Elite Smiles March/April 2019

Elite Smiles March/April 2019

M O N T H L Y

MAR/APR 2019

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MEET DR. J UL I ANA I RAL

“Every time the girl came in afterward, she showed substantial improvement. It touched my heart that I was able to improve this little girl's life in so many aspects, and it really changed my perspective of how much I can improve a patient's life.” After that experience, every child Dr. Juliana treated made her life happier, and she decided to apply to the pediatric residency program.

Our Pediatric Dentist

For this edition, Elite Smiles wants to feature one of our newest and esteemed members of our dentistry team: Dr. Juliana Iral. Dr. Juliana is the only pediatric dentist in the World Golf Village area and absolutely loves her work. She has extensive knowledge in helping children keep a healthy smile, and she makes it a personal goal to ensure that each of her patients has a fun and positive dental experience with every visit. “It's one of the best parts of my work,” Dr. Juliana says. “I love when my patients walk away from their treatments happy and healthy.” Originally from Colombia, Dr. Juliana graduated from dental school in 2007 and the Advanced Placement Program at the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine in 2014 after she moved to the United States. She continued her education and clinical experience with two years of General Practice Residency (GPR), which encouraged her to pursue her passion to attend the Pediatric Dentistry Program at the University of Puerto Rico. Throughout her entire career, she’s always loved working with children, but there was one instance that motivated her to continue her education to become a pediatric dentist. “It was a severe case in a lot of ways,” Dr. Juliana explains. “I had a 3-year-old girl come in for a check up, and I could tell that her parents had neglected her. Not only were her clothes overused and dirty but she was also suffering from severe tooth decay.”

When Dr. Juliana isn’t improving her patients’ overall health and happiness, she can be found doing her other favorite activities. “I really enjoy Zumba and going to the gym. I’m also an animal lover; I used to volunteer at an animal shelter, which I’m looking forward to jumping back into.” She also enjoys spending her free time inside and outdoors. “I like going out and exploring new places around town, but I also like spending time with my pets, studying, watching movies, reading, and playing video games.” Joining our team has been an exciting experience for us and for Dr. Juliana. “I’m very happy to be working here. There are high expectations of the new office, and I’m happy to help in any way to get our pediatric practice moving.”

–Steven Freeman

Shocked by the state of her patient, she and other dentists stepped forward to help. “With the help of a pediatric dentist, we did a complete oral rehabilitation under general anesthesia. That included a composite and stainless steel crowns, pulpotomies, and operative dentistry.” After the intervention, the girl's mother was alerted about the situation and instructed to take care of her child, or she would be reported to social services. In addition to these requirements, Dr. Juliana and the other dentists told her to bring her daughter back to the clinic for follow-ups for as many times as was necessary to prove the patient was in more suitable conditions. “The follow-up appointments were astonishing,” Dr. Juliana remembers.

P.S. Open to find out how you can win 4 Annual Passes to Disney World.

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USING CEREC TECHNOLOGY Giving You That Perfect Smile in Just 1 Day

DONATE WITH CARE The Right Way to Donate After Spring-Cleaning Spring is in the air, and it’s time to celebrate with another round of spring-cleaning. Banish the clutter and make room in your life for something new! Many charities see a sharp increase in donations as spring-cleaning season starts. Donating your used books, kids’ toys, and gently worn clothing allows your old items to have a second life. However, when filling that donation box, make sure you’re donating each item because it can do good and not just because you feel bad about throwing it away. Charities have a big problem with well-meaning citizens dropping off items that are better left in the trash. There are many items charities simply cannot handle. Most charities will have lists of items they can and cannot accept on their websites. Some items that you should not donate include:

Dental technology has come a long way and continues to advance as the industry grows. Dentists are finding new and better ways to treat patients to give them beautiful, healthy smiles and increase self-confidence. Our team is no different. Elite Smiles keeps up-to-date in the new technologies that appear each year, and we bring the best ones into our offices to offer top-notch service to our deserving clients. One such service we provide is the use of our state-of- the-art CEREC machine. CEREC machines allow dentists to give patients same-day restorations, removing the delay they would otherwise experience. Through the use of CEREC, we can create and apply a dental crown the same day a patient has an appointment, which would normally take several. Crowns are one of the most common treatments in dentistry and generally serve to cover and protect teeth that have experienced severe damage or decay. We know how important beautiful smiles are for our patients, and waiting for a crown, even for a day, can be distressing. With the use of our CEREC machine, the creation of a crown takes only a few minutes, and the application process takes a little less than an hour. You will leave our offices feeling better and smiling brighter than when you entered. Before you receive your crown, our dentist will examine your teeth, remove any weakened tooth tissue, take a digital picture of your mouth, and use CAD/CAM software to develop a 3D image of a replacement tooth. From this image, our experts create your crown and apply it in the correct position. Once the crown has bonded, our dentists polish the area to create a natural look and feel. If you need a dental crown today, don’t hesitate to call our offices and make an appointment. Our team is more than happy to explain the process and the benefits of using CEREC for your treatment. Don’t put off your treatment any longer; call Elite Smiles today.

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Expired medications

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Mattresses

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Old TVs

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Carpets

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Cribs

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Tangled cords or phone chargers

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Loose remote controls

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Any broken, damaged, or dirty items

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Personal care items, like soap, shampoo, or makeup

These items may be unsafe to sell, costly to ship, or impossible to refurbish effectively. When a charity regularly receives items they cannot use, they have to spend hours of manpower sorting through things that end up in the trash anyway. This process can be expensive for organizations with already-strained resources. Some local charities spend over $1,000 a year on dumpster and trash removal fees for unusable donations. While charities will have no choice but to throw unusable donations in the trash, there are services you can use to make your spring- cleaning eco-friendly, even for items you can’t donate. For example, if you have torn or stained blue jeans, reach out to Blue Jeans Go Green. This program keeps denim out of landfills by turning it into insulation. And while Goodwill can't take your batteries or old flip phone, you can check out Call2Recycle.org to learn how to safely recycle your e-waste.

Your donations can be a big help to local charities. Just don’t “donate” your garbage.

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T H E ‘ S M A R T ’ W A Y T O B R U S H Y O U R T E E T H

Connecting Your Dental Hygiene to Your Phone

The history of the toothbrush includes some of the most fascinating inventions in dentistry. Starting in 3,000 B.C., the ancient Egyptians constructed brushes from twigs and leaves and inventively used the foliage to clean their chompers. By the 17th century, Europeans brandished a slightly more controversial toothbrush assembled from a sheep’s tibia and bristles of boar hair. Because of the off-putting nature of using sticks and bones as tools for oral hygiene, modern inventors have created a toothbrush that overshadows our ancestors’ devices by a long shot. In 2018, Philips, Oral-B, and Prophix released smart toothbrushes to give tech-savvy brushers an entirely different cleaning experience. Today’s smart toothbrushes use Bluetooth wireless technology to transmit your brushing behavior to your phone’s app. Each brand comes with different bells and whistles, but if you are looking for a fun, more efficient way to manage your dental hygiene, there are several innovative brushes to choose from.

The ones geared toward adults send updates to your phone in real time and give you feedback on your brushing habits. This means you can evaluate the >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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