July 2010 Newsletter
Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 News & Updates by Anthem Arizona DentistYour July 2010 Newsletter
Dear Reader,
Happy Independence Day!
Congratulations to Marc McNamara,
our July Royalty Referral Winner
"Here’s How Our Royalty Referral Program Works…"
Our intention is to treat our patients like Royalty and the basis of our Referral Program is that every patient who refers a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker to our office will receive the following Referral Rewards:
1st Referral: A $25.00 Starbucks Gift Card
2nd Referral: A $50.00 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
3rd Referral: A $100.00 American Express Gift Card
4th Referral: A $150 American Express Gift Card
5th Referral: A $200 American Express Gift Card or Zoom Whitening ($395 value), your choice
In addition to receiving Referral Rewards, your name will be entered into our monthly drawing to receive a $100 Check to Majestic Dentistry, Plus our Semi-Annual Grand Prize drawing to receive the following GRAND PRIZE:
A $500.00 Check to Majestic Dentistry
Each referral gives you one entry into the monthly drawing and rolls over every month into the Grand Prize drawing. So, the more you refer, the better your chances are of winning. There is NO LIMIT on your number of entries. Congratulations again to Marc McNamara.
What People Are Saying About Us
Our Patient Showcase
Patient: Jolie Duggar
Anthem Resident, Surgeon and Dentist Help Jolie Smile Again
By: Karen Angelo
It shouldn’t hurt to smile, or eat, or talk, or kiss the ones you love. But for Anthem resident Jolie Dugger, it did. For years. Since her tooth enamel was weak, her teeth started to deteriorate. Then they just began to rot away and snap off. She would lose teeth daily. Estimates to repair the damage were in the thousands. Because her health insurance ran out, she couldn’t get the help she so desperately needed. Because money is tight, she couldn’t get the prescription medications she needed to ease the pain, so she bought what she could when she could over-the-counter to alleviate it, even if it was for just a little while.
Finally, Jolie’s 18-year-old daughter couldn’t take it anymore. She wrote a letter to the Arizona Republic, hoping someone, somewhere could help her mother feel better again. The Republic forwarded this letter to Freedom Way and a call went out to all the Anthem-based charities to see what, if anything, could be done to get Jolie the care and assistance she needed. Bob Andringa, Chair of Anthem Cares Through Service, was so touched by the story that he stepped in to see what he could do.
"I decided to explore pro bono help, encouraged by our experience with a dozen other Anthem business and professional people who stepped up the plate to meet others’ needs," Bob explained. "We discovered that Dr. Dorfman was the only oral surgeon in Anthem and that Dr. Wolf was known for his charitable work. Their offices are almost next to each other and both readily offered to help when asked."
This simple request, Jolie says, "helped save my life." She calls Andringa "Bob the Angel," because within days of Bob getting that letter from her daughter, Jolie was sitting in Dr. Frank Wolf’s chair at Majestic Dentistry in Anthem for an evaluation and exam.
"When I started in this profession, I made a commitment, and had a desire, to do philanthropic dentistry," Dr. Wolf stated. "When Bob called about Jolie, we were definitely interested to see what we could do to help her out."
During that initial exam, it was determined that all of her remaining teeth needed to be removed, that the gum and bone disease needed to be treated, and a full complement of teeth needed to be created to get Jolie back to her old self again. Dr. Wolf donated all of his services.
Jolie then went to see Dr. Brian Dorfman, DMD, MD, a Board Certified Dual Degree Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon at the Center for Oral and Facial Surgery at Anthem, who also offered to donate his services so Jolie would no longer suffer the excruciating pain she had been living with for six years. "When you see someone in your own community suffering the way Jolie was, I felt the care we could provide was totally warranted," he said. Dr. Dorfman removed 27 of Jolie’s teeth, trimmed the bones, removed infected tissue and reshaped her upper and lower jaw. When Jolie went back to see Dr. Dorfman for her post-op follow up, she said it was the first time she was able to smile in months.
Four weeks later, with her healing process complete, Jolie went back to Dr. Wolf to be fitted for her new teeth, which were also generously donated by someone who never met Jolie, but was also touched by her story: Leo Cavazos, a denture specialist with Absolute Dentures in Sun City. "It made me happy to make her happy," Leo said. "I want to help as many people as I can one smile at a time." Because of his donation, Jolie is now smiling all the time.
"Everyone has been so good to me and I am so grateful," Jolie said. She cried the first time she saw herself with her new teeth in Dr. Wolf’s office and her husband cried when she showed him her first real, big, beautiful smile in a long, long time.
All told, the work donated by Dr. Dorfman, Dr. Wolf and Leo Cavazos cost almost $13,000. Thanks to everyone’s thoughtfulness, generosity and sheer willingness to help someone in need, Jolie’s smile looks like a million bucks. "It feels better to smile," said Jolie. Truer words were never spoken.
