Chew On This (Dental Scissors)

When you think of dentist the tool you imagine them using is probably not scissors. You might be surprised to know that dentist have special dental scissors able to contour to the intricacies of the mouth. Dentists are (understandably) most associated with teeth, but also deal with the entire mouth. While these dental scissors obviously aren’t for chopping teeth in half, they can be a vital part of various other mouth surgeries such as; removing or displacing gums or cheek material. While they come in different shapes and sizes, they are often curved so as to maneuver around the teeth to get to the flesh that needs to be cut or trimmed and most can be found at CIA Medical Inc. For similar reasons the blades are also usually shorter and smaller with longer handles.

You probably won’t find scissors in the repertoire when you go for your regular cleaning…If you go for your regular cleaning…

Be Honest

Do you go to the dentist every six months? Do you brush twice a day and floss after every meal? I get it. You’re a busy on the go (insert profession), and it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks. I don’t mean to suggest that you’re unhygienic. A quick hit of mouthwash to take care of any halitosis and if there’s anything immediately noticeable in your teeth, what else are nails for? If you prescribe to this line of thinking, you are certainly not alone. Lots of people rack up tons of grit and grime on their teeth, assuming that they can just go to the dentist whenever it gets to the point that it needs to be addressed. Technically they aren’t wrong. But the worse it gets, the more it’s gonna cost you. And I don’t just mean money.

One of the reasons going to the dentist is so easy to procrastinate on is because of the fairly high level of discomfort associated with it. Put another way, going to the dentist, unless your teeth are immaculate, hurts. The instruments they use just to clean your teeth are sharp hooks and ultrasonic high pressure water cannons.  But if you think that hurts imagine how bad dental surgery feels. Yes, of course they numb you or even anesthetize you, but when you wake up, that pain doesn’t just go away. That pain is made that much worse by the finger wagging you’ll undoubtedly get from your dentist about how preventable the operation was, and the defeated realization that they’re absolutely right. Before that has a chance to sink in you’ll get that astronomically high bill. Good times right?

Dental Scissors AND MORE

But what are the torture devices dentists use to practice their sadistic craft? While similar to the instruments used in any other kind of surgery, the instruments used for dental surgery are somewhat nuanced as the mouth is unlike any other region of the body. Also, while all surgery is delicate, the cosmetic considerations when it comes to the mouth and teeth are quite literally front and center (well, maybe front and a little down).

We’ve already discussed dental scissors and where to find them. Let’s take a look at what I previously described as ultrasonic water cannon. I may have been taking some dramatic liberty with the phrasing there as it is actually called an ultrasonic scaler. In my defense though, when it’s actually in your mouth it feels like its pounding against your teeth with

We’ve already discussed dental scissors and where to find them. Let’s take a look at what I previously described as ultrasonic water cannon. I may have been taking some dramatic liberty with the phrasing there as it is actually called an ultrasonic scaler.

In my defense though, when it’s actually in your mouth it feels like its pounding against your teeth with weapon grade force. It is used to drill away at plaque that has caked onto the teeth while simultaneously washing it away. It is usually accompanied by a suction instrument used to remove all of the excess water. However, as it turns out it isn’t the water doing the drilling; it’s the ultrasonic movement of the tip of the instrument itself. The water is simply used to wash away the scaled off material.

 

Now obviously the cleaning doesn’t sound like a picnic. But let’s go over a few of the surgical procedures so you can see how an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The surgeries are broken up into subgroups depending on what the surgery entails.

• Endodontic

1. Root Canal: This is the one people think of when they think of dental surgery. The boogieman for people who eat too many sweets and don’t take care of their teeth. The technical term is Endodontic Therapy and involves drilling into the affected tooth to clean it out (painful), refilling it and sealing it with a crown (expensive).
2. Apicoectomy: Unfortunately, sometimes a person just has one too many Jolly Ranchers and a root canal is not enough to properly address the problem. An apicoectomy is when the affected and diseased material has to be surgically removed by cutting into the gums.

• Prosthodontics

1. Crowns: There is some overlap between the categories, especially this one, as after surgeries are completed there is typically the need for some kind of prosthesis. Crowns, as mentioned above are used to cap off teeth after a root canal or when the teeth are damaged for any reason that might necessitate their use.
2. Veneers: Prosthesis are used for cosmetic purposes as well as functional ones. People wishing to replace missing teeth will often have a mold taken of the gap and veneers or artificial teeth created and implanted into the mouth (also quite expensive).

Smile BIG

Over the years dental care has become more of a concern in popular consciousness. Aside from just going to the dentist when there is some kind of pain, people are concerned about the aesthetic their teeth portray. Poor dental care is considered a sign of low status. That is why when many actors make it big they replace their teeth with veneers. Look at a picture of Tom Cruise or Denzel Washington and then go back and look at some of their early work. The difference can be staggering. Don’t let it get to that point. Be sure to floss regularly, brush at the very least, daily. Perhaps most importantly, check in with your dentist around every six months. It may hurt and it may be expensive, but it will save you a lot of grief in the long run.

