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A Dentist for Seniors

July 13th, 2010

As we age, our dental needs change. Enamel wears thin, gums recede, and we need a dentist for seniors – a dentist who knows how to treat patients who have age-specific dental health needs.

Proper Dental Care

Proper dental care is vital for older patients.

We all know that seniors need special care – regular doctor appointments are necessary to ensure the best health possible, and medical care for seniors usually focuses on the body’s vital functions. Too often, dental health is pushed to the wayside.

It’s understandable. After all, older adults and their loved ones are often dealing with fixed incomes and an array of health needs, including a host of medications and regular check-ups with doctors and specialists.

But dental health is vital to a person’s overall good health, especially for seniors. Healthy teeth and gums contribute to one’s ability to speak, enjoy food and conversation, and to facilitate digestion and the distribution of nutrients throughout the body. These functions are especially imperative for the older adult.

It is common or people over 50 to have periodontal (gum) disease and tooth decay (cavities). Studies show that 25% of Americans over the age of 65 have lost all their teeth. But tooth loss can be prevented with proper dental care and regular visits to the dentist.

Put simply, the older you get, the more important dental health becomes. That’s why it’s crucial for older adults to seek the right dentist.

Dentist for Seniors

A dentist for seniors specializes in the changing needs of an aging adult.

As we get older, we usually need to take more medications. These may help control or balance cholesterol, blood pressure, or the heart. Medicine also helps older adults manage arthritis and digestive problems.

It’s imperative that a dentist understands medications that are commonly used for health issues that affect seniors. Various medications can cause conflicts if the dentist isn’t prepared and knowledgeable about the interactive effects of medications used in dentistry combined with medications frequently used by aging adults. Many medications also cause chronic dry mouth (xerostomia) that can lead to rapidly progressing tooth decay if not treated promptly.

In addition to understanding medications, a dentist for seniors will be aware of other common challenges that seniors face. Stiff muscles make lying in the dentist’s chair uncomfortable. Many seniors have limited mobility, making it hard for them to get to the dentist’s office and into the chair. Some struggle with diseases that affect aging adults, such as Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia.

A dentist for seniors is sensitive to the wide range of challenges that aging adults are facing and works closely with patients to ensure the best dental health and the best care possible. That includes sensitivity to a patient’s age-specific needs.

Dentist for Elderly Patients

Providing dental care for elderly patients is our specialty.

As we get older, we need a dentist that specializes in the ever-changing needs of the human body, and it’s essential that we include dental health in our overall health care regimen. For seniors, proper dental care is more important than ever, since the health of our teeth and gums affects the health of our entire bodies.

Here at the Blende Dental Group, we work with a wide range of special needs patients. To speak with a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment with a dentist for seniors, please call 1.800.575.3375.

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Pain Free Dentist Visits are Possible

July 6th, 2010

Did you know that dental health is vital to maintaining overall good health? By getting regular check-ups and cleanings, you can avoid more serious dental problems, such as gum disease or tooth decay.

But many patients avoid seeing a dentist regularly. Some people postpone making an appointment because it’s an inconvenience. Others avoid making appointments because they fear a trip to the dentist means getting a procedure that will be painful.

Regular visits to the dentist are the best way to avoid complex procedures. The more time that lapses between visits, the greater the chances that you’ll need more than an exam and cleaning.

Sometimes it’s necessary to treat more serious dental problems. Letting cavities or gum disease go untreated only results in bigger problems down the road. And with modern dentistry methods, getting these problems treated can be far less painful that living with them.

Thanks to new medications and modern dentistry methods, pain free dentist visits are possible.

Imagine going to the dentist to have work done, but instead of sitting anxiously in the dentist’s chair, you feel completely calm, listening to soothing music and comfortably relaxing or sleeping through the entire procedure.

Sedation Dentistry

Sedation dentistry has made pain free dentist visits possible. Using medications that alleviate pain and help you relax, a dentist can perform simple to complex procedures and ensure that your teeth and gums are healthy. All this can be done painlessly.

