We are very sorry this month to say good bye to our Front desk coordinator Sherine who has left to look after her sick mother. We send all our best wishes to Sherine and her family and wish her mother a quick recovery.

Some you of may have already meet Angela who is our new Front desk coordinator and we are very excited to add Angela to our SDP family. Angela joins the team with 10 years experience in the Dental field and brings many great qualities to the practice to help us help you!

We would also like to send big congratulations to Charlie our practice manager and her family on their exciting news that they are expecting their second child and once again the SDP family is growing.

NEW iPhone APP for invisalign

Align on time is a free app available for download through the App store, it allows you to track aligner times and will alert you to what aligner is due and what day. It’s a great application for staying on track with your aligners.

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A NSW respiratory equipment company continues to lead the world,
writes Keeli Cambourne

Australian manufacturing giant Resmed has helped thousands of people around the world breathe easy.

For the past 20 years, Resmed has exported its eletromechanical devices for treating breathing disorders, especially those that occur during sleep, and is now the leading provider of such devices internationally.

The company manufactures, markets and sells, through 18 wholly-owned subsidiaries and many distributers in 80 countries, equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory disorders.

Since it exported its first sleep apnoea device to the US in 1989, Resmed has ensured its success globally by continued research and development and providing customers with the most up-to-date information – on its own products and scientific research into the various conditions they treat.

NSW is where the company bases its major manufacturing facility as well most of the research laboratories, legal and other supporting functions.

From its NSW head quarters, Resmed manufactures 500,000 flow generators, 400,000 humidifiers and 4 million masks each year and an annual growth of about 16 per cent.

Exporters account for 99 per cent of its production, with the US, Germany and France representing 80 per cent of sales. And now the company is expanding into the Asia-Pacific.

“Resmed is no.1 in the world for the network we do and that success has been achieved because very early on in the business we concentrated on quality,” Reseed’s senior research scientist, Dr Charles Barnes, says.

“There have been competitors but most of them have not lasted as long as we have. “Part of our success is that we research into breathing disorders is still a relatively new topic.”

Barnes says the research has resulted in innovative product design, which is becoming more specialized. “For example, we now have specially designed masks for women, the first company in the world to do so,” he says.

Resmed now produces a range of 30 different designs for masks and regulators, each available in multiple sizes, to cover all needs due to individual face shapes and sizes and therapeutic needs.

With summer fast approaching, it’s the season for parties, weddings and special occasions. Why not treat yourself or a loved one to a fresh bright smile, its far more affordable than you might think, and you even get treated by a professional in this field!

We are offering for the summer months the following:

• Assessment by Dr Albert to ensure your teeth are suitable for whitening
• A cosmetic clean, to enhance the results of the whitening and remove any staining.
• Custom made trays which will last many years
• Whitening gel for 7-10days

This can all be completed in two simple appointments, one to take the impressions for your trays and complete the check and cosmetic cleaning, and the second to issue you your trays and whitening solution.

This is all available to you for a season special of only $350. Did you know that most health funds will pay around $200 towards your whitening, so why not make the most of this? You can have a beautiful white smile just in time for summer!

We also have the Hicap’s facility so you will only be out of pocket by around $150 – as we can claim for you here on site.

Act quickly…… this offer ends early February 2010

Our fantastic new Hygienist Not another one, I hear some of you say……well sometimes it can take a great deal of time to find the right person for the job, and boy have we found her. Alicia graduated from Adelaide University in 2006 achieving her Bachelor of Oral health, prior to this, in 1997 she graduated from University of South Australia with her Bachelor of Nursing. Her experience and knowledge is abundant, and you will find her very pleasant and caring in her role. She is a registered Dental hygienist/therapist and is working with us 3 days a week, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. We are looking forward to you all meeting her soon.
Here are some interesting before and after cases we have completed recently with Glamsmile Veneers… Glamsmile is a veneer system that is new to Australia, having commenced in Europe approximately 10 years ago. The advantages it has over conventional veneers are price – its about 1/3 of the cost and no need to drill away healthy tooth structure which is truly a fantastic innovation. If you have any questions regarding Glamsmile please call us on 9233 2577 we would be happy to give you more details. Before: Very gappy and uneven teeth After: Glamsmile veneers for the upper only Before: Discoloured teeth with old fillings After: Upper Glamsmile veneers and lower whitening
A new face Some of you may have noticed that Charlie is pregnant and due to have her first child in January. So you will all see a new face at the front desk as of December, her name is Shendell, she has many years experience in dentistry and we are sure you will all find her delightful and very imformative. Charlie will be taking up to 12 months off with her new baby, so Shendell will be holding the fort in her absence. We will keep you all posted of Charlie’s progress and sure we will have some baby photos for you to see in future!	If you have been putting treatment off due to lack of funds in your pocket, or simply don’t want to part with money straight from the bank, then why don’t you take advantage of our new interest free payment plans. This way you get to have the treatment, either pay a small deposit or none at all and then take 12 months to pay off the remainder – let someone else pay for it whilst your money sits in the bank earning interest. Give us a call and discuss this further… click here to contact us

by Prue Roberts

Teeth whitening is becoming an exceedingly popular procedure, and it’s not just those with special occasions or stain concerns that are having it done.

