Many Joliet general dentist offices (including ours here at Smile League) accept Medicaid — the easiest way is simply to call and ask. Alternatively, you can search for the phrase “dentist near me that accepts Medicaid” in a search engine, such as Google.
Searching the internet works better than you might expect for this. That’s because most dentists publish the fact that they accept Medicaid.
If you are enrolled in a managed care plan, check your membership card. There should be a phone number on the back that you can call to get a list of dentists in your area who accept Medicaid.
DentaQuest
DentaQuest is recommended by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services for people who are enrolled in Medicare but do not have a managed care plan. DentaQuest works if you want a broad range of possible options.
Keep in mind that DentaQuest might update its interface at any time. If you need help, feel free to contact us here at Smile League or ask for advice the next time you come in for an appointment.
Searching the DentaQuest Database
There are a number of ways to access the information, but the easiest way is typically to enter “DentaQuest” on Google or navigate to DentaQuest.com and use the main website’s search wizard.
Once you have found the official website, you’re ready to start searching. Currently, if you are using a laptop or desktop computer, you should find the option to “Find A Provider” in the upper-right-hand corner of the website’s front page. If you are using a mobile device, such as a tablet or a cell phone, you will probably have to select the menu in the upper left to find this option.
You should be prompted to select the option for Medicare/Medicaid. You’ll then get a list of the different states.
Once you select Illinois, you’ll see an option to select the type of plan you have. After you select the right category, you’ll finally be able to enter your ZIP code and search for dentists who provide the types of services you need. DentaQuest is a bit of work, but there are some advantages:
You can search by dental specialty
Dentists can indicate whether they are accepting new patients
Each office provides a list of plans that it accepts
Pick Up the Phone
As you can see, you need to have a lot of information at your fingertips to use DentaQuest. Additionally, once you find a list of providers, you will still need to call in order to confirm that they do accept your specific plan.
Unless you need the advanced information in DentaQuest, we would generally recommend that you just call dentists you find on online directories such as Google Maps. The benefit of this approach is that you can read reviews and contact the dentist without going through a complex search process. Of course, you can also feel free to contact us here at Smile League at 815-782-6243.
Smile League Dental is excited to introduce the newest in modern technology for restorations like crowns and bridges, aligners, night guard, implant crowns, and sleep apnea devices: Intraoral scanners. Our CEREC Primescan AC uses state of the art technology and is the best and most expensive scanner on the market today.
Let’s take a closer look at how this new technology works and how it benefits our patients.
What Is an Intraoral Scanner?
An intraoral scanner is a device that’s used to create digital impressions. The scanner works by projecting light onto the area that needs to be scanned. Imaging sensors take pictures, and scanning software creates a 3D surface model.
Intraoral scanners eliminate the need for traditional impressions, which can sometimes be uncomfortable. Color maps can also be created to ensure that your restorations are accurate and natural looking.
Advantages Of Intraoral Digital Scanning Over Traditional Analogue Impressions?
An intraoral scanner replaces the need for traditional analogue impressions. For patients and dental staff, these digital scanners offer many advantages, including:
Quicker Impressions
Speed is important for both dental offices and patients. One study (Patzelt et al., 2014) on the CEREC Primescan AC found that CEREC offered the fastest devices and was up to 23 minutes faster than traditional impression making.
Greater Accuracy
Faster speeds do not impact accuracy. Buccal bite and full arches can accurately be scanned in under a minute. Even in hard-to-reach areas of the mouth, the intraoral scanner allows for complete scans in under 60 seconds.
On top of accuracy, these scanners are versatile, allowing our staff to improve our workflow to get your scans done as quickly as possible.
Secure data transfers are made with seamless communication to labs for faster results. Digital impressions can help with:
Clear aligners
Restorative work
Implants
Sleep apnea
OraCheck
When accuracy and speed are combined, we’re able to make sure that all of our patients leave the office with a smile on their face.
More Comfortable
Comfort is of the utmost importance for our patients. Primescan’s intraoral digital scanners are the best because they promote fast, comfortable treatment. Patented imaging technology allows for rapid results, which means less discomfort.
