Austin Dentistry and Wellbeing. Austin Dental Blog.

Regular visits to your general dentist are key to maintaining healthy teeth and gums. Tooth decay and gum disease are the biggest risks for adults who don’t receive regular dental care.
Besides being destructive to your teeth, gum disease is an oral infection that is contagious and it can be transferred to family members and loved ones.  In addition, gum disease has been linked to heart disease and strokes.
Untreated cavities will eventually cause pain, and it can lead to losing teeth.  Tooth loss is a big problem. If you think dentures can make up for it, remember that your chewing capacity will be reduced to about 10% of normal. Because of the reduced ability to chew, digestion also gets affected, especially the processing of all-important fiber in our food.  So, malnourishment can be the result, leading to a decline in overall health.  Also, dentures can be uncomfortable, and even a good fit initially can change over time.  Using dental adhesives often leads to rampant yeast infections – another problem that can affect your health in general.  There is also a link between denture use and stomach cancer.  These are just a few of the reasons why it is so important to treat cavities!

In our office, in addition to preventive care that Dr. Gotun performs himself, he does free oral cancer screenings every time a patient is in the dental chair. We have seen many examples where our diagnostics were essential in prevention or treatment of oral cancer.

General dentists are the primary dental care providers for patients of all ages. Besides providing preventive services, your general dentist is responsible for the diagnosis, treatment, management and overall coordination of your oral health needs. If you need the services of a specialist, such as an oral surgeon or endodontist, your general dentist can provide appropriate referrals and maintain your continuity of care. Dr. Gotun has very extensive training (his knowledge and expertise put him in the top 1% of the dentists in the US) and he can provide his patients with all aspects of dental care under one roof.

Building a trusting relationship with a dentist who sees you regularly and knows your history allows you to maintain your oral health and catch small problems before they become big ones. Continuous monitoring of your dental health and easy access to your dentist in case of emergency is important and convenient if provided. Dr. Gotun’s patients are guaranteed to get an appointment the same day in case of emergency if they call in the morning within working hours.

Another important aspect of Dr. Gotun’s dental care is that we do not double-book anybody. The appointment time is reserved only for you, so there is no waiting time and you get Dr. Gotun’s undivided attention. He dedicates a lot of time to patient education, so he takes the time that is needed to explain why and how things can be done in each individual case. Dr. Gotun takes pride in delivering only highest quality care for the whole family; therefore we choose to limit our patient flow in order to be able to provide the level of quality in dental care that we strive for.

The times have changed. There is an increasing need of two-way information flow between the patients and their doctors. There is so much information out there that is sometimes not verified or complete, or can be interpreted in various ways, that people need a lot of education to decipher what it really means. We feel that medical professionals can get online and make a statement. We can offer information and resources to our patients that can help them.  We go through a lot of continued education to keep up with the evolution and we know what information can be beneficial.  We have decided to give it a shot. We are now open for a conversation about dentistry, the importance of dental health and the relationship between your smile, health and life. We practise comprehensive dentistry ( or integrative dentistry) and we strongly believe in the connection between it all, but most importantly we would like to contribute to the health education of every person, because it is the key to being healthy.