TMJ disorder, or TMD (both acronyms for the temporo-mandibular joint….the joint in your jaw), is a common ailment that causes a wide range of symptoms from occasional ear pain or jaw clicking/popping, to major aches in the entire head, tooth wear from frequent bruxing (teeth-grinding), migraines, neck pain, and jaw crookedness or tiredness. I specialize in treating TMJ, so if you think TMJ has been a problem for you, contact me (or another TMJ specialist, if location is a problem). It’s important to find one who treats TMJ bioesthetically, aesthetically, and with the healthiest, most natural options available. Your TMJ disorder will grow worse over time if it’s not taken care of. Don’t wait any longer to prevent problems that are bound to happen!

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

That idea might sound quite odd and surprising, yes? This is brand-new in my practice. Read this for crucial background information:

http://www.toxinfreesmile.com/images/Ozone-Integrating%20Oxygen%20Ozone%20Thearpy%20into%20Your%20Practice.pdf

The system is basically a small, easy-to-operate machine with several tubes, bottles, and buttons all over (I ordered and received one already), and an oxygen tank. In a nutshell, it works by locally and rapidly eliminating all “bad” bacteria to the place treatment is applied, therefore providing a completely sterile environment to work in. There are no adverse reactions or side effects to worry about. Also, when used internally, it also “magnetically” leeches onto bacteria and destroys it, but does nothing to the “good” cells and bugs in your body. This allows your immune system to fully recover and restore the infection quickly and effectively, and — the best part — completely naturally!

I met the two lead investigators of a national study on the use of oxygen & ozone in dentistry (at the very bottom of the pages in the link), Dr. Mollica and Dr. Harris, at the IAOMT conference last month. They were extremely informative and generous in giving my son and daughter-in-law demonstrations (they were sick with colds that weekend, and, by inhaling the vapor, were healed within a few days! No, oxygen/ozone is not limited to dentistry only!). In a few weeks, I will be attending a class of theirs in New Jersey, where they’ll be teaching dentists how to incorporate the practice into their offices and giving out all kinds of information on its uses.

More on this topic will be written; they told me it is going to change my dentistry like nothing else, and for the better.

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

In Hawaii, our vacation home host works at a surfboard manufacturing shop. I was curious about the trade, so I took my son and daughter-in-law inside the shop to see if we could get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes (rather, behind the rows and rows of colorful boards found in shops on every corner on the North Shore!) process of surfboard making. May as well since we were already there! Though many people surf in Los Angeles, I think it would be harder to just walk in the back door of a random surfboard place and “demand” a tour.

The white (often colored) boards we usually see are made out of polyurethane or polystyrene foam. Balsa and other light woods are also commonly used, only they are much more expensive than the foam boards. The shape and size of the board is sanded down to resemble what looks exactly like a surfboard carved out of fancy styrofoam or wood. Much care is taken in measuring the shapes, sizes, and weights of the boards. Then layers of fiberglass, cloth, paint (for designs), and resins are applied to form the complete product. We saw some beautiful boards, including a custom-made decorative one made out of several different hardwoods.

Being a dentist, I couldn’t help but compare the similarities in this process, and the restoration process used in CEREC system, which I have and definitely use. When a tooth needs restoration, the CEREC system records a digital image of the tooth’s structure, and within a matter of hours, carves out a perfect crown/filling out of a small block of ceramic inside a special machine (many demonstrations of this were held at the ADA Session). The faulty tooth is sanded down ever so slightly, and then, after some refining, fitting, and adjusting of the occlusion, the crown/filling is bonded or cemented right where it needs to be, fitting perfectly with the other teeth. It’s quite amazing.

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

This last weekend I attended the last two days of the American Dental Association’s (ADA) 150th Annual Session in Honolulu, HI, with my family. It was held in the beautiful Hawaii Convention Center, and an overwhelming number of exhibits were stationed in the main hall (it took more than half a day to explore). Many of them were somewhat mediocre (light-up kids’ toothbrushes and the like) and not too interesting, but I found several great dental innovations that will be in my office soon; I also had the privilege of running into some old friends. All of this, plus one short conversation that is going to save me several thousand dollars on dental insurance (do I sound like a Geico commercial?) made the trip more than worthwhile – as if any reason to go to Hawaii isn’t worthwhile – in terms of making more changes to my office and updating my practice to the most simple, healthy ways possible. I’ll be blogging some of these discoveries for the rest of this week, and then giving some updates on another marvelous contraption I’ve just received that is changing my practice for the better.

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles