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Orlando Dentist Attends Course on Building a Dynamic Team for Optimized Care
Dr. Alfredo Gapuz pursues Advanced Functional Restorative Dentistry at the Las Vegas Institute
Orlando, FL – Dr. Alfredo Gapuz, an Orlando cosmetic dentist, seeks to dramatically change the look of his patients’ smiles. He and his team at Aesthetic and General Dentistry have a total of 95 years of experience in dentistry and are committed to honing their craft with continuing education classes.
Dr. Gapuz has been attending the Advanced Functional Restorative Dentistry program at the Las Vegas Institute with a focus on neuromuscular dentistry and recently completed the sixth component of the program’s core curriculum on “Dynamic Team Concepts.”
This three-day program, taught by Dr. Norman Thomas and instructor Sherry Blair, focused on the continued development of a successful neuromuscular dental practice. While doctors improve their individual skills in precision management of the bite and occlusion, they also work as a team. As a group, they are instructed in perfecting the skills necessary for efficient, effective communication and the delivery of the best possible dental care.
Upon completion of the Dynamic Team Concepts course, doctors are able to:
- Utilize neuromuscular equipment and materials
- Discuss the principles of Managing the Bite
- Discuss the importance of CT scans in Neuromuscular Dentistry
- Incorporate tips for running K7 scans into practice
- Understand the team’s role in delivering NM orthotics using the K7
- Improve CT scan analysis skills
Participants of the course say that the program teaches how to initiate a significant change at their own practices by educating patients about their skills and oftentimes exhibiting a renewed enthusiasm for their work.
Dr. Gapuz and his team offer patients the latest dental solutions including:
- Bridges
- Dental implants
- Full mouth rehabilitation
- Teeth whitening
- Smile design
- Porcelain veneers
- TMD treatment
LVI’s Advanced Functional Restorative Dentistry program focuses on improving occlusion function and smile aesthetics. Dr. Gapuz hopes to fine-tune his skills as a dentist through courses that examine why specific cases succeed, why others fail, and how to prevent failure before it happens. At Aesthetic and General Dentistry, Dr. Gapuz’s Orlando cosmetic dentistry practice, he and his staff are committed to providing their patients with high quality care.
About Alfredo M. Gapuz, DMD
Dr. Alfredo Gapuz attended pre-dental school at the University of the East and earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from De Ocampo Memorial College. At the Las Vegas Institute, he is currently pursuing an Advanced Functional Restorative Dentistry degree with a focus on neuromuscular dentistry. Dr. Gapuz is extensively trained in several procedures including porcelain veneers and teeth whitening. He is available for interview upon request.
Dr. Alfredo Gapuz Attends Restorative Dentistry Course at the Las Vegas Institute
In order to stay up-to-date in the field of restorative dentistry, our experienced cosmetic dentist Dr. Alfredo Gapuz has been taking courses at the Las Vegas Institute focusing on neuromuscular dentistry.
Dr. Gapuz has had the chance to learn innovative techniques from some of the leading professionals in the field. The purpose of these courses is to address and identify advanced techniques for cosmetic and restorative dentistry procedures. Some of the techniques Dr. Gapuz has been studying are:
● Restoring vertical dimensions
● Restoring severely dark teeth without subgingival margins
● Creating biologic pontics that appear to be growing out of tissue
● Defining advanced cosmetic and soft tissue procedures with all-tissue laser
technology
Dr. Gapuz hopes to enhance his skills as a dentist through these courses and continue to adhere to the highest standard of care at his practice. He is an advocate for continuing education courses and is always eager to learn about the latest techniques in the field of dentistry.
To learn more about the courses at LVI, visit www.lviglobal.com/CoreV.
An Award for Excellence!
We are proud to announce that Aesthetic and General Dentistry, P.A., the office of Dr. Alfredo Gapuz, Jr., has been recognized for its commitment to quality patient care with the 2011 CMUS Talk of the Town Award for Excellence in Customer Satisfaction. The award is conferred upon the companies with superb customer satisfaction ratings, and affirming it’s promises to produce the best results and provide its customers with the best dental experience, Dr. Gapuz’s practice received some of the highest scores possible from its patients.
Are you a candidate for sedation dentistry?
No one really likes going to the dentist, but many people are so fearful of dentists and dental procedures that they delay or avoid having necessary dental work done. The consequence of this range from cosmetic to serious overall health issues, because your teeth and gums can affect your entire body. An estimated 75 percent of American adults experience some degree of dental fear.