There are two types of sedation dentistry: conscious sedation and unconscious sedation.

With conscious sedation, you are given a sedative to keep you relaxed but awake during a procedure. Conscious sedation is administered orally with a pill (usually Halcion or valium) or a gas called nitrous oxide (laughing gas). You will remain awake and aware while your dental work is being done, but you will be completely relaxed and will feel no pain.

Unconscious sedation, which is often called sleep dentistry, is a procedure in which you are asleep for your entire procedure. Using either an IV sedative or general anesthesia (administered by a licensed anesthesiologist), you will fall into a deep sleep, and when you wake up, your dental work will be completed.

One-Sleep-Visit™ Total Dentistry

The Blende Dental Group is at the forefront of sedation dentistry, where pain free dentist techniques make even the most elaborate treatments painless. We’ve made this possible through our One-Sleep-Visit Total Dentistry Method, which provides our patients with painless, full-mouth restoration in a single procedure.

No matter how serious or severe your dental problems are, we can treat you painlessly in a single visit. This is done through unconscious sedation. We bring in any specialists that need to work on your teeth and gums, from endodontists to periodontists, and work together as a team to restore your mouth to full health.

This means your procedure is painless and that you won’t need to arrange a series of appointments over a long period of time. Our One-Sleep-Visit is convenient and pain free.

Post-Procedure Treatment

Many patients worry that they will have pain after their dental procedure. We help our patients avoid post-treatment pain and soreness with over-the-counter medications, such as Ibuprofen. For more complex procedures, we can offer prescription medications to relieve pain until your mouth is completely healed.

Either way, we will make sure you remain pain-free.

Here at the Blende Dental Group, in addition to ensuring total dental health, we make sure our patients have a positive and comfortable experience.To learn more or to schedule a pain free dentist appointment, please call 1.800.575.3375.

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Modern Treatments Keep Dentist Phobia at Bay

June 29th, 2010

People who fear the dentist put off making appointments, even for simple procedures, such as basic cleanings and regular check-ups. They avoid talking to friends and family about their anxieties because they worry people won’t take their fears seriously. So, people who struggle with dentist phobia feel alone.

Dental Anxiety

But they are not alone. In fact, 1 in 7 Americans struggles with dental anxiety, which is commonly called dentist or dental phobia. It’s likely that you know several people who have mild to severe dental anxiety. If you’re one of those people, there’s more good news.

Many people who avoid the dentist do so because they had a bad experience with a dentist at some point in their life. But dentistry has been evolving. In recent years, developments in the methods and medicines used in dentistry have made procedures painless and more effective.

The best news is that dentists have become increasingly aware of their patients’ needs, including the need to work with a dentist who is sensitive to a person’s fears, discomfort, and anxiety.

The best advances are in sedation dentistry.

Sedation dentistry has made the greatest contribution to treating patients with dental anxiety. If you or someone you love is coping with dentist phobia, then sedation may be the key to getting through any procedure.

There are two types of sedation: conscious and unconscious. The best type of sedation for a patient with dental anxiety depends on the severity of anxiety and the complexity of work that needs to be done.

Conscious sedation dentistry uses a sedative to help the patient completely relax while dental work is being done. These sedatives can be administered orally with a pill such as Halcion or valium or with a gas called nitrous oxide (laughing gas). With conscious sedation, the patient is awake during the procedure, but relaxed, and their anxiety is reduced.

Unconscious sedation, also referred to as sleep sedation or sleep dentistry, is ideal for longer procedures or for patients with more severe dentist phobia. The patient is unconscious, either through an IV sedative or general anesthesia. Sedation goes into effect within a minute and makes it possible for the dentist to complete a series of procedures. The entire procedure is painless. There are fewer trips to the dentist since most of the work can be done in a single session under unconscious sedation. Best of all, when the patient wakes up, their dental treatment is already complete!

