2nd Annual Patient Appreciation Party!

We are so excited to celebrate with our patients again this year. Come and meet the new addtions to our staff and enjoy food and fun for the whole family.

Plus, if you bring a friend you will be entered into a raffle for prizes. Hope to see you there!

Worst Celebrity Smiles Round 2

The first time I did this it was one of our most popular posts so I thought it was worth doing again. I'll start with the "Not-So-Bad" ones and move on from there.

Avril Lavigne - Her teeth aren't horrible. In fact, it is really just her canines that look like fangs. It looks like this is partially because her front 4 teeth are tilted inward a little and the canines are pushed out a bit. This usually isn't a desired look for someone but with the recent popularity of the Twilight series, I'm thinking maybe people will try to get their teeth to look like this. Edward would be so excited.

This could be fixed really easily with braces. Because she is a celebrity, Invisalign braces may work best for her because they could be removed for performances.

Madonna - Okay, no big issue here except that you could "Vogue" your way straight through that gap in her front teeth. Isn't amazing how a mega-superstar would never get something like that fixed? But I guess if you are Madonna, you do whatever you want.

If she were so inclined to close the grand canyon, braces would do the trick. I say the metal ones just because I think it would be funny to see Madonna with wires and brackets. She could also do veneers but the teeth themselves are pretty so I'd hate to cut them down and cover them if we could just move them over and have them look great.

Jewel - This one has bugged me ever since high school. I hated seeing her video for "Who Will Save You Soul" on MTV and seeing this really cute girl singing with this crazy snaggle tooth sticking out. I am baffled that someone wouldn't have this fixed. Especially being in the spotlight all of the time.

All Jewel would need is braces. Invisalign might be able to do it but sometimes when teeth are really crowded, we have to go with metal braces. Should have thought of that before she was famous. Could be hard to pull off the braces look now.

Nelly - No real comment here. If I were to go with one metal tooth in the front it would probably be solid gold with diamonds or something. But maybe Nelly had this one done before being famous so he could only afford a tin or aluminum front tooth.

He should probably go up a couple sizes in hat as well because his doesn't quite seem to fit down all the way. Maybe he could only afford a children's size hat back then too. Poor Nelly.

If he decided on a more natural look, a porcelain crown would be the best treatment. They blend so well with the natural teeth that you can hardly tell they are in there.

Brooke Hogan - I don't really want to call her a celebrity but the picture is easy to comment on. Just a note to any of the young white girls reading this and hoping to star in a future reality show about your dysfunctional semi-celebrity family...avoid the silver/diamond grill on the front teeth. I have yet to see a preppy blonde girl pull this off.

I wonder if her dad Hulk Hogan is mad that she borrowed sunglasses from his arch rival the Macho Man Randy Savage. I guess I'm dating myself with that comment. If the younger readers need more info, please Google "Macho Man Randy Savage". You will understand.

Flava-Flav - Attention Brooke Hogan, this is how you pull off the full grill. It only works if you have matching necklaces and an enormous clock hanging around your neck.

You know how that conversation goes...

"Hey, Flav...what time is it?"

"What time is it? Let me check my clock. Its time to be a nasty 50 year-old dude with pimped-out teeth and a TV show where skanky chicks fight over the chance to rub their tongue on my solid gold incisors. That's what time it is."

That's why he is Public Enemy #1

I hope you enjoyed the post!

There are a number of reasons why I love porcelain veneers. I thought I would take this Memorial Day to cover some of them.

1. They are super-thin. Not much thicker than a contact lens! This is important because it means that as the cosmetic dentist, I don't have to grind away as much of your natural tooth to achieve a dramatic result.



2. Color Change. Even though veneers are so thin, we can use them to completely change the color of your teeth. Even the most yellow teeth can be masked out and transformed into bright white.

3. They Can Look So Real. In the past, veneers tended to be very monochromatic. You got one color for the whole tooth. But natural teeth don't look like that. Natural teeth tend to be a little darker near the gums and a little transparent near the tip. In between they can have any combination of colors. These color variations are what make veneers look real. Dentists who work with the right dental labs can recreate these color changes in the porcelain. We can usually pick out someone who has poorly-done veneers because the teeth just look fake. White...but fake.

4. Shape Change. With porcelain veneers we can completely change the shape of a tooth. Many people have chipped or worn down their teeth over the years. Others have teeth with gaps between them. Many people's teeth are crowded. All of these issues can be fixed with veneers less than 1.o mm thick!

5. Confidence! I can't tell you how many of our patients come back after having their veneers done and tell me that they catch themselves smiling so much more. Having a smile you can be proud of does wonders for your self-confidence. I have had patients claim that their new smile has helped them get raises at work, ask out girls they never would have before, and live a happier, more fulfilling life. It is amazing!

