Joseph J. Henry, DDS

Is the time right to treat yourself to a smile makeover? Do you ever look at your smile in the mirror with a bit of disappointment when you put on your lipstick or adjust your your necktie? Are you the one in all the photographs with a tight lipped smile? In Orange County and Los Angeles your smile can be one of your greatest assets and can reveal a great deal about your personality. According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry 3 out of 4 people feel that an unattractive smile can hinder a person's career success. 90% of Americans believe that a smile is an important social asset. Many of our patients here at the Orange Center for Cosmetic Dentistry have felt the same way and they have chosen to do something about it!

With today's advanced procedures worn, chipped, teeth can be repaired with porcelain veneers, crooked overlapping teeth can be straightened, ugly metal fillings can be replaced with natural tooth colored fillings, and missing teeth can be replaced. In order to give you the smile that you've always wanted, careful attention is paid to many details. Details such as size, length, color, and shape of your new porcelain veneers will customize your new, vital smile exactly the way your want it.

So, if you think your smile is holding you back in your profession, or socially, or if you believe your smile is keeping you from achieving your dreams, then it's time to treat yourself to a smile makeover!

Last week, Dr. Marty Abelar and I presented a two day lecture to 70 dentists, hygienists, assistants, and dental lab technicians at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey, CA. The participants were very energetic as we presented the Las Vegas Institute (LVI) Regional Event that included such topics as designing smiles, porcelain veneer preparation guidelines, and rapid cementation techniques for porcelain veneers. The first day ended with a discussion of how dentistry today can improve people's lives by improving the appearance of their smile, and by helping them to feel better by eliminating headache, neck pain, facial pain, ear congestion, and vertigo commonly associated with TMJ dysfunction.

The second day began with a discussion of neuromuscular dentistry and how TMJ symptoms can be resolved. This lecture reviewed the science behind Neuromuscular Dentistry and the sophisticated equipment that it employs, such as computerized jaw tracking analysis, recording of jaw muscle EMG's, sonography of the jaw joint, and how the TENS unit is used to relax facial muscles that are involved with TMJ dysfunction. We then demonstrated the use of a TENS unit on five members of the audience who had various degrees of signs and symptoms of TMJ Dysfunction. It was rewarding to see how excited everyone in the room was after the demonstration. The two days ended with lectures on 5 star customer service, marketing, and some specifics of Marty's and my journey of how we practice dentistry. We were thrilled by the large number of doctors who signed up to take a course at LVI.