Treating Patients with Dental Anxiety

As important as medicine, including sedation, may be in treating patients with dentist phobia, nothing is more important that simply having a good bedside manner. That means dentists need to be sensitive to people’s fears and concerns.

As dentists become more aware of their patients’ worries, they are practicing dentistry in a more compassionate manner. Dentists are increasingly reaching out to people with dental phobia, something that many dentists didn’t understand until recently.

Here at the Blende Dental Group, we’ve been reaching out to people for over 20 years. Our work has always been centered around patients who need special care, from patients with illnesses and disabilities to patients who are simply frightened to make that appointment.

Our job is not just to ensure good dental health; it’s also to ensure that our patients feel secure when they come into our office. We encourage our patients to ask questions, share their concerns, and let us know whenever they need anything. We understand that we are responsible for an important aspect of our patients’ health, and we take that responsibility seriously.

The Blende Dental Group offers Sleep and Sedation Dentistry for patients with dentist phobia. To learn more about dental anxiety, take our FREE dental anxiety quiz. To speak with a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment, call 1-800-575-3375.

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How a Leading San Francisco Dentist Helps Special Patients

June 23rd, 2010

It’s hard to find the right dentist when you or your loved one has special needs. Children with autism or ADD find it difficult to sit still for a dental treatment. Seniors with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are not able to care for their own teeth properly. Even healthy adults with a good dentist may face dentist phobia, finding it difficult, if not impossible, to make an appointment and schedule a basic exam or cleaning.

Finding the right dentist is a challenge for anybody, but it’s especially challenging for families and individuals with special needs because not all dentists treat patients with special needs. Some do not have the training required to deal with special medical requirements. Others don’t have offices that are adequately equipped or staffed to help people with special needs. Many simply don’t understand the needs of patients with special circumstances.

Where can you find a special needs dentist?

The Blende Dental Group has worked with patients from all over the world. Patients have traveled from more than 30 states and 18 countries to come to our San Francisco dentist office and have their smiles restored by our team of specialists.

We help our patients in any way we can—and that includes making long-distance visits possible by assisting with travel coordination so that our patients get the dental care they need—no matter where they live.

We’ve helped many of our long-distance patients coordinate travel and lodging accommodations, and we may be able to plan treatments so that all dental work can be completed during a single trip.

One-Sleep-Visit™ Total Dentistry Method

Combining our dedication to helping special needs patients with our One-Sleep-Visit Total Dentistry Method has allowed us to serve people who otherwise would find it impossible to obtain proper dental health care.

Our One-Sleep-Visit treatment process starts with an exam, which helps us determine a patient’s needs and a course of treatment. Next, we perform dental work in a single visit while our patient sleeps soundly and painlessly. This allows us to do a large amount of dental work in a short amount of time.

We’ve made single-visit treatments possible by bringing together a team of specialists. Rather than send our patients to endodontists, periodontists, and oral surgeons, we bring these specialists to one location and they work together to get all of our patients’ work done in a single visit. Instead of having a course of treatment completed over months, the work is done in a few days.

After the single-visit procedure, we conduct a follow-up visit and final consultation in which we finish the dental treatment and set our patients on a course for regular dental health maintenance.

Dedicated San Francisco Dentist

Are you looking for a San Francisco dentist that serves special needs patients?

Our treatments and our process are ideal for special needs patients, including adults and children with illnesses and conditions that make regular trips to the dentist difficult. However, what truly sets our team apart is our commitment to making dental care accessible to patients who have unique challenges. Our compassion and dedication to the special needs community is what drives us to make these services available.

The Blende Dental Group offers Sleep and Sedation Dentistry for fearful, phobic, and special needs patients. To speak with a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment in our San Francisco dentist office, call 1-800-575-3375.

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How a Sedation Dentist Can Help Patients With Dental Phobia 

May 18th, 2010

You’ve tried going to the dentist to have much-needed dental work done, but it’s just too hard. First, you have to pick up the phone and make the call, but every time you reach for the phone, your hand shakes and your nerves rattle. If you can get through scheduling that appointment, then you have to physically go to the dentist’s office, which means even more anxiety.

