Rubber Dam

One of the most essential steps in successful endodontic treatment is the placement of the rubber dam.

It is the standard of care when performing root canal therapy. Without this key step it is impossible to maintain a sterile area, thus leading to potential contamination and ultimately the failure of the root canal treatment.

Not only does the rubber dam protect the tooth from bacterial contamination, it also serves as a protective barrier for the patient. The dam isolates the tooth being treated, helps prevent the leakage of irrigants into the oral cavity and can protect the patient from instruments such as hand files from falling into the oral cavity.

As you can see, our patient below is comfortable and happy to be wearing the rubber dam!(HA HA)

Perforation Repair

A 21 year old patient presented with a sinus tract associated with a previous root canal therapy on tooth number 19. The post perforated the distal root causing the failed treatment.

The root canal was retreated and the perforation site was repaired with MTA.

Check out the healing at 6 months!

Roya Ghahraman DDS

New Advances

One of the newest advances in endodontics involves pediatric patients. MTA pulpotomies have been found to be more successful than the traditional Cvek pulpotomies with calcium hydroxide. It allows the roots of the teeth with immature apices, to continue to remain vital and continue growing until they are fully developed. The aim is to prevent root canal therapy on these teeth.

Below is a case I recently did on a 2nd molar of a 14 year old girl

Roya Ghahraman DDS

Our Dinner

We wanted to thank all of the doctors who made it out to our dinner on February 21. Every few months we host a dinner as a means of offering our thanks to the many doctors who have continued to support us throughout the years.

This months dinner was a little different from our previous dinners in that we used it as an opportunity to showcase our diagnostic techniques and some particularly impressive cases. We wanted our guests to see the detail and care that goes into each and every case. Cathy, one of our assistants put together a very informative Power Point presentation, and each of our doctors were able to speak for a brief period of time.

Everyone feasted on the mountains of food that Dimitri's International Grill provided for us, and had a great time getting to know one another.

Thank you all for making our latest dinner a huge success once again... and if you would like to join us at the next dinner, please give us a call. We would love to see you there!

Points for Perfection

As anyone who has worked with us knows, we pride ourselves on the quality of services that we provide to our patients and to the dentists who refer them to our office. One of the ways that we ensure that our services are flawless is by using a scoring system devised by our talented dental assistants.
This scoring system was developed to see that our entire staff is working at the highest level of efficiency. Our work is perpetually being checked and double-checked.
Everyone in our office works based upon a points system, in which they are either rewarded points or deducted points based upon their individual performance with each patient. The ultimate goal for each procedure is a perfect 10.
The specific areas that our assistants are graded upon are:

• Placing all barriers in the room
• Setting up the operatory correctly for the scheduled procedure
• Having the patient's information easily accessible to the treating doctor.
• Entering into the patient's digital record all of the notes associated with the treatment, per the treating doctor's dictation.
• Having the operating microscope pre- set to the treating doctors preferred settings
• Being attentive to the patients needs throughout the procedure
• Keeping the doctor's cart and the surrounding area clean and organized
• Cleaning and sanitizing the operatory post procedure using the latest sterilization techniques.

We have found that with this system, our assistants have been able to recognize any areas that they need to improve upon. They are constantly checking and re-checking their work in order to achieve the perfect score. Our office is running more smoothly than ever before, and our assistants are delivering the best work possible.

Efficiency in practice

Remember the days when we all had stacks of charts stuffed into monstrous cabinets in the backdrop of our front office? Remember trying to stuff just one more radiograph and referral slip into a ragged manila folder, already bursting at the seams.
Those days are over thanks to the latest updates we have incorporated into our office. We have been using TDO (a software designed by Dr. Gary Carr to streamline and digitize all aspects of record keeping in an endodontic office) for several years, and we have packed away all of our paper charts into storage and have gone paperless! With the help of tablet PC's and state of the art scanners we are able to save digital records of referral radiographs, correspondence from dentists, and even patient signatures within our system. With this technology in place we are able to access any of this information with the click of a button.
Our patients have been pleased to be able to complete their registration from the comfort of their own homes, when it is most convenient for them. We have been pleased with the time that we have been able to save (approximately 30 minutes) at the beginning of each appointment, by eliminating the tedious data entry that our patients and our front office staff have to complete prior to being seated in the dental chair.
With our move into the 21st century we are well on our way to maximizing the efficiency of our office.

*K. R.

New Beginnings

Welcome to the Blog of Dr. Lina Jarboe and Dr. Roya Ghahraman, endodontists with a state of the art practice in Ellicott City, Maryland.

We have created this blog as a means of communication and education within the dental community. As a specialty office, our services are tailored to fit the needs of the patients that we care for, along with the specialized needs of the dentists who refer them. That being said, we want to provide you with a chance to get to know us a little better, both professionally and personally.

We look forward to the opportunity this will give us to share our knowledge and experiences, and in turn, learn from you.

Until next time!