Uncategorized | Loveable Smiles Dentistry

Mar 31

Newborn having trouble nursing? Take her to the dentist.

Thanks to laser technology, Dr. Larry Korenman of Loveable Smiles in Richardson, TX has been helping infants who have trouble nursing due to tongue-tie and lip-tie issues. (He was featured on WFAA Channel 8 about the service. http://www.wfaa.com/videos/news/health/2015/02/24/simple-solution-helps-nursing-babies/23965539/)

These are photos of recent babies Dr. Korenman has helped.

On the left we have baby Eden who was having trouble staying latched when she was nursing. Immediately after her procedure, she was able to latch on deeper and stay latched longer. Her parents also opted to have her receive the laser frenectomy to prevent improper spacing between her front teeth.

On the right we have precious twins Lincoln and Addison.
Lincoln was having problems latching and also difficulty keeping his bottle and soother in for an extended period of time due to the tongue and lip ties. Afterwards Lincoln quickly went back to sleep!

Dr. Korenman suggested he take a look at Lincoln’s sister Addison who also was found to have a lip tie as well. She, too, was having latching issues and required a shield prior to the procedure but now she’s nursing better and no longer uses the shield.

Thanks to advances in dental technology with a Laser Frenectomy, which uses cool water during the procedure, there is virtually no bleeding, no pain, no risk of infection and the healing is almost instantaneous for infants. The procedure takes less than 1 minute.

Tongue and lip ties are very common, but often not diagnosed even when it causes problems. Lip tie is usually missed as well as it is under the upper lip and actually causes more pain to the nursing mothers than tongue tie.

The “wait and see” approach can lead to more problems
• Nursing and eating
• Nutritional issues
• Speaking
• Inability to develop proper airway which has been correlated with asthma, sleep disorders (possibly S.I.D.S.), allergies, ADD/ADHD
• Spacing between the upper front teeth as well as improper location of the teeth as they erupt

And the issues can persist on into adulthood causing sleep disorders and the myriad of health issues related to that.

Dr. Larry Korenman of Loveable Smiles in Richardson provides Laser Frenectomy for tongue and lip tie issues.

Please call our office at 972-231-0585

Dr. Korenman was interviewed by Janet St. James on WFAA about frenectomies for newborns.

Oct 05

Replace Your Silver Fillings at Loveable Smiles in Richardson, TX

Teeth and fillings expand and contract at different rates. Over many years of ingesting hot and then cold food and drink, silver fillings experience expansion and contraction. The contraction creates openings between the tooth and the filling material. The expansion can contribute to the tooth cracking or worse, splitting.

Dr. Korenman has even seen a large part of a tooth break off with the metal filling still completely intact.

Additionally, when you chew and your teeth come together there’s a lot of pressure and force at work, and the metal filling takes the brunt of that pressure…which can also lead to the tooth being fractured much like a log being split.

When the seal between the tooth and the filling breaks down, food particles and decay-causing bacteria work their way between the worn filling and the tooth. These bacteria cannot be removed with a toothbrush or by any other means, and decay may develop along the edge of the filling or underneath it.

The most frustrating part of all this is that it happens painlessly with very few signs of a problem.

Dr. Korenman of Loveable Smiles has invested in the latest dental technology that allows him and his team to see things that normally go undetected.

He and his team can safely and effectively remove your silver fillings and restore your teeth to their their natural strength, beauty, and function.

We urge you to call Loveable Smiles for your Total Health Dental Care appointment. 972-231-0585

May 25

Is Dad Missing Teeth? Here’s the Dangerous Domino Effect

An estimated 30 million American adults live with one or more missing teeth. (That’s one out of every 4 drivers on the road.)

Is your dad or husband one of them?

A missing tooth has a dangerous domino effect on his mouth.

When natural teeth are removed there is additional damage which goes well beyond the surface of the gums.

The bone that once supported and surrounded those roots starts to deteriorate painlessly.
Other teeth start to shift.
If you are missing a bottom tooth, the top tooth that chews on it is going to drift down.
The teeth on either side of a missing tooth will slowly start to lean into that gap.
When teeth don’t line up right, they don’t have the proper stress distributions, so they are getting overworked and over-stressed which causes them to be at risk or lost as well.