If you answer yes to one or more of the following questions, you may be a candidate for sedation dentistry.
- Do you have a fear of dental treatment or suffer from dental anxiety?
- Do you have a history of traumatic dental experiences?
- Are you embarrassed about your teeth but have avoided going to the dentist due to fear?
- Do you have complex dental problems or require dental surgery?
- Is it difficult for your mouth and gums to get completely numb for a dental procedure?
- Have you gone years or even decades without receiving professional dental care?
- Do you have a very sensitive gag reflex?
- Do you have difficulty opening your mouth?
- Have you denied you have dental problems until the pain becomes unbearable?
- Do you have extremely sensitive teeth?
- Do you make then cancel dental appointments?
Another group of people who may be candidates for sedation dentistry are those who have difficulty controlling their movements due to conditions such as cerebral palsy or Parkinson’s disease. Properly administered sedation can help these patients relax so that their involuntary movements do not impede dental work.
Tell your dentist about any medical conditions you may have, medications you are taking, and allergies to medications prior to a sedation dentistry procedure. Though sedation dentistry is usually reserved for patients who are 18 and older, there are pediatric sedation dentists who can treat children when circumstances are appropriate.
What Do You Need to Know About Sedation Dentistry?
If you’re considering sedation dentistry, knowing these facts will be helpful:
- There are several forms of sedation used in dentistry. You and your dentist can decide which one is most appropriate for you.
- Sedation dentistry is safe and effective when administered by a trained professional. These protocals have been used safely for more than 30 years.
- Any dental procedure – including implants, dentures, cosmetic treatments, crowns, and even gum surgery – can be done comfortably under sedation dentistry.
- Though you will have little or no memory of the experience, you will never be totally unconscious. You will be able to mve, speak, respond to verbal requests – even go to the restroom if necessary while under sedation.
- You will be closely monitored while under sedation.
- You will not feel any pain.
- you will not remember the feelings, sounds, or smells of the procedure.
- You may feel as though the procedure lasted only a few minutes when in fact it lasted for several hours.
- You will be completely relaxed through your entire dental appointment and for several hours afterward.
- With sedation dentistry, complex procedures and treatments that often require multiple visits can often be done in as little as one or two sessions.
- Someone should be available to drive you home and stay with you for a few hours after the procedure.
- Insurance typically does not cover sedation but some covered procedures codes may apply to your treatment.
What is Sedation Dentistry?
As the name indicates, sedation dentistry involves administering a sedative of some type to patients to make the process of receiving dental treatment confortable and free from stress and anxiety. Sedation dentistry is also referred to as sleep dentistry, relaxation dentistry, and anxiety-free dentistry, but the correct term is sedation dentistry.
Sedation dentistry is not new. The procedure goes back to the days of giving patients whiskey to help take the edge off dental pain. we’ve come a long way since then, thanks to advances in science, dentistry, and pharmacology.
Patients are never completely unconscious and are always able to move, speak, and respond to verbal requests – and yet, they have little, if any, memory of the procedure after it has been completed. Because the paitent is is more comfortable and relaxed, the dentist and his team can work more efficiently and effectively.
The basic methods of sedation dentistry include:
- Nitrous Oxcide or inhalation sedation (more popularly referred to as “laughing gas”), which is the most common form of sedation used in dentistry. It is a low concentration delivered through a nasal hood or mask system. The patient is relaxed while remaining completely aware of what is happening. an added benefit of nitrous oxcide is that it provides a slight numbing to the gum tissues, so it is often used during injections of local anesthetic.
- IV sedation, which delivers medication directly into the bloodstream through intravenous access to induce a state of conscious-like sleep.
- Oral conscious sedation uses pills (typically drugs such as diazepam, triazolam, and zaleplon) which are taken orally. this method provides a safe, effective alternative to IV sedation, allowing patients to be sedated without an additional needle.
A trained sedation dentist will customize a sedation protocal so it is appropriate for each individual paitent’s physiological and pharmacological needs.
Why is a Correct Bite So Important?
The teeth are part of a system that includes muscles and joints and has the potential to affect your head, neck and possibly even most of your body. That’s why neuromuscular dentists believe that neuromuscular occlusion – that is, getting your bite right – is crucial to achieving optimal results in virtually every type of major dental procedure and in treating many types of pain and dysfunction.
Many of us have come to accept the fact that “tension headaches” are just a part of life and we learn to live with them. But the muscles that control our jaw aare a complex network of muscles that run through the neck and head. The posturing muscles of the jaw – that is, the muscles that keep the jaw from falling open – are in the temple area of the head. When you’re not using your jaw, those muscles should be relaxed and barely working. But if they are forced to work overtime because your teeth don’t naturally fit together right, they can spasm and produce pain in the forehead area.