Taken from FreedomWay -- May 2010 edition available at www.OnlineAtAnthem.com
Hygiene Happenings
Val, Sherry, Paula -- your fabulous hygienists
Top 5 Foods to Prevent Bad Breath
Bad breath results from two key issues: oral hygiene and gastrointestinal health. Basically this means that breath odors originate not just inside the mouth but also from your digestive tract. The culprit in both cases is largely bacteria. If you have bad breath, you should first make sure you are eating right (getting a balanced diet of protein, carbs, lots of fruits and veggies and plenty of fluids to keep the GI tract healthy) and brushing and flossing after every meal. But that still doesn’t mean you might not be offending your friends and co-workers after lunch at the new Italian place. Here are some things you can ingest (or chew) that can help.
| 1. | Chew on this. Move over parsley, there are some new halitosis-fighting herbs in town. Coriander, spearmint, tarragon, eucalyptus, rosemary and cardamom are all good for fighting bad breath. You can chew on fresh herbs or make tonics by steeping them in hot water (as a tea). These herbs make an excellent digestive as well-doubling the benefits of ending a meal this way. |
| 2. | Get some active culture. No, not Cirque du Soleil, but yogurt. A recent study found that a serving of yogurt each day reduces the level of odor-causing hydrogen sulfide in the mouth. Apparently it also cuts back on bacteria in the mouth. Plaque and gum disease were reduced in the study’s yogurt eaters as well. Plus, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends getting enough vitamin D from yogurt, cheese and milk if you’re worried about halitosis because this vitamin creates an inhospitable environment for bacteria growth. Be sure to get the kind of yogurt with active cultures-not overly processed or sugar-added varieties. |
| 3. | Crunchy types. Apples, carrots, celery-basically any fiber-rich fruit or vegetable is your friend when it comes to fighting halitosis. Inside your mouth, plaque build-up causes odors. Eating foods that increase saliva production keep the mouth moist-and rinsed out. Also, many carbs and proteins can get stuck in your teeth-even healthy foods like whole grain cereal or chicken breast. So follow a meal with a Granny Smith (feel the saliva kick in at the mention of it?) to cleanse the mouth. |
| 4. | Masking techniques. Sugarless gum shouldn’t replace brushing your teeth after a meal, but in a pinch it can freshen breath (masking odors) and is another way to increase saliva production to rinse away plaque and bacteria. Mints can mask as well, but only briefly-and go for sugarless. Sugar creates plaque, and no one wants a mint that makes breath worse. |
| 5. | High C’s. Eating berries, citrus fruits, melons and other vitamin C-rich foods create an inhospitable environment for bacteria growth. A diet rich in vitamin C is also is important for preventing gum disease and gingivitis-both major causes of halitosis. |
Final Thoughts
I would like to introduce our newest team member, Jodi Ardis. Jodi has been in dentistry for over 20 years and has served our country in the Air Force where she was a dental lab technician. Jodi has two sons, CJ, age 12 and Robbie, age 9. Jodi’s favorite music is country, her favorite author is Stephen King and she enjoys camping and hiking with her family. We are extremely privileged to have Jodi as part of our team.
Dr. Frank Wolf
Majestic Dentistry
(623) 551-6300
What’s the cheapest way to get dental care?
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 An Anthem Dentist's Blog by Anthem Arizona DentistSince the health insurance that I have doesn’t cover dental and I’m not able to afford separate dental insurance, I haven’t been to a dentist in three years. Is there is a cheap way to get dental care without getting a cheap dentist that will do a crappy job?
Tonik From Anthem Blue Cross
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 Anthem Arizona Dentist News by Anthem Arizona DentistJeffrey Peterson asked:
TONIK from Anthem Blue Cross is a new concept in PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) health insurance.
The plan is marketed exclusively by the web, and agents who sell TONIK link to an online enrollment interface that the insurer hosts.
While the success of TONIK itself it notable, the reasons for the success are even more surprising. First of all, TONIK is described not only in plain language, but also in appropriate slang for the target audience. Even the plan names are intended to please the young target buyer…
“Part-Time-Dare-Devil”, “Thrillseeker” and “Calculated Risk Taker”. Quite a departure for a venerated company like Anthem, who for years extolled tradition as a central value for health insurance.
Probably even more than the names, ancillary benefits (dental and vision) entice buyers to choose TONIK. You may never have a heart attack, but you will certainly need an eye exam and a teeth cleaning.
Each of the three varieties of TONIK include dental and vision benefits, without an additional cost. So while you want the coverage in case of an accident, you know you will use the Dental and Vision for sure.
