Donations accepted through the end of June

The Woodlands, TX – 6.22.16 – Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, the largest oral surgery practice in southeast Texas, has partnered with Interfaith of The Woodlands and coordinated a flood relief drive. Patients and employees are contributing food, personal care items, and cleaning supplies to Interfaith of The Woodlands who will distribute these necessities to residents who suffered losses during the recent flood events.

At Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery’s Sterling Ridge office, the donation bucket is overflowing.  According to Dr. Charles Repa, “We empty our bucket and it is filled up again before we know it! We are so grateful to our patients and employees who have been so generous.” The flood relief drive will continue at Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery through the end of the month. Anyone is welcome to drop off donations at any Northwest Oral Surgery office or at Interfaith of The Woodlands.

About Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is an oral surgery practice of seven board certified oral surgeons conveniently located in six locations including Magnolia, Conroe, Spring, Huntsville and The Woodlands (Sterling Ridge and Technology Forest.) The surgeons specialize in wisdom teeth extractions, dental implant preparation and placement, bone grafting, and other oral and facial surgeries.

For more information contact Tracey Carlson at nwomsmarketing@aol.com or visit www.texasoralsurgery.com.

Does the presence of certain mouth bacteria indicate pancreatic cancer? While there is not an undeniable link, there is a strong suggestion that two types of bacteria in the oral microbiome are associated with pancreatic cancer. Similarly, these same two types of bacteria, porphyromonas gingivalis and aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, are also linked to periodontitis, a serious gum infection that damages gums and can destroy the jawbone.

In 2015, pancreatic cancer was the cause of over 40,000 deaths in the United States. The symptoms often go undetected allowing the cancer to invade other vital organs such as the stomach, liver, or gallbladder.

Pancreatic cancer is seen more often in individuals that are:

• Between the ages of 60 – 80
• African American
• Men
• Obese

Diet, smoking, chronic pancreatitis and family history may also be indicators of the predisposition to develop pancreatic cancer.

To read more about pancreatic cancer and its association with oral bacteria, check out Oral Bacteria Linked to Pancreatic Cancer on DentistryIQ.com and Oral Bacteria May Signal Risk For Pancreatic Cancer on Colgate.com.

The surgeons at Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery are Diplomates of the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. They specialize in wisdom teeth extractions, dental implant preparation and placement, oral pathology, bone grafting, corrective jaw surgery and oral/facial trauma.  For more information about Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, please visit texasoralsurgery.com.

Have you ever been diagnosed with a dental condition and been prescribed a treatment plan with which you were uncomfortable?  If so, did you seek a second opinion?  We certainly hope that you did.  Second opinions can confirm a diagnosis and provide the reassurance that you need to proceed with treatment.  Or, second opinions can offer alternative solutions that are more agreeable to you.  Nevertheless, in most cases, if you have doubts about a diagnosis, your intuition may be signaling that something just doesn’t seem right.  Trust your instincts and seek another opinion.

Why would you need a second opinion?  You might consider a second opinion if:

• Your diagnosis is serious in nature such as oral cancer, temporomandibular joint disorder, or periodontitis for example.
• You are seeing a new dentist and don’t have “history” with him/her.  You just have not gained the confidence with your new dentist quite yet.
• You feel like your dentist may being putting profit over your best interest and that he/she is suggesting treatments that are unnecessary and expensive.
• Your condition is one that should be treated by a specialist; but, your dentist is offering to treat it instead of referring you to an oral surgeon, periodontist, or endodontist for example.

Be honest with your dentist and tell him/her that you will be seeking a second opinion.  Chances are he or she will welcome this because it will confirm his original diagnosis.  Ask your dentist to make your records, test results and radiography available to you.  And, check with your insurance company because many plans will cover the cost of second opinions. We encourage you to be your own advocate and make the most informed decision about treatment.

Here’s a report from Jeremy Rogalski of KHOU that discusses just one of the many reasons we recommend seeking a second opinion.

All Northwest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons are board certified by the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery; but why is that important?

The graphic below highlights what it means to be board certified and how it affects you, the patient.