Great Oral Care? There’s An App for That!

Posted on February 22, 2012 by jawAdmin

Did you know there was an iphone app for dental care? Well there is. And not just one. Technology can actually help give you a brighter, whiter smile. Why leave it up to chance to remember that next dental appointment or keep up with the latest news on proper oral care? You shouldn’t. You can use your smart phone and make forgetfulness and mix-ups a part of the past.

Smart phone apps can help you set and keep appointments. You can set reminders for appointments and you can set up alerts to help you keep up with the news. Get updates monthly, weekly or by the hour! New alerts can help you stay informed and avoid missing opportunities.

Getting to know all the opportunities that new technology can provide does involve getting around a learning curve, but it is well worth it. Go online to the app store and surf around to see what opportunities to learn might be available. Here are few ideas to get you started.

Real Simple Edu makes an app that lets you learn all about dental care and it has flashcards and quizzes that have been updated and improved based on customer feedback. It tells you all about oral diseases and the signs and symptoms you can look out for before trouble begins. And it’s available for ipad too!

Got kids? Try Brush It Up – a terrific app that helps teach kids how to brush with a fun game. Then there’s Brace Face for pre-teens. Brace Face lets you take a picture of yourself and see what you’ll look like with braces. Let’s be honest – some kids still think it’s cool. Check it out – you might like it.

Dental Aid provides great detailed information. It is a patient guide to the main common dental treatments and procedures that provides great information with plenty of illustrations. Dental Aid helps facilitate communication between patients and dentists and helps patients with anxiety about procedures too.

Dental Anxiety is an app too! It’s easy to use and helps get nervous patients through a step by step guide for overcoming anxiety and dealing with nervousness. If you have dental phobia you can retrain your mind and re-program your thinking to feel more confident, comfortable and ultimately get and keep that winning smile you’ve always wanted.

Then there’s Happy Teeth for the unconcerned dental patient who wants to have some fun while taking great care of teeth and mouth – this app allows you to enjoy fun music and amazing graphics while showing the quadrants of teeth you should be brushing. An adjustable timer will allow you to set the desired length of time for brushing.

There are literally hundreds of great apps to make staying healthy fun! Now go to the app store and see what grabs your interest. When you’re finished call and make an appointment to see Dr. James A. Wells at South Charlotte Dentistry. Dr. Wells can help you get and stay on track. He uses the latest technology and materials in his practice and he can help you stay healthy and look great. Call Dr. Wells at 704.759-8333 or visit his website today at www.south-charlotte-dentistry.com.

 

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New Study Says Smoking Kills Healthy Oral Bacteria and Breeds the Unhealthy Bacteria

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

A new study has been released which reports that smoking can kill the oral bacteria in your mouth that is healthy and helps you fight oral infections and diseases, leaving smokers more vulnerable to oral health diseases. Simultaneously it also seems that the smoking can increase the number of harmful oral bacteria that will cause these diseases and infections.

In a normal and healthy mouth, patients can enjoy a stable ecosystem of helpful bacteria. Even though the ecosystem is disrupted every day for brushing and flossing routines, the helpful bacteria still manage to thrive. But the new research here is showing that the smoker does not have this stable and balanced ecosystem. Instead, the smoker has a diverse and chaotic ecosystem full of harmful bacteria.

Most people already know that smoker suffer from higher rates of oral diseases, such as gum disease and oral cancer, than others who do not smoke. But this new study is showing us exactly how that happens, and apparently the answer is that the smoker’s mouth is a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. The study was conducted by Purnima Kumar, an assistant professor of periodontology at Ohio State University.

“The smoker’s mouth kicks out the good bacteria, and the pathogens are called in,” said Kumar. “So they’re allowed to proliferate much more quickly than they would in a non-smoking environment.”

And though most dentists are already aware of the benefits that quitting smoking will have on their patients, dentists will now be able to fully explain to their patients exactly why their gum disease is caused by their smoking. This will also help dentists to develop new, more aggressive dentistry tactics when handling patients who smoke. Dentists can use this information to develop preventative treatment specifically designed for those who smoke.

“A few hours after you’re born, bacteria start forming communities called biofilms in your mouth,” said Kumar. “Your body learns to live with them, because for most people, healthy biofilms keep the bad bacteria away.”