Primescan goes a step further with easy scanning for hard to access areas. The scanner has a large field of view, allowing our dental team to view larger areas with fewer sweeps.
Smile League Dental wants the best for our patients from the first visit to the last. We’ve gone the extra mile to offer intraoral scanning technology to our patients because it’s faster, more comfortable and highly accurate.
Primescan was chosen, after careful consideration from our team, because it:
Offers perfect accuracy with 20mm depth sharpness
Connects to labs and third-party suppliers
Makes scans more comfortable for patients
Improves hygiene with multiple sleeve options and can consolidate 50,000 images per second
With built-in smart features and touchscreens, we’re able to get you in and out of the chair faster and offer better results.
Primescan helps us ensure that when you leave our office, you’ll have a smile on your face.
The long-awaited new year is here. As we are all look forward to a healthier 2021, maybe you are thinking of adding to your new year’s resolution list, healthier and whiter teeth?
Maybe you are a big coffee drinker, and, over time, your teeth have become stained. Perhaps, your new year resolution includes quitting smoking, and whitening your teeth as a fresh healthy start.
As you may know, there is something about whiter, healthy teeth and smile. The happier you are with your teeth, the more likely you are to show them off to other people, boosting your confidence.
If you have not, you certainly may want to include teeth whitening and healthier teeth to your new year’s resolution list.
As Part of Your New Year Resolution
Regular brushing and flossing are important fundamental ways to keep your teeth healthy and bright. And so is visiting your dentist every six (6) months. However, if you feel you want your teeth more shades lighter, then consider teeth whitening. Teeth whitening involves bleaching your teeth to make them lighter. Teeth whitening can lighten the existing color of your teeth by several shades.
Part of Your New Year Resolution and Before You Venture Into Teeth Whitening, Remember This
It is important to see a dentist for an assessment of your teeth and oral health. If you have cavities, gum disease, or other abnormalities, you can make certain symptoms worse and negatively affect your oral health. A dentist will be able to help you make the right choice.
Factors That Can Change the Color of Your Teeth
Multiple factors cause teeth to become dull and lose their bright, white sparkle. Certain foods can stain your enamel, which is the outermost layer of your teeth. Additionally, plaque buildup on your teeth can cause them to look yellow (you would need to first get a cleaning by a dentist). Tobacco use, aging, trauma, and certain medications (like tetracycline) can also change the color of your teeth. The success of teeth whitening will largely depend on the cause of discoloration. For example, grey colored teeth or tetracycline-stained teeth will require more bleaching efforts, compared to yellow-colored teeth.
Visiting the Dentist for an Evaluation and Treatment
Depending on what type of teeth whitening you want, you may need to make a visit to the dentist for an evaluation in this new year, to achieve your new year’s resolution list. For at-home teeth whitening, you would need an evaluation, and then a custom-made tray to help you hold the bleach in place. For in-office teeth whitening, you would need an evaluation, and then the actual bleaching appointment which is less than two (2) hours.
It is important to note that bleaching will not whiten porcelain crowns or composite tooth-colored restorations.
In-Office Teeth Whitening VS at Home Teeth Whitening
In-office-based teeth bleaching means bleaching done for you at a dentist’s office while at-home teeth whitening is bleaching you can do at home yourself, with the guide of a dentist.
Similarities: Both in-office and at-home teeth-whitening options use peroxide-based bleaching agents.
Major differences: In-office yields a dramatic result at a shorter time (since it contains a higher concentration of peroxide) compared to at-home teeth whitening which takes more time and several days.
Other differences: At-home teeth whitening systems contain from 3 to 20-percent peroxide (carbamide or hydrogen peroxides). In-office teeth whitening systems contain from 15 to 43-percent peroxide. However, the higher the percentage of peroxide in the teeth whitening solution, the shorter it should be applied to the teeth.
At-Home Teeth Whitening
At your evaluation visit, your dentist will evaluate your oral health and medical history. Once it is determined you are a good candidate for at-home teeth whitening, the dentist will take an impression of your teeth to make a mouthguard and instruct you how to use it with a bleaching gel. Then, using your mouthguard at home, consistently apply the gel for a specified period over 2 to 4 weeks (or as instructed by your dentist).