The bad news is that you don’t feel this domino effect. Unfortunately, over time this misalignment can make it difficult to keep your teeth clean which can contribute to cavities and gum disease.

Imagine a brick archway.

If you take a brick out of an archway and come back in a year, you won’t be able to put that brick back in its place because everything has settled a bit.

Perhaps the archway hasn’t fallen down, but it’s certainly not going to last as long as the arch with all the bricks in place.

When you have multiple missing teeth, bone reabsorption occurs, which causes the face to collapse. These changes can become so severe they make the person look many years older than they actually are.

Dr. Korenman of Loveable Smiles can help with dental implants to replace missing teeth.

The advancements in dental implants over the years are life changing.

Simply stated, dental implants reconnect people with what they’ve lost. Youth. Self-esteem. Confidence. Function. Happiness. The joy of kissing!

Dental implants look natural, produce a beautiful smile, and allow you to eat, speak and function as you did when your mouth was healthy.

Only 12% of general dentists in the US place implants. 5% of those use the most updated form of technology.

Dr. Korenman has that technology.

He has invested in NewTom VG3 Dental CAT-scan which allows Dr. Korenman to view an anatomically accurate 3D image of your mouth. It provides the most comprehensive and accurate information required to determine your bone quantity and quality for possible dental implants. If teeth have been missing for some time he can see how much bone loss has occurred and determine what type of bone grafting may be needed.

With Dental CT scanning, implant procedures can be planned in detail before any surgery takes place. This means virtually no surprises when Dr. Korenman performs surgery.

With the advances in implant dentistry now available from Loveable Smiles, dad can soon be eating what he wants, when he wants, and where he wants.

His facial muscle tone will be restored. He’ll put 20 years of life back in his smile.

For more information, please call Loveable Smiles in Richardson at (972) 231-0585 and schedule your dad or husband a complimentary consultation.

Jan 30

How Dental Insurance Works at Loveable Smiles

Dental treatment is an excellent investment in your medical and psychological well-being.

The cost of dentistry can be managed and we want our patients to know that we will work with them so that they can attain their dental health and beauty goals.

In this blog article, we want you to understand how dental insurance works at our dental office in Richardson, TX.

First of all, here at Loveable Smiles it is our daily commitment to treat people, not just their teeth.

We will only do procedures and treatments that we would do for our own families.

Dr. Korenman maintains a high standard of care for our patients and we are unwilling to compromise or cut corners just because of insurance company limitations.

In the current environment of managed health care, insurance companies are adding more and more restrictions on what they will allow for their “providers”, or as we say Doctors to treat their patients.

A few examples of the high standard of care at Loveable Smiles include:

We will not use cheap materials, overseas labs, or outdated technology.
Korenman will not do amalgams (metal fillings containing Mercury) as they leak, crack teeth and are not our standard of health.
We believe the highest standard of care for tooth replacement is with dental implants and will not sacrifice your healthcare by using bridges if at all possible. Insurance will not cover implants.
We use fluoride treatments to prevent tooth decay and unfortunately, insurance will not cover fluoride.

To be clear, we accept a wide variety of insurance and we are certainly not dismissing your discounts as we want to take care of you as a patient. We pledge to help you obtain all the benefits you deserve under your particular plan.

On a side note, if your particular insurance company does not allow you to choose your own dentist we encourage you to select a different plan at renewal time and to inform your co-workers to do the same. We can always treat you in or out of network and help you obtain the maximum from you benefits.

There are some plans out there that don’t have very many providers listed with them. This can seem frustrating to the consumer, but believe us, it’s also frustrating for the dentist.

Additionally, some insurance companies will pay whatever they decide to pay, and the patient has to make up the difference.

So, rather than lower our standards, which we ethically cannot do, we have chosen to eliminate our preferred status with some types of insurance companies.

We never allow insurance companies to limit your level of health or keep you from knowing all your options.