Kumar even compared the biofilm to a lush and green lawn of grass. “When you change the dynamics of what goes into the lawn, like too much water or too little fertilizer,” she said, “you get some of the grass dying, and weeds moving in.” For smokers, the “weeds” are problem bacteria known to cause disease.

The study also looked into how the bacterial ecosystems are affected after being completely removed from the mouth. The researchers took oral bacteria cultures one, two, four, and seven days after a professional cleaning of the mouths of both smokers and non-smokers.

“When you compare a smoker and nonsmoker, there’s a distinct difference,” said Kumar. “The first thing you notice is that the basic ‘lawn,’ which would normally contain thriving populations made of a just few types of helpful bacteria, is absent in smokers.”

They found that nonsmokers tend to regain an ecosystem of healthy bacteria that is similar to the one they had before the professional cleaning. The bacteria associated with disease are generally absent. Lab results also show that the body contains low levels of cytokines, a sign that the body is embracing the helpful biofilms instead of rejecting them as a potential threat.

“By contrast,” said Kumar, “smokers start getting colonized by pathogens – bacteria that we know are harmful – within 24 hours. It takes longer for smokers to form a stable microbial community, and when they do, it’s a pathogen-rich community.”

The smokers’ mouths also show signs of fighting off the helpful biofilm, mistaking this helpful bacteria as being a harmful threat. The body contains higher levels of cytokines than those of non-smokers, showing that the body is releasing defense mechanisms against the oral bacteria. The effects of this defense against biofilm can also been seen in a physical reaction in the gums. Typically this immune response results in gingivitis, causing red and swollen gums, and can even eventually lead to periodontitis and tooth loss.

“It has to drive how we treat the smoking population,” she said. “They need a more aggressive form of treatment, because even after a professional cleaning, they’re still at a very high risk for getting these pathogens back in their mouths right away.

“Dentists don’t often talk to their patients about smoking cessation,” she continued. “These results show that dentists should take a really active role in helping patients to get the support they need to quit.”

If you would like more information on how we can help you with your oral health please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908!

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Diabetes Screening Starts With Periodontal Disease

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

When doctors test for diabetes, usually they do a finger prick and check your hemoglobin A1c levels. It is this form of hemoglobin that can tell the doctor whether you are diabetic or not. But according to a research team’s recent findings the doctors don’t have to use a finger prick to test for diabetes. The team recently found that oral blood can test for diabetes just as easily as blood found everywhere else, and often this blood can be gathered from bleeding pockets in the mouths of patients with periodontal disease.

These new findings come from the study that was conducted at NYU and was funded by the NYU Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The results showed that blood gathered orally only varied from finger stick blood by an average of .2 points, and gave minimal false positive and false negative results. The researchers had their study published in the Journal of Periodontology and are looking forward to what these findings mean for the future of dental diagnostics.

“In light of these findings, the dental visit could be a useful opportunity to conduct an initial diabetes screening – an important first step in identifying those patients who need further testing to determine their diabetes status,” said the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Shiela Strauss, associate professor of nursing and co-director of the Statistics and Data Management Core for NYU’s Colleges of Nursing and Dentistry.

These new findings could really be an important step to testing for diabetes, for those patients who feel more comfortable with having an oral blood sampling conducted with the dentist instead of the finger prick with the physician. This new finding may also open up testing opportunities for those who cannot or choose not to visit a regular physician.

“There is an urgent need to increase opportunities for diabetes screening and early diabetes detection,” Dr. Strauss added. “The issue of undiagnosed diabetes is especially critical because early treatment and secondary prevention efforts may help to prevent or delay the long-term complications of diabetes that are responsible for reduced quality of life and increased levels of mortality risk.”

This study was actually one part of a broader initiative to start testing for major illnesses during dental visits, in order to show people that dental visits are part of the broader spectrum of full body health. the researchers are hoping to continue their studies of this form of diabetes testing.

If you would like more information on how we can help you with your oral health please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908!

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Infected Dental Equipment Causes Legionnaire’s Death

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

News Sources like Medical News Today are reporting the case of an eighty two year old woman in Italy who recently died as a result of some unsafe equipment at her dental office. The woman became infected with L pneumophilia after visiting her dentist due to some equipment that was unsterile. The infection led to Legionnaire’s disease, causing her death. Because of the incident experts across Italy are calling for the reform of dental practices across Italy. Experts hope the reform will implement new control measures for dental surgery in hopes of preventing similar incidents.

