We appreciate this opportunity to share our ideas with you on health oriented dentistry. Not that dentists haven't always been interested in health, but as we recognize the inability of dental repairs to make people healthy, we see ourselves increasingly as health teachers and only secondarily as providers of treatment.

   Success should never be left to chance, and dental health for you is no exception - it should be planned. Basic to planning for success are goals. Our goal is to have you and your family become independently healthy. Everyone should graduate from high school with all of their teeth and with as few fillings as possible. They should also be so skillful at quickly cleaning their mouth once a day that they can avoid the painful disfiguring gum diseases seen so often in young adults. As a result they will be capable of giving themselves a life-time of good dental health and low maintenance costs.

   We finally learned how to teach people the skill of controlling dental disease, and guess what? You can not do it with a toothbrush no matter what you put on it, what kind of brush you use, or how often you use it. So if you or your children have been having decay in spite of brushing - don't feel badly - it's not your fault.

   If you or your child is having serious decay or gum involvement, we will teach you to control it, since disease patterns are handed down from generation to generation. For instance the old saying that "soft teeth" runs in a family turns out to be quite accurate. It becomes very clear that before we can help a child with extensive decay, we must get the parents to understand and appreciate how to clean their mouths once a day. The control of your family's dental disease is our primary goal and over the years our efforts (and your costs) will be directed toward that goal.

   At the first appointment we examine carefully you or your child to see how badly the mouth germs are attacking the gums and teeth. We get such x-ray films as are necessary to check for hidden decay, infections in the bone, position and location of unerupted teeth, and we will determine if any permanent teeth are missing. The teeth will be examined for cavities, and it is here that disease control skill begins to pay off. We used to repair all the decayed areas, but now we will repair only those areas that we do not feel you can arrest with daily cleaning and frequent topical fluorides. The small beginning cavities will be closely monitored carefully during the coming months. If you are able to control them then there will be no need to repair those areas. We will note any tongue or thumb habits that may cause crooked teeth. This will allow us to diagnose what is wrong with you or your child.

We will want to know about your dental history and the grandparents dental history to determine the dental health patterns from generation to generation. We will want to know the dental treatment patterns that have influenced your dental health. We will seek enough information so that we can diagnose why you or your child is like he or she is. By coupling our diagnosis of why you have dental problems with what the problems are, we can more accurately plan for a successful future.

   If your mouth germs are actively causing very much disease, we will first get it stopped by putting you (and possibly your child) through our control teaching program to teach you how to control the disease.

If the decay is rampant (severe), we will know you have a food habit that that the teeth can not tolerate. Such habits are usually fostered by parents. We cannot change one child's eating habits unless we alter those of the whole family. We may recommend some simple but profoundly effective menu changes.

   After decay is no longer a serious problem, we will complete the other necessary repairs. After that, all repairs (except for small defects in new teeth) will be considered to a result of failure in your family's preventive efforts and we hope to keep that to an absolute minimum.

   You will return every three to six months at which time we will thoroughly clean the mouth and apply topical fluorides. We will work on skill training regularly to insure continued costs are kept very reasonable. Twice a year for most people we will take cavity detecting digital x-ray images. This schedule will continue until your child graduates from high school. Then we will reevaluate the schedule. If you have no decay at all in your mouth and no Periodontal disease we may not need the radiographs even that often.

By following the above outlined program, we have been able to drastically reduce the repairs needed by our child and adult patients. They are happier, healthier, and rarely afraid of coming to the dentist once they realize we are a partner in their efforts to have a healthy attractive mouth as free of fillings as possible.

   Once two people know and trust one another's intention, they work together well. Today we want to start towards such mutual understanding. This booklet is a step in that direction and we want you to take it home to study.

If our concept of dental care sounds good to you, we will be starting on a long term cooperative effort for good dental health. You will be playing the leading role with us as the supporting cast. If we plan well and each meets ther responsibility, we can be successful. We will find that success is not a destination but a journey.

Thank you very much for the time you have spent learning more about us. Referring us to your friends and neighbors is the greatest compliment we get.

This document is a collective effort brought to you by our office and Dr. Robert Barkley's office. Many thanks to this great dentist who gave his life to our profession.