 

 

 

 

You’re hurt. Not “need a band-aid” or “walk it off hurt,” but really hurt; “Time to get some help” hurt. Where do you go? Ideally you set an appointment to see your primary care giver. But let’s assume you’re in no condition to go through the rigmarole and need attention now.  In such instances you have two options at your disposal Emergency rooms and Urgent Care Centers. While the terms sound fairly synonymous, differentiating between the two is a serious decision, and choosing the wrong one could cost you both financially and medically.  Seeing as it’s best to have a game plan in mind before pain sets up residency in the forefront of your mind, let’s weigh those options here and now.

What Are My Choices?

Emergency Rooms	Urgent Care Centers
Pros
·Equipped to handle medical emergencies (as the name would suggest) ·Ubiquitous ·Will not turn you away, regardless of ability to pay	·Equipped to handle non-life-threatening maladies…urgently (also as the name would suggest) ·Steadily growing in ubiquity ·In almost all cases, considerably cheaper than emergency rooms. · Typically shorter wait times
Cons
· Expensive!!! · Long wait times ·Overkill for non-emergencies	·Not equipped to handle emergencies ·If you can’t pay, they probably won’t treat you

• On the one hand, there are Emergency rooms, open 24 hours and intended for the direr of circumstances. In recent years, as an alternative, Urgent care center have begun to proliferate. These Centers are designed for medical problems that need immediate attention but are not necessarily emergencies. Aren’t semantics fun?
• Your choice depends largely on how serious the problem is. If money is a mitigating factor in your selection process, allow insurance company standards to clear up any haziness from that subjective word serious. According to the Prudent Laypersons Standard in The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act emergency is defined as “A condition with acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) that a person who possesses an average knowledge of health and medicine could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in—(i) placing the health of the individual (or an unborn child) in serious jeopardy, (ii) serious impairment of bodily functions, or (iii) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.” (http://fairhealthconsumer.org/reimbursementseries.php?id=19) A very clinical way of saying if you think horrible things will happen if you don’t get help immediately, than it’s an emergency. This is the prime example of when you should go to the emergence room. Directly.
• Urgent care centers are for when you need help now, but the gravity of your situation doesn’t quite meet that standard. Understandably, when you or a loved one is in pain it is difficult to conduct this sort of triage as shown by the thousands of Americans who seek Emergency care for nonemergency injuries or seek urgent care in instances where emergency care is a necessity. Both have their pros and cons depending on your situation. With the stakes so high it’s paramount to err on the side of caution but as you can see, it can be tricky to determine which side that is.

Six of one, half dozen of another?

• In all likelihood you are going to receive better care at an ER. ERs are better equipped to handle whatever your situation might be as they have the resources of a hospital at their disposal. If your situation is an emergency and that is a very important if, than most insurance plans will cover emergency care in the ER.
• You are definitely going to find an ERs in your area, as where you have a hospital, you have an ER. With nearly 6000 hospitals in the US (http://www.aha.org/research/rc/stat-studies/fast-facts.shtml), it’s fairly safe to say there is one readily accessible to most everyone (with the notable exception of those living in highly remote or rural areas).
• The reality of the world we live in makes cost another huge factor when deciding how to proceed in the event of injury. Emergency rooms are often covered by insurance plans, with the only out of pocket costs being a co-pay of anywhere from $20 to $150. Despite recent and somewhat controversial legislation (The Affordable Care Act also unaffectionately known as Obamacare), not everyone has insurance, taking that $20 to $150 co-pay to $150 to $3000 or more. In extreme cases reaching as high as $20,000 depending on the extensiveness of the care required (http://health.costhelper.com/emergency-room.html). For the “layperson” as referenced in the affordable care act, these numbers can be daunting.
• However, ERs are still the first choice for many, regardless of the costs or severity of injury because of a federal law which requires emergency rooms to treat every patient, whether they can pay or not. Many low income Americans us the ER as their only form of care for this very reason with the mindset of “get help now, worry about paying for it later.” (https://www.debt.org/medical/emergency-room-urgent-care-costs/) This leads to the other major downside of ERs, wait times. The national average emergency room wait time is 24 minutes (https://projects.propublica.org/emergency/). This average becomes far less comforting when considering that triage could increase this wait time by hours.
• If ERs are a medical hammer, Urgent care centers are the scalpel. Meant for non-life-threatening Illness, UCCs seem to be the more attractive option in every way.
• From a cost standpoint, UCCs have been known to be as much as 73% cheaper than an ER visit (http://www.fastmed.com/health-resources/related-searches/how-much-is-urgent-care-visit). Unlike ERs however, if you can’t pay you can be turned away.
• When considering wait times, over half of patients are seen within 15 minutes (https://www.urgentcarelocations.com/urgent-care-101/faq/how-long-do-i-have-to-wait-at-an-urgent-care-center).
• Since 2008 there have been over 9000 UCCs in the US. That number is estimated to rise considerably due to increased awareness and demand (http://aaucm.org/about/future/default.aspx).
• It should be noted that going to an UCC when you are actually in need of emergency care can be extremely dangerous. UCCs are equipped to deal with relatively minor illness and injuries and will only be able to send you to the ER to get the care you need. This could dangerously delay your care.

Put your Health First.

In the end, it comes down to severity. If you believe your malady is life-threatening, ignore costs, wait times and everything else and go to the ER. If you know your life is not in danger but you need treatment and know you can’t afford it; again, go to the ER. But if you have the means (via insurance or otherwise), and your life is not in danger, do yourself and those experiencing real emergencies a favor and seek out your nearest UCC.