Back to School Basics

by Andrea Harris

Photo Credit: Pediatric Dentistry of Glensfalls

I’m not sure where the summer went, but it’s back to school time!  So you’ve got new clothes and shoes, a few binders and crayons.... but did you remember a new toothbrush? How about your child’s annual check up? Did you miss your appointment while you were on vacation?  

According to the ADA, every child’s back to school routine should include the following:

•  Regular dental examinations to diagnose and treat or prevent dental problems. Parents and teachers may not realize there's a dental problem, so regular checkups are important. Your dentist may suggest fluoride treatments or sealants to prevent decay and can diagnose and treat dental problems to save your child pain and lost school time.

•  Regular brushing with fluoride toothpaste and flossing. Head for the dental care aisle when you're out shopping for notebooks, binders and pencils. If parents buy several toothbrushes they could have their child change to a new one every three months or so, or after an illness. If it's hard to remember when to change a brush, you could try to change it every time report cards come out.

• Wearing a properly fitted mouthguard while participating in organized sports, PE classes or playground activities.  Dr. Matthews knows all about how important proper dental safety is when playing sports.  Just ask any BYU athlete, including Jimmer!

•  Eating healthy lunches and snacks. Include portable healthy lunch items and snacks in your child's sack lunch, including grains, milk, cheese, raw vegetables, yogurt or fruit. If your child eats in the school cafeteria, review healthy, balanced food choices with him before the first day of school. Cut back on sugary foods and soft drinks.

Got all that?  Of course you do! Here’s to a happy, healthy new school year!

Smiles Giveaway Winner | Tammy Averett

And the winner is...

Tammy Averett!!  

Tammy loves the food and colors of fall.  Me too!  Bring on the soups! Bring on the browns and reds and oranges.  Such a wonderful season!

To pick up your $25 Tai Pan gift card come by the office in the next week.

Dr. Matthews office located at 3610 N. University Ave Suite 200 in Provo.

Also, make sure to LIKE us on Facebook so you don't miss a single giveaway! And spread the word, this month Dr. Matthews is donating $1 for every LIKE to the Now I Can Foundation! 

Now I Can

In late July, after meandering around an office park in Provo, I located the Now I Can Foundation and went it.  I was greeted warmly by the Development Director, Brent Nelson, who was sporting a goatee and polo shirt.  He spoke with energy about the foundation and his love for their patients as he took me on a tour of the facility and gave me the background.

"It's amazing," Brent told me, "you cannot have a bad day while working here.  You come in and the kids are smiling and it picks you up."

Now I Can founders, Joel and Tracey Christensen began with their own search for help.  Their first child, Colby Anne, was born with Cerebral Palsy.  As directed, they participated in many interventions including physical and occupational therapy.  But as time went on, they felt that Colby was capable of more than she was doing.  They found a facility in Poland (POLAND!) that did intensive physical therapy and they felt it was worth trying.

The Christensen's made the trip and the results were impressive!  Their daughter began saying, "Now I can use righty better."  They knew this new treatment was making a difference in her life.  When they returned to Utah, they were determined to have a physicality with intensive--four hour a day, five days a week--physical therapy in the intermountain west.  The Now I Can Foundation was born of that dream.

The facility has three main physical therapy rooms, where the kids work with both a therapist and a volunteer to increase what they can do.  I met a darling little girl who was getting a massage to help limber her up.  And a little boy who asked what my favorite canyon was (what a great question!) who was working on balance.

The children who come to Now I Can, spend 3-4 weeks of 4 hours of therapy for 5 days a week.  These are expensive treatments (approximately $6000 per round) and insurance companies will often not cover the costs leaving thousands of dollars burden on the parents.

So, twice a year, Now I Can does a big fundraiser to provide grants for patients.  The grant pays the difference between what insurance will cover and what the family can afford.  100% of the fundraiser donations go to these grants.  Now I Can fundraises in other ways for facility improvement and overhead--largely using corporate sponsors.  (Each physical therapy room is named for the organization that made that happen.)

You can understand why Dr. Matthews is behind this organization!

On Sept 14th, Now I Can has a benefit concert at the SCERA Shell.  Country bands Bootleg BLVD and Firefly will be performing.  If you have been touched by the awesome Now I Can kids, join Dr. Matthews and make a donation so that we will have more and more kids saying, "Now I Can!"

Smiles Giveaway Winner | Sarah Leiva

And the winner is...

Sarah Leiva!!

To pick up your $25 Target gift card come by the office in the next week.

Dr. Matthews office located at 3610 N. University Ave Suite 200 in Provo.

Also, make sure to LIKE us on Facebook so you don't miss a single giveaway! And spread the word, this month Dr. Matthews is donating $1 for every LIKE to the Now I Can Foundation! 

Capped

by Andrea Harris

I’m a little bit of a sucker for old movies. So I was feeling nostalgic the other day and pulled out an old favorite, Moonstruck… a gosh-awful gem of a movie starring none other than a nearly teenaged Nicholas Cage.  I hadn’t watched it in a long time and was sort of startled when I noticed something was seriously wrong with Nic’s smile.  

Can you spot the difference?

He doesn’t even look like the same guy!  

Photo Credit: Digital Spy.com

Hollywood has long been the (highly unrealistic) standard of beauty in America, so seeing a celeb before they were all buffed, waxed, and polished is a rare treat.  Funny thing--they look just like us.  

The difference is most celebs can afford what I’ll lovingly call…extreme cosmetic dentistry.  Pretty much, those aren’t real teeth. He’s fully capped…. which, by the way, is a really painful process.                              

Luckily, most people don’t have to go to such lengths to improve their smiles.  You can have a “million dollar smile,” without paying an ACTUAL million dollars.  If you want to see some amazing before and after pics follow this link provided by the American College of Prosthodontists: http://www.gotoapro.org/photos/before--after/

Typical cosmetic dental procedures include:

• Bleaching to make teeth whiter

(Shhh...I know it’s cheating, but I just rinse with a hydrogen peroxide solution. If you can stand the taste, a bottle only costs .99 and lasts a long time!  Plus it’s good for your gums!)

• Repairing chips or rough spots with fillings that match your teeth
• Filling cavities with tooth-colored materials
• Reshaping teeth that don't match the others
• Closing gaps between teeth
• Covering broken teeth with porcelain crowns

And lucky you, Dr. Matthews is certified for all of those procedures and services. I haven’t seen metal in my mouth since 1997 and he was even the one who set me on the .99 peroxide path!