SMILES BY DESIGN

I thought I would take a few minutes today to tell you about my tag line ... "SMILES BY DESIGN". Why did I choose that line and what is its significance? SMILES These days many dentists talk about smiles, and most of us think of the dentist creating a beautiful smile for their patient. This is certainly possible with today's esthetic, strong ceramics and the technologies that are available to us. I have studied extensively about the art and science of cosmetic dentistry and creating beautiful smiles for people is something I love to do. When I talk about smiles, although that is one of its meanings, I also like to go a little deeper. Some of the biggest challenges for people that threaten their ability to smile, are the following ... a) fear and anxiety about dental visits and dental treatments, basically a fear of the unknown, b) fear and anxiety around showing their smile because they perceive it to be unattractive, and c) oral and facial pain such as tooth aches and headaches. Our mission is to eliminate the fear and anxiety of visiting the dental office by treating people with respect, gentleness, and sincere caring; to eliminate the embarrassment some people feel around smiling by creating beautiful smiles; and to eradicate pain of tooth aches and head aches by showing people how to prevent these problems to begin with, and by treating the pain when it occurs. BY DESIGN When I say "BY DESIGN" I am talking about personalized care. Each person that I see is a unique individual with his or her own set of values, needs, desires, and level of health. I might see two people with a similar dental condition, but the treatment for those individuals could be very different. We take the time to get to know our patients, discover what is important to them, and together we develop a treatment plan that addresses their needs but at the same time feels right to them. This treatment planning process begins with a comprehensive complete oral examination where we perform six screenings to get a very clear picture of the existing conditions in a person's mouth. I want to be sure that my patient thoroughly understands those conditions and their significance. Once that is accomplished we can then decide on the plan. I always start by presenting at least 2 or 3 options for treatment and by explaining the consequences of each choice. This is by no means an exhaustive selection of possible options, but is enough to open up a discussion of the various aspects of the treatment plan. My patients and I co-develop the final plan. GOALS People have many different types of goals. There are professional goals such as striving to get a certain job, financial goals of saving and investing for retirement, and many people have health goals such as losing a certain amount of weight or getting cholesterol under control. When it comes to "SMILES BY DESIGN" I like to discuss not only immediate goals such as eliminating cavities or inflammation of the gums, but also long-term goals. If we think about weight loss for a moment, many people go on diets, lose weight, and then in a short time gain it back. How can that be prevented and the weight loss maintained? We must begin with the end in mind. We have to develop an image of ourselves at our ideal weight and hold that image in our minds as much as possible. When that image is impressed on our mind, it becomes much easier to make good food choices and maintain our desired weight. What do you want your mouth to look like 5 years from now? ... 10 years from now? If you hold an image of what you want in your mind, it will become much easier to achieve it and maintain it. Do you want straight teeth, whiter teeth, a pain free mouth, great functionality ... This plan can become like your map which will help you get from where you are now to where you want to be. This goal setting is another aspect of our personal approach to dental care. What do you really want? We can help you get there. Yours for better health, Helping you get your SMILE BY DESIGN because as some friends of mine have said, "When you smile, the whole world smiles with you". Dr. Marty Frankel 3030-3080 Yonge St. Toronto, Ontario M4N 3N1 416-770-8526 www.drmartyfrankel.com