Category Archives: Blog

New Week, New Website

Photo of old website home page

Old Home Page

Our Social Media followers know that we’ve been working on an updated version of our website. Our quest to find a new look has been a long and interesting process. But, we are very happy with the results! We didn’t realize how much we needed a fresh look until we started working on the new site. This picture of our old home page illustrates why.

 

In the Beginning

Carla reviews our website periodically and noted it was overdue for an update. So, we spent time looking at different websites for things we like, don’t like. We don’t like cookie cutter websites and we also don’t like the very white sites with cool colors. Our office is definitely a warm color office!

We reached out to our long time IT expert, David Burgess (@davidnburgess) and told him what we wanted. David sent back a video explaining why we didn’t, very nicely of course. He showed us an example of a theme he thought would work. He also explained current thoughts in website design. Here’s the good news: it turns out we’re flexible in our old age!

New Photos

Alex photographing an operatory

Alex at Photo Shoot

While David got busy on the technical parts of our updated design, Carla contacted Alex Fahl at http://fahlmedia.com/. Although Alex’s main focus is videography, we convinced him that a photo shoot at a dental office could be fun. Because Alex has known us since age three (he grew up next door and is the same age as our son), he agreed. Alex came to our office and spent several hours taking pictures.

 

 

Creating the Website

With photos in hand, Carla and David worked to customize the site for our office, incorporating the colors and feel of our office. Carla spent time updating content and adding updated photographs. Our new website theme is more modern, but it is also responsive. Responsiveness means our website will resize for different devices such as mobile phones or iPads. Because so many people use mobile devices when searching for information, we wanted a site that would be easy to use on the go.

Our website contains a lot of information we hope is useful to our patients and prospective patients. We hope you enjoy the ease of use of our new website.

Dr. Albers at COMOM 2018

Dr. Albers with Michele, Carla and Indy, Jane and Susan.

COMOM 2018

Dr. Albers and his staff are active volunteers locally and across the state.  For a number of years, he and his staff have volunteered for COMOM.   What is COMOM, you ask?  Its website explains it best:

The Colorado Mission of Mercy (COMOM) is a large-scale dental clinic that is held annually in a Colorado community. With 125 portable dental chairs, dental services are provided to adults, elderly, and children, who cannot afford dental care.  An outpouring of nearly 200 volunteer dentists from across the state – along with hundreds of dental hygienists, assistants, lab technicians, and a myriad of lay volunteers and other health professionals – work in tandem with community groups and agencies to better the oral health of individuals who come to the clinic.

COMOM Mission Statement

The Colorado Mission of Mercy (COMOM) provides quality dental services, at no cost, to individuals of all ages who cannot afford and access dental care; eliminating dental pain, promoting oral health, creating smiles, and providing oral health education.  

This video from several years ago shows COMOM in action, including the impact it has on people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA50G0Ns0HY

Dr. Albers and Staff at COMOM 2018

Work space at COMOM 2018

Lots of volunteers

This year, Dr. Albers, assistant Susan, hygienist Jane, and front desk guru, Michele volunteered at COMOM 2018.  Susan assisted Dr. Albers.  Hygiene section lead, Jane, helped ensure the smooth flow of patients and otherwise helped trouble shoot problem areas. Michele helped in triage – where patients are assessed for dental health needs.

COMOM 2018 took place in Greeley, Colorado, with over 1200 volunteers registering to help.  Positions included obvious ones such as dentists, hygienists, oral surgeons, dental assistants, lab technicians and RN’s. Other volunteers set up portable dental units and hundreds of chairs for waiting patients, served food, helped sterilize equipment, etc.  All volunteers played an important role.   And, a few four-legged volunteers came to visit…

Go Team Therapy Dogs at COMOM

Indy visits kids at COMOM

Indy in the Pediatric Area

Indy with four volunteers

Indy with the Ladies

Last year, Carla approached COMOM about using therapy dogs to help distract patients and provide some much-needed love and affection during long waits for care.  She and Indy acted as a test case at COMOM 2017 in Pueblo, CO.  Indy was such a hit that they asked for more Go Team dog/handler teams this year.  On Friday, four teams provided some much needed “therapy,” and on Saturday, 5 teams were there.  Although a primary focus is always on the patients, it turns out that the dogs provided a lift to volunteers putting in long hours helping others.

 

 

Lee Ann Celebrates 20 Years 

Lee Ann’s 20 Year Anniversary

As you know from our July 23 blog post, this is a year of staff anniversaries.  As of September 21, Lee Ann celebrates her 20th anniversary at our office. Patients appreciate seeing friendly, familiar faces when they come to our office.  We appreciate our staff!

About Lee Ann

Lee Ann has anchored our hygiene staff for 20 years. Long time patients will remember hygienist Sharon, who left our practice when she moved to Australia. When she left, another staff member mentioned to Lee Ann that a hygiene position was opening up, and the rest is history.

Lee An, Judy, and Susan in the exhibition hall at the 2018 RMDCOne of the things we appreciate about Lee Ann, in addition to the wonderful care she provides to our patients, is how much fun she is. You will often hear laughter coming from her operatory, in the hallway in between patients, or at dental conventions, as you can tell from the photo to the left. Originally from Georgia (as you know if you have talked to her), she and husband Bill enjoy traveling, spending time with friends, and caring for the bloodhounds they rescue.