I don’t think it will be long before other companies create exciting (as exciting as insurance can be) health plans to compete, but in the mean time, TONIK is setting records for a 65 year old company, and that is saying something.
More…
TONIK
Anthem blue, Union Hospital reach deal : Foulkes
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 Anthem Arizona Dentist News by Anthem Arizona DentistIndividual Health Insurance asked:
Months of uncertainty ended late Thursday afternoon when Union Hospital Health Group and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced they had reached an agreement on a new multi-year contract. The pact came just a day ahead of a deadline that had loomed large over thousands of Anthem subscribers.
The largest health care provider in the Wabash Valley and one of the largest commercial health insurance providers in the state had been in sometimes contentious negotiations for more than a year.
No details of the agreement were immediately available. A news release issued by both sides Thursday evening stated that terms of the contract, which takes effect Sept. 1, cannot be discussed by either side.
“We’re pleased that several months of hard work has brought these negotiations to a successful conclusion and that Anthem customers in West Central Indiana will continue to have access to affordable medical care at Union Hospital facilities,” said Anthem vice president of health services Dr. David Lee in the news release.
“We have worked hard to achieve a fair contract that helps to preserve the hospital’s mission of providing compassionate care of the highest quality to all of our patients regardless of their ability to pay,” said Union Hospital Health Group CEO David Doerr in the same news release. “We recognize how stressful this has been for our patients and appreciate their support and patience during these negotiations.”
Doerr is scheduled to make an official announcement this morning at a news conference at Union Hospital in Terre Haute.
Union and Anthem have been negotiating a new contract since April 2008. Those negotiations became publicly contentious early in this year when Union announced it was having serious difficulty reaching an agreement with Anthem. In February, Union gave notice that it was terminating its contract with Anthem as of July 31.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to an agreement concerned hospital reimbursement for medical services provided at outpatient clinics involved in joint ventures with Union. Anthem wanted to reimburse those services at “free standing” outpatient clinic rates. Union contended the services should be reimbursed at higher “hospital rates.”
This spring, Union Hospital chief financial officer Wayne Hutson said about $30 million separated the two sides’ bargaining positions. A few weeks later, Hutson told the Tribune-Star the two sides had moved closer, reducing the difference to about $19 million. Most of the difference concerned reimbursement for medical services at outpatient clinics, he said.
Union and Anthem officials were in “constant communication” this week prior to reaching the agreement, said Lorrie Heber, system director for marketing and public relations at Union Hospital. Neither side would comment further Thursday evening.
Affordable Insurance as Provided by Anthem Insurance
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 Anthem Arizona Dentist News by Anthem Arizona DentistShieldon asked:
What people in California know as the Anthem Blue Cross insurance has links to the Anthem insurance. Anthem insurance is an established player in the market of medical insurance for a long time now and the company is known for cheap and affordable health insurance.
In the first half of this decade, the company merged the Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations coming from many states and moving from non-profit status to a profit company. Anthem Blue Cross is a known provider of affordable health insurance and one of the names most Californians know. The name has been in the state for some seven decades now and the name is known to provide health and financial security. Some data placed the number of customers of these health insurance providers at 8.3 million in the state of California alone. The affordable health insurance of Anthem Blue Cross insurance works because the insurance provider focuses on two things; it focuses on quality and there is a focus on community involvement.
• Quality. In terms of quality, the medical insurance from Blue Cross is well-known. The Anthem Blue Cross HMO and the POS have earned something that will make the consumers of their health insurance plan proud. The insurance provider was awarded the Excellent Accreditation status and this citation was given by the Committee for Quality Assurance or the NCQA. The accreditation and the citation don’t end there. The company is also the first and the only PPO in the state of California that have earned the Full Accreditation coming from the NCQA5. The Full Accreditation is the highest level any PPO can get. This provider also launched the Zagat Survey which is an online tool that can allow for customer-provider interaction. This serve as the platform where consumers can share their own experiences. The consumers can freely use the survey online and this can be accessed thru the consumer’s health plan site.
• Community participation. Anthem insurance and now Blue Cross is known for its participation in community building. The health insurance provider has been funding research studies in some California universities and the some of these researches include a focus on the need for cancer screenings and to the need to increase the immunization rates on children. The insurance provider also opened the www.nuestrobien.com, a site that caters to the Hispanic community and urging them to live a healthy life. It also partnered with the federal government in promoting fitness and sports thru the many programs.
Anthem insurance is a known provider of medical insurance and it is backed by its affordable health insurance is backed by services. It also has unique product offerings that may cater to the individual, the small and the large group. The product range will include that special provision for special services and unique education. The product range will also include dental, vision and life health insurance coverage and more importantly Blue Cross also has its Health Management Program. This is an impressive listing of programs, tools and services that can benefit consumers.
