News
Thank you to everyone that joined us for our Mix 'n Mingle BBQ with the chamber to celebrate oral health month! A big shout-out to our community and the Chamber of Commerce for your incredible support. It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces enjoying good food.
Here's to many more events where we can come together to promote wellness in our community!
All of the dentists were able to attend the Pacific Dental Conference in Vancouver last week, which is one of the biggest conventions in North America. It offers exceptional continuing education programs, the latest techniques, emerging technology and services.
June 7th marked the last day of dental practice for Dr. Greg Steed of Pincher Creek. His retirement comes as he is replaced by Dr. Regan Evanson, who has now started at Ascent Dental and will be practicing with Dr. Mark Leishman and Dr. David Baker.
Dr. Steed has been a dentist in Pincher Creek for 41 years. He took his education at the University of Alberta, where he received his undergraduate science degree and his doctorate of dentistry. Following graduation, he worked in Fort Macleod for one year before moving with his family to Pincher Creek, where he has resided since.
Dr. Steed and his wife, Cheralyn, have four daughters. Their oldest, Rashelle, is married to Dr. Leishman, so there is a family connection that remains at the dental clinic. Their other daughters live in Edmonton, Georgia, and Tennessee. Greg and Cheralyn greatly appreciate their decision to come to Pincher Creek. It has been a great place to live and raise a family, and they plan on continuing to live here. The community has provided opportunities for their family and many positive associations.
According to Dr. Steed, dentistry has made many advancements over the years. When he was in dental school, there was no availability or training in light-cured tooth coloured restorative materials, but these materials have gradually developed so that they are now very reliable. Articaine is a local anesthetic that was developed years after his graduation and has brought much quicker and deeper anesthesia for dental procedures. New full tooth colored crown materials are now strong and very esthetic compared to the previous alternatives of full metal or porcelain fused to metal crowns. Dr. Steed took an interest in orthodontics early in his career in Pincher Creek, because of the distance and time to see specialists elsewhere. He took hundreds of hours of additional training over the years in the techniques to straighten teeth and he and his staff have found orthodontics to be challenging and rewarding. He is quick to give credit to the many wonderful staff who have worked with him over the years who have been integral to his practice of dentistry. Ultimately, he would like to thank those many patients who have put their trust in him. His patients have come mostly from the Pincher Creek, Crowsnest Pass, and Piikani Nation areas. Dentistry is famously unattractive to many individuals and Dr. Steed is appreciative of those who he was able to work with as patients. He always felt he gave his best effort at any given time. He will miss his associations with patients, but will not miss the stress he shared with patients in challenging situations, but is grateful for the many positive outcomes where he felt he made a difference.
Dr. Steed is looking forward to having more freedom in his schedule to pursue time on his acreage outside of Pincher Creek, being involved in the community, spending more time with family, and being on the mountain trails and lakes this summer.
Dr. Evanson has started seeing patients at Ascent Dental and will be moving to the Town of Pincher Creek next week with his wife and three children. Dr Evanson and his wife are from southern Alberta and are excited to have the opportunity to be in Pincher Creek with its small-town advantages and recreational opportunities in the nearby foothills and mountains. Dr. Steed wishes Dr. Evanson the best as he practices in Pincher Creek and serves this area of southwestern Alberta.
A child’s first visit to the dental office doesn’t need to be scary. By bringing young children into the office at an early age before major problems arise, instructions on how to effectively take care of developing teeth can be provided. It would be preferable that a child’s initial visit to the dental clinic be for a routine examination, rather than an emergency situation. Although not ideal, their first visit to the dentist may be to treat pain from tooth decay, trauma, or infection. These appointments can be difficult for some children, as they may not understand what needs to be done or are unable to cope well. By explaining what needs to be done in terms they can understand and using the principles of “tell, show, do” many children can become cooperative enough to allow the necessary work to be performed. Working with children can be challenging at times, but with patience and kindness, many are able to overcome their fears and develop the trust needed for the dental procedures to be done while awake. As with most dental work, if a potential problem can be identified early when it is small, it is generally easier and less invasive to treat than if it is ignored or significant time elapses before it is dealt with. Otherwise, it can become a bigger problem that is less predictable and more expensive to treat.
In instances where children are either very young, lack the ability to have dental work done in the office awake, require difficult procedures, or a significant quantity of work, several options exist. These may include the use of nitrous oxide (laughing gas), dividing the work into shorter more manageable appointments, or having the work done at the local hospital under general anesthetic.