The woman was conscious and responsive when she was brought to the hospital, but was suffering from a fever and respiratory distress. It seemed she had no underlying illnesses at the time. Doctors quickly performed a chest radiography which showed that she had multiple lung consolidation areas. They did a urine test and immediately discovered she was infected with Legionnaire’s disease, at which time the doctors immediately started her on a set of antibiotics. Unfortunately however the disease led her to a rapid and irreversible septic shock and passed away two days later. The woman’s death shocked officials and led them to investigate the cause of the L pneumophilia infection, finding that the infection had come from her dentist’s tainted surgical materials.

Officials were first led to believe the dentist might be at cause when, after investigating, they had discovered that she had left her home only twice in the last two to ten day period, for dental appointments. The officials tested the woman’s water at home as well as the water at her dentist’s office. The water at her home was found to be negative for the L pneumophilia bacteria but the water at the dentist’s office had been positive, meaning that he had washed surgical equipment in the tainted water when sterilizing and then used that equipment to perform oral surgery. Further laboratory testing confirmed that the L pneumophilia found in the dentist’s office was a genetic match for the L pneumophilia that had infected the woman.

The bacteria are known for affected those with compromised immunities and the elderly in particular. The bacteria can affect people after inhalation or microaspiration of aerosolized water. It is typically found in man-made water systems and is found in all natural water environments. Typically infections are spread at spas, fountains, and air-conditioning systems.

Luckily researchers found that there had been no other cases where Legionnaire’s had been linked to an infection through a dental office. According to researchers it seems that some methods of cleaning dental surgical tools can breed the bacteria that cause this disease, but most dental practices do not utilize these methods of sterilization. The researchers also note that annual water line monitoring can safely prevent L pneumophilia infections.

If you would like more information on how you can get quality dental care from a dentist you can trust, please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908!

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Oral Hygiene Habits Could be Responsible for Pneumonia

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

Most people know that when you don’t brush your teeth you put yourself at risk of having plaque buildup or getting a cavity. But there is a new risk that scientists have just discovered when you don’t brush your teeth regularly. Not removing the plaque from your teeth on a regular basis it seems could be putting you at risk of catching pneumonia according to a new study.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America recently held their annual meeting in Boston where Samit Joshi, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University School of Medicine, presented his study on this matter. He discovered in his research that changes in the types of oral bacteria that people have in their mouths could put them at risk for developing pneumonia. One of the most common risks discovered in Joshi’s research was poor oral hygiene. Joshi even stated that the risk of pneumonia could double for those who have severe gum diseases.

In the study conducted by Joshi, thirty seven patients’ oral health was analyzed. The researchers made sure that the patients came from a variety of backgrounds and ages, with varying levels of health backgrounds. The subjects were looked at over a period of one month. What the research data showed was that not very many of the patients actually acquired pneumonia, but those who did had an increase in the number of oral bacteria that are now being associated with pneumonia.

“Our findings might improve the way we prevent pneumonia in the future by maintaining [the types of] the bacteria which live within our mouths,” Joshi said in an interview with the Global Medical News Network (GMNN).

Joshi’s intention in creating this study was not to demonstrate the direct relationship between pneumonia and the bacteria, and therefore the results of the experiment are inconclusive. But the researchers involved are hoping that the experiment will be reproduced by others in larger independent studies in order to determine the exact relationship of these bacteria to the acquisition of pneumonia.

The findings of the study led the British Dental Health Foundation to issue a press release about the harmful effects about not brushing and the risk of pneumonia. The British Dental Health Foundation is an oral health charity.

“During the winter months we’re all susceptible to colds, coughs and chesty viruses due to the drop in temperature,” Nigel Carter, the foundation’s chief executive, said in an interview in The Telegraph. “What people must remember, particularly those highlighted as vulnerable, is that prevention can be very basic.”

It has long been known that gum disease has ill effects on a person’s whole body health, and this new revelation about pneumonia is just one more piece of evidence that shows it. Experts from the Yale School of Medicine are not surprised by the findings of the study. They say that though the study is somewhat predictable, it still has a lot of implications for what we know about oral hygiene.