Bite problems can also be a factor in other types of pain or functional problems such as painful clicking or popping of the jaw joint, various types of head pain and neck pain, swallowing problems, and excessive snoring.
A neuromuscular dentist experienced in treating bite problems may be able to resolve the problem. In some cases, a resolution will require the collective efforts of your dentist and other health care professionals, such as your primary care physician; an ear nose and throat specialist; physical therapist; chiropractor; massage therapist; and so on.
If you are experiencing chronic and unresloved pain and dysfunction in your head and neck, consider a consultation with a neuromuscular dentist to determine if the cause may be a bite that isn’t right.
What is Neuromuscular Denistry?
A truly beautiful smile is more than just white, even teeth – it doesn’t just look good, it feels good. While traditional dentistry focuses on the teeth themselves, neuromuscular dentistry considers the entire system that controls the positioning and function of your jaw – the teeth, muscles, and joints. When this system isn’t in complete alignment, you may suffer from a range of physical problems, including headaches, pain or noise in the jaw joints, limited mouth opening, congestion or ringing in the ears, chewing difficulties, neck pain, facial pain, clenching or grinding of the teeth, and even nervousness and insomnia. Some of these conditions are known by terms such as TMJ (Temporomandibular Disorder), and CMD (Craniomandibular Dysfunction).
Occlusion is the way that your teeth fit together; it’s what we call your “bite”. Having a correct bite is essential to producing the best possible long-term results in virtually every type of dental work, including aesthetics, orthodontics, reconstruction, and even dentures. Improper occlusion (malocclusion) is frequently a contributor to the various types of pain and dysfunction listed above.
Traditionally, most dentistry was based on the assumption that whatever your bite was naturally (called habitual occlusion) was the correct position. Neuromuscular dentistry recognizes that your habitual occlusion is not necessarily your proper occlusion. The good news is that your habitual occlusion can be corrected.
The first step is for a neuromuscular dentist to determine if your symptomes are caused by malocclusion and, if so, what your optimal jaw position is. With that information, a course of treatment can be identified and implemented.
Bite Basics: Understanding How Occulusion Affects Your Overall Health
In dentistry, the term occulusion refers to the position of your jaw when your teeth are together, more commonly know as your bite. Your bite can affect your health in many ways, so it’s important to understand the system that controld the positioning of the jaw and your bite.
Muscles: Different muscles are used for posturing the jaw (keeping it from falling open), opening and clising the jaw (biting or chewing), and swallowing. the muscles that open your jaw are in your neck. The muscles that posture your jaw extend upward through the cheeks and into the forehead area, and around behind the ear to come extent. Chewing muscles are in the cheek area. If your teeth don’t fit together properly, those muscles will experience stress and fatigue over time.
Joints: The jaw operates on a joint called the temporomandibular joint. Its name is the basis for the often heard term TMJ. Think of a joint as a ball and socket, jawbone portion being the ball and the skull being the socket. If the muscles are holding the jaw end of the joint in an abnormal position, the joint may not function properly and the result could be joint popping or clicking and possibly pain.
Posture: You may be surprised to know that posture can play a significant role in occlusion. COnsider the jaw as one end of your interrelated skeleton and your feet as teh other. When any part of the skeletal system is affected, it can in turn affect other parts of the system. Becuase of this inter-relationship of the entire musculoskeletal system, a neuromuscular dentist will examine your posture and will likely want to know if there is tension in the muscles of your neck and upper back because that could affect your bite.
This should give you a better understanding of why your bite is far more complicated that just your teeth and how they fit together.
Dr. Alfredo M. Gapuz, Jr., DMD Welcomes You
Dr. Alfredo M. Gapuz, Jr. has been in practice for 32 years, each year adding to a wealth of experience and continued practice of excellence. In his quest to bring his patients the best in dental care, he continues to pursue post-graduate education to enrich his knowledge and improve his skills. His professional peers regard him as a “master” in the art of dentistry, one who brings a variety talents and innovative techniques to his practice.
His straightforward application of the fundamental dental sciences and his keen insight into the needs of his patients and their view of dentistry distinguish Dr. Gapuz. These qualities, along with his outstanding gentle approach, have led to his remarkable success as a cosmetic dentist for Orlando. You’ll see why Dr. Gapuz’s office is the place “where excellence in dentistry & art meet!”