In-Office Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening done by your dentist can get teeth brighter faster. The bleaching solution is usually much stronger than at-home kits. Also, heat, light, or a combination of the two may be used to speed and intensify the whitening process. This yields the most dramatic results, with teeth getting three to eight shades brighter. This procedure usually takes several minutes, about 30- to 60-minutes. Teeth whitening may not always be predictable, although certain factors help achieve more predictability. Amongst these factors is the use of Philips Zoom teeth whitening LED light to intensify teeth whitening done in the office and to shorten treatment time.
What is the Philips Zoom Teeth Whitening LED light?
Philips Zoom teeth whitening is a popular method of teeth whitening because it takes extraordinarily little time to work and is effective for most people. It can dramatically whiten your teeth up to 8 shades brighter! Since this technology is one of the best in the market for teeth whitening, we deem it important to offer this product to our dearly esteemed customers at Smile League Dental. You may want to review the answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Philips Zoom teeth whitening. You should also review the instructions about the Philips Zoom teeth whitening, which will be given to you at your initial evaluation appointment with the dentist at Smile League Dental.
The Zoom Whitening Procedure
Your current teeth shade will be assessed, so you have a reference shade to the new shade, which will be achieved after the whitening.
Next, a protective cover is put over your lips and gums leaving only your teeth exposed.
Some gel is applied to the back surfaces of the teeth to be whitened.
Then the whitening gel is applied to your teeth and will remain for 15 minutes.
A special lamp is used in combination with the hydrogen peroxide Zoom whitening gel to remove stains from your teeth.
More gel is applied every 15 minutes.
The entire procedure takes about 45 minutes.
Once the whitening is complete, a different gel is applied to your teeth to lessen sensitivity.
Before you leave, you will receive a touch-up home kit and advice from your dentist about which foods you are able to eat and drink.
As a note, it is recommended that you get your teeth professionally cleaned before receiving Philips Zoom whitening. You will want your teeth to be as clean as possible before the actual treatment.
Losing baby teeth is an exciting part of growing up. Who does not remember the first time you put a baby tooth under your pillow – with the anticipation of getting something special from the tooth fairy? Losing baby teeth is a normal part of growth and development.
The tradition of leaving a tooth under a pillow for the Tooth Fairy to collect is practiced in various countries, including the U.S. Virtually every child believes the Tooth Fairy myth.
What is the Tooth Fairy?
The Tooth Fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood in Western and Western-influenced cultures. Linda S. Watts (2007) stated that when children loose any of their baby teeth, they should place it underneath their pillow, or on their bedside table, and the Tooth Fairy will visit while they sleep – replacing the lost tooth with a small payment.
One of the tales surrounding the Tooth Fairy myth is the Tooth Fairy’s house is made from the teeth she collects. The Tooth Fairy’s house is a huge, white castle with towers and a sparkling moat. The Tooth Fairy is very particular about the baby teeth she collects and uses for her castle. If the child’s tooth has a cavity or dark spot, she will throw the bad tooth into the mouth of a big cave, where it will be ground up into fairy dust.
If You Are Wondering How the Tooth Fairy Myth Can Be Helpful to Parents, Here Is How
Telling a child the Tooth Fairy will come to collect a cavity-free baby tooth in exchange for monetary rewards or other gifts often excites them. It may also provide comfort to a child experiencing fear or pain from losing a tooth. Apart from the gift, it could also help children strive to keep their baby teeth healthy for the Tooth Fairy’s cavity free house, by brushing twice daily and reducing consumption of sugars. These are some of the major factors that could lead to cavities.
Making the Tooth Fairy Come Quicker
If you notice your child is having “double teeth” (i.e. baby tooth is present and will not loosen, while the adult tooth is erupting and right behind the baby tooth), you may encourage your child to wiggle it themselves. This will aid in natural exfoliation. Parents can also aid children with wiggling out mobile baby teeth. An alternatively preferable approach would be to schedule your child with the dentist for further evaluation and appropriate management.
Facts About Losing Baby Teeth
The normal loss of baby teeth is important because over-retained teeth can cause gum inflammation and sensitivity or affect the eruption pattern of permanent teeth. Over-retained baby teeth may also lead to crowding of teeth, or cause malocclusion.
