Back-to-School Special | 10% Off Wisdom Teeth Extraction

With autumn here and school back in session, it's a great time to think about wisdom teeth.  It's the perfect in-between time avoiding the travel and craziness of summer, but before the Holidays arrive.

Wisdom teeth extraction is especially critical for those who have had braces or other cosmetic dentistry.  When wisdom teeth move in--in all the wrong ways--they can completely mess up beautiful teeth.  The last thing anyone needs is their cosmetic dentistry ruined!

Wisdom teeth can be extracted on Friday and you can be back to school (or work) on Monday with fewer teeth and fewer worries.  Provo dentist, Dr. Blake Matthews, is offering a special Back-to-School promotion.  Get 10% off any wisdom teeth extraction and get FREE conscious sedation, which is a $150 value.  (Funny videos of conscious sedation are optional.)

Smiles Giveaway Winner | Kathleen Ianziti

And the winner of the Smiles Giveaway is...

Kathleen Dos Santos Ianziti

To pick up your $25 Olive Garden gift card come by the office Tues-Friday of this 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!

Cankered

by Andrea Harris

When I was growing up, I used to get the worst canker sores. At least once or twice a month, I was fighting off that dreaded mouth pain that made eating and talking a terrible chore. Considering how much I love both of those things, it was quite a teenage trial!  Over the years, I’ve discovered a few canker kickers (my favorite is called Kanka, but hydrogen peroxide will do in a pinch) and, luckily, my canker causes (stress, chocolate, and, weirdly, too much fluoride).   But what exactly is a canker sore?  

According to Dentristy.about.com, canker sores, also known as Aphthous Ulcers, are small lesions that occur inside the mouth, and are not contagious.

Symptoms

One to two days before appearing, a burning or tingling sensation may be present in the area of the mouth where the lesion is developing. Rarely, a fever might present itself when developing a canker sore.

Canker sores appear inside the mouth as round or oval sores typically with a red border and yellow or white center. Canker sores typically develop:

• On the top surface of the tongue and the tip of the tongue
• Underneath the tongue, on the floor of the mouth
• The inside of the cheek and lip
• On the gum tissue

Canker sores do not develop on the external surfaces of the lips and are not to be confused with cold sores.

Types of Canker Sores

Canker sores may be classified as:

• Minor - Although painful, minor canker sores are often fully healed within two weeks after onset.  The size of a minor canker sore varies, but typically stays under 1/3 inch to 1/2 inch.
• Major - Canker sores that appear larger than 1/3 inch to 1/2 inch, last longer than two weeks and appear to have irregular margins -- oddly shaped -- may be classified as major.  Rarely, this type of canker sore may leave behind a scar.  Common in immunosuppressed patients. 
• Herpetiform Canker Sores - A cluster of several tiny lesions that appear to form one larger sore.  This type of canker sore may last from one week to one month.  

Treatments for canker sores also vary depending on the suspected cause.

It is recommended that you seek treatment from your dentist if you have recurrent canker sores and/or canker sores that do not heal after 14 days. I talked to Dr. Matthews’ about mine and with just a few minor changes in things like brands of toothpaste, I was able to seriously cut back my cankers.

Smiles Giveaway Winner | Kelsie Beeston

And the winner is....

Kelsie Beeston!!!

To pick up your $25 Hobby Lobby gift card come by the office Tues-Friday of this 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!

Strange Brew

by Andrea Harris

Tortoise blood.

Burnt alum.

Goat’s milk.

Charcoal.

Sounds a little like a wizard’s brew, doesn’t it?  But, as startling as it might sound, each of those ingredients was once used for toothpaste.  As far back as 23-79 AD man has followed rather unique oral hygiene rituals.  Call me crazy, but rinsing three times a year with tortoise blood sounds both unappetizing and ineffective!

By In 1855, the Farmers Almanac included this recipe for an appropriate toothpaste:

• 1 oz. myrrh (fine powder)
• 2 spoonfuls of your best honey (Mmm… Coat your teeth with sugar… sounds like a perfect way to keep them clean!)
• A pinch of green sage

Mix together and use every night on wet teeth.

Or, if that didn’t suit your fancy, this concoction was also popular:  

• 2 oz. cuttlefish bone
• 1 oz. cream of tartar
• 2 drachms drop lake (Fun fact: A drachm is a unit of weight formerly used by apothecaries, equivalent to 60 grains or one eighth of an ounce.)
• 15 drops clover oil

Cuttlefish bone? Yikes.

According to Colgate, prior to the 1850s, 'toothpastes' were usually powders. During the 1850s, a new toothpaste in a jar called a Crème Dentifrice was developed and in 1873 Colgate started the mass production of  toothpaste in jars. Colgate introduced its toothpaste in a tube similar to modern-day toothpaste tubes in the 1890s.

Until after 1945, toothpastes contained soap. Thankfully, after that time, soap was replaced by other ingredients to make the paste into a smooth paste or emulsion - such as sodium lauryl sulphate, a common ingredient in present-day toothpaste.

The most recent advances in toothpastes have included the development of whitening toothpastes, and toothpaste containing Triclosan which provides extra protection against caries, gum disease, plaque, calculus and bad breath.  

Maybe in another 20 or 30 years, someone will be balking at Triclosan, but for now it sure beats charcoal in my taste test!  So get brushing and enjoy your drachm of minty-fresh goodness!

Now I Can Winner and Donation Total

This Now I Can Promotion has been amazing.  Perhaps it's because there are two wonderful organizations thinking about how to help kids who can use a hand up.  Perhaps it's because the Now I Can kids are amazing.

What ever the reason, it has been a special privilege for us at Dr. Blake Matthews' office to partner with Now I Can.  Our total count was 680!  So Dr. Matthews will be dropping by Now I Can with a check for $680 dollars.  It is so heart-warming to think of a family in need of some help who will benefit from our collective efforts and Dr. Matthews' generosity.

And that's not all!  As our thank you for participating in promo, we've selected a winner to receive 4 reserved seats to the Legends Benefit Concert at the SCERA Shell on Sept 14th.  And the winner is...

Alicia Christensen Durrant!!!

A huge thanks to everyone who participated!  Thank you for the LIKES, for the Shares, for the entries. We could not have done this without you!  

Alicia, to get your 4 tickets, come by Dr. Matthews office this week.  Dr. Matthews dental office located at 3610 N. University Ave Suite 200 in Provo.

For all those who entered and would like to buy tickets, you can get them here: http://nowican-concert.eventbrite.com

If you can't come to the concert, but you'd like to make your own donation to Now I Can, go here: http://www.nowican.org/donate/