Today is the day to start your journey to younger looking skin. National Botox Day is today and we have some specials:

Buy a $250 Botox Gift Certificate and get a $50 Botox Gift Certificate FREE!

Buy a $400 Botox Gift Certificate and get a FREE Take Home Teeth Whitening Kit!!!

Also, join Botox brands rewards program, Alle, to start earning points toward Free Gift Cards for future care of your skin!!

Call us, (901) 347-3527, TODAY to take advantage of these Botox Specials!!!

Get Excited About Same Day Dental Crowns

As dentistry has progressed greatly, we at Germantown Cosmetic and Family Dentistry are excited to share this new benefit of same day crowns with our patients.

In this article, Dr. Garrett discusses a few reasons that a person should get same day crowns. Read more below, especially if you’re considering them!

REASONS TO GET SAME DAY CROWNS

1. AESTHETICALLY PLEASING
Same day crowns are made of ceramic materials, meaning they are white in color. A dental crown that is white in color can offer benefits such as discreet treatment and a more aesthetically pleasing looking set of teeth.

2. A TREATMENT THAT WILL SAVE YOU TIME

A great reason to get a same day crown is that the treatment process will save you time. Unlike traditional crowns, same day crowns are available the same day a person goes into their dentist’s office. This eliminates the need for multiple appointments which can be helpful for those with limited extra time! This equals less time off of work.

3. NO TEMPORARY CROWNS

Temporary crowns made of plastic don’t always fit perfectly and can cause problems. They can be rough, loose, and irritating to the tissue surrounding the teeth. With same day crowns, the need for temporaries is eliminated. You get a great fitting, smooth crown the same day as the preparation appoinment.

4. DURABLE AND STRONG
Some people may think that same day crowns aren’t made as strong or durable but that is far from the truth. Same day crowns are designed and crafted with strength and durability in mind. The ceramic materials allow for a strong hold over the damaged tooth which will fight off further decay or damage.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Same day crowns can be helpful for a variety of reasons but ultimately it is best to consult with your dentist to determine whether or not they are for you. If you have questions that we didn’t answer in this article then reach out to our office today so that we can help you. Give us a call.

Request an appointment here: www.GtownSmiles.com or call Germantown Cosmetic and Family Dentistry at (901) 347-3527 for an appointment.

For some of our patients, now is the open enrollment for your 2019 dental insurance employer plans. Seeing changes in your dental coverage is not unusual. As companies re-negotiate their contracts with insurance providers, you may see a shift in your family’s coverage, which we know can be confusing and frustrating. It can be for dental offices as well!

But, not to worry, Germantown Cosmetic and Family Dentistry accepts a wide range of insurance plans — and we have an affordable dental plan for those without dental insurance.

Your employer may be presenting you with new or changing dental plans, read the fine print so you know all you need to know.

What Questions to Ask About a Different Dental Insurance Plan:

Can you pick your own dentist or do you have to use a dentist from a pre-determined list of dentists?

Can you stay with your current family dentist office or will you have to change dentists? (See info on in-network vs. out-of-network below.)

What routine and major dental care will be covered (including cleanings, x-rays, surgery, and orthodontics)?

Will a pre-existing condition prevent you from having dental care paid for by the insurance company?

If you find your employer’s dental insurance is not what you want, call our office to see what we can offer you. At Germantown Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, we are happy to work with you whether we are an in-network provider, out-of-network provider, or you don’t have an employer insurance plan at all.

If you have any questions regarding new options, please call Crystal at 901-347-3527 to make sure the offered dental plan will be best for you at our office.

Patients often ask Dr Garrett, why would I spend so much on a toothbrush? At Germantown Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, we have seen through many years how much healthier our patients’ mouth are when they use a rechargeable, electric toothbrush over a manual brush. Let’s look at the reasons why:

These brushes do the work for the patient, with many even featuring a timer to ensure patients brush for a full two minutes, as well as a pressure indicator light to let patients know when they’re brushing too hard and possibly damaging their gums. All the patient has to do is move the brush from tooth to tooth, while the oscillating action of an Oral-B Genius removes the bio-film and penetrates below the gum-line.

Patients with braces and especially children benefit from the multi action of the electric toothbrush versus a manual. Parents spend a lot of money on orthodontic braces and we see white spots on teeth after the braces are removed. These white spots are decalcification due to plaque and bacteria left around the brackets without proper removal from brushing. The white spots can become cavities which then have to be fixed by either fillings or crowns.