We Are Grateful for our Staff

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Lee Ann decided to join our office. To repeat a phrase from Michele’s anniversary post – we’ve always said that one reason for our success is our staff. We value the long-standing relationships developed over many years between our staff and our patients. And, patients appreciate coming to an office where they are known and valued. Our goal is always to make our patients feel at home when they visit our office. When you’ve seen the same smiling face for 20 years, it’s easy to feel at home.

Lee Ann is a valued member of our staff.  We hope you will tell her congratulations on her 20 year anniversary the next time you’re in our office.

Limit Sugar In Your Diet

Stay Away From Sugar

sugar in a cupFrom a dental perspective, there are many reasons to limit sugar in your diet. Bacteria in your mouth interact with sugar to produce acids. These acids can destroy tooth enamel, which can lead to the formation of cavities. Cavities that are left untreated can lead to root canals, crowns, or even removal of teeth. A diet high in sugar increases the likelihood of a person developing dental problems.

In 2010, our family participated in a dental mission trip to Dominican Republic. Unfortunately for the kids we treated, they had ready access to sugar cane and little instruction on good dental health. Most of the patients we saw had numerous areas of decay. Contrast that with children we treated the following year in Kenya, where naturally fluoridated water and limited access to sugar resulted in many of the children we examined not having any decay.

ADA Article on Sugary Drinks

Mouth Healthy, a site maintained by the American Dental Association (ADA), has an informative article titled The Truth About Sugary Drinks and Your Smile.  A big takeaway from this article is that sometimes foods that sound healthy are actually bad for your teeth. A good example is fruit juice, which can contain as much sugar as a glass of soda. The article gives examples of drinks high in sugar and a list of better choices. As your dental provider, we strongly support patients focusing on the low sugar drinks!

Can Drinking Soda Increase the Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s Disease?

Newsweek recently published a article titled “Drinking Soda Could Raise the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease According to Study.”  Researchers documented the diets of 2,226 elderly people for 7 years. A takeaway from this article: people who drank sugary soda had a significantly increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s when compared to those people who had sugar in their diets from other products.

Conclusion

Research suggests that if you limit sugar in your diet, it can be good for your overall health.  More importantly from our perspective, it’s also good for your dental health. If you have questions about your diet and any risk factors, make sure you visit with Dr. Albers or the other dental professionals in our office during your next visit.

Brushing with Charcoal Products

Do Charcoal Products Clean and Whiten Teeth?

Charcoal with a toothbrushRecent news articles have highlighted a new trend sweeping the dental world – brushing with charcoal products. An example is an August 13, 2018 article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “The Latest Fad for Whiter Teeth Is to Turn Them Black.” A search on YouTube shows multiple videos of people brushing with charcoal, with one video having over 2.5 million views! As dental providers, though, we are more interested in data than faddish trends. Our question, always, is whether a product performs as claimed in a way that is safe for your teeth.

Understanding Tooth Anatomy

You can think of a tooth as having basically three layers. First is the outside layer, or enamel – the hardest substance in your body. Enamel covers and protects the dentin of the tooth.  The dentin layer covers the tooth’s soft tissue, including blood vessels and nerve tissue. Dentists want to keep your tooth enamel strong to help protect the health of your teeth. When you brush with products that have abrasive qualities, such as charcoal, you can wear away the enamel, in extreme cases, down to the dentin.

Brushing With Charcoal Not Shown to be Effective

Last year, the Journal of the American Dental Association (ADA) published a review of available literature on charcoal use and did not find evidence that the products are safe or effective. While noting that more studies need to be done, current information does not conclusively show these products meeting their billing. The study concluded as follows:

Conclusions: The results of this literature review showed insufficient clinical and laboratory data to substantiate the safety and efficacy claims of charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices. Larger-scale and well-designed studies are needed to establish conclusive evidence.

Practical Implications: Dental clinicians should advise their patients to be cautious when using charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices with unproven claims of efficacy and safety.

How Do Consumers Make Informed Dental Decisions?

A good place to start with questions is your dental provider’s office. At Mark T. Albers, DDS, our experienced staff stays up-to-date with dental trends and can answer most questions you have. Because there is no good evidence to show charcoal products are safe and effective, and because they can be abrasive to your enamel, we do not recommend their use at this time.

Another good place to get information on dental health and dental products is MouthHealthy.org, the  ADA’s consumer website. Here, you can find information on evidence-based effective tooth whitening and other dental issues. And, you can visit the ADA Seal of Acceptance  section of the Mouth Healthy website. According to the ADA, “The ADA Seal is backed by science—to have your back. Every product with the Seal has been scientifically evaluated by independent experts to be safe and effective. In fact, to earn the Seal, companies are often asked to meet higher standards than what is required by law. Products that don’t meet these tough guidelines don’t get the Seal, period.”

Conclusion: Stay Away From Charcoal

As noted above, our dental professionals are happy to answer dental related questions. And, if we’re not available, remember this: When in doubt, don’t try it out!

Contact Us

Mark T. Albers, D.D.S.
2155 Hollowbrook Drive
Suite 20
Colorado Springs, CO
80918

(719) 634-8458

Contact Us

To schedule an appointment, call:
(719) 634-8458

General Hours: Labor Day through Memorial Day

Monday – Thursday:
8:00a.m. – 1:00p.m., 2:00p.m. – 5:00p.m.

Summer Hours: Memorial Day through Labor Day

Monday – Wednesday
7:30a.m. – 12:30p.m., 1:30p.m. – 4:30p.m.

Thursday
7:00a.m. – 2:00p.m.