15 Jun DENTAL MYTHBUSTERS WITH DR. TIPPIREDDY OF V SMILE FAMILY DENTAL BY DEBORAH DOVE
Proactively keeping your mouth and teeth healthy is one of the smartest investments you can make in yourself. And having a warm, caring, and professional dentist like Dr. Vijaya Tippireddy at V-Smile who treats you like family makes it easy. Whether it’s a cleaning, fillings, crowns, veneers, or Zoom Whitening, Dr. Tippireddy strives to provide the best quality of care to her patients while compassionately listening to their needs and concerns. Dr. Tippireddy also provides free consultations for patients needing a second opinion.
Dr. Vijaya Tippireddy and her team are approaching their three-year anniversary serving the residents of Prosper, Frisco, Little Elm, and the surrounding areas. Dr. Tippireddy addresses a few of the most common misconceptions concerning dental care and the health of your teeth and mouth.
“Why do I need to do anything if my tooth doesn’t hurt?”
According to Dr. Tippireddy, pain in your mouth is mostly avoidable. Maintaining your teeth and mouth with regular cleanings and exams and addressing small problems before they become big problems is the key. “Taking care of your teeth is less expensive than fixing the problems that arise when you don’t,” says Dr. Tippireddy. A common misconception with patients is if their tooth doesn’t hurt, there’s not a problem. However, says Dr. Tippireddy, once the tooth starts to hurt, the infection has gone into the nerve or the root of the tooth, which becomes more time consuming, more painful, and requires a more aggressive form of treatment such as a root canal or implant that could have been avoided.
“Our goal is to help you
keep your teeth. There’s no
replacement for the real thing.
But if you take care of your teeth,
they can last your entire life.”
However, Dr. Tippireddy will never force or pressure a patient to do anything. “My job is to educate patients. Their job is to make the decision; and that is a responsibility I leave to the patient,” she says. “I don’t know what their situation is financially or emotionally. However, I will advise patients of what might happen if they don’t address the issues, and I can help patients prioritize what needs to be addressed immediately and help them create a treatment plan that works for them.”
“I have dental insurance. Why doesn’t that pay for everything?”
Unlike medical insurance, dental insurance is designed to help patients pay for expensive procedures, not cover the cost completely. “If you have medical insurance, once you meet your deductible, you pretty much have unlimited money to take care of whatever needs to be done,” says Dr. Tippireddy. By contrast, dental insurance has a cap—the maximum you can use per year—so most patients have to pay a percentage of the treatment cost out-of-pocket. Insurance rarely ever covers 100 percent for basic and major dental problems.
However, most insurance plans do cover basic cleanings twice a year, along with an exam and X-rays, which Dr. Tippireddy says most people don’t take advantage of, but should. “If you come in for your exam, which is usually covered 100 percent by insurance, we can find and fix problems when they are small, costing you less money, less time, and less pain.”
Although V-Smile is in-network with most PPO insurance plans, they also offer an in-house savings plan for patients without dental insurance. For less than a dollar a day, patients can get two cleanings, two exams, panoramic x-rays, and two fluoride treatments per year free of charge, (in the absence of periodontal disease), as well as 20 to 30 percent off any procedures, with no cap on the discount. Participants also enjoy free emergency office visits.
“What can my dental health possibly have to do with my overall health?”
The short answer is everything!
“The mouth is the link to the two most important organs in your body, your heart and your brain,” says Dr. Tippireddy. “Blood flow from these areas go through your mouth, so if you have infection and inflammation there, you are recirculating it.” Additionally, she adds, there is a startling connection between a person’s dental health and their systemic health. Over forty percent of all people have gum disease, and gum disease is linked to a myriad of health problems such as heart disease, arthritis and other medical conditions.
“Periodontal or gum disease is inflammation, which leads to bad bacteria breeding and damaging other nearby organs. People with diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and autoimmune disorders are at higher risk for inflammation because of their disease, which is reflected in their mouth. When we take care of inflammation in our mouth, we will notice an improvement in our overall health,” she says.
“If you’re taking care of your physical health by working out and eating healthy but not taking care of your mouth, you’re not doing 100 percent to take care of your health.”
Schedule your appointment with Dr. Tippireddy today by calling (214) 872-2700 or visit
www.dentistoffrisco.com