Watch our electronic press kit!  (EPK)

NEW!!!  Simpli5 Express Aligner System

Back to school special throughout the month of August and September for $1800.

Simpli5 is a fast and simple aligner systerm for minor to moderate anterior crowding or spacing.  Simpli5 consits of up to five sequential trays for dual - and single-arch cases. 

Schedule an appointment with Dr. Ben Neibaur at our Cool Springs, Murfressboro, and Spring Hill office. 

Cool Springs:  615-771-1111

Murfreesboro:  615-225-0700

Spring Hill:  615-302-4200

July 2010

Q: Dr. Snodgrass What is the main cause of cavities?

A: There is no main reason for cavities.  Cavities are caused by multi-factoral reasons.  The most common cause in infancy is prolonged bottle or breast-feeding, especially at night.  For children past the toddling stage, it’s usually a combination of frequency, duration, and concentration of sugar in addition to poor oral hygiene; and for teenagers, it’s too many sweets and not enough attention to hygiene.

Q:  Why can’t you put porcelain-fused to metal crowns on baby teeth?

A:  PFM crowns are not usually advocated for baby teeth for many reasons: one, they are too expensive to place on teeth that will soon be lost.  Two, the pulpal tissue in baby teeth consume too much of the inner portion of the teeth to allow a layer of metal, then a layer of porcelain, and three porcelain is too hard and unforgiving to the opposing teeth and growing jaws.

Q:  Dr. Oakes, I am interested in braces, but my 14 year old still has quite a few baby teeth.  Is this normal?

A:  While it is not within the norm for a teenager to still have baby teeth, it is not a condition to be alarmed about.  I myself had baby teeth well into my teens.  The only problem is that, orthodontically, it’s treatment gets slightly delayed until a later age.  Most children (and parents for that matter) hope to have orthodontics completed by their early teens.  So, kids that are slightly delayed in loosing teeth may just need to wait on the start of braces.  However, the best way to fully analyze delayed loss of baby teeth would be to have an orthodontic evaluation as soon as possible.  It is always possibility that there could be an underlying reason not readily detected for the slower than average tooth loss.

ALL FOUR LOCATIONS ARE NOW ACCEPTING DENTAQUEST DENTAL INSURANCE THROUGH TENNCARE AND COVER KIDS!

Ten years ago, Danita Estrella, the daughter of a Christian missionary, felt God’s pull to Ouanaminthe, Haiti. God was calling Danita to not only care for 75 of Haiti’s abandoned and orphaned children, but to begin a mission that would eventually lead her to build a church, start a school, and initiate a feeding program which feeds over 550 children a day, perhaps their only meal of the day. (The average Haitian child is fed once every 3 days. Starvation, disease, and Haiti’s harsh tropical environment claims one of every five Haitian children before their fifth birthday.)We’ve had the privilege of visiting Danita’s orphanage; attending her church; sitting in her classrooms, eating in the cafeteria, and administering to the dental needs of over 800 of her school children and staff. We’ve witnessed the incredible medical and dental needs of these poor, impoverished, people. We’ve watched Danita and her long term missionaries, Brenda Sapp and Karris Hudson, give aid, comfort, and hope to Haitian’s dying of AIDs, suffering with cancer, or simply trying to make it to the next day.There is virtually no dental care in Haiti and good medical care is over three hours away. Danita is often forced to take her orphans to the Dominican Republic for medical care. The average Haitian doesn’t have this option. Because of this, we’ve partnered with Danita and some other very special sponsors, to build a new pediatric medical/dental clinic right there in Ouanaminthe, Haiti. The new clinic will administer to the needs of Ouanaminthe’s most impoverished pediatric population. It will also house the mission teams that God calls upon to offer their services for these people.

I’m reminded of the following biblical verses.

Isaiah 58:10 - “And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

James 1:27 - ” Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

If you want to know more about this amazing organization or how you can help bring quality medical and dental care to this region of the world, please contact Danita at www.danitaschildren.org or simply ask me or Dr. King the next time you’re in the office.

Dr. David Snodgrass