We are happy to announce that Darby Dental Smiles will be re-opening its doors on May 4 for all patient treatment.  We would like to share with you the safety measures we have in place.
 
Since our time in Mechanicsburg, we have invested in our practice, our team, and our patient care with the mindset of having the most pristine, safe, and technologically advanced facility that dental healthcare has to offer. We always pride ourselves in going above and beyond what our regulatory agencies require.  We prioritize health and safety for our team members, our patients, and our family members alike. Those efforts will not stop and our practice will continue to be on the cutting edge in the face of this challenge.
 
With the recent news and outbreak of COVID-19, it has become increasingly important to maintain proper disinfection, sterilization, and cleanliness in all aspects of our care. The great news is that we already exceed the requirements that have been asked for all healthcare providers and in usual fashion, we plan to implement even more ways to increase safety precautions.
 
The following are additional protocols we put in place that go above and beyond standard requirements and exceed the vast majority of healthcare facilities:

• Medical grade HEPA filtration system placed in each one of our treatment rooms.
• Increased aerosol removal during preventative appointments.

Here are some things you can expect when you arrive at Darby Dental Smiles:

• Upon arrival we will be implementing a virtual reception process where you call from your car when you arrive and we will let you know when to come in.
• We will check your temperature, disinfect your hands, and screen all patients with a health questionnaire.
• Level 3/Surgical Masks will be provided for those patients who enter our facility who are not wearing facial coverings
• We will limit the number of patients present and stagger appointments to limit the number of patients at any given time in our office.
• Our team will look different and will be going well above and beyond all required safety measures for your safety including face shields and hair coverings.

We ask that patients limit bringing family members to their appointments and allow only one parent to accompany their child for appointments.
 
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at 937.834.2252 or book an appointment online.

Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
 
Sincerely,
The Team at Darby Dental Smiles

 “Is my previously scheduled appointment still valid?”
Yes it is. Our team will be contacting each patient via our normal text confirmation system. Previously scheduled appointments will still be valid.
 
“What if I don’t feel comfortable coming in yet?”
We understand that we all have different risk factors. We’re here for you when you are ready.
 
“Can I get in sooner than my scheduled appointment?”
Yes you can. Many patients have had to put off non-emergency care for some time. Please call our team at 937.834.2252 or book an appointment online. We will be working hard to provide everyone care as soon as possible.

Our goal at Darby Dental Smiles is to help our patients achieve a beautiful, healthy smile through continuous education and stellar dental services. Here are some professional tips to help you achieve that goal!

1. Our top priority is to make sure you have a healthy mouth. The first course of action is to detect any active disease or abnormalities. Your dental providers complete a series of screenings to review your overall health- this includes reviewing medical history, blood pressure screening, oral cancer screening, dental radiographs, periodontal (gum) measurements, hard tissue (teeth) examination, and assessment of jaw/teeth alignment. This data allows your dental providers to create a personalized course of action that will facilitate long-lasting dental health just for you, which will improve your quality of life! Regular dental checkups are necessary to catch any underlying issues, maintain healthy oral care, and educate you on how to care for your teeth properly. You can easily make your dental appointments by calling (937) 834-2269 or by scheduling online.
   
   
2. How many diseases have specific tools that help you to prevent it from occurring? It is vital to brush your teeth twice daily for two minutes each time. Whether you’re running late in the morning or too tired at night, it is easy to neglect proper oral hygiene habits. Brushing helps eliminate the food and plaque that collects around your teeth. Additionally, it decreases the number of harmful bacteria that can contribute to oral diseases. We recommend a soft-bristled electric toothbrush.
   
   
3. When is the last time you flossed? It’s no joke, flossing is essential to oral health. Plaque, bacteria, and food can get stuck in between the teeth where your toothbrush bristles cannot reach. Brushing alone will not remove all of those harmful substances that can cause cavities, bone loss, and infection - so flossing daily is an essential daily ritual to maintain. Waterpiks are an excellent option for those with braces, bridges, or periodontal pocketing. It’s important to remember that Waterpiks do not substitute for conventional flossing, though use it in addition to your regular oral care routine!
   
