Individualized Dental Care? Sounds Good to Us!

Well, this is interesting. At Hamlin Dental Group, it should come as no surprise that we love a big bright smile. After all, we're the dentist in Van Nuys that our people of all ages trust for a warm, gentle dental experience with from skilled and knowledgeable professionals. However, as much as we love to see the sparkling smiles of our patients, we enjoy a good smile ourselves as well!

That's why we were particularly happy to read a story this morning from CBS News.com about a new study that will help dentists to treat patients at a more individual, personalized level. From looking over a pool of over 5,000 patients for 16 years, researchers have found some interesting results regarding dental health.

For over 50 years, the dental community has prescribed all individuals visit the dentist twice a year to ensure their teeth remain healthy. The study found that for individuals suffering from gum disease, tooth loss, or mutations in their IL-1 gene, twice a year may not be quite enough, while for others, two trips may not always be entirely necessary.

"We think that now with this new information, we're able to treat patients at the individual level...instead of a one-size-fits-all treatment," says Dr. William Giannobile, study leader and chair of the department of periodontics and oral medicine at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry.  

For now, we definitely recommend our patients still visit our friendly dentist in North Hollywood, Van Nuys and Northridge at least twice a year. However, in the future, we may be able to offer even more individualized care than we do already - and that's something to smile about!