Straight-Talk
Straight-Talk
Dean writes Agent Straight-Talk, a consumer blog on dental insurance and discount dental plans. Dean shoots from the hip highlighting best practices and trends within the dental insurance industry.
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DentInsStore

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Michael Medved Credits Dental Visit with Helping Save Life
There’s a longstanding joke that the only thing an older person wants for their birthday is not to be reminded how old they are. The exception to that punch line are cancer survivors, who love to be reminded how many years they’ve lived.   We’ve written before in this space about the importance...  Read More
Now Playing: COVID-19 and Mask Mouth
Ever been to a movie that was so bad you got up and walked out halfway through it? Of course, that was back when people were permitted to go to theaters.  None of us have been able to walk away from the COVID-19 horror show that has been 2020, though it certainly hasn’t been for lack of effort....  Read More
Watermelon - Nature's Toothbrush
So sweet, so cool and so red  So green and so nice  Cool you down, just like ice  Take a taste, and see why  If you hot, or dry, just take a slice. Eat your fill  Cool you down! Yes, it will.  - Herbie Hancock, Watermelon Man  Coronavirus or not it’s summertime, and nothing says summertime better...  Read More
Two Companies Partner to Help Young Dentists Weather Pandemic
Like a bad dream or a late winter storm striking in early spring, the feared and tiresome COVID-19 virus is slowly retreating from our daily lives.   Week by week, businesses and offices are reopening, more people are out and about, and the dread and uncertainty of the past several weeks is giving...  Read More
Categories: Hygiene
Kudos to the ADA for a COVID-19 map displaying each state's dental availability status.  C'mon all, let's join together as Americans and begin the task of restarting the world's greatest economic engine! Sources: American Dental Association  Photo source: American Dental Assocation  ...  Read More
Categories: Public Health
An Eye for an Eye, A Pair of Pliers for a Tooth
In the movie Cast Away, Tom Hanks’s character Chuck Noland is stranded on a deserted island and is forced to remove his own abscessed tooth without the benefit of Novocain or a dentist. In a fascinating but agonizing scene, Noland uses an ice skate blade as a pick, a large stone as a hammer and...  Read More
Categories: Anesthesia, Oral Surgery
COVID-19 and Dentistry
Knowing what we do about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and how it spreads, it’s no surprise that it’s having a significant impact in the world of dentistry.  The American Dental Association (ADA) announced March 16th it was  nationwide that dentists postpone elective procedures for a three-week...  Read More
The Keto Diet and Oral Health
Diets are like wind gusts – they come, and they go, but one diet currently on the fab fads list is worth a second look, because it can lead to better dental health.   The Keto Diet  “Keto” is shorthand for Ketosis which is a metabolic state your body enters when it doesn’t have enough...  Read More
What the Deuce is a Dental Deductible?