And then, once you’re there, there’s no time to congratulate yourself for facing your fears. You’re bombarded with the sounds and smells, and your stomach is tied up in knots. Even if you make it all the way to the examination room, trying to distract yourself with music or relaxation techniques, the dentist still interrupts with that dreaded request to “open wider, please.”

At best, you’re slightly anxious about a trip to the dentist’s office. At worst, you’re absolutely terrified. So, you put it off. You avoid making appointments. You cancel the appointments you do make. You come up with reasons and excuses to avoid going to the dentist, but the truth is that you’re scared.

Dental Phobia

The good news is that you’re not alone. One in seven Americans suffers from dental phobia, and the phobia can be so severe that these patients will go years without seeing a dentist.

Here at the Blende Dental Group, we get it. What you really want is a way to have your dental work done without having to be there at all. At the very least, you wish you could sleep through the whole thing.

Welcome to sedation dentistry, the stress-free world of sleeping through your dental procedure. Using IV sedation, the dentist puts you into a deep sleep and then works on your teeth. You’ll feel no pain, and when you wake, your dental procedures will be all done.

Sedation Dentist

There are several types of sedation dentistry methods available, and the Blende Dental Group uses all of them. Some (like nitrous oxide or oral sedatives) leave you awake but completely relaxed. These are ideal if you don’t need a lot of work done or if your fear level is closer to “nervous” than “terrified.”

However, conscious sedation is not always enough. For extensive procedures or for people who have severe phobias, IV sedation is an ideal option.

IV Sedation Dentist

With IV sedation, we administer medication directly into your blood stream, and it goes into effect almost immediately, putting you to sleep so that your total mouth restoration can happen without your having to do anything except dream of your new, healthy and beautiful smile.

IV sedation is not as common as more familiar types of sedation, like Novocaine or nitrous oxide, because sedation dentistry requires special certification. Certified and experienced dentists, like the dentists here at the Blende Dental Group, ensure that dental sedation is just as safe as oral sedatives, such as Valium. In fact, IV sedation is more effective than oral medication because dosage can be adjusted as needed and instantaneously.

Just think—you can get all your dental work done in one, easy, painless, and worry-free visit, simply by seeing a sedation dentist. There’s no extra stress and nothing to fear—because you’ll nap through the entire procedure. You will hear nothing, taste nothing, smell nothing, feel nothing. It’s like a dream come true, and you’ll wake up with perfect teeth.

The Blende Dental Group offers Sleep and Sedation Dentistry for fearful, phobic, and special needs patients. To learn more about sedation dentistry, download a free copy of the The Consumer’s Guide To Sleep & Sedation Dentistry. To speak with a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment with a sedation dentist, call 1-800-575-3375.

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Special Needs Dentist Treats Patients with Anxiety, Disabilities, and Illnesses

May 11th, 2010

When you have a loved one with special needs, there are so many things to think about. Do they have special dietary requirements? Emotional issues? Is it difficult, if not impossible, to take them places? These are just a few of the things you need to consider—medical, physical, mental, and emotional concerns.

The last thing you need to worry about is your loved one’s dental care.

It should be simple. Regular check-ups are standard, right? Every six months, you get your teeth cleaned, maybe some x-rays taken, and you and your dentist stay on top of your dental health to prevent real problems from arising.

Special Needs Dental Patients

But when you’re caring for someone who has special needs, things like oral hygiene can fall by the wayside. Dealing with the challenges of daily life is difficult enough. Medicine. Food. Physical challenges. Emotional needs. All of these are draining and time-consuming, and most days, you’re grateful to get the bare minimum done.

Meanwhile, that trip to the dentist? You figure that can wait. Maybe it’s too difficult to get to the dentist’s office. Perhaps there are physical limitations that make it impossible to travel or emotional fears that are just too hard to face. It’s easier to just postpone making that appointment. Healthy meals and a good brushing will have to do for now. After all, how important can a dental cleaning be?

