Dentist to put patients first
New Bremen Smiles uses technology, compassion to care for patients
NEW BREMEN — There’s a new business in town that’s dedicated to patient-first service.
New Bremen Smiles, owned and run by Celina graduate Dr. Geoffrey Froning D.D.S., has recently opened up a new office at 101 S. Washington St. in New Bremen.
The office utilizes new dentistry technology that makes it a better experience overall for patients with one of the features being a Solea tissue laser.
The laser can be used for many treatments with the way dentists can perform fillings being perhaps the biggest and most innovative.
“It’s the newest technology there is,” said Froning. “To do fillings where you’re basically being able to cut through teeth to get the cavities out; being able to go through the gum tissue and cut that away.”
The laser lets fillings be done with either minimal numbing or no numbing at all.
“Nobody really likes getting numbed,” said Froning. “This way, you walk in, sit down in the chair, we use the laser and get all the bad stuff out and fill it up. You’re not numb so you know for sure whether that tooth feels normal or not. The chance of coming back in and having to get it adjusted is not there; the sensation of the numbness is not there. It’s a lot less time and a lot less annoyance of getting the numbing and feeling the numbness and possibly having to come back and get it adjusted.”
In the era of the coronavirus and patient safety being of utmost importance, the laser reduces dental splatter and aerosols when compared to regular drills or air-driven hand pieces.
“It’s not producing all that friction and that heat and it isn’t going to have as much as the aerosol coming out,” said Froning. “The laser’s energy kills those germs that are in
side. It’s much more of a clean aerosol coming from the laser; as little as bacteria and virus as possible. The laser’s much better than a drill is.”
The laser can cut soft tissue in the mouth that can help with patients who are tongue-tied.
“If somebody’s tongue-tied or if a baby’s tongue-tied, we are able to trim that muscle attachment,” said Froning. “All those soft tissue things are done quick and easy, usually with very little or no numbing.”
Another thing that can be done is an antisnoring procedure that can cure snoring for well over a year.
“The anti-snoring is a piece that we put on the laser that sends energy out in a little bigger path onto the roof of the mouth toward the back of the mouth and that laser energy tightens up the tissues,” said Froning. “They’ve found really good success with it and it will last 14 to 18 months of not having that snoring anymore then you could repeat the treatment.”
New Bremen Smiles has the ability to take pictures inside a patient’s mouth which can produce 3-D models that can help create partial dentures and crowns and it allows patients to get set up with bleaching trays, night guards and snoring devices.
“It’s a camera on a wand on a stick and I can put it in their mouth and it makes a 3-D image based on that,” Froning explained. “You can scan someone’s mouth with a wand, it goes on a computer and you can send it out and have someone do a 3-D printing of their teeth.”
The ability to take pictures to send instead of relying on a written description can help oral surgeons and hospitals if a patient has the need to go elsewhere.
“When they go for their consultation, they have an image of what it exactly looked like when they were here. When they go, it’s not a description anymore, it’s an actual picture,” said Froning. “It makes it a lot easier to show and then they’ll know what to expect when they come in. They’ll know where it is and what it looked like and they’ll have a better idea of what it might be when a person walks in the door.”
Froning said the office is completely digital which eliminates waste and make it easier to transfer files to specialists.
“It helps save with paperwork and as far as the environment, but also the ability to transfer information, whether it’s a specialist or back to somebody over the computer,” he said. “To me, that’s a lot better to do just instantaneously and it can be all backed up and saved so there’s less chance of losing everything if something happens.”
Froning, who completed his undergraduate as well as dental school at Case Western University in Cleveland, says the goal of his business isn’t for money; it’s putting the patient first and providing the best overall care possible.
“All these techniques and technologies that we use are not anything that are a production or money benefit. It’s better for the people and it makes us feel better about doing it,” he said. “What’s going to be the best product we can give to somebody, in the easiest way or most comfortable way for them? Everybody can be happy. We can all go to sleep at night and feel good about what we’re doing and know we’re not treating anybody in any type of way that we question. Everybody that comes in here might as well be my family because everyone gets treated the same way and it’s based on a patient-first attitude.”
Currently, New Bremen Smiles is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday with plans to expand hours in the near future. They are a Delta premier provider and offer senior and military discounts.