When children are brought in for a routine visit to have their teeth cleaned and examined, instructions are given how often to brush and floss, with proper techniques demonstrated. Good oral health care habits can be reinforced with encouragement, along with advice for areas needing improvement. These patterns are essential for maintaining lifelong oral health. X-rays are often taken, along with an examination by the dentist to determine if infection or decay is present, the status of current restorations, extra or missing teeth, gum health, tooth positions and type of bite, along with other abnormalities (such as a tongue-tie) and habits such as thumb-sucking. A treatment plan is developed if cavities are identified and fillings or other work are needed. Because tooth decay is a bacterial infection of the teeth, it is best to treat it as soon as possible, even in baby teeth that are expected to eventually fall out, so that it doesn’t spread to adjacent permanent teeth. Teeth that require early removal may also benefit from space maintainers to hold room for the unerupted permanent teeth.
By identifying how the teeth fit together and overlap, recommendations are given regarding the need for orthodontics and the ideal timing to address the concerns. Some instances of misalignment with crowding or spacing may benefit from early intervention to achieve a better result, even before the permanent teeth have all fully erupted. Records consisting of photos, models, and x-rays are taken to determine a diagnosis and treatment plan in anticipation of braces.
Following their appointment, children should feel confident that any issues with their teeth can be resolved with follow-up visits and that positive reinforcement of good habits can be achieved through encouragement from clinic staff. It’s always rewarding for children to know that they have done their best to be cooperative by having the opportunity to select a prize at the conclusion of their dental visit. Dr. Greg Steed, Dr. David Baker, and Dr. Mark Leishman at Ascent Dental in Pincher Creek look forward to seeing you and your child at your next visit to the office.
I and my wife Cheralyn, recently completed a humanitarian dental mission to the small Pacific island nation of Tonga. We left on January 30 and returned on February 26. Tonga is made up of several small islands in the south pacific and has a total population of only about 105,000. The main island of Tongatapu is where the capital of Nukualofa is located, and most people live on this island. Tourism is not very well developed on the island, with no resorts there like on Hawaii. Interestingly, the island is a monarchy, and it was never a colony to any other country. The majority of people on the island live in relative poverty. A substantial number of Tongans live on subsistence agriculture and what they can get from the sea. They have a high incidence of diabetes and heart disease, with a low life expectancy in the low to mid 60s. Because of the diet and the economy, dental problems are very common, and routinely go untreated. I worked in a permanent community dental clinic located at a school in the middle of the island. Dentists and dental students from North America staff the clinic throughout the year on a totally volunteer basis. All the treatment is provided for free and is open to any residents on the island. The treatment is comprised mostly of restorations (fillings) and extractions. I did some root canals on younger patients to help them save important front teeth. I and another dentist from Calgary were at the clinic while I was there. The patients would line up in the morning (up to 20) well before we would arrive, and they would wait until we could see them. Besides the Tongan language, English is taught in the schools, so we could talk to many of the patients, although we had local volunteers to help us with communication. The people there are very friendly and appreciative of our efforts. There are a few local dentists on the island, but they are overwhelmed by the treatment need, so are appreciative of the community clinic. They were trained in Fiji, and so we visited some local dentists one night a week to talk to them about dental treatment techniques and materials. Although the clinic has a humanitarian foundation which helps sponsor in part, visiting dentists are encouraged to bring their own supplies. I was helped in this by the two main dental supply companies in Alberta which work with our clinic in Pincher Creek and other community support. Also greatly appreciated was the generous donation of antibiotics and painkillers by Pincher Creek Pharmasave for me to take to Tonga to use for my patients and leave for continued use by the dental volunteers who follow. Fortunately, there were no Corona virus cases in Tonga while we were there, and there were still no cases there as of the end of March. The majority of the patients I saw had a painful condition. Some had been putting up with several teeth causing pain for lengthy periods of time. The days were busy with so many people waiting and with so much need, but it was a rewarding experience to be able to help. In turn, we experienced a unique place and culture, where the people were very gracious. When Captain James Cook first visited Tonga 250 years ago his reception was such that he named the islands, the Friendly Islands. This has not changed, and we feel so fortunate to have had the experience.
Effective immediately, all dental offices in the province have been instructed by the Alberta Dental Association & College to suspend all non-emergency dental treatment and services. If you have a dental emergency, please call our office at 403-627-3290 or 1-800-663-5041 and leave a message, as we will be checking regularly and evaluating situations on a case-by-case basis. You can also email ascent.dentists@gmail.com and we will reach out to reschedule once normal operations can resume.
Please remember to stay at home, avoid travel, wash your hands, and self-isolate for 14 days if you are returning from travel or have symptoms. We will post notifications and updates on our website and social media when we have been instructed that it is safe to reopen the office.