Electric toothbrushes help with stain removal, which is attractive to patients who really want a bright, white smile. Electrics brush at 30,000 strokes per minute while a manual is only 200 strokes. The Oral B genius uses the same half circle motion that the hygienist’s tool uses when you get a professional teeth cleaning to remove stains. 

Yes, we know the cost is much higher than getting just your free toothbrush every 6 months, but the advantages outweigh the cost. Also, please change out your brush head every 3 months! When we see patients using a brush head too long, the brush head is worn out and not doing an efficient job. The same goes for manual toothbrushes.

Ask Kayla or Katie the next time you come in to try out the electric toothbrush and you will see how great your teeth feel! Call us today to schedule your next cleaning and make an investment in your health.

Many new patients tell Dr Garrett they have never had a hygienist poke their gums with that measuring thing. What we are doing is measuring your gum height above the bone level to check for infections in your gums. This is called periodontal probing. A healthy mouth will have gum heights of 1-3mm. If you have multiple areas in your mouth with 4mm or greater, bleeding gums, and bone loss around your teeth, this is when periodontal disease starts.

At Germantown Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, our hygienists will do a full periodontal probing of your gums once a year. We want to check to see if you have periodontal disease so we can start the treatment if necessary. Periodontal disease is caused by plaque and tartar building up above and under the gum line. When this occurs, bacteria grows rapidly and the body’s response fighting off the bacteria leads to inflammation in the gums and eventually bone loss. This infection can have detrimental effects to not only the mouth but the rest of your body.

We know how important healthy gums are to your overall body health. Just recently, the Washington Post had an article about periodontal disease in women and how it increases the risk for cancer. Periodontal disease does not cause cancer, but there is a link between the two. Studies have also shown a link between gum disease and heart disease due to chronic inflammation. Diabetes is another chronic disease that has a link to periodontal disease.

Periodontal disease is preventable. What we recommend is brushing twice daily, getting between your teeth daily with floss, and visiting us for your regularly scheduled checkups. When you come for your regular visit, ask one of our hygienists for direction on the proper way to brush and floss. Also, if you smoke or chew tobacco, stop! Tobacco use increases the risk of periodontal disease.

If we find that you have periodontal disease, our hygienist will discuss a treatment called scaling and root planing, deep cleaning. This will take place in our office with special equipment and an antibacterial rinse.

Visit our website today to schedule your next checkup so we can help prevent periodontal disease.

Welcome to 2017! May the best of 2016 be the worst of 2017. I heard this quote and thought, what a fantastic way to look at the upcoming year. I am striving to make 2017 better than 2016 and want to invite all of you to join me. Making resolutions to kick start the new year is great, but let’s look long term.

When we want something long term to be better, we need to make it a habit. Experts say if you do something everyday for 3 weeks, it becomes a habit. Here are some things to start habits to improve your smile and overall health:

Brush your teeth at least 2 times a day

We should brush every morning when we wake up and every night before we go to bed. One saying I heard is Brush your teeth at night to keep your teeth, and Brush your teeth in the morning to keep your friends 🙂

Floss your teeth every night before you brush your teeth

Brushing alone does not clean your teeth. Flossing gets the stuff in between your teeth and around your gums to help prevent tartar buildup and periodontal disease of your gums. I know most of us hate to do this but it only takes a minute and makes a huge difference, just ask my hygienists!

Quit Smoking

Everyone knows now how bad smoking is for your body but it is really bad for your mouth too. There is a study going on right now through UT Health Science center regarding smoking and quitting. Check out . Not only will you help your body by quitting, you will save money and have a healthy smile.

Exercise.

You do not have to join a gym to exercise. There are a lot of simple exercise programs available on your smart phone or through your television or computer at home. Add 20-30 minutes of exercise everyday and you will make it a habit you won’t want to quit.

Cut down on Sugar

I love my sweets as much as the next person, but the bacteria that form become plaque that sugar uses a form of energy making them multiply faster growing in size and thickness. Some of the bacteria turn the sugar into a kind of glue that they use to stick themselves to the tooth surface, making it harder to brush from the tooth surface. Cutting down on sugar will help improve your dental health, giving you stronger, healthier teeth for longer and can trim your waistline as a bonus!

Visit Your Dentist More Often

Call us at and set up your next dental checkup and cleaning. Over 40% of adults admit to not visiting the dentist regularly. Checkups and cleanings at least every 6 months are extremely important to maintain a healthy smile and body.

