Direct Dental

Direct Dental is hiring!!!!

ryangomes — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:01:32 +0000

Want to love your job and the environment you work in?

Direct Dental Administrators is hiring a Customer Service Representative to expand our fun and friendly office staff.

The Customer Service Representative is responsible for:

Answering phones calls/email to help clients and dental offices understand our services.
Sorting and processing incoming mail
Faxing and emailing benefit information
Assembling and mailing new hire packets
Assisting with social media activities: Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
Assisting with other office projects

Successful candidates will have:

1-2 years of customer support experience, preferably in retail or at a dental office
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Strong computer skills including Word and Excel
Attention to detail

Our company is growing, so this part-time position will become a full time role by January of next year. The position starts at $15/hour. We also offer a benefit package for full-time employees.

Please send us your resume with a cover letter explaining how you would be great fit with our company to Ryan@Directdentalplans.com. We look forward to meeting you!

Spinbrush Alert

ryangomes — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:34:58 +0000

There’s potential trouble in the electric toothbrushes your kids use!

We all love how the cute superhero battery operated toothbrushes help kids brush their teeth better and they may even make bedtime brushing rituals easier for parents. But, it’s not all smiles for some kids who have been injured while brushing their teeth with their electric brush.

Photo from fda.gov

A recent Safety Alert from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautions parents of the potential hazards of their child’s electric toothbrush. It calls out the battery-powered Arm & Hammer Spinbrush for Kids, (also known as the Crest Spinbrush before 2009) for repeated reports that parts of the brush broke off during use causing cut lips and broken teeth as well as a choking hazard.

If your child uses a Spinbrush, be alert and take precautions:

Supervise children while brushing their teeth
Routinely check for loose, worn or broken pieces
Replace the brush head every three months
Don’t bite or chew on the brush or bristles

The FDA has posted the details on their website and the manufacturer, Church & Dwight, is taking actions to warn consumers of potential hazards of the Spinbrushes.

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Written by Dr. John Cunningham D.D.S. | President | Direct Dental Administrators, LLC

Dr. Cunningham has years of experience in health plan administration, patient education, private practice, health insurance sales and has run 2 successful small businesses, all in Marin County. Contact him at drjohn@directdentalplans.com

Amazing Miracle Drink

ryangomes — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:43:47 +0000

What if a drink could:

Help you shed pounds
Improve your energy and alertness
Keep your complexion clear
Improve body digestive functions
Power your kidneys to eliminate toxins from your body
Cost less than a nickel per serving

Would you buy such a drink if it were offered on a late night infomercial. Possibly. Would you be spending way too much for shipping and handling to have it delivered? Absolutely.

All you need to do is open the faucet in your kitchen and draw out as much as you can drink at any time to receive these great health benefits. Yes, the miracle beverage that quenches us and provides all the health benefits listed above is simple WATER.

Most of us don’t drink nearly enough and suffer from the fatigue and lethargy that results from mild dehydration often. To be sure you are getting enough water into your body daily, divide your body weight in half and then drink that may ounces of water each day. A man weighing 170 lbs, should drink 85 ounces of water daily. Try it and see how you feel. The benefits of water are so proven effective that it doesn’t need a money back guarantee…

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Written by Dr. John Cunningham D.D.S. | President | Direct Dental Administrators, LLC

Nature vs. Nurture vs. the Drive Thru

ryangomes — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:23:10 +0000

While studying Biology during my college days at UC Davis, there was a long-running debate over what behaviors could be attributed to the genetic programming found within the genes versus the influence of the environment on certain traits. Then we called it Nature vs. Nurture when trying to assign the influence of each on how animals behaved. Certainly color of eyes comes from genes while language spoken comes from the environment. Most other things seemed to result from BOTH genetics and environment.

Current research into human health show an interesting tale of the many factors that influence on how healthy a person may be in their life:

50% Behaviors
20% Genetics
20% Environment
10% Access to Care

Sorry to those who comfortably dismiss their health status on their genetic programming. Sure, genetics plays a part, but only 20% while behaviors account for 50%. This should be good news for those who want to be healthier because habits and environment account for about 70% of our overall health status. Choosing healthy behavior is as easy as passing up the drive thru and eating an apple instead. Simple behaviors often lead to profound results. Before you resign yourself to being a certain way due to genetics, resolve to evaluate the 70% of your health that you control daily.

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Written by Dr. John Cunningham D.D.S. | President | Direct Dental Administrators, LLC

The Sweet Life

ryangomes — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:12:52 +0000

Are your food choices driven by your sweet tooth?

