Dr. Stafford sits down with Dr. David Halmos and Dr. Lauren Manning from Advanced Dentistry. Not only are they amazing neighbors - located just across the hall from World Of Smiles - but they are also two of the best Prosthodontists in the greater Portland area! They offer a full range of restorative dental care services designed to revitalize patients' smiles. You can learn more about Advanced Dentistry HERE!
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Dr. Stafford: Hi, Dr. Michelle Stafford here with World of Smiles, we're here today for another podcast. I'm here with my neighbors from Advanced Dentistry, a couple of prosthodontists. So, I think we better start out with Dr. Halmos and Dr. Manning, you have to explain what exactly is a prosthodontist?
Dr. Manning: It sounds a little like a dinosaur, but it's not. Although a lot of what we do certainly stems from kind of going way back in the day to when dentistry was really becoming really popular, especially with dentures. What we do as prosthodontists in the simplest terms is the prosthetic replacement of missing teeth and tooth structure.
Dr. Stafford: Great, I like it. Can you be more specific for our audience on what that means, though? The non-dentists out there.
Dr. Halmos: I would imagine a lot of people think, "Well, isn't that what a regular dentist does?" So what makes us different as prosthodontists from regular general dentists? I think the way to answer that is, we specialize, like Dr. Manning said, in the restoration and replacement of teeth. Oftentimes what we do is the small percentage of patients that require things that are a little more complex and somewhat out of the ordinary compared to what a general dentist may see as routine. So that includes things like seeing patients with congenital issues, seeing patients with a large number of missing teeth, where it's more complicated to rebuild their bite and rebuild the tooth structure and the aesthetics and the function of the patient, bring speech back. Anything from dentures to veneers, full mouth reconstruction of patients. Things of that nature.
Dr. Stafford: Great. Very aesthetic. I have to say, first hand testimony over here. My dad, years ago his front tooth crown had a problem and I was like, "Oh, dad, guess what? My neighbor Dr. Halmos across the way is going to take care of that front tooth for you, because there is no way I'm going to touch it." And it still looks great to this day. Gosh, I think it's probably been 10 years.
Dr. Halmos: It has, I can't believe it's been that long. But you're right.
Dr. Stafford: Yes, since you fixed his front tooth. So we've been neighbors for a long time. Dr. Halmos and I go way back. We opened our practices the same year, 2008. Did you start in early 2008?
Dr. Halmos: Right, yeah.
Dr. Stafford: Then I started mid 2008.
Dr. Manning: Then the party really happened when I came on in 2015.
Dr. Stafford: That's right. That's when the fun began.
Dr. Halmos: Yep, that's true.
Dr. Manning: I can't believe it's been so long.
Dr. Halmos: It's been a long time.
Dr. Manning: Wow, time flies when you're having fun, right?
Dr. Stafford: Yeah, for 10 years now. Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, pretty great.
Dr. Halmos: And now we're doing this. And it's nice to hear the dentistry has survived a decade, in your father's case.
Dr. Stafford: Yes, one would hope, right? So what changes have happened in your practice or with prosthodontics in the last 10 years?
Dr. Manning: I would say one of the biggest changes that even the American College of Prosthodontists, which is like our national society, is really starting to push digital dentistry. Not just with x-rays and things like that, but actually making intra-oral scans or impressions where you don't have to have the goop in your mouth.
Dr. Stafford: Oh, so no more of that like trays with the goop in there that kids love.
Dr. Manning: Exactly.
Dr. Stafford: And grown-ups, too, they love it.
Dr. Manning: Exactly, nobody wants to gag when they go to the dentist. That's one thing that I think is really changing recently. Then we're actually making things digitally, as well. So there's computer assisted design of whether it's dentures or crowns or veneers or a lot of the things that we put in people's mouths to replace either the tooth structure that they've worn down or the teeth that they've lost or weren't born with to begin with. So it's really kind of cool to see how the whole landscape of how we do dentistry and prosthodontics specifically is changing.