That cleaning you’re putting off is very important. In fact, good oral hygiene is vital. Bacteria from gum disease can get into the blood stream and aggravate other illnesses, putting people with already-fragile health at greater risk. You may think that strong teeth are at the bottom of the priority list, but in fact, they should be at the top.

Special Needs Dentist

This is why special needs patients benefit greatly from a special needs dentist, one who is committed to helping people with challenges get the dental care that they need.

What, exactly, is a special needs dentist? For starters, dentists like the ones here at the Blende Dental Group appreciate the difficulties that our patients face every day, and are willing to take the time to make patients’ visits comfortable. We take extra care in our work to make the experience as easy and painless as possible.

We start with the understanding that patients with special needs deserve the same care as any other patient. But we also recognize that they do not always have access to it. Some are too afraid to come to the office. Others have physical limitations that make a standard dentist’s chair too uncomfortable. They might be confined to a wheelchair. Special needs dental patients may have an illness like Alzheimer’s or Down’s Syndrome, which makes it impossible for them to sit still long enough to have any dental work done. Patients who are autistic as well as abuse victims or individuals who suffer from PTSD cannot tolerate having anything inserted into their mouths.

A special needs dentist takes all of this into consideration and puts the patients’ personal circumstances first and foremost. For example, the Blende Dental Group’s offices are friendly and accessible, and we go through extra training to help us give our special needs dental patients exactly what they need: excellent care plus the patience and respect they deserve.

Our patients’ needs are as special as they are, which is why they deserve a special dentist, too.

The Blende Dental Group has been working with special needs patients for over 20 years. To learn more or to schedule an appointment with a special needs dentist, call 1-800-575-3375.

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You Sleep While the Dentist Fixes Your Teeth 

May 4th, 2010

You’ve dreamed about it—going to sleep and waking up with all of your problems solved. You’ll have the perfect job, your bills will be paid, your weight will be ideal, you’ll finally have the hair you’ve always wanted, and of course, your teeth will be perfect.

When reality sets in, you realize that it’s all a pipe dream. Your problems can’t just go away while you’re asleep. Or can they? With sleep dentistry, it’s absolutely possible.

Sedation has enabled dentists to work more quickly and provides a method that is effective and painless. It’s simple: while you sleep, the dentist fixes your teeth, and when you wake up, you have that perfect smile you’ve been dreaming about.

Sleep dentistry is all about making sure patients are completely relaxed during a procedure, and you can’t get more relaxed than being asleep.

How Does Sleep Dentistry Work?

Here, at the Blende Dental Group, our sleep dentistry method usually involves three visits to our offices, but you’ll only have work done on your teeth during one of those visits.

First, you’ll have a consultation where we will determine exactly what needs to be done. We will evaluate your dental needs, discuss your concerns about the treatment, and we’ll schedule your procedure.

Then, you come back and take a nap. You will be completely sedated and while you sleep, the dentist will do all the work you need to completely restore your teeth to perfect health. Root canals, crowns, tooth extractions, gum surgery, the works. Whatever you need, it will all be done while you sleep soundly. Our anesthesiologist will keep an eye on your well-being while we focus on making your teeth and gums healthy and beautiful.

Finally, there will be a follow-up visit to make sure that everything is perfect, but by then, the hard part is done. Your mouth is restored, your teeth look fantastic, and you can show off a happy, healthy smile.

Sleep Dentistry Methods

Depending on the amount of work that has to be done, you might need more than one treatment, but you’ll sleep right through every procedure.

There are two types of sleep methods: IV sedation is perfect for patients who need treatments lasting under four hours. General anesthesia, which is usually performed in a hospital, is used for longer procedures.

You will be completely asleep, hearing, seeing, smelling, and tasting nothing while we restore your mouth to good health.

