Dentistry in the 80's

It happens all the time.

Someone comes into my office that hasn't been for a long long time. I ask why it is that they have not come for so many years. They reply that they had a bad experience once and that they can't stand the noise of the drill or the feel of the novocaine or something similar to that.

I ask them how long its been and the response comes back that they haven't been in 20 or 30 years.

I then ask them what their cell phone looked like 25 years ago.

After a puzzled look they go on to describe a boxy bulky phone that weighed a ton. I then ask them to describe their personal computer. They go on to talk about floppy disks and commodore 64s.

I then explain that just like in every other area of their life, things move on. Technology advances and things improve. Dentistry of 30 years ago is NOT dentistry of today. I tell them of quieter drills and how we don't use metal fillings anymore and on and on. The real kicker comes in when I tell them that we haven't used novocaine in over 20 years! I don't even know if you can buy the stuff anymore. Even the stuff we use to numb people up with has evolved immensely.

Moral to the story is this. If you have had a bad dental experience in the past. But it was the past of the 80s or even 90s. Please give the dentist another try. Things are so much better now then they have ever been. Technology can be a wonderful thing.

Don't know why I included this one. Just love the 80s hair.

Dr Ellis Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

Dr. Ellis on Google+

What you are seeing is an underbite.

We have all seen folks that seem to have a fairly prominent chin.

Sometime's that's all it is, is a prominent chin and no other factors exist.

Other times however the cause for the prominence is due to a misalignment of teeth.

This misalignment is called a class III occlusion of more

commonly known as an underbite.

In a classic occlusion, or bite, your top teeth are supposed to

 protrude out over your bottom teeth slightly as shown in the top picture below.

In the underbite situation things are reversed and your bottom teeth

protrude out further then your top teeth, as shown in the bottom right picture below.

Some people have lived their entire lives in this condition (my wife's Grandfather)

and haven't suffered any ill effects at all.

Others have suffered tremendously from poor chewing ability, pain and 

popping in their TMJ joint, headaches, etc.

With surgery this condition is correctable (my wife, passed down from Gramps)

and within a very short period of time return to full function and look.

Dr. Ellis Website

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis on Google+

Cosmetic Dentistry. Before and After

What a great case to start off the week. 

This gentlemen never liked the gap in his front teeth.

He never decided to do anything about it. 

Soon however he got a few cavities on those very same teeth.

Coming in to get the cavities fixed gave us the perfect opportunity

to also close the gap that he had hated for so long.

Before

After

The patient is super happy with the results.

And what is even better is that he didn't even need 

to be numbed for the entire procedure.

Dr. Ellis Website

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis on Google+ 

Cougars and Utes

As a dentist here in the Utah area I have been asked many times (or never)

to settle the dispute over who is better, the Cougars or the Utes.

A Ute is a Native American Indian that lived in the Utah area.

A Cougar is a large member of the cat family also known as a mountain lion.

Since I am a dentist I must use teeth as the determining factor for this decision.

It is evident from research that I have done that the teeth of a cougar

are far superior in every way to that of a Ute.

Please note this opinion is not biased (although I do have BYU season tickets).

In color, ability to rip meat from the bone, size, and strength the

cougars have a decided edge over the Utes.

Dr. Ellis Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

Dr. Ellis on Google+

Before and afters

Here is a before and after of a case we did just the other day. 

A patient had a slight crack running down his tooth.

The tooth also had a old metal filling. 

Perfect chance to fix the crack and get the metal out

in order to make the tooth look a little more life like.

Tooth before. 

Tooth after.

Happy Patient.

Dr. Ellis Website

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis on Google+

Are you sure I have a cavity. It doesn't even hurt.

This is a question we get asked all the time.

"Are you sure I have a cavity. Because it doesn't hurt."

Well, saying that is like saying, "Why do I need to change my oil when my car is running just fine?"

Your car may be running fine and you could save yourself $49.99 by not changing your oil.

However, when you engine seizes up your repair bill is now about $4,000 for a new motor.

You didn't end up saving a lot in the end.

Same is true with teeth and cavities.

you could save yourself the small cost of getting a cavity filled but then when it starts to hurt you will need to get a root canal and a crown. That means that your cost, and your discomfort, will be significantly more.

Save yourself the money and the discomfort.

Get your cavities filled when they are small.

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

Dr Ellis on Google+

Broken tooth at girls camp!

I love putting up before and after pictures.

People come into the office all the time thinking that

there is nothing that can be done for them. 

They afraid to open their mouth because of how bad it looks.

Well, in 999 out of 1000 cases it isn't nearly as bad as they think.

This is a great case of that.

A young lady had to be taken from girls camp because she broke her tooth.

She came to my office fearing the worst.

We got her all fixed up and she actually went back to girls camp that night

and finished up having a great time with her friends.

Before

After

One happy girl and one happy mom too : )

Dr. Ellis Website

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis on Google+