 One of the frequent questions asked of us at Dental Insurance Store is do our plans have deductibles? Some do, some don’t. Next. What exactly is a deductible and how does it work? To answer that we turned to our head librarian and lead researcher, Sherlock Tomes. Below is our Q & A with Mr....  Read More
The Fireman, His Popcorn and a Close Call
 Happy 2020, readers! Starting a brand-new year and a new decade is always exhilarating, and perhaps even more so for the subject of today’s post.   Adam Martin is a 41-year-old firefighter and father of three from Cornwall, England who now knows the importance of dental visits. Martin nearly...  Read More
Categories: Oral Surgery
How 3D Technology is Impacting Dentistry
It’s been said that every picture tells a story.  Considering the limitless possibilities of 3D imaging and printing, the picture for the dental profession could potentially be a story with multiple happy endings.  3D technology offers considerable benefits to dentists and oral health specialists,...  Read More
iCLEAN - The Mouthwash With a Purpose
Iodine and baking soda have at least one thing in common – both have had countless uses over the decades. Iodine offers similar versatility as the white baking powder with purposes ranging from disinfecting external wounds and use as a disinfectant, to treating thyroid deficiencies, use in...  Read More
3D-Printed Plugs May Revolutionize Implants
Two important things to know about dental implants:  First, they are expensive; second, they are prohibitively expensive since most dental plans don’t cover them as a plan benefit. Most insurance carriers consider implants a cosmetic procedure – like liposuction or Botox lip injections.   Free...  Read More
The Successful Roll-out of Henry the Dentist
Once upon a time before dental insurance plans and automobiles, dentists sometimes made house calls.  When they did  magazines found in residential “waiting rooms” were probably more current then than those found in dental offices today, but I digress. A husband/wife entrepreneurial team and...  Read More
This Dentist Loved to Write and Wrote to Live – Part 2
Earlier this month we featured an early 20th century dentist who fantasized about being a full-time writer.   What dental blogger can’t relate to that?!  A Passion for Writing  Pearl Grey was so passionate about his writing that after graduating from dental school at the University of...  Read More
This Dentist Lived to Write and Wrote to Live
Once or twice a year in this space we play a game with readers where we share clues about former dentists who earned fame and fortune in other careers and have the readers guess who they are.  In , we wrote about the many exploits of Paul Revere and how the ‘midnight rider’ performed the first...  Read More
Bio-Friendly Dental Implants (Part 2)
Our last blog installment ended just as Emerginnova Founder and President, Michael Foley, was about to share the advantages ceramic implants have over conventional titanium implants.  At that point we had to call a timeout but for a good reason – he had a dental appointment.   Just kidding.  ...  Read More
Ceramic Implants - A Bio-Friendly Alternative
Since the beginning of time humans have cut their teeth on competition. Exhibit A: In Bible times there was Jacob vs Esau and David vs. Goliath. Exhibit B: In sports, Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier and the New York Yankees vs the Boston Red Sox.  Exhibit C: On television we’ve had Oprah vs Martha...  Read More
Artificial Intelligence - Meet Toothbrushing
Unless you are a conscientious objector to new technology, there’s a good chance you rub cyber elbows with artificial intelligence several times daily. Email programs offer spam filters, can prioritize your email and provide automated responses. Smart phones feature smart personal assistants, voice...  Read More
The 2019 Dentin Awards Are Here!
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Feb 2, and you know what that means?   It means television viewers will soon be subjected to four hours of narcissistic preening, posing and posturing when Hollywood celebrates itself and lectures viewers about the latest topic du jour trending on social media.  ...  Read More
Dental Therapists and the Dentist Shortage
A few days after Santa Claus had come and gone one state governor presented his state’s residents with a gift of his own. On Dec 27, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed a Senate bill into law authorizing dental therapists to perform a variety of routine procedures for patients usually...  Read More
The Twelve Days of...Dental Coverage?
On the first day of coverage my dentist gave to me: a teeth-friendly tea and coffee.   On the second day of coverage my dentist gave to me: two tubes of toothpaste and a teeth-friendly tea and coffee. On the third day of coverage my dentist gave to me: three ® , two tubes of toothpaste and a...  Read More
Happy Holidays - Dental Insurance Store
Are you dreaming of a white teeth Christmas? You will be after viewing our holly, jolly infographic!  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays all!   Read More
Time to Play The Dental Plan Squares
(TV ANNOUNCER) “One of these dental plan benefits performers is sitting in the secret square, and the contestant who picks it first could win cash and an all-expense paid trip to a special Caribbean hideaway! Which benefit is it? "Is it…Penny Prophylaxis, Xavier X-ray, Robbie Resin, Freddie...  Read More
The Dentist Student Turned TV Private Eye
“I’m just a very fortunate fellow I feel to have had the life that I’ve had.  I could have been playing golf every Wednesday in Kansas City, having been a dentist.” – Craig Stevens Craig Stevens isn’t the first person we’ve featured in this space who planned a career in dentistry, only to take a...  Read More
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