So these are a couple of reasons why I love porcelain veneers and smile makeovers. They can look so real and they can change your life. This is the truly rewarding part of my job. When people ask how I can look in people's mouths all day, I tell them that its because later I get to see people's smiles all day.


Dr. Heap


P.S. - I always do completely free smile analysis and consultations. Even if you just have little details about your teeth that you don't like, come see me. Sometimes we can improve a smile drastically without major dental procedures.

480-892-1711
http://www.lakesidesmiles.com/

Why Do We Remove Wisdom Teeth?

Last week we saw a patient who had been experiencing soreness in some of her back teeth. About a year ago we saw her and recommended she have her wisdom teeth removed. She told us she didn’t see why they should be removed if they weren’t bothering her. We explained all of the possible problems involved with most wisdom teeth (see previous post “Wisdom Teeth“) and showed on the x-rays the way that hers were growing in at an angle that could possibly damage the other teeth.

Needless to say, nothing was done about these wisdom teeth. A year later she has returned in pain. When we took the x-rays we found that her wisdom teeth had continued to grow forward and had caused terrible damage to the teeth just in front of them. The damage was so bad that we couldn’t save the wisdom teeth or the ones they had grown into. So instead of removing a few wisdom teeth very easily, we had to do a very lengthy surgery in order to take out 6 teeth!

The moral of the story is…get your wisdom teeth checked if they have never been removed. If your dentist recommends removal to avoid other damage, please do it! You don’t want to be in a situation where other teeth are affected. The process is so easy. You basically go to sleep and when you wake up, everything has been done.

We offer completely free consultations and x-rays if you are concerned about your wisdom teeth. Please just give us a call or shoot me an e-mail if you have questions!

Dr. Heap

480-892-1711

Sedation "Sleep" Dentistry

What could be better than going to sleep and having all of your dental work done before you wake up?

We are now excited to offer sedation dentistry at our office. This is also known as sleep dentistry. Sleep dentistry is perfect for those people who are afraid of the dentist or who just don't love going to the dentist.

And really, who loves going to the dentist?

The process is very easy. After a brief visit with one of our doctors to talk about what type of sedation would work best for you, all you need to do is come to your dental visit ready to relax and take a nap.

You can even bring your favorite pillow, teddy bear, whatever you want to feel comfortable! You don't have to worry about anything else.

For our patients interested in cosmetic dentistry or a smile makeover, imagine going to sleep and when you wake up you have a new and beautiful smile!

We are very excited to be able to offer this in our office. Call us to set up a consult or to find out more about sedation dentistry.

480-892-1711

Smiles for Life Whitening Charity

Our office is privileged to be a part of the Charity Smiles for Life. It's your oppurtunity to help make a child smile by whitening yours!

How often do you get a chance to do something wonderful and easy for yourself, and make a difference in somebody else's life at the same time? Here's a chance. February thru June, Lakeside Dentistry will be donating all proceeds from whitening directly to Smiles for Life. This includes Zoom! In Office Whitening and costum made take-home whitening trays.

Your smile is professionally whitened and seriously ill, disabled, and underprivileged children in your community (and around the world) get 100% of the money. YES, IT'S WAY COOL! Call today to schedule an appointment! Because there are kids waiting for you to whiten your smile!


This is part of an annual campaign organized by the Crown Council, an association of elite dentists throughout North America of which Dr. Heap is a member. Their charity organization has raised more than $20 million since it was organized in 1998. Visit the website Smiles for Life.

Meet Dr. Snell

We have been excited to have Dr. Heath Snell join our practice. Not only is he incredibly good at what he does, he is an incredible person as well. We hope you get to meet him soon! Here is a little more about him:

Dr. Heath Snell completed his undergraduate studies, graduating Summa Cum Laude, from Arizona State University. He then went on to pursue his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Colorado School of Dentistry. While in dental school Dr. Snell received several honors and awards and was nominated in to the prestigious Omicron Kappa Upsilon dental honors society.

Following dental school, Dr. Snell completed a one-year course of study in Advanced Education in General Dentistry where he gained the needed training to perform such complex dental procedures as placement of dental implants and extraction of wisdom teeth. Because of this extra training, he is also certified to perform “sleep dentistry” using either oral or IV sedation.

Dr. Snell is a member of the American Dental Association, the Arizona Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Dental Society of Dental Anesthesiology.

When he is not working, Dr. Snell really enjoys spending time with his wife, Chelsea, and their three kids, Brooklyn, Caden and Brynlie. He also enjoys athletics, photography, and is very active in his church and community.