by Monica O’Malley | All, Teeth Whitening
Here’s the truth. For most people, cleaning your teeth REALLY WELL just ONCE a day is the best way to stay out of my chair. The trick is to do it REALLY WELL!
If your experience of learning how to clean your teeth was anything like mine, someone probably showed you how to do it at school when you were about six and then no one ever talked about it again. Like most things we learn to do when we are young, most of us by now have developed an ‘auto pilot’ mode. We’re not thinking too much about what we’re doing. We’re too busy thinking about the other bazillion things we have to get done during the day. Quite often we are missing the same spots over and over again and we’d never know. Well, that is until now.
How do you know whether you’re looking after your teeth well?
I was a bit of an oral health delinquent when I was younger. I brushed my teeth most days but probably skipped more than a few days. I was a complete sugar fiend growing up too. My favourite after school snack was a glucose powder sandwich – yep fresh white fake bread, butter and piles of glucose powder!!! This was only the tip of my sugar ice berg!
As a result I am now the owner of 8 molars complete with great big amalgam fillings. Yay! Not.
I am getting older, the fillings are getting older too. They are going to be in need of some major renovation soon. It would have been so much nicer to not have had them in the first place.
It was not until I became a dental assistant when I was 18, that I realised how easy it was to avoid dental problems just by cleaning my teeth better and by not feeding my ‘bugs’ so much sugar. Why hadn’t someone told me sooner??
All our patients at Your New Dentist know that we are passionate about helping you to save time and money in the dental chair. In the nicest possible way, we want not to see of you!
At Your New Dentist we use Plaque disclosing solution the enemy number one to the bacteria that cause dental decay and gum disease. Here’s what it looks like. It’s a triple coloured dye that sticks to bacteria. It’s very funky stuff.
The colours you see are the different bacteria. The pink colour is about 24 hours old. The dark blue is over 48 hours old. If we were to scrape the dark blue off, underneath it we would see a bright aqua blue. As far as cavities are concerned, the aqua blue ones are the really scary bugs. They produce the acid. Without the dye these teeth actually looked quite clean. It can sometimes come as a shock to see what spots you might be missing.
Whether we like it or not, the bacteria responsible for dental problems are hanging around all the time. Our mouths can never be 100% free of them, but we can stop them from attaching to our teeth and gums and sitting there for a prolonged period of time where they can host what we affectionately like to call ‘bug parties”. The more sugar you feed them the bigger and more out of control the bug party gets.
At Your New Dentist, we give away single coloured plaque disclosing tabs at every check-up, so you can see how well you are brushing at home.
Let’s shut down some bugs parties…Here’s how to use a plaque disclosing tablet.
1. Pop a plaque disclosing tablet in your mouth. Crush it up. Swish it around. Coat all your teeth. Spit out the remaining dye.
2. The dye will stick to the plaque, it will be heaviest in the problem areas of your mouth.
3. Brush and floss – pay particular attention to the problem areas.
4. Rinse. Bug party shut down.
5. Smile!
If your gums bleed persistently EVEN though you’re brushing and flossing really well, you might be due for a professional clean to remove TARTAR. That’s hard calcified plaque that just about everyone builds up over time. Brushing and flossing alone isn’t enough to shift it. Your New Dentist can remove it using an Ultrasonic cleaner.
Simply brushing and flossing your teeth REALLY well even just once a day will reduce your risk of cavities, or gum disease and could help you save thousands of dollars on your dental bills.
by Monica O’Malley | All
We have received news that the Commonwealth Dental Benefits Scheme (CBDS), which allows eligible children aged 2- 18 years of age to access $1000 worth free dental treatment is potentially going to be axed as of July 1st 2016.
This is a threat to the health of Australian children.
There is a huge amount of research that tells us that the state of a child’s dental health has a big effect on how well they do , on their social skills, self esteem and ultimately their dental and overall health. In the long term, even lifestyle and job prospects can be effected. The long term impact of poor oral health can be unpleasant.
Your child, or children you know may be eligible for dental care. Even by the Governments own admission the scheme itself has been poorly advertised.
In Australia today, Over 50% of all 6 year old have experience tooth decay and more than 24,000 children under the age of 14 were hospitalised for dental treatment in 2013 – 2014 alone.
The CDBS goes along way to preventing these bleak stories for kids becoming a reality. In it’s first two years of operation dentists across Australia delivered over 9.7 million dental services to Australian children.
You can help keep the scheme off the chopping block by signing a petition at
https://www.change.org/organizations/australian_dental_association
Your New Dentist is committed to being ambassadors for good health in our community and we thank you in advance for your support in keeping the oral health of the young people in our community in focus.
If you would like to know more about the scheme or even find out whether your child is eligible give us a call today.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
by Monica O’Malley | All, Health Insurance
A recent investigative report conducted by the ABC revealed that dentists working for corporate clinics and health insurers are being incentivised to churn through patients and administer so-called “drill and fill” dentistry, according to industry insiders.
