neat fact for our patients that few know – the dental chairs you sit in and the majority of the dental equipment in our office was manufactured just up the road from our Eugene-Springfield dental office. Newberg, Oregon is home to one of the world’s largest manufacturers of dental equipment, a company called a-dec. Started in 1971 by Joan and Ken Austin in their garage, it has grown over the years to become a major supplier to the dental industry worldwide and a major employer in Newberg. When it was time to outfit our office with new equipment six years ago, I had the opportunity to visit their showroom at their plant. This past weekend I returned to Newberg for an Oregon Dental Association board meeting held at The Allison Inn, the Austin’s newest business venture that opened last fall.

Located just across the road from their manufacturing facility in one of Oregon’s many Willamette Valley wine country areas, this world class destination resort had an amazing amount of detail built into it. Not suprising though when we think about how detail-oriented the dental business is. With all their success, the Austins remain very down-to-earth and love the land they grew up on in Newberg, very evident in their keynote speech to our group. They give back to their community and to dentistry in countless ways and no doubt contribute to the economy in Newberg and Oregon with the business they bring to our state and jobs they provide. Thanks to them for providing equipment that is looks attractive, works beautifully and makes doing dentistry as easy as possible!

A few weeks ago, I received a phone call on a Saturday evening from a patient. Her six year old son had been out playing on his scooter and somehow wound up giving a nice big kiss to the sidewalk. After a visit to Urgent Care to check for a broken nose or more serious lacerations (luckily, neither had occurred), the physician advised them to contact their dentist. When I saw them an hour later the tears had dried, although the road rash on his nose and fat upper lip would take longer to resolve. The worst damage appeared to be sustained by his two upper front teeth, which were quite loose and the surrounding gum tissue was bruised and bleeding. They had contacted the pavement and lucky again, were his already-loose baby teeth and not his permanent incisors. Nothing needed but advice to encourage the little guy to keep wiggling those teeth to help them exit and become the property of the tooth fairy.

A few things went really well in this whole situation (they don’t always go this well). First, mom had brought?her son in for an easy routine dental visit (exam and cleaning) several months earlier, so he was familiar with the dentist and dental office. That’s a much better scenario than when their first dental visit is as a result of an accident, especially if we had needed to do some treatment that night. Second, he will not suffer any permanent damage to his teeth and will hopefully be much more careful with the scooter in the future. Again, not always the case…but a good lesson learned, with no long-term consequences. With the weather warming up, let’s get outside but take it easy with the wheeled toys!

Last week I was fortunate to attend the American Dental Association’s Washington Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, along with eight other Oregon dentists and Oregon Dental Association staff. The purpose of the meeting was to help us communicate with our congressional representatives on issues affecting dentistry and dental care for Oregonians. Dentists from all over the nation attended as we heard speakers on the recent health care legislation, issues affecting dental offices and patients, and communication. Our own Senator Ron Wyden met with our Oregon delegation and then spoke to the whole conference on the recently passed health care bill. In the photo, Dr. Wes Heringer of Salem and I are visiting the office of 4th District Representative Peter DeFazio. We thanked him for his support of two bills, including one that would make insurance companies subject to the antitrust laws that nearly every other industry is subject to. If the Senate passes the bill, it will make medical & dental insurers compete with each other and hopefully reduce costs and improve covered services for patients. It was interesting to learn more about political processes and how we as citizens can let our congressmen know our thoughts on issues and pending legislation.

At the Lane County Fairgrounds today, homeless people in Lane County had the opportunity to access a variety of services and resources, including dental care. Several local agencies were on hand to assist with providing information and donated goods and services. Medical Teams International provided two dental vans where people received dental extractions, provided by volunteer dental care professionals from Eugene-Springfield. Watch the video here.

On Saturday, January 30th, Lane Community College Dental Hygiene students and staff and Lane County Dental Society dentists partnered to provide free care to nearly 60 low-income, uninsured community members. This volunteer effort gave the students some extra practice in patient care and provided a variety of services to patients, including extractions, fillings and cleanings. Thanks to everyone who got up early and gave up their Saturday to make this day a success!

On December 22nd & 23rd, the Oregon Dental Foundation’s Tooth Taxi made a stop in Eugene. It was parked in the White Bird Dental Clinic parking lot for two days as the White Bird Dental staff, Dr. Jan Halvorson and Dr. Renee Watts worked to see a total of twenty low-income adults and children while the White Bird Dental Clinic is undergoing remodeling.

The Tooth Taxi travels the State of Oregon, staffed by a pediatric dentist and dental assistant, providing care to low-income children who would otherwise receive little to no dental care.

Stay tuned this spring for our patient online access service to be enabled! This will allow existing patients to check account balances, status of insurance claims and unused benefits, make online payments and check future appointment times.