Be careful that an overtly loose baby tooth can get dislodged at an unexpected time, such as when a child is sleeping, and can get aspirated in the lungs.
The loss of primary teeth and the eruption of permanent teeth usually occur naturally and without complications, although there are sometimes variations to normal eruption. Check with your dentist if you notice a variation with your child’s baby teeth.
Sometimes the eruption of the adult teeth counterpart can cause swelling of the gum tissue. These swellings will appear as a bubble on the gums and can even take on a bluish hue.
While some children are nervous to lose their baby teeth, it is important to teach them this is a natural part of growth and development. It is also important for parents to realize this is a normal part of their child’s development. If a parent is nervous or apprehensive about a loose baby tooth, it will often lead to the child having similar anxiety. Be mindful how you portray or show your dental fears around your child.
At Smile League Dental, if we need to make the Tooth Fairy come quicker by extracting their baby teeth, we effectively communicate with children in a manner they understand. After the process, we bag their baby teeth to take home so they can get their tooth fairy experience. We also offer them toys to help them feel better.
Our priority at Smile League Dental is making dental treatment a fun, memorable process for children. Our team is extra caring, yet efficient and knowledgeable in various dental procedures and processes and can help your child get rid of their dental ailments while providing quick relief. Call 815-782-6243 or schedule your appointment online today.
References
Watts, Linda S. (2007). “Tooth Fairy (legendary).” Encyclopedia of American Folklore. New York: Facts on File. P. 386. ISBN 0-8160-5699-4
COVID-19 has changed the way we interact with patients. While we hope the pandemic is over in the near future, it is the steps we take today that will make transitioning back to normal life possible.
The virus has reshaped many people’s lives. Dentists must maintain a close distance to patients, offering treatment and making sure our patients have the best experience possible. One change we’ve made – and there are quite a few – is wearing face masks.
Why Wearing a Face Mask is Important for Your Safety and Ours, Too
Health officials are asking people to wear masks, and Illinois Gov. JB. Pritzker is pushing businesses to enforce face mask compliance. [1] When everyone is wearing them, a mask is one of the easiest ways to limit the spread of the virus.
Covering your nose and mouth will reduce the spread of the virus.
One inadvertent case study in Missouri shows the power of wearing a mask. Two hair stylists were diagnosed with COVID-19. Due to slow test results, clients were exposed for eight days. The salon has a policy requiring both clients and stylists to wear masks.
The CDC interviewed all of the clients and 67 [2] agreed to test for COVID-19. All 67 tested negative for the virus, even though they were near the stylists for 15 to 45 minutes.
A variety of face coverings were worn:
Cloth
Surgical masks
N-95 respirators
While not every one of the clients accepted a test, all of them stated that they did not suffer from any symptoms of illness. Wearing face masks is a simple way to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Face Masks Required at Your Next Appointment
The Illinois Department of Public Health recommends that if you’re unable to maintain a safe distance of at least six (6) feet from someone – like at our dental office – you should wear a face mask. It’s a quick and easy way to help protect those around you from COVID-19.
We’ve made it mandatory at Smile League Dental that all patients must wear a face mask. If you don’t have a mask, please let one of our staff members know, and we’ll supply you with a free mask at your next visit.
What to Expect at Your Appointment
We’re taking COVID-19 seriously, and when you arrive for your appointment, you can expect a few changes to the way our appointments are handled:
We require everyone to wear face masks
We will take your temperature
The only time you’re permitted to remove your mask is:
During treatment
When speaking to the dentist
We understand this is a difficult time for our patients, and we’re trying to follow the guidelines laid out by health officials to protect each and every one of our patients.
Schedule Your Next Appointment with Smile League Dental
Don’t let COVID-19 stop you from scheduling your next dental appointment. At Smile League Dental, we put the safety of our patients first. Book an appointment with us today for a free consultation, dental emergency, exam and cleaning or for any of our other services.
Mon to Thur 9am- 6pm and Friday 9am- 8pm; Saturday 9am-3pm.
smileleaguedental@gmail.com
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