Spotlight on Jeanne McDaniel, MS Nutrition

Jeanne McDaniel from The Nutrition Source visited our team today for a lunch-n-learn.  In her presentation, we learned about the relationship between diet choices and nutrition, gut bacteria, and absorption of minerals.  Did you know that Magnesium (Mg2+) is the fourth most abundant mineral in our bodies?  It is helpful in management of blood pressure…

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Smile balancing through functional tooth reshaping

According to Gordon Christensen, dental equilibration (bite balancing) might be one of the most widely UNDER-utilized services in dentistry. – JADA April 2005 136(4): 497–499; Teeth that fit together correctly do not require the additional muscular activity needed to shift the jaw to the side or squeeze unilaterally when one side hits first.  The art of…

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2014 Pankey Faculty Equilibration

What an honor it is to share my learning with others – the passionate few in my profession who want nothing but the best for their patients.  There is a certain culture of excellence, humility, and drive embodied by both students and faculty at the Pankey Institute.  I have been recognized and asked to teach…

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Facial “body building” related to tooth shifting

This patient was unconcerned with subtle changes in her bite until she noticed her smile in a photograph: a front tooth had drifted quite a bit, and her smile was no longer pleasing to her eye.  Comparison of photographs over a ten-year period reveal a change not only at the tooth level, but also in…

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Myth about most “metal-free” dental crowns

As a restorative dentist, I place equal value on predictability, longevity, comfort, biocompatibility, and aesthetics.  One soap box I don’t mind stepping on is the busting down the metal-free myth about the more popular new ceramic crown options. The two most popular types of all-ceramic crowns for back teeth are made from aluminum oxide and…

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What is JVA?

What is the JVA? The JVA or Joint Vibration Analysis machine is a small set of headphones which we place in front of the patient’s ears. But instead of the patient listening to music, this small sensor will pick up vibrations inside the patient’s jaw joint. Healthy jaw joints make very little friction as you…

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Accidental fork bite threatens lower teeth

This lovely 90-year-old patient has kept most of her teeth her whole life. She flosses twice daily and uses fluoride every night! One day at a luncheon with friends, she accidentally bit a salad fork, and felt two of her lower front teeth become rather loose and painful to the touch. After determining that the…

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