Following these easy steps will help create healthy habits so next year you won’t need these types of resolutions. Call us today to see how Dr Garrett can help you.

I hear patients say to me all the time, “My teeth are stained because of wine” or “I ate my kids Halloween Candy!” I am as guilty as the next person of both of these evils. Not that I am saying these things are good for you, but let’s figure out which go together the best.  Everything in moderation. One note on the types of candy, the stickier the worse they are for your teeth.

I found some charts helpful information from Vivino.com and Babble.com.

Let’s look at the white wines (which do stain contrary to popular belief)

Gummy Bears + Pinot Grigio

Gummy Bears are bright, fruity, and slightly oily with very little fat. This is ideal for eating while enjoying a glass of pinot grigio. This vibrant unoaked white is refreshing with just enough acidity to keep the palate feeling light while you indulge.

Peanut Butter Cups + Chardonnay

An oaky, buttery chardonnay is the perfect complement to a smooth, chocolatey peanut butter cup. The higher acid content cuts through the richness of the chocolate.

Snickers + Champagne

A Snickers bar is rich with the flavors of nougat, chocolate, caramel, and nuts. Each bite is decadent and luxurious. To balance out the richness, sip some bubbly champagne. The fruity flavors will play up the caramel and nougat, while the acidity will help cut through the rich textures and flavors.

Candy Corn + Riesling

The sugariest candy deserves the sweetest wine. A late harvest riesling features bright, mature fruit flavors and the most natural residual sugar of all wines. It is ideal for sipping while nibbling on candy corn since the sugary flavors are so similar. The high acid content in the riesling means each sip cleanses the palate and helps the richness of the candy. Together they make the ideal fall dessert!

Starburst + Rosé

A Starburst deserves a fruity wine like rosé, which is made with rich red berries like cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir. The high acidity will also help ease the chewiness of the candy while keeping the combination light and refreshing.

Moving on to the Red Wines:

Twix + Syrah

A Twix — with its rich chocolate, buttery shortbread cookie, and indulgent caramel — pairs well with a syrah. This variety features a signature flavor profile of red currant with a hint of fiery black pepper, which makes it a delicious partner with such a decadent candy

Skittles + Merlot

Merlot is known for featuring flavors of ripe red fruit and being lower in tannins. This makes it perfect for fruity Skittles.

Twizzlers + Pinot Noir

A delicate pinot noir is just the thing to eat with a bag of Twizzlers. The red fruit flavor matches the Twizzlers, while the acid cuts through the gummy texture. If you really want to make the tasting fun, bite off the ends of the Twizzler and use it as a straw for the wine. You’ll find the flavors marry well.

Dark Chocolate Kit Kat + Cabernet Sauvignon

A darker chocolate treat deserves a heavier wine. The flavors of dark chocolate match beautifully with cabernet sauvignon. This wine features notes of dark red fruits and a hint of smoke. The pairing will dance in your mouth and make a decadent, rich dessert.

Go enjoy your kid’s Halloween candy and your wine, but remember, brushing and flossing is extra important when you enjoy these delicacies! And when your teeth become stained from the wine, gives us a call so we can help whiten your teeth!

Calling all Ghosts, Goblins, and Princesses, it’s that time of year again.

We are having our 6th Annual Halloween Candy Buy Back! Go out and have a safe, fun Halloween trick or treating and then bring your extra candy to our office.

We will collect your candy from November 1st-3rd and send it to US troops serving overseas. In return, you will get $1 per pound of candy you bring in (up to 5 pounds) and be entered to win fabulous gifts. The grand prize gift is a Kindle Fire!!! 

We love candy just as much as you do, but too much is not good for us. This way, we can help you and help our troops! 

Share this event with your school by distributing the flyer and they can benefit too! We love our schools so we will donate back to your school an extra $1 per pound of candy you bring in!!!

Halloween Candy Buy Back 2016

Periodontal Maintenance

If you have periodontal disease, you may require scaling and root planing to remove the diseased deposits from the roots and teeth, which is the most conservative approach for treatment. Other treatment, including surgery, may also be required. After the disease process is under control, a regular hygiene cleaning appointment is no longer appropriate. Instead, you will require special ongoing gum and bone care procedures, known as Periodontal Maintenance Therapy, to keep the disease under control and keep your mouth healthy. In most cases, Periodontal Disease is a lifelong disease that never goes away.

Frequent Maintenance Visits Are Important

When we first find periodontal disease, we treat it with scaling and root planing to remove plaque, tartar and bacteria from beneath your gum line.