Here at Loveable Smiles, we take the time to educate our patients about the value of optimal oral health, and how not going forward with treatment may cost them more money down the road. We make sure our patients understand the importance of the treatment before they leave the office. We talk with our patients about their goals and show them how the treatment we are recommending aligns with those goals.

As mentioned earlier, the cost of dentistry can be managed and we want our patients to know that we will work with them so that they can attain their dental health and beauty goals.

For this reason, we have a multitude of convenient financing options:

Credit Cards Visa, Amex, MasterCard, Discover
Interest-free financing through Wells Fargo and Care Credit.
In-house financing for qualified patients

With integrity, compassion and resourcefulness, we treat people and not just teeth.

We look forward to taking care of you and making it affordable!

Contact Loveable Smiles in Richardson at 972-231-0585

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Jul 20

Dental Truths and Myths: Dental X-rays Are Unnecessary

Quite often Dr. Korenman hears the following and very common dental myth:

“Dental X-Rays are unnecessary and even dangerous.”

There have been more technological advances in the field of dentistry than in any other branch of medicine.

This technology in the dental world is making everything easier to diagnose and to explain that diagnosis to the patient. Additionally, this technology provides patients with the greatest comfort as well as a pain free dental experience.

Today’s Dental CAT scans have the least amount of radiation of any Cone-Beam Computed Tomography.

The dose from a single-jaw dental CT scan is about the same as the dose a patient might receive walking to their car on a sunny Texas day.

Technology for those “unseen” spaces

Dental X-Rays are so important because when we look into our mouths, only a small portion of the surface area of our teeth and gums is visible.

The unseen surface area of our teeth and the inside of our gum pockets may actually be greater than the visible surfaces, depending on how bad the pockets are. These pockets, or spaces between the gum and teeth can range from 1/16’’ deep to over ½’’ deep, all the way around the tooth. If we added up the surface area of the unseen germ world, it would be about the size of the palm of our hand. Imagine having an infected area that big for a lifetime and not doing anything about it! Yet most people don’t even realize this hidden germ world exists.

Dr. Korenman of Loveable Smiles has invested in the latest dental technology that allows him and his team to see things that normally go undetected. Using the NewTom VG3 Dental CAT-scan Dr. Korenman is able to obtain limitless, 3D views including between the teeth, under the gums, in the bones and even nerve canals and sinuses can be seen. This allows Dr. K to completely diagnose and provide full treatment options.

Patients are able to clearly see for themselves, visible, existing physical conditions.

We invite you to call Loveable Smiles for your dental CAT scan and Total Health Dental appointment at 972-231-0585

Jul 20

Dental Truths and Myths: Wisdom Teeth Don’t Matter

Quite often Dr. Korenman hears various myths about wisdom teeth.

Our third molars, or wisdom teeth, gained their nickname from the timing of their appearance—usually between the ages of 17 and 25, when a person leaves adolescence and is seeking higher education.

Dr. Korenman debunks the myths about wisdom teeth below.

Everyone needs their wisdom teeth removed

This is probably the greatest myth of all. Not everyone needs these teeth removed. They are only extracted when they are impacted, causing current problems or likely to create future problems. If the teeth are not erupting in the proper position and putting pressure on the existing back teeth or in some cases causing infections or cysts your dentist will advise they be removed.

Frequently, there is so little space for wisdom teeth that they become decayed as people are unable to keep them clean. In that situation, the adjacent teeth can become decayed as well which is very preventable by removing the wisdom teeth before that happens.

Many patients keep their wisdom teeth through their entire life with no issues. Regular visits to the dentist starting at an early age can determine if your child’s wisdom teeth are going to cause any problems later in life.

Wisdom teeth serve no purpose

Some people liken wisdom teeth to the appendix and think they serve no purpose. These late arrivals provide the same chewing purpose as any of your other molars when there is adequate room for them and they erupt into proper function.

Wisdom teeth must be removed at an early age

Another common myth about wisdom teeth is that having the procedure at a young age is less painful because the nerve endings in the mouth are less developed and the body can handle the pain more efficiently.