According to current research, it seems that the average American would answer “yes”. This research found that the average person living in the US consumes 240 pounds of sugar each year. On a daily basis, that is a little more than half a pound of sugar for each of us! Now some of us consume less and conversely some of us eat WAY more than that. We know who we are…

From a dental point of view, we all know that sugar and cavities are best friends. But all those cavities and sugar point to deeper problems. Pouring that much sugar through the rest of our system is downright disastrous! Empty sugar calories fill us up so we have no appetite for healthful foods contributing to malnourishment. Spikes in blood sugar each day, day after day, can lead to diabetes.

Want to change?

Find the hidden sugars in all you eat. Drink water instead of sodas. Reduce your sugar intake by just 100 calories per day ( about half a Twinkie) and increase your activity by 100 calories per day (walking up the stairs instead of riding the elevator) and shed 10 lbs of weight each year. You’ll feel better and your long-term health will improve.

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Written by Dr. John Cunningham D.D.S. | President | Direct Dental Administrators, LLC

Share the Health

ryangomes — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:55:45 +0000

Living healthy is easy when we practice healthy habits. Every day presents an opportunity to discover a new way to stay healthy. Our goal is to share new health discoveries with you so you may make better choices in your quest for a long and healthy life.

Celebrate Root Canal Awareness Week!

drjohn — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:10:39 +0000

Root Canals: To most of us they may be the worst nightmare possible, bringing up images from the movies Marathon Man and Little Shop of Horrors. To the dentists who perform this valuable treatment, root canals are exciting and save a tooth from extraction. To the rest of us who aren’t in the dental field, the thought of a whole week devoted to root canals is really pretty scary…

So when we read that this week is Root Canal Awareness Week, we wondered: who made root canals so painful? Certainly the general public knows more than they want to know about the shared horror stories of pain, swelling and sleepless nights that ultimately resulted in root canal treatment. Somewhere, in the distant past, the root canal story was told in such a way that the listener believed the root canal was the cause of all the pain. That’s like having a fear of a cast because of the pain from a broken leg.

Of course, dentists know that the infection and pain are relieved by completing the root canal. In fact, without a root canal, tooth pain would intensify and bacteria could spread into the rest of the body, potentially causing a life-threatening infection. Removing the local tooth infection with a root canal controls the pain and preserves the tooth to chew another day. Problem solved and smile remains intact.

Raise your awareness this week and acknowledge that root canals relieve the pain from deep decay into the tooth. Once you realize this, you too may feel like really celebrating Root Canal Awareness Week 2011… or not!

Give Kids a Reason to Smile!

drjohn — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:31:22 +0000

February brings us such holiday notables as Valentine’s Day, President’s Day and the quietly celebrated National Children’s Dental Health Month. Year in and year out for over 50 years, dental offices across America have displayed posters to increase awareness of the importance of dental care for youngsters. Habits ingrained at these early dental visits will stay for the lifetime of these kids and are a key factor in the reduction of tooth decay in our population. As a child in the 1960’s it was common to hear of a good dental check up resulting in “only 2 cavities”. In today’s world, we would look to find the reason why a child had any cavities at all. Progress in prevention, routine early dental care and modern dental materials now make it possible for children to grow up cavity free. And they may never need to hear those frightful words from their dentist: “this will only hurt a little bit…” Go celebrate Children’s Dental Health Month with a kid who deserves a great smile for a lifetime!

Brush your teeth to breathe easier

drjohn — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:27:35 +0000

A new study from the dental industry says that a healthy mouth can lead to healthy lungs. Research in the Journal of Periodontology showed that study participants with a history of respiratory disease had worse periodontal (gums) health than healthy subjects. They draw the conclusion that improving dental health may impact a patient’s vulnerability to such lung diseases as pneumonia or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It stands to reason that having excessive bacteria in the mouth due to periodontal disease could be a contributor to an accumulation of those bacteria within the respiratory tract. In addition to lung diseases, scientists have also related periodontal disease to other chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis. At last check, an ounce of prevention was still worth about a pound of cure. It’s one thing that doesn’t lose value in your life!

Are your silver fillings a health risk?

drjohn — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:54:03 +0000

For years dentists and patients have had the choice to use silver amalgam or tooth-colored composite materials when placing a filling in a tooth. Often times the choice was based on the cosmetic location of the filling: front teeth received tooth-colored composites and back teeth received silver amalgam fillings. The safety of both materials has been the subject of debate for many years. For the first time, in December 2010, an expert panel advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that silver amalgam filling material should be labeled to clearly inform the dentist of the potential risks associated with the mercury in the mixture. They feel the mercury may pose potential danger to pregnant women, developing fetuses, children and people who are medically compromised. The FDA will be looking at this and conducting a review of the literature for safety of dental amalgam. We will keep you informed of this important dental development.