   
4. Smoking cessation. Not only does smoking significantly affect your overall health, but it plays a vital role in your oral health as well. Smoking decreases the size of the blood vessels in your mouth. The blood supplies nutrients to the teeth, gums, and bone around the teeth. Blood also delivers important defense mechanisms to areas of infection. Decreased blood flow leads to slower healing and inadequate immune response to harmful bacteria. The bacteria that cause gum disease accumulate faster and in more significant numbers with smokers compared to non-smokers. These factors increase smoker’s risk for periodontal disease, which causes bone loss around the teeth and gum recession.
   
   
5. Teeth whitening: it requires continual maintenance. There are various whitening products that your dental provider can discuss with you. First, it is important to ask if you are even a candidate for whitening. Remember, pigmented foods/drinks, such as coffee, red meat, tea, and wine, cause significant staining. Rinsing with water after consuming those items reduces staining. Biannual dental cleanings remove stains as well!
   
   
6. Lip care. As summer approaches, check your chapstick to make sure it contains SPF. The lips receive a lot of sunlight, which can cause tissue damage. Certain ingredients in chapstick help with cell regeneration, moisturization, lip firming, and healing. Look at the ingredient list for Shea butter, aloe vera, beeswax, green tea extract, and vitamin E!
   
   
7. Dental Cosmetic Treatments
   We also offer several cosmetic treatments to help improve your smile. Click on the services listed below for additional information.

• Teeth Whitening
• Alignment
• Veneers
• Dental Implants

 
Follow us on social media for more tips to a healthier smile or schedule a consultation with our dentists today!

With the changes in our daily lives because of COVID-19, it is easy to get out of your daily routines and let some important things go. During this time it is really important to focus on your mental and physical health, including good dental hygiene. Here are a few helpful dental routines to maintain during #StayHome.
 
1. Brush twice a day - morning and night
Plaque can be really damaging to your teeth and cause long term dental problems. By brushing twice a day, you can remove those plaque-causing bacteria and prevent tartar buildup. Tartar buildup is plaque that has hardened on the teeth and needs to be professionally removed by your hygienist. We will be able to take care of this once we can see you in our office for your routine dental hygiene visit. Brushing also helps prevent gum disease, which is essentially an infection of your gums.

If you are concerned with tartar buildup or are experiencing sore gums, painful chewing, bad breath that won't go away or sensitive teeth please, contact us to see if you need to be seen for a dental emergency.
 
2. Floss like a boss
We know flossing is not on your Top 10 favorite things to do every day - which is why so many people choose to skip this oral health necessity. But we know that flossing is incredibly important to ensure you are cleaning off buildup between your teeth where a brush just cannot reach. Flossing daily helps prevent gum disease and even fight off bad breath by removing trapped foot particles. 

The best part - it only takes a minute to do.
 
3. Eat (and drink) a healthy diet
Those sugary and fattening foods put our oral and overall health at risk as does drinking coffee, sodas and those fruity cocktails. It is highly recommended to eat fruits, vegetable, lean meats, and nuts not only for your body, but for your mouth as well.  We all love a drink from time to time but excessive consumption of alcohol or sugary drinks can really damage your teeth. It is best to limit these types of beverages. For healthier drink options and ones that won't discolor your teeth, drink water, tea, and milk.

In an effort to support national efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, our practice is taking the following steps to help assure your health and well-being and that of our community:

• We are following directives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a way to limit patient and staff exposure to this virus.
• Your health, and the health of our dedicated staff, matters to us, so going forward we will suspend all non-emergency care for three weeks.
• Patients will be seen only for urgent and emergency dental needs.

 
We will contact you soon to reschedule routine hygiene appointments. If you are already scheduled for an urgent issue, we will contact you the day before your appointment to discuss your health status, health screening protocols and confirm whether the appointment should be kept. Of course, please call us right away if you have a dental emergency or need immediate care.
 
The safety and well-being of our patients continues to be our primary concern. We will continue to monitor the status of COVID-19 nationally and within our community and keep you up-to-date regarding our plans to reopen for business as usual.
 
I urge you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We can be reached by phone at (937) 834-2252 and will respond as soon as we can.
 
Thank you,

Darby Dental Smiles

Ensuring the safety of our patients and staff is our top priority.

Due to current circumstances surrounding COVID-19, we will only be taking appointments for emergency services.

We will see you all soon in a happy and healthy environment.