The truth is that while we do heal faster at a younger age, it does not mean that people automatically will have problems if they have surgery a bit later.

Here at Loveable Smiles in Richardson, we have invested in the NewTom VG3 Dental CAT-scan which will provide an anatomically accurate 3D image of your wisdom teeth and your entire mouth.

Additionally, some patients need sedation. At Loveable Smiles we can arrange that for you.

Whatever your needs are we can accommodate you.

If you ever have questions or concerns related to your wisdom teeth, please call Loveable Smiles in Richardson at 972–231-0585.

May 24

Dental Truths and Myths: Dentures run in my family & It’s just normal aging to lose teeth

Quite often Dr. Korenman hears the following and very common dental myths:

“Dentures run in my family.” & “It’s just normal aging to lose teeth.”

The reality is that your teeth are designed to last a lifetime. They are called “Permanent teeth” for just that reason!

So many patients think it’s just a matter of old age to lose all your teeth. (Dr. K thought this himself until he learned otherwise in dental school; all of his grandparents had dentures!)

Part of the problem with this Myth is that dentists themselves do not appreciate that many people think it is part of the natural aging process and neglect to tell them the facts!

The good news is that Dr. Korenman and his team can help you achieve Optimal Dental Health to help prevent you from ever losing a tooth and/or needing dentures.

What is optimal dental health?

Here at Loveable Smiles, we will find the underlying cause of your dental problem and will eliminate it to prevent future issues. We won’t simple “patch” the problem, but will take the time to solve it so the problem doesn’t keep recurring.

Total Health Dentistry

Charles Mayo of the Mayo clinic was right when he said more than 100 years ago, “You will live another 10 years if your teeth and gums are healthy.”

We pride ourselves on educating our clients about the connection between a healthy mouth and a healthy body. At the start of each dental appointment we take our patients’ blood pressure. Additionally, we check all our patients for gum disease (which is mostly painless and affects 80% of people).

It’s called the “Mouth-Body Connection,” and it means that poor dental health can severely deteriorate your body, especially your heart, lungs and all the body’s systems. It can also lead to a host to other conditions including Alzheimer’s disease and even some Cancers.

Since your dentist is the only physician who checks you from the neck up, if he finds that you have inflammation in your mouth, it’s highly probable you have inflammation in your body and he can recommend that you visit your cardiologist or internist.

So, if you think dentures run in your family and it’s just a normal part of the aging process to lose teeth, we encourage you to call our office for your Total Health Dental Care appointment. 972-231-0585

If it’s been a while since you’ve been to the dentist, we want you to know that we never scold people as we understand the reasons many people stay away. We want to help people and are very happy to be chosen for their dental needs. We simply want to help you avoid more problems in the future and want to help you attain a level of dental health that is so high that the only treatment that should be required for many years is the maintenance of that level of health with properly-scheduled future visits to prevent problems from recurring. We look forward to seeing you! 972-231-0585

Apr 12

The Dangers Of Dry Mouth

Dr. Korenman of Loveable Smiles Explains Dry Mouth: Causes, Associated Problems, and Treatment
Dry mouth is a growing problem in dentistry. On a daily basis, Dr. Korenman and his staff see patients who suffer from dry mouth and the issues associated with dry mouth including tooth decay, gum disease and mouth sores.
Dry mouth—also called xerostomia—results from an inadequate flow of saliva.
It is not a disease, but a symptom of a medical disorder and/or most commonly, a side effect of popular medications including:
• Blood pressure medications
• Anti-depression/Anti-Anxiety
• Diuretics
• Pain killers
• Antihistamines
• Decongestants
• Even neurological medications for treatment of anti-anxiety and ADHD.

The combination of two or more of these medications dramatically increase dry-mouth effects.

With regular saliva production, your teeth are constantly bathed in a mineral-rich solution that helps keep your teeth strong and resistant to decay.
Dry mouth can lead to extensive tooth decay, gum disease and mouth sores.

Signs You May Have Dry Mouth
• Extreme thirst.
• Waking up in the night needing water.
• Teeth feel rough like sand.
• Cheeks stick to your teeth.
• Lips feel dry.

