What will my first appointment be like?
How much will my visit cost?
Tell me about Health-Centered Dentistry
What is CEREC?
Tell me more about root canals.
Considerations for removing toxic metals
What will my first appointment be like?
At the initial examination and after completion of your detailed health history, Dr. Nabors will discuss with you your health and dental concerns. About 50% of our new clients are requesting the removal of silver-mercury amalgams, as well as other reactive materials such as nickel and palladium from their mouths.
Following the initial discussion, Dr. Nabors will conduct a thorough dental examination. He will evaluate your overall health as he takes you on a tour of your mouth with a video camera so you can see each of your teeth on a monitor.
For the next phase of your visit, one of Dr. Nabors' assistants, who are certified in radiology , will take a thorough and complete set of x-rays of your teeth. For your greatest possible safety and health, the x-rays in Dr. Nabors office are taken with high speed, low exposure film that expose you to only minimum radiation.
Then, based on the request of your referring physician, Dr. Nabors may also measure the electrical charges on your existing fillings.
At this point in the visit Dr. Nabors will have the information necessary to evaluate your dental health. He will assemble and study this information, and appoint a time to discuss a comprehensive treatment plan with the goal of restoring your teeth to optimum health.
How much will my visit cost?
The fee for your initial examination and comprehensive treatment plan is $290. After your initial appointment, Dr. Nabors will provide a fee estimate for the proposed dentistry.
We want you to have a full understanding of the investment involved before any dentistry is begun. Any questions or concerns about fees can be discussed candidly and frankly in private at your request.
One of our goals is to not stress our patients financially. Several payments options are available and can be discussed upon request.
Tell me about Health-Centered Dentistry
Silver-mercury amalgams are composed of five metals, 50% of which is mercury. Over twenty years ago, researchers discovered that the mercury in amalgams slowly comes out of the fillings and is absorbed into the body over the lifetime of the filling.
Many people with good body resistance and a healthy immune system have amalgam fillings and show no adverse symptoms. We are finding a number of individuals diagnosed by their physicians who experience various neurological and physiological problems associated with mercury buildup as well as other incompatible dental materials in their body.
There are three major problems associated with metals in the mouth:
1. Mercury toxicity: This is our primary concern due to the buildup of this highly toxic material that leaks out of amalgams in the form of a vapor. The mercury vapor is then absorbed into the body through the mucous membranes of the mouth and respiratory tract.
2. Allergic reaction: Nickel is the metal that causes the most allergy problems. When the patient cannot wear inexpensive costume jewelry, this is a good indication of a nickel allergy. A common material in dental crowns, bridges and partials is nickel. We often find red, swollen, irritated gums, a burning sensation in the mouth, or red tissue under the partial in patients who are reacting to nickel.
3. Galvanism: An electrical current or battery effect generated in the mouth by dissimilar metals.
Mercury amalgam fillings must be removed very carefully to prevent mercury vapor from being absorbed by the patient.
Many of our patients elect to remove their amalgams and upgrade their dentistry to tooth colored materials.
We provide quality dental care as efficiently and comfortably as possible. Many of our patients travel long distances; so longer well-planned appointments are utilized to do quadrant dentistry. This minimizes travel time and anesthetic injections, and allows us to do optimum dentistry very effectively rather than appoint for one tooth at a time.
What is CEREC?
CEREC is a state of the art, CAD-CAM machine developed by German technology.
This instrument allows us to take a 3D picture with a special optical camera of a prepared tooth, eliminating the need for an impression.
From this 3D picture we can design a precise fitting, strong, tooth colored ceramic restoration. In about twenty minutes, we can mill the finished crown or onlay from
a ceramic block.
We then bond the restoration in place all in a single appointment, eliminating the need for impressions, temporaries, or a second appointment.
Tell me more about root canals.
ROOT CANAL TREATMENT/ENDODONTIC THERAPY WITH BIOCALEX
ROOT CANAL (ENDODONTIC THERAPY): A tooth sometimes dies and abscesses, or becomes so irritated and painful as to be intolerable. This may occur as a result of extremely deep decay (which has gotten near or even into the pulp chamber), deep fillings, or trauma. These factors are beyond the control of the dentist.
When an abscessed (dead) tooth becomes a source of inflammation or infection in the bone surrounding the tooth, it must either be removed or receive root canal (endodontic) treatment.
As with any dental or medical treatment, a 100% success rate cannot be guaranteed; however, root canal therapy has been historically considered to be highly successful. A root canal is deemed a success by the presence or absence of inflammation around the root tip along with the possible accompanying symptoms. Radiographically visible bone healing following root canal treatment may take months, or even years.
Root canal treatment consists of cleaning and disinfecting the nerve canal, followed by thorough sealing with a root canal material. Traditionally, root canal therapy has been performed with a rubbery material called "gutta percha." In 1994, the FDA gave permission to use "Biocalex", which has been used in France and other countries for over 15 years. Another recently introduced product called Endocal is essentially the same material as Biocalex and packaged under a different name.
Biocalex consists of a powder of calcium oxide and zinc oxide, which have been demonstrated to be among the most biocompatible materials used in dentistry. The powder is mixed with a liquid consisting of purified water and ethyl glycol. The resulting compound (calcium hydroxide) is very effective in destroying bacteria and expands to effectively fill the canals of the tooth root. Biocalex, which has no metal salts included, will not be visible on x-rays after a period of time. Dr. Nabors has treated over four hundred teeth with Biocalex with a success rate to date of over 95%.
The tooth can also be treated with the traditional filling material, gutta percha. Although this material is very successful in saving teeth, many of our referring holistic physicians have determined this material to be reactive and not as biocompatible for many of our chemically sensitive patients. Both materials can be tested for biocompatibility prior to placement.
OTHER TREATMENT OPTIONS include no treatment and tooth extraction.
After this endodontic treatment, a permanent restoration of the tooth is necessary. Most back teeth will require a crown. Some teeth that are significantly weakened may require a post (dowel) to give the crown added strength.
Considerations for removing toxic metals.
1. See a dentist that has been trained by and is a member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT).
2. Confirm that the office is totally committed to being amalgam free. Dr. Nabors has not placed an amalgam for over 21 years.
3. The dentist must use a rubber dam for removing mercury amalgams and old nickel crowns to prevent the patients from ingesting metal particles.
4. A special high-powered triple filtered vacuum system should be used to remove mercury vapor as the metal is being taken out of the mouth.
5. Many of our patients elect to have Dr. Nabors' dental materials tested by their physician. This assures that whatever dental materials are placed to restore their teeth are biologically compatible for that patient.
6. We recommend that our patients work with an alternative health care practitioner to detoxify and chelate mercury load that has accumulated in the body.
Below is a list of alternative health care practitioners we work with and recommend:
C. Patrick Patton, D.C.
43 Pine Ridge Drive
Asheville, NC 28804
828.285.9792
Bobby R. Hagar, D.C., LMBT
2499 E. Ozark Avenue
Gastonia, NC 28054
704.865.5664
John L. Wilson, M.D.
Great Smokies Medical Center
1312 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28806
828.252.9833
Eileen M. Wright, M.D.
Great Smokies Medical Center
1312 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28806
828.252.9833
James R. Biddle, M.D.
832 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
828.252.5545
Davis S. Graham, D.C.
180 Merrimon Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
828.253.5844
Tirrell S. Magnuson, D.C.
33 Valley View Terrace
Waynesville, NC 28786
828.452.9060
Bill Morris, Compounding Pharmacist
25 Miller Street
Waynesville, NC 28786
828.456.8607
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