You Sleep, Dentist Fixes Your Teeth

Traditionally, for patients who need a lot of work, procedures are stretched out over long periods, with visits scheduled over several months. Sleep dentistry is different. If you need a lot of work done, it can usually be completed during a single visit.

Sleep dentistry is an excellent option for patients who suffer from dental phobia or have special needs because there is no pain and no stress during the procedure. It’s also perfect for people who have busy schedules or who would rather get it all done instead of having to make frequent trips to the dentist’s office.

If you’ve been dreaming about waking up to a perfect smile, if you need a lot of dental work but don’t have a flexible schedule, or if you or a loved one has special needs, then sleep dentistry might be the perfect solution.

The Blende Dental Group offers Sedation and Sleep Dentistry for fearful, phobic, and special needs patients. To learn more about sleep dentistry, download a free copy of the The Consumer’s Guide To Sedation & Sleep Dentistry. To speak with a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment, call 1-800-575-3375.

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Mobile Dentist for Special Needs Patients in the Bay Area 

April 27th, 2010

There are many reasons that people avoid going to the dentist. They are too busy, it will be too expensive, the kids’ dental needs come first. But taking care of your teeth and gums is essential to good health, and taking care of your health should always be a priority.

There’s another reason that people don’t see the dentist. They want to make the appointment. It’s high on their priority list. They’re serious about taking care of their teeth and overall health. But they physically cannot get to the dentist’s office.

Patients who are immobile due to age, illness, or lack of transportation are at a disadvantage when it comes to taking care of their most basic needs – from grocery shopping to seeing a dentist. That’s where a special needs dentist — and more importantly, a mobile dentist — comes in.

Mobile Dentist

In some cases, dental care for immobile patients is critical, since people with limited mobility often have other health issues that can be compromised or made worse by poor oral hygiene.

It is exactly for patients such as these that Blende Dental Group created our mobile dentist unit. Our mobile dentistry patients include people who are confined to wheelchairs, patients in nursing homes, and patients who have medical conditions that restrict them to their homes because getting into a car is simply not possible.

Some of our mobile dentistry patients are struggling with diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, which makes it impossible for them to cooperate. Some cannot travel due to obesity or illnesses that prevent them from leaving their homes or the hospital. Others have such severe dental phobia that they simply cannot bring themselves to walk into a dentist office.

Making House Calls

Do you remember when doctors made house calls? They picked up their black bags and traveled around town, taking care of patients at home because many of those patients could not make it to an office for a visit. The traditional image of a doctor with his bag, ringing the doorbell in the dead of night, is one that many of us grew up with. This image has also been in countless movies and television shows.

But did you ever notice that the traveling doctor was never a dentist? After all, you can’t fit an x-ray machine in a doctor’s satchel.

Now, things are different. Modern technology has provided the tools and resources needed to put dental services on wheels and bring those services to the patients who need them the most. Our mobile dentist visits patients at their locations. We travel to private homes, residential care communities, nursing facilities, and hospitals. The Blende Dental Group will go wherever our patients need us throughout the Bay Area.

Which Treatments and Procedures Can a Mobile Dentist Provide?

You might think that a mobile dentist would be limited to basic cleanings and filling cavities, but we can do much more. Some of our mobile dentistry services include the following:

Oral health examinations to evaluate dental needs, periodontal disease, oral cancer, infection, dental abscess, denture fit, and xerostomia
Digital x-rays that can be viewed immediately
Digital intra-oral photographs
Basic cleanings
Standard dental procedures such as extractions, complete and partial dentures, denture relines, custom night guards, and fluoride trays.

A mobile dentist offers many advantages to special needs patients. Because we go to our patients, we can accommodate people who are bedridden or in a wheelchair. Patients with dental phobias can avoid the worst of their fears by never having to visit the dentist’s office at all. Their treatments are done in the comfort of their own homes.

We might not be able to fit our equipment into a black bag, but we are honored to continue a tradition of home healthcare by providing mobile dentistry throughout the Bay Area.