​Dear Valued Patients,
Due to global concerns regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we wanted to personally reach out and share the extra precautions Darby Dental Smiles is taking to keep our team and patients safe.
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We are carefully monitoring the recommendations of governmental health agencies, such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and local health organizations, and we have further increased our stringent sanitation protocol. Here are some examples of what we are doing in addition to our normal preventative procedures: 

• Disinfecting high-touch hard surfaces throughout the reception area often such as door handles, restrooms, chairs and countertops.
• Increasing the availability of anti-bacterial hand sanitizers throughout the office. 
• Educating our team on COVID-19 symptoms as well as preventative measures. 
• Continuing to ensure our team washes their hands after and before each patient, which has been proven by the CDC to be the most effective preventative measure.

At this time, Darby Dental Smiles will remain open to serve our patients, but we do ask that you help us in ensuring the safety of our team and others by:

• Rescheduling your visit if you are experiencing symptoms related to the virus such as cough, runny nose, shortness of breath, or fever.
• Informing us prior to your visit if you have recently come in contact with someone with these symptoms.
• Informing us prior to your visit if you have traveled abroad within the past 14 days. 

Please know that we will always work to ensure the safety of our patients and staff. If for any reason anything changes in the future we will let you know. 

Thank you for being a loyal patient and we look forward to your visit.

For more updated information on Coronavirus (COVID-19), please use the links below:

• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
• Ohio Department of Health
• Champaign Health District

As a healthcare professional that is dedicated to ensuring our patients overall health and wellness is a top priority, Dr. Kile wants you to know a few things about e-cigarettes:

• E-Cigarettes are just as addictive as traditional cigarettes

Nicotine is a primary ingredient of e-cigarettes, and it is highly addictive. Just like traditional cigarettes it causes you to crave to smoke and suffer withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine is a toxic substance that reduces blood flow, which in turn affects your teeth and gums. Receding gums, dry mouth, bacteria growth and tooth decay are among some of the risks associated with nicotine and your mouth. Nicotine also affects your heart, lungs and brain.

• E-cigarettes are full of harmful chemicals

Aerosol produced by e-cigarettes is often mistaken for harmless water vapor. But this vapor contains ultra-fine particles of toxic chemicals and heavy metals like lead, nickel and tin. Vitamin E acetate has also been found in vaping products which is linked to the newly identified lung disease, EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated ling injury). Other chemical like diacetyl in e-cigarettes is also linked to serious lung disease.

• E-cigarettes are a relatively new concept

While the CDC is starting to link illness and even death to e-cigarettes, modernized vaping has not been around long enough to know what type of long term damage they can cause. Early studies of vaping side effects are increasingly concerning. And until the full results are in, it is never a good idea to intentionally and habitually introduce harmful chemicals and compounds to your body without knowing the full scale of their long term effects.
 
Our team is trained and committed to explain the dangers of vaping to our patients when evidence of vaping is found during an examination, especially in young adults and teens.

If you are a smoker or vapor, stay on top of your oral health by scheduling regular dental checkups. Schedule your next appointment today!

If you wish to quit smoking or vaping there are many resources available.

​Tooth sensitivity is one of the most common complaints among dental patients in the United States. Sensitivity is caused by the movement of fluid within tiny tunnels located in the layer of tissue found under the protective enamel - providing a pathway to the nerve. Whether the tooth enamel is worn down or due to receding gums, those tunnels can be left exposed
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There are many factors to be aware of that can cause sensitivity. Some examples are:

• The consumption of acid-containing foods and beverages like citrus fruits.
• Excessive consumption of soft drinks.
• Acid reflux issues.
• Frequent vomiting (like from bulimia or alcoholism).
• Chewing tobacco products.
• Having dry mouth or low salivary flow.
• Using hard-bristled brushes or brushing the teeth too hard.
• Grinding of the teeth.
• Excessive sugar - Harmful bacteria feed on food particles in the mouth, particularly sugar. This leads to the creation of by-products that wear away at the surface of teeth.
• Just plain old genetics
  
  

Once tooth enamel is gone, it cannot be restored.

There are many daily opportunities to fight tooth decay. Through brushing, flossing, using mouthwash and even changing diet habits you can lower the chances of growing tooth sensitivity.

Our dentists are essential in both protecting teeth and restoring those that have already sustained damage. From desensitizing gels and pastes to sealants and filling materials, we can help reduce tooth sensitivity.

Contact us today to see how we can help you combat tooth sensitivity.