This treatment disrupts the growth of the bacteria; however, bacteria remains and may settle back into the pocket where they reproduce. In fact, the number of bacteria doubles every time they reproduce, reaching destructive levels in as few as 90 days.

Why a 3 Month Periodontal Maintenance Recare Visit?

While there is No Cure for periodontal disease, it can be managed or controlled. A 3 month Periodontal Maintenance Therapy Appointment is a Soft Tissue Management Program that is a non-surgical approach to Control Periodontal Disease. It is the most conservative approach to prevent more extensive and aggressive treatment.

The bacterium that causes periodontal disease re-establishes within 3 months after treatment. A 3 Month Periodontal Maintenance Appointment is critically timed to disable the destructive process at its critical stage. This critical stage is when the bacteria and their poisons do the most harm to the supporting structures, namely, the periodontal attachment.

For patients with adult periodontitis, supportive 3-month Periodontal Maintenance Appointments is not an option – but a requirement for successful therapy.

Waiting longer than three months for Recare may result in advanced inflammation and may require anesthesia to eliminate discomfort when treating.  Very rarely would it be advisable to try a 6 month Recare schedule with known periodontal problems and history. This would result in putting the patient at risk for more breakdowns.

Therefore, we recommend that you maintain a 3 month Periodontal Maintenance Schedule, so the hygienist can access deeper pocket areas and disrupt the bacteria so that they do not continue to multiply and cause increases in pocket depth and additional bone loss which results in loose teeth or even tooth loss.

But Insurance Only Covers Two Recare Visits A Year

We often hear, “but my insurance only covers 2 hygiene recare visits in a year”. Contrary to this common insurance restriction, we do not determine our patients Recare or Periodontal Maintenance Therapy schedule based on what insurance covers. We make our recommendations based on the actual clinical evaluation and always with the best interest of our patient’s oral health in mind. Most of our insured 3 month Periodontal Maintenance/Recare patients pay for one or two appointments a year out of pocket. By following the prescribed recommendation they avoid future problems such as extensive periodontal treatment, possible surgery, and the additional cost involved with these major treatments.

Realistically the 6 month prophylaxis (basic routine cleaning) appointment, covered by insurance, is reserved for those patients that have a healthy periodontium. The Recare system applies to those patients that have 1-3 millimeter probe depths with little to no bleeding. Even if you have not had scaling and root planing, we may recommend that you have your teeth cleaned every three to four months due to increases in probing depths, bleeding or changes in your health or oral condition. The reason for this 3-4 month recommended Recare System is to prevent any further periodontal involvement and or treatment.

Periodontal Disease Is Unpredictable

Periodontal disease left untreated can cause serious overall health problems. Research has linked periodontal disease to heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, premature births and low birth weight. Diabetics can have far more difficulty controlling their diabetes as well.

With such serious effects, we must do everything we can to help find and control periodontal disease. It can be a challenge to predict when the symptoms of periodontal disease may recur because frequently it does not cause any pain. It is also a challenge to determine where, as sometimes only isolated areas are affected. The only way to find and control periodontal disease is with a professional exam specifically aimed at targeting the disease.

Periodontal Maintenance visits help us break the stronghold of bacteria in your gums and slow or eliminate their destructive effects. When necessary we may also re-treat the teeth with scaling and root planing more than once or apply a medication, antimicrobial irrigation, or even prescribe an antibiotic.

Despite all of our best efforts to treat and control periodontal disease, sometimes it is not enough. Based on the desired response of treatment and patient follow through, the patient still may need to be referred to a Periodontist (gum specialist) as the next line of treatment.

Periodontal Disease Only Controlled

Keep in mind that periodontal disease cannot be cured; it can only be controlled. This is why we need to examine the health of your gums at least every three to four months. If periodontal disease is not closely monitored and controlled, the disease can quickly worsen, destroy bone and soft tissue, and eventually cause tooth loss.

At Germantown Cosmetic and Family Dentistry our trained professionals have many years of experience recognizing, controlling and treating periodontal disease. We have state of the art equipment to serve you in a comfortable and pain-free environment. With our expertise and knowledge and our dedicated staff we are determined to identify your individual needs and set a Recare System that is right for your individual oral health.

If you notice any signs and symptoms such as bleeding, inflammation, foul taste or odor coming from your gums; please call us immediately to schedule a consultation and assessment. Together we can help you control your peridontal disease.