Bay Area House Call Dentists is a division of the Blende Dental Group that provides mobile dentist services. To speak to a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment, call 1-800-575-3375.

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Gentle Dentistry: Easing Fears for Patients with Dental Phobia

March 18th, 2010

When was the last time you went to the dentist? Does your hand shake as you reach for the telephone to call and make an appointment? Does your stomach twinge when the receptionist answers the phone?

If you can’t get past making the call, and are already dreading the visit and wishing you didn’t have to go, you probably suffer from dental phobia, a fear of the dentist. Phobia, however, doesn’t have to prevent you from taking care of your teeth.

Dentist phobia is more widespread than you think.

Many people are so afraid that they avoid not only the more complicated procedures like root canals or tooth extractions but even the most basic dental care. They let years go by between check-ups and suffer through daily pain and recurring infections rather than make that one phone call.

We know how hard this can be. If it is this difficult to make the phone call, how much harder is it to actually come to the office and sit in the chair for the dentist? Phobia may seem like an exaggeration, but it is a serious problem.

What are some of the most common dental fears?

Fear of the Dentist: Phobia should never be taken lightly. The dentists at the Blende Dental Group are dedicated to serving patients with phobia and anxiety. We care about our patients’ concerns and work closely with them to help them relax and feel comfortable.
Loss of Control: Nobody likes to feel like they are not in control. A good dentist will pay attention to your needs, give you the space and time you need to feel comfortable, and earn your trust.
Pain: With modern dental techniques, most treatments can be done painlessly. If you had an extremely painful dental experience in the past, you’ll be relieved to learn that new techniques have been developed for pain-free dentistry.
The Needle: Handled properly, you should barely feel the needle
The Drill: It’s a necessary part of the process, but wearing headphones and listening to music can help you relax and will drown out the sound of the dentists and their instruments.
Atmosphere—the sights, sounds, and smells: Medical environments can be cold, unfamiliar, and intimidating. A cheerful, welcoming setting can go a long way in making you feel at ease. When the atmosphere is warm and the people working with you are caring, you’ll be able to relax.
Embarrassment: No matter how bad you think your teeth look, we’ve seen worse, and by the time we’re finished, your mouth will be healthy and your teeth will look fantastic.
Giving Up: It’s easy to tell yourself that your dental problems have gone so far that it’s not even worth the effort to try to fix them, but don’t believe it. One of our specialties is addressing multiple problems in a single visit, so your teeth and gums will be healthy in no time.

Overcoming Dental Phobia

One in seven Americans suffers from fear of the dentist. Phobia often paralyzes these patients, who are petrified by the very thought of visiting the dentist. Good oral hygiene is vital to overall good health, and the fact that so many people are risking their health out of fear is worrisome.

This is the main reason the Blende Dental Group practices and promotes gentle dentistry. We specialize in helping patients who struggle with dentist phobia and work closely with our patients to ensure a safe, painless, and worry-free trip to the dentist.

The Blende Dental Group offers Sleep and Sedation Dentistry for patients with dentist phobia. To learn more about dental phobia, take our FREE dental anxiety quiz. To speak with a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment, call 1-800-575-3375.

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Treat & Prevent Tooth Decay: Free Digital X-rays by San Francisco Dentist

February 7th, 2010

The main message of the Surgeon General’s Report “Oral Health in America” is that you cannot be healthy without oral health. This is because dental decay is actually an infectious disease. The good news is that dental decay is treatable, even preventable!

Regular, professional examinations and cleanings are the most cost effective oral healthcare you can receive. So see a dentist regularly, get your teeth cleaned every three to six months, have a yearly dental exam with x-rays and receive treatment as needed.

If you are among the estimated that 50% of Americans do not see a dentist regularly (or even at all), we can help!

Call our office today at 800-575-3375 to schedule your appointment. Mention this blog and receive FREE Digital X-rays with a New Patient Examination. This offer is valid until March 31, 2010.