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While we are very happy to help utilize dental insurance in our office and process the necessary paperwork, there seems to be a common misunderstanding.

Dental insurance is YOUR insurance. Dental insurance does not care.

We do our best to know how your plan works, but as a consumer it is necessary for you to be familiar with your plan. There are thousands of dental plans out there and subgroups as well. Employees in adjacent cubicles can have the same plan but different benefits. It is confusing and we try to help, but it is impossible for us to predict with 100% accuracy what they will cover 100% of the time (we are good and usually ARE correct, but sometimes the insurance companies do what they do…).

As the economy fluctuates, we see some plans reject claims that they covered in the past. The person most qualified to suggest treatment is the doctor that actually LOOKED into a person’s mouth. If an x-ray was all that was needed, dentists wouldn’t need to even look inside of a mouth.

An example was a tooth that had a very large filling and decay all around the filling and cracked enamel. The recommendation was a crown, yet the insurance company refused to pay, saying it was fine. No matter how many photos and x-rays were sent, they just wouldn’t pay.

That doesn’t mean the care given was not appropriate. It simply means the insurance company chose not to pay based on the opinion of their minimum wage desk clerk, or occasionally their contracted dentist that gets paid based on how much money is NOT spent.

The insurance company is designed for nothing more than to make money. They make their money by NOT spending it. They deny claims for their own profits, and the subscribers (patients) suffer as a result.

Lately we are getting calls asking if we outsource our lab work, or do our labs outsource some or all of their work.

No.

The bottom line is this: We are VERY proud to use only American labs that do all of their work in America, nothing is outsourced. We use the highest quality materials and American craftsmanship.

Call 206-241-5533 to learn more!

Just finished attending a great conference for the International Academy for Comprehensive Aesthetics in San Francisco. Learned some cutting edge things that should greatly help my patients!

A few weeks ago, Whoopi Goldberg returned to her TV show, "The View," and shared with the world the significance of gum disease. What you don’t know CAN kill you…

Gum disease linked with gestational diabetes risk

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Pregnant women with gum disease may be more likely to develop gestational diabetes than those with healthy gums, researchers have found.

Gestational diabetes arises during pregnancy and usually resolves after the baby is born, but it can raise a woman’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes later on. It can also contribute to problems during pregnancy and delivery, including maternal high blood pressure and a larger-than-normal baby, which may necessitate a cesarean section.

The new findings, published in the Journal of Dental Research, suggest that gum disease may be a treatable risk factor for gestational diabetes.

Among pregnant women researchers followed, the 8 percent who developed gestational diabetes had higher levels of gum-disease-causing bacteria and inflammation.

Gum disease can trigger an inflammatory response not only in the gums, but throughout the body. It’s possible that such inflammation may exacerbate any pregnancy-related impairment in blood sugar control, contributing to gestational diabetes in some women, the researchers speculate.

Past studies have also linked gum disease to a higher risk of premature birth, with one theory being that systemic inflammation is involved.

Of the 265 women in the study, 83 percent were Hispanic, a group that is at higher-than-average risk of both gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes. The women who developed gestational diabetes were also significantly more likely to be heavier before they became pregnant, have had gestational diabetes before, and higher C reactive protein levels, a marker for inflammation and cardiovascular disease.

“In addition to its potential role in preterm delivery, evidence that gum disease may also contribute to gestational diabetes suggests that women should see a dentist if they plan to get pregnant, and after becoming pregnant,” Dr. Ananda P. Dasanayake, the lead researcher on the study, said in a statement.

“Treating gum disease during pregnancy has been shown to be safe and effective in improving women’s oral health and minimizing potential risks,” added Dasanayake, a professor at the New York University College of Dentistry.

Future studies, Dasanayake noted, should investigate the link between gum disease and gestational diabetes in other high-risk groups, such as Asian and Native American women.

SOURCE: Journal of Dental Research, April 2008.