We do a lot of oral surgery at Lyons Creek Dental Care. We screen each patient for risks and potential complications. A recent position paper by the American Association of Oral Surgeons was released that explains the nature and risks of osteonecrosis of the jaws following oral surgery. In the following two videos, I discuss the nature of the disease, as well as how to manage the risks. Chris Rafoth is the owner of Lyons Creek Dental Care, providing medical dentistry, dental implants, and facial esthetics since 1998 for Shoreline and greater Seattle areas, as well as communities in King and… [ Read More ]

Everyday in our practice, we interview and screen patients for heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We can identify heartburn on the teeth where acid has eroded potholes into the teeth. Often, we can diagnose GERD before a patient or their physician is aware of it. We counsel and refer patients for the proper care when GERD is suspected, and we reinforce how GERD can be a contributing factor not only to tooth damage, but also to some types of oral and pharyngeal cancers. Now some new information has come to light. The link between chronic GERD and some head… [ Read More ]

Osteoporosis is a bone disease that affects an estimated 12 million Americans and another 40 million are at risk for developing the disease. One of the troubling things about osteoporosis is that it is rarely detected before a fracture occurs. At that point, the disease is more advanced and bones have already lost much of their density. Luckily, dentists are on the lookout for early signs of osteoporosis. “The first sign of osteoporosis is usually discovered when we do a thorough gum and bone examination,” says Dr. Rafoth. Depending on what the dentist finds in the examination, taking into account… [ Read More ]