“Most of the bacterial organisms that cause infections are neighbors of the oral floor,” said a professional at the Yale School of Medicine not affiliated with the study. “There are too many variables to accurately say, but it’s likely that oral microbodies probably impact the development of certain diseases.”

If you are interested in how South Charlotte Dentistry can help you with your oral health please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908!

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Dental Implants Grow in Popularity

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

Though no one is ever excited about losing a tooth after the age of 10, it is an unfortunate fact that many Americans will lose an adult tooth. In fact, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons recently discovered that as many as seventy percent of American adults have lost at minimum one adult tooth, and many adult Americans have lost even more than that. Other research has recently shown that almost thirty percent of adults over seventy four have lost all of their natural teeth. But luckily for us this doesn’t have to mean some of the same things that it used to. There have been great advances in dental implant technology in recent years which have led to increased access of this technology for those who would have previously had difficulty in attaining new dental prosthetics.

Luckily for South Charlotte patients, Dr James A. Wells has the latest and greatest available in dental implant and crown technology. Dr. Wells ensures that he orders only the best dental implant materials that look and feel just like real teeth. But even though we love to make sure your oral health is as good as it possibly can be, we also know that preventative care is the best kind of care. Most of the time tooth loss can be stopped before it happens with preventative care.

And even if you do already have some dental implants or missing teeth, or maybe you have all of your natural teeth and take excellent care of your teeth, diligence is key. No matter what your oral health situation is it is important to always maintain your preventative care routine. If you have no missing teeth then you will prevent them with preventative care, and even if you are missing all of your teeth preventative care can save you from gingivitis and other health difficulties that affect your whole body wellness. You should brush and floss every day and make sure you keep appointments for routine dental check ups! Hopefully together we can all work hard to make sure the rise of the use of dental implants decreases and patients are able to keep more and more of their natural teeth!

If you are interested in how South Charlotte Dentistry can help you with your oral health please visit our contact us page!

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Some Birth Control Methods May Affect Oral Health

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

Though it is not common knowledge, it is actually a fact that there are several different ways to take hormonal birth control. The most common form of hormonal birth control is the pill, but there is actually another form of birth control that has gained popularity in recent years that is injectable. The injectable birth control is called depotmedroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), and is injected into the bloodstream to deliver the same hormonal effects as the birth control pill. But unfortunately recent research is now suggesting that this form of birth control may actually be harmful to a woman’s oral health.

A recent study published in the Journal of Periodontology has shown the negative oral health effects of taking injectable progesterone contraceptives. The study claims that women who do take or have taken this form of birth control in the past are more susceptible to poor oral health and oral health conditions like periodontitis and gingivitis. These diseases can be detrimental to a person’s oral health as well as their overall health because of the effects that the health of the gums has on the rest of the body.

The women chosen for the study were aged between fifteen and forty four, and all were premenopausal and not pregnant. The women had also provided all the data necessary to study the effects of the DMPA. The study compared women who have taken or are currently taking DMPA with women who had never taken the injectable contraceptives. All of the participants then received a dental examination in which they were tested for mild tooth loss, periodontitis which was tested at at least two or three places on each tooth, and they were also tested for gingival bleeding.

The data was not only examined along the lines of gender, but also along lines of other oral health determinants like age, race, education, poverty income level, and smoking status. Those who had taken the DMPA had all been found to have much higher incidences of mild tooth loss, periodontal pockets, and gingival bleeding. There was also significant differences in oral health between those patients who had taken the DMPA in the past and those patients who were presently taking the contraceptives. Present users were found with higher incidences of gingivitis, while past users had higher rates of the more severe periodontitis.

Experts are now saying that women who have taken this contraceptive in the past or who are currently taking the contraceptive should be especially careful to tend to their oral health needs.

“Hormones can play a role in woman’s periodontal health. These findings suggest that women that use, or have used, a hormone-based injectable contraception such as DMPA may have increased odds of poor periodontal health. I would encourage women that use or previously used this form of contraception to maintain excellent oral care, and to be sure to see a dental professional for a comprehensive periodontal evaluation on an annual basis,” said Dr. Pamela McClain, President of the American Academy of Periodontology.

If you would like more information on how South Charlotte Dentistry can help you with your oral health please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908!

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What Can You Do About Halitosis?