Dentistry in Australia is experiencing significant change, unfortunately this is resulting in restrictions on patient freedom of choice for providers and treatment options as health funds are becoming more controlling of their members oral care management. To contain costs and maximise profits, many Health Funds have evolved to a model where they own their own dental practices. This enables them to keep their members in-house through the vertical integration of all dental services. On top of this, nationwide we have an ever-increasing number of corporate chains buying up multiple practices and operating them as corporate entities.
Dentists interviewed by the ABC say that the current situation is leading to unnecessary dental work, or over-servicing. When the ABC contacted the six largest companies in the industry to find out how they pay their dentists, few would give any details and none admitted to setting key performance indicators (KPIs) or quotas.
The largest player, health insurer Bupa, which has more than 200 dental clinics in Australia, said dentists in its clinics were remunerated based on the revenue they generate, consistent with dental industry practices.
There are also concerns within the industry about the practice of corporate-owned clinics setting demanding performance benchmarks, such as KPIs or quotas, for the younger dentists they tend to employ. This environment is creating a high volume, factory line effect for patients and this in turn is impacting on the quality and value of the treatment provided.
Your New Dentist is proud to be independent
With a genuine passion for dentistry and providing a breath of fresh air in dental care, Your New Dentist joined the Independent Dentist Network (IDN) to enable patients to retain freedom of choice of both dentist and their treatment.
As an independent dentist, Practice Principal, Monica O’Malley is “free to educate patients about their specific health needs and save them money in the long term”. She has made it her “personal and professional mission to be part of the rewriting of people’s dental stories”.
Independent Dentist Network (IDN) seeks to unite all independent dental practices nationwide to preserve patient’s freedom of choice and promote better oral health care for all Australians.
Australia wide IDN’s dentists are committed to building and nurturing long term relationships and providing highly personalised treatment and care. As independent private practitioners, IDN dentists work collaboratively with their patients to achieve cost effective long term oral health that is not limited to health fund restrictions but based upon personalised plans that deliver maximum value.
Independent Dentist Network
“Driven by care not profit”
https://www.independentdentist.com.au/
Reference source:
‘Dentists say targets and bonuses leading to unnecessary procedures on patients’
http://www.abc.net.au/news
by Monica O’Malley | All
‘Dental practices driven by care not profit’
September 2017
‘Your New Dentist’ in Mooroolbark is delighted to inform you that we have joined the Independent Dentist Network (IDN). Combining forces with a growing stable of highly reputable dentists nationwide, IDN seeks to unite all independent dental practices to preserve patient’s freedom of choice and promote better oral health care for all Australians.
Founder and Managing Director of IDN, Mervin Saultry is committed to ‘helping dentists to help their patients achieve optimal oral health. IDN assists by facilitating freedom of choice for patients empowering them to enjoy a long-term relationship with a health professional they trust – not just by someone employed by a Health Insurance or corporate entity’.
With a vision ‘to be a successful, socially conscious, well respected and innovative provider of quality dental services who revolutionise how the community perceives and experiences dental care’ Practice Principal of ‘Your New Dentist’ Dr Monica O’Malley is looking to shake up the dental industry for the good of her patients.
When asked why patients would choose an independent dentist, O’Malley believes it is about “Independence = freedom of choice over one of your most valuable and irreplaceable assets – your health”. She goes on to explain, “I am passionate about helping individuals understand how they can successfully prevent disease and take back control of their dental health destiny. If you are a low dental risk patient, you may not even need cover. The health insurer is never going to convey that message!”. With an independent provider, you know your practitioner is focussed on positive health outcomes free from interference from a third party. Your new Dentist team believe strongly that transparency is fundamental to building and maintaining long term trusted relationships.
O’Malley and her committed and highly passionate team wish to “encourage patients who have been avoiding care for many years to feel confident to present for treatment and be delighted with the care they receive”. “We want to help rewrite our patients dental story…” explains O’Malley. One of our major priorities is helping patients to overcome their fear of the dentist. Delivering Pain-free dentistry in a relaxing and casual environment is at the corner stone of what we do.
IDN practices nationwide are coming together to provide better preventative oral health planning and care for their patients by giving them more personalised plan options delivering substantially better value in the long term.
Find out more about the benefits of choosing an independent dentist here
by Monica O’Malley | All
‘WINNERS’ – Australian Dental Association
We are very excited to announce that Your New Dentist have just been awarded the 2016 Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch – ADAVB Bank of Queensland – BOQ specialist grant. The grant recognises dental practices for their commitment to quality learning through continuing professional development for every member of the team. Your New Dentist is committed to lifelong learning and through this helping our patients discover the confidence and freedom of a healthy happy smile.
Pop a visit to the dentist back on your ‘to do’ list. We love welcoming new patients.
