Excited to be A Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite Dentist!

How many of you have heard about Nextdoor? It’s a free private social network for your neighborhood community. It’s like a Facebook group that only your neighbors can join, and neighbors always have the best local suggestions, don’t they? This is one of the many reasons why we love Nextdoor.

Did we also mention that we were awarded a Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite Award this year? It’s Nextdoor’s annual awards program that gives neighbors an opportunity to recognize the most beloved businesses in their local community. Only 1% of all businesses win this award – and we’re honored to be able to say that Michael C. Bell, DDS, PC is one of them! 

Local businesses are the heart of our community. We are proud to be one of the local businesses serving the Westlake Hills and Austin area, and we’d like to thank the local Nextdoor community and our wonderful patients for bestowing us with this award. 

We’re excited to announce that we are in the process of updating to a new software called Oryx (from Dentrix) to manage your care. Here’s some information about Oryx!

• Oryx is a single, global cloud-based platform that offers everyone in our dental office the ability to serve or patients more efficiently and effectively.
• Engagement tools for patients like you, along with a science-based clinical module, automated risk assessment and diagnosis, and billing and advanced reporting all in one place. 
• Not only is data gathering more efficient and beneficial for your care now, but Oryx was also designed specifically to align with our Kois Center training. 
• When coming in for the first time as a new patient or getting a regular check-up, Oryx helps us provide a full mouth health report on your teeth, gums, bite and jaw joint and appearance. 
• One of the things we’re most excited about how patient-centered and patient-friendly Oryx is. You will walk out the door with a color-coded written report— with red for areas that need immediate attention, yellow for areas that need to be monitored and may become concerns down the road, and green for healthy areas of the mouth that function well and look good. 
• We are training and learning the new Oryx software, and should be converted over the next month or so.  Our goal is to be ‘live’ on Oryx by November 1^st.
• While we do not anticipate any difficulties on the conversion, if there are some ‘hiccups’……pardon our progress!

We can’t wait for you to experience it and look forward to seeing you during your next appointment! If you’re due for a checkup visit, call us at 512.327.7750.

This month, communities across Austin, West Lake Hills and the country are preparing for a new school year. Dr. Michael Bell, your General and Cosmetic dentist in 78746, wants to remind you that you can start off with a beautiful, confident smile with a quick back-to-school teeth whitening treatment!

We’re excited to announce a new Back-to-School, End of Summer Whitening Sale for dramatically brighter smiles! Now through the end of September, we are taking $100 off our in-office whitening and $50 off the take-home whitening.

The take-home whitening consists of professionally made whitening trays made from accurate dental impressions, with 16% or 22% Venus White Max Gel. In-office whitening is done in about an hour and a half with a direct application of Venus White Max (a 36% hydrogen peroxide whitening gel). When in-office whitening is chosen, a set of custom whitening trays are also made and given with touch-up gel for at home use. We usually recommend touching up about every 3 to 4 months depending on habits like smoking, heavy tea and coffee consumption.

Press the Refresh Button on Your Smile

Tooth discoloration and staining is a natural side-effect of aging — or, as we like to think of it, of a life well-lived. Repeated exposure to highly-pigmented items like coffee, red wine, and dark chocolate causes the teeth to gradually darken over time. Tobacco use, poor dental hygiene, and certain medications also play a role in dental discoloration. Chronic mouth breathing can darken teeth as well.  If you have started to notice your teeth looking a little dingier than you’d like, it’s time for a professional teeth whitening. After the application, teeth are dramatically whiter — and you are flashing your most confident smile yet.

Why Choose Professional Teeth Whitening?

With so many whitening options available at the pharmacy, what’s the point in investing in professional teeth whitening? It’s a valid question — but we want to remind you that nothing is as strong as the professional-grade whitening solution found with the Venus White Max Whitening offered by Dr. Bell. Over-the-counter options just don’t whiten as well. What’s more, Dr. Bell can take special factors, like tooth sensitivity, into consideration. And since when was a smile one-size-fits-all? White strips and other generic teeth whitening kits can put your gum tissue at risk for exposure to the bleaching gel. For the best, safest, most effective results, professional teeth whitening at the dental office is the way to go.

Maintaining Your Whitening Results

Immediately after you have completed your professional teeth whitening treatment, your teeth will be more susceptible to the items that caused them to discolor in the first place. To avoid diminishing your whitening results, do not use tobacco and stay away from dark foods and beverages for the first two days. These include coffee, dark soda, ripe berries, red wine, rare steak, and other items. A good rule of thumb is that if it can stain your shirt, it can stain your teeth. Protect your smile by sticking to white or light-colored foods right at first. Baked chicken and potatoes, anyone?

Schedule Back-to-School Whitening Today!

Get ready to look your best this fall with a quick back-to-school teeth whitening with Dr. Bell and his team! Contact us to schedule an appointment today before this limited time special ends. We can’t wait to show you just how fantastic your smile can look.

Why We Chose to Become
Certified Total Health Dental Practice?

Our dental office in the heart of Westlake Hills has completed an in-depth curriculum called Total Health Academy. What does it mean to be a certified practice in Total Health Dentistry, you ask? It means we can help our patients play a critical role in their oral and their overall systemic health.

It wasn’t too long ago that dentists thought the mouth was its own private space and that not much of what went on in there was linked to the rest of the body– and vice versa. Signs of the most prevalent systemic diseases we encounter today, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, acid reflux, fungal infections, and food sensitivities show up in abundance inside the mouth. This makes it impossible to ignore the many connections between the mouth and the body.

As well, oral diseases (such as periodontal disease, caries, oral pharyngeal cancer, and bite and jaw problems) often aggravate and can wreak havoc with the rest of your systemic health.  Our goal is to become a health resource to direct you to excellent practitioners who agree with our philosophy… We want to help you maintain and improve your health, not just treat problems and disease as they arise.

Our new knowledge in total health dentistry means we can play a critical role in ensuring you live a happier, healthier life. We know you’ll experience a wonderful difference with Best Austin Dentist Dr. Bell and his Westlake Hills dental practice. From ages 12 to 105 years old, we will work together to prevent, predict, and preempt disease. And we’ll help you achieve your healthiest self at every age with a great smile to boot!

Dr. Bell has been donating his dental services to the Austin community for many years now. He does this through various charities and events, this case was referred to us by the Texas Dental Association. This week in fact Dr. Bell will be in Georgetown volunteering his time to serve many patients at no cost to them! Not only does Dr. Bell donate dental services, recently we donated our time to Mobile Loaves & Fishes, providing for those in need. Dr. Bell is also a member of the Sustainable Food Center of Austin, who provide healthy choices for the community.

Pre operative digital photo of donated dental patient

Ewing before dental treatment

Dr. Bell is a firm believer in giving back to the community which is why he accepts cases as often as possible. Ewing came to us in January of this year with extensive dental needs. A majority of Ewing’s teeth were missing, he was having trouble eating, the remaining teeth were in poor condition.

Improved health and comfort

After several months of treatment, Ewing now has a brilliant smile! His overall health has improved and he can eat whatever he pleases without any discomfort. We just love seeing the transformation in patients, that is why we do what we do. We are always looking for more Donated Dental Cases to take on. All the patients that come through donated dental have disability and can’t work and are on a fixed income. We will share more cases with you in the future and we hope this warms your heart as much as it does ours.

Post operative photo

Ewing today

Ewing was a great patient, we really enjoyed working with him and we’re happy to share his story with you!

Watch the video at bottom

Watch the short video at bottom of Ewing at his checkup appointment to see how things were going!