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

Although the causes of bad breath can be very important to understand, knowing what they are won’t really do any good unless you know how to cure them. There are a few cures of bad breath that are quite obvious to most of us who know the basics of dental hygiene, but there can still be a few bad breath cures out there that many of us aren’t even aware of.

Of course the most important trick for keeping bad breath under control is to prevent it by brushing and flossing on a regular basis. If you don’t feel like you have time for brushing and flossing your first instinct may be to just use mints or gum to keep the bad breath at bay, but this is a mistake. Not only do mints and gum only give you a temporary solution that is not part of a whole oral hygiene routine, they can also cause you bad breath in the long run. A lot of types of gum and especially breath mints will alter the pH balance of the mouth which can lead to keeping your bad breath instead of killing it. And even when we do take the time to brush and floss, many of us still may not realize that we are only doing a fraction of what we could do to prevent and stop halitosis. The key to true bad breath reduction through oral hygiene is tongue scraping. You have to get way back at the base of the tongue to really cure halitosis by cleaning, because that’s where a lot of the oral bacteria hang out. Investing in a tongue scraper could be a bad breath lifesaver!

Surprisingly enough, keeping your mouth wet could play a major role in keeping the bad breath away. You want to make sure you are keeping the right balance of saliva so that your pH balance doesn’t get altered too much and so that you can wash away bacteria that would otherwise stick around and cause bad breath. The easiest way to do this of course is to drink lots of fluids, but if you have more persistent problems with dry mouth you may be able to invest in a humidifier to prevent it.

It may not be the most appealing way to end bad breath but watching what you eat could significantly reduce the problems associated with bad breath. Some of the worst foods you can eat would be coffee, garlic, onions and other similar offenders. The best way to avoid food related bad breath is to make sure you avoid these foods. If you really just can’t bear to give up some of your favorite foods that may be causing your bad breath, a sprig of parsley after each meal may help out a lot. Chewing parsley is thought to curb bad breath caused by foods, as well as drinking teas and eating cranberries.

And on the opposite end of the food spectrum is to make sure you are eating plenty of carbohydrates. Unfortunately there’s nothing you can do to fix bad breath that’s caused by ketosis from a low carb diet except to eat more carbs. But if it is important to you to lose some weight while still maintaining better breath then you may want to try vegetable and whole grain carbs as opposed to the tempting cake and doughnuts.

If you’ve tried everything and nothing is getting rid of your bad breath then check yourself for symptoms of some common diseases and go see your general practitioner. Serious illnesses that may be the cause of bad breath for some will require a diagnosis from a physician and can be very serious requiring important medical attention.

If you would like more information on getting help with your halitosis please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908!

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What Are the Top Causes of Halitosis?

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

We all hate to have bad breath and we all know that regular brushing and flossing is the best way to fix it, but many people don’t realize some of the distinct causes of bad breath. Bad breath, or halitosis, can be caused by specific problems that you may actually have some control over.

One of the biggest, but most obvious, causes of bad breath is a dirty mouth. Experts say that ninety percent of the odor that comes from our mouths is caused by either food or bacteria that is left in the mouth. It works just like any other form of body odor. It makes sense this way- if we have odor everywhere else why wouldn’t we have it in our mouths too? There are microbes that live in the body and give off byproducts, and those byproducts are the cause of odor all over our bodies including our mouths. The bacteria that stay naturally in the mouth will interact with our food to give off the terrible odors we experience as a part of halitosis. Usually toothpaste and brushing take care of this, but if you skip a brush or two those bacteria make themselves at home in your mouth and start making volatile sulfur compounds in your mouth!

Another major cause of halitosis happens when your mouth gets out of balance. Our bodies rely on certain pH levels to maintain regular functions and keep our odors in check. But when we eat certain foods that have different pH balances from our mouths then they can adjust the pH balances in our mouths and lead to halitosis. Highly acidic or extremely base foods can throw the balance of our mouths out of wack which causes the bacteria in our mouths to go haywire. Other things that can send our mouths out of balance are things like temperature and moisture. Dry mouth is a huge problem because saliva is one of the body’s natural defense mechanisms against oral bacteria. When the mouth is dry the saliva are not swishing the bacteria around and out of the mouth and the bacteria are then allowed to settle down and set up shop in your mouth!