Other Issues Associated with Dry Mouth
Other health issues can also arise if dry mouth is left untreated.

Common problems linked to dry mouth include:
• Difficulty speaking
• Difficulty chewing
• Fungal infections in mouth
• Hoarseness
• Sore gums/throat
• Problems with swallowing food
• Burning sensation in mouth
• Dry nasal passages
• Difficulty wearing dentures
• Overly dry lips

Treating Dry Mouth
While there isn’t any cure for dry mouth, the sooner it gets diagnosed the less damage it does to your teeth. Here are some tips for treating your dry mouth.
• Dr. Korenman highly recommends Effervess Oral Care products, which can help relieve the symptoms of dry mouth caused by medications. (Available at Loveable Smiles and Amazon.) The line includes toothpaste and a whitening gel.
• Swish with water in addition to drinking it.
• Chew sugarless gum.
• Patients with dry mouth should have regular dental checkups with Dr. Korenman and his staff for evaluation and treatment. Please bring up-to-date medication list with you to your appointment at Loveable Smiles.

If you are experiencing a dry mouth as a side effect of your medication, please call Loveable Smiles at 972-231-0585

Apr 04

Cancer & Dental Health In Richardson, TX

Many cancer patients develop complications that affect the mouth. These mild to severe side effects can include mouth sores, infection, dry mouth, sensitive gums and cavities.

As a courtesy to the community, Dr. Larry Korenman of Loveable Smiles in Richardson offers complimentary fluoride trays for anyone going through chemotherapy treatments.

Because chemo can make your mouth more at risk for infection as well as make your gums bleed more easily, fluoride is used to help prevent the formation of cavities.

Chemotherapy & Mouth Sores

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to treat cancer. These drugs kill cancer cells, but they may also harm normal cells, including cells in the mouth. Side effects include problems with your teeth and gums; the soft, moist lining of your mouth; and the glands that make saliva (spit).

Dr. Korenman carries a natural, oral care line that is very soothing for those going through cancer treatments. The line is also beneficial for the dry mouth side effects often experienced by cancer patients.

Developed by a Dentist, the Effervess Natural Oral Care line does not contain any hydrated silica or baking soda, no SLS and no harsh chemicals.

In fact, the products are called “Nature’s Oral Care” because they feature Aloe Vera, which is an ancient plant known for healing, moisturizing and antibacterial and anti fungal properties. Effervess also contains Xylitol a natural sweetener from American Birch Bark found to help fight plaque build-up and strengthen enamel.

Effervess: Nature’s Oral Care products can be purchased at Loveable Smiles in Richardson. 972-231-0585

Mar 08

4 Ways Dr. Korenman Makes Your Dental Visit Comfortable

Here at Loveable Smiles in Richardson, TX, we treat people, not teeth. We love and care deeply for our patients, our team, and our profession. It is our sincere objective to provide you with the best dental experience you have ever had!
We are the only dental office to have received the North Texas Business Ethics award from the Dallas Business Journal.
Here are 4 ways Dr. Korenman helps his patients have a comfortable dental experience:
1. Sedation – Some patients need sedation. At Loveable Smiles we can arrange for you to use Nitrous oxide, which is a safe and effective mild sedative to help you relax. Ultimately, you will feel calm and comfortable. Other patients may require a stronger sedative as they are extremely anxious and fearful. Whatever your needs are we can accommodate you.
2. Faster Healing with Laser Technology – Dr. Korenman is a part of the very small percentage of dentists (only 1%) who have invested in laser technology. This technology helps you heal faster after your dental procedures by treating dental infections, killing bacteria, regenerating gum tissue and catching cavities before they appear.
3. Massage – We massage your jaws after a dental procedure so that your muscles aren’t sore.
4. Reversing the Anesthesia – We use a “reversal agent” to eliminate the numbing effects of the anesthetic so that you can go about your day, eating and speaking without having a numb mouth.

We invite you to have an enjoyable and painless dental visit at Loveable Smiles in Richardson. Please call 972-231-0585.

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