Dr. Stafford: Oh, that's so interesting.
Dr. Halmos: Compared to where we began where we would see patients and everything was... You know, the office was full of paper and everything was paper based. A lot of the techniques that the laboratories would use to make us the prosthetic parts we use, were techniques that were developed 100 years ago. Now, for years now we've had a paperless office, as you have as well. Paperless office, digital xrays, digital photography, digital scanners. Everything's really moved into the digital realm and it's changed the way we practice. I think all of it has been for the benefit of the patient. It's less painful dentistry, faster treatment solutions, and better outcomes. A lot's changed in just 10 years.
Dr. Stafford: Yeah, that's pretty great. If you had to talk about just one thing that you just love doing. You're like, "Oh, this is the best thing, I love it."
Dr. Manning: Do I have to choose one? That's why I went into proths.
Dr. Halmos: I know, it's true. That's a good point. Right. I think both of us agree. One of the things we like is the variability. We don't just do three procedures continuously, but we do a bunch. I think it's one of the fun parts of the job.
Dr. Manning: I would say, probably if I had to choose two. Because I think that's probably more reasonable. I really enjoy rejuvenating someone's smile. A lot of the stuff in the front where either they don't like the color of their teeth or the shape of their teeth or whatever they don't like about their smile, being able to improve on that I think is a lot of fun.
Dr. Manning: The other thing I think that's kind of in our wheelhouse in a way is a lot of patients who are either missing a lot of teeth or have a lot of problems with their teeth or grew up not necessarily with knowing how to take care of their teeth. Now they're older and want a more permanent solution, kind of removing the teeth and replacing them with implants and an implant bridge, it's really cool to watch someone... their whole personality changes. They go from this person who covers their mouth when they speak or doesn't really come forward in social interactions to when they come back, they're like a different person. They've taken life by the horns and are outgoing and want to do all the things that they were a bit of a social recluse because of their teeth. Doing that, I think, that's probably one of the... I think my favorite things. What about you?
Dr. Halmos: Definitely. Oh yeah, that's definitely some of the most rewarding stuff. I think a lot of people can imagine their grandparents living with dentures after they had to deal with them, because 50 years ago that was the common way that if the teeth were no longer viable, you'd remove the teeth and be stuck with dentures. Now we have so many more options to help those patients out. They come in with that feeling of, "I think my teeth are in bad shape. I think I may need dentures." Suddenly we give them an option that's so much better than that and their confidence comes back. Their function comes back and I think they get a new lease on life. Extremely rewarding to do that for people.
Dr. Stafford: That's really great. Yeah, I can imagine that must be really rewarding. I'm just picturing patients leaving your office and really kicking their heels up in the air. Sounds so happy.
Dr. Halmos: I think as dentists, I think we went into this profession thinking that we're just going to fall under the reputation of dentists, which has been okay. We've been considered, as far as professionals go, very trusted individuals, right? Dentists in general. So that's great. But everybody knows it's not their favorite place to be and I think we've received-
Dr. Manning: People love coming to us, right? It's not like we hurt them at all. They leave with their mouth feeling puffy. It goes away, but...
Dr. Halmos: But yeah, I think we've received more than our fair share of hugs and grateful patients because of what we're able to do. Sometimes it is a hard road, but at the end of it all I think everybody agrees it's worthwhile. To keep people away from dentures for the rest of their life is a noble pursuit, as far as I'm concerned.
Dr. Stafford: Wonderful. Great. Well, thank you both for being here and explaining a little more about prosthodontics and what that is and being great neighbors.
Dr. Manning: Yeah.
Dr. Halmos: Absolutely.
Dr. Stafford: I love having you guys across the hall.
Dr. Halmos: Looking forward to the next 10 years.
Dr. Stafford: Thank you. Looking forward to it. I love it. All right. So thank you audience for joining us for another podcast. Have a great day. Bye.
Dr. Manning: Bye.
Dr. Halmos: Bye.