One of the more obvious causes of bad breath would of course have to be eating odorous foods. When you eat foods that smell bad then it is very likely they will continue to smell bad when you get them on your breath. What happens with these foods is that the mouth picks up these odors and they stay in the mouth. But that is not the only reason halitosis is affected by smelly foods. When you eat a smelly food the odors can actually enter the bloodstream and thereby enter the lungs, causing you to keep the odors of these foods on your breath for hours.

Sometimes bad breath isn’t about what you eat though, it’s about what you don’t eat. Carbohydrates are an important part of keeping bad breath at bay, and if you aren’t eating enough of them you could be giving yourself halitosis. When your body does not have enough carbohydrates to burn for fuel then they start burning the stored fats instead. This may be good for weight loss but it ends up leading to a condition called ketosis if you aren’t careful. With ketosis ketones build up in the body because of the way fat is burned,  and sometimes these ketones can build up in the lungs and be exhaled through the breath. The problem with that is that ketones have a displeasing odor.

And finally there is one last major cause of halitosis that often people don’t even think of. Being sick can sometimes cause a person to come down with a case of bad breath and usually when you have a cold or flu you realize the illness before you notice the bad breath. But sometimes we may have a case of bad breath that isn’t explained away by any of the normal causes and it will turn out to be a sign of a major illness. Diseases like diabetes and gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) are some of the worse offenders when it comes to causing bad breath. The reason is because diabetes can often cause ketosis, as mentioned above. GERD can cause bad breath by causing a backflow of acid to build up in the esophagus so that the patient winds up with the smell of stomach acid on their breath. Other possible diseases that cause bad breath, though they are less common, are liver and kidney diseases. These organs are meant to filter toxins from our bodies and when they malfunction those toxins can leak into the body and be excreting through other organ like the lungs.

If you would like to avoid bad breath or receive treatment for chronic bad breath please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908 for more information!

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Dentist Uses a Paper Clip to Perform Oral Surgery

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Jessica Harmon

You shouldn’t have to question whether you can trust your dentist, ever. It should be automatically assumed that when you see that someone has a degree in dentistry and a business license that they will be kind, respectful, and professional. But sadly this does not always seem to be the case. Recently in Massachusetts a dentist was imprisoned and sentenced to a year in prison at the Bristol County House of Correction for using paper clips to perform root canals.

Root canals are supposed to involve the use of sterilized steel posts, and NOT paper clips! The dentist in question managed to defraud Medicaid of around one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. The dentist, Dr. Michael Clair, faced charges of assault and battery, fraud, and intimidating a witness. Dr. Clair was using the paper clips in parts of root canals to save money, leaving a large number of patients going home with infections.

Mother Brenda Almeida had sent her children to see Dr. Clair for their dental health, and is furious as what she believes to be a light sentence for Dr. Clair. She sent her son in for a root canal back in 2005. The procedure caused her son’s tooth to turn black, and eventually the tooth had to be removed. Almeida’s other two children also received dental care from Dr. Clair, and she is livid at the substandard treatment that he gave to them as well. After the judge gave the one year jail sentence Almeida said,

“He put my kids in pain for months … I hope he rots there.”

Both the prosecutors and the defense refused to make comment after the sentence was imposed, although the prosecutors had asked the judge to give a five to seven year term. The judge claims that mitigating factors were taken into account and led him to impose the lighter jail sentence. The judge cited that Dr. Clair had no prior criminal record and claimed to accept full responsibility for his actions, as well as the fact that some mental health issues on behalf of Dr. Clair may have been involved.

But prosecutors did manage to get one of their other requests. The judge granted that Dr. Clair be ordered to stay away from all the victims and his seven former colleagues. Some of the staff members were and still are concerned for their own safety and are grateful to have the order in place.

Dr. Clair has also been ordered to undergo five years of probation in addition to the prison sentence. Dr. Clair commented to the judge at the end of the sentencing with this, “Thank you, your honor, for your consideration.”

Clair has also been banned from practicing dentistry anywhere in the United States and lost his dental practice license in Massachusetts back in 2006. he had been suspended by Medicaid back in 2002, but continued to fraud the government aid service between August of 2004 and June 2005 by using the names of the colleagues in his dental practice on the forms. But the recent sentencing will now have Clair behind bars where he belongs, and he will never be able to practice dentistry again.

If you would like information on receiving personalized and anxiety-free care from a dentist you can trust, please visit our contact us page or call 704-759-0908!

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