Every day people are noticing their neighbours, colleagues or close friends are flashing megawatt smiles.

In-chair and take-home are the two teeth-whitening options available from dentists that are delivering results.

Consultation is required to assess suitability and there are certain factors, like the colour or translucency of teeth, and the presence of heavily-filled, crowned or veneered teeth which can determine the effectiveness.

Smokers and those who drink tea, coffee, red wine or soft drinks regularly may find that teeth whitening won’t work as well for them though.

TRIED AND TESTED AT-HOME TEETH WHITENING FROM SYDNEY DENTAL PROFESSIONALS (SDP)

Highlight: I’d noticed that my teeth were looking a little off-colour and not being a smoker or much of a tea/coffee drinker, I was sure that I’d have success with a teeth- whitening treatment. After a consultation, Dr Albert decided that an at-home teeth-whitening kit was ideal for me. Impressions were taken of my teeth for the moulds (custom-made trays to fit my teeth top and bottom) on the first visit, and I returned the next week to pick up my kit. As instructed, I wore the trays with the whitening gel for an hour each day for seven days. I noticed a difference by the third day, and colleagues commented on how white my teeth were looking by the fourth day. My smile was sparkling by the seventh day and drawing a lot of attention. I found the SDP staff very welcoming and attentive too, which made the experience especially pleasant.

Lowlight: A little sensitivity was experienced and the novelty of preparing and wearing the trays wore off quite early.

By Eric Nelson, AACD Director of communications 

Times can change pretty quickly, cant they" My beloved Brett Favre is now a New York Jet. Both major party Presidential candidates are campaigning on the platform of "change" And the age of patients demanding bright, white, "Hollywood" smiles is moving toward a more natural, individualized approach to each smile makeover. 

So says The New York Times, in an article much discussed throughout the profession titled, "Avoiding Dental Perfection With a Slight Twist," published in the August 28th edition of one of the worlds most respected newspapers. AACD Past Presidents Dr. Jeff Goloub-Evans and Laura Kelly were both interviewed for the article, which also cited the AACD and our 2007 State of Cosmetic Dentistry study.

According to Ms. Kelly, "In the beginning of veneers, patients wanted teeth all white and straight," She goes on to explain that they now are requesting more translucency, graduation of color, and slight rotations of the teeth.  

Dr. Goloub-Evans adds, "What I’ve noticed is that if someone has perfectly symmetrical features and you put perfectly symmetrical teeth on that face, you ruin that face."  In case you missed the article, you can read it online at: www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/fasion/28SkinOne.html 

The article underscores the fundamental shift in the definition of cosmetic dentistry made by the Academy’s leadership at our summer 2008 strategic planning meetings. The new definition reads "Cosmetic dentistry is a comprehensive approach to oral care that combines art and science to achieve optimal dental health, function and esthetics."

It was just a few years ago that we were discussing the "Extreme Makeover" phenomenon that was sweeping America and the dental profession. Make no mistake about it, "Extreme makeover" had a profound impact on cosmetic dentistry. Suddenly dentists were portrayed as life-changing professionals as the bright lights were shown on beautiful smiles. Practices’ business around the country boomed. AACD itself nearly doubled in size during the years the program was on the air. "Ttreatment" by unqualified cosmetic dentists. The next phase of the ever-evolving cosmetic dental profession seems to be taking shape.

The toothbrush from a tree

A toothbrush made from a twig can kill some bacteria without even touching them, a study suggests. Swedish researchers studied the Miswak also called the Siwak and chewing stick a twig used for oral hygiene in several areas like Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Most miwaks come from the twigs or roots of the Arak tree (Salvadore persica), which is also known as the toothbrush tree. They can also be made from olive and walnut trees. In the past, researchers tried to extract compounds from chewing sticks, but didn’t find they killed bacteria very well. In this study, researchers used small pieces of Miswak of less than a hundredth of an ounce. They embedded some pieces in plastic lab dishes (Petri dishes) that were growing different kinds of mouth bacteria, and suspended others above the dishes. Both strategies killed bacteria, with the Miswak pieces best at killing the two bacteria linked to periodontal disease. They also killed bacteria causing tooth decay, but to a lesser degree. Other studies have found that Miswaks remove plaque and kill bacteria in the mouth. The full study appears in the August issue of The Journal of Periodontology.

Diabetes and gum disease

Chicagos University of Illinois has received a two-year grant to continue a study on the link between periodontitis, diabetes and obesity. "The prevalence of type-two diabetes has risen dramatically as the result of an increase in obesity from a high-fat diet, junk food and a sedentary lifestyle"," said Dr Keiko Watanabe, associate professor of periodontics at the university. Although the association between obesity, type-two diabetes and periodontitis is recognised, she said, the underlying causes remain poorly understood. Watanabe said the goal of the new study is to identify the causes by which periodontitis influences insulin resistance, diabetes and organ damage, so clinicians will be able to screen predictable individuals. Periodontal inflammation treatment will also be developed to stop insulin resistance accelerating to diabetes.

Watanabes initial study was published in the July issue of The Journal of Periodontology. The $432,000 grant is being funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, one of the National Institutes of Health.  

(Article published in Bite Magazine November 2008)