Enter Month and Year Newsletter

What´s New at Savon

• Quote Of The Month
• Cohen’s Corner – Straight Talk From The Doctor - What Are Lumineers?
• September's Free Membership & Secret Word Contest Winners
• To Your Health - Flu Shots
• A Question From A Member - I‘m Not On The “Roster", What Does It Mean?
• Medical Insurance And The Economy- A Growing Problem
• Straight Off The Press With- Savon Q Print
• Savon Golf Classic Date Is Set
• Dental Talk With Savon
• Dental Fun Facts

◄ Back to What´s New At Savon - Monthly Newsletter Home Page

In every newsletter you will find a secret word or phrase.  When you locate the word or phrase, copy the entire paragraph and paste it into an email along with your Savon membership ID number and your name.

Send the email to customerservice@savondentalplan.com. The emails will be printed, and the winning entry will be drawn on the 15th of the following month. All entries must be received by the 10th of the month (i.e. July 10th for June's newsletter, etc.). The winning entry will receive a check from Savon for $25.00. Only one entry per family is allowed, and you may only win once per 12 months. The secret phrase for October is "very accurate impressions".

Quote of the month:  “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” (Plato- 427 BC- 347 BC, Greek Philosopher)

Cohen’s Corner – Straight talk from the Doctor:
Lumineers

With Dr. Cohen unavailable this month, we have elected to run this article by Joseph Preziosi Jr., DMD.

Lumineers are the trade name for DenMat‘s revolutionary new no tooth preparation veneers. Lumineers allow smile makeovers to be done with no anesthetic needles, or shots, no sensitive tooth reduction, or drilling, and therefore no pain.

Lumineers are the most significant breakthrough in cosmetic dentistry since technology has allowed teeth to be restored through bonding procedures. Lumineers allow patients who were once too phobic to seek the care they need and want to have their entire smile redone in the image they desire in complete comfort and relaxation. So Lumineers eliminate the fear barrier to treatment that millions of patients can‘t otherwise overcome.

Lumineers are actually a restorative system that utilizes many-advanced bonding, shading and manufacturing technologies to give patients the ultimate in aesthetics, strength, and comfort in porcelain restorations. At the heart of the system lie the Lumineers porcelain veneers that are made of Cerinate, a trademarked porcelain that is so hard that it can be beveled to a feather edge and not break.  It is this characteristic hardness of the porcelain that allows the Lumineers to be placed and finished without having to remove painful tooth structure through drilling and still allows the restorations to achieve a quality finishing margin, the transition from the end of the porcelain restoration and the beginning of the tooth‘s surface.  No other porcelain is hard enough to allow for the beveled feather edge-finishing margin without breaking, chipping or cracking.

The Lumineers are bonded with a bonding system that allows the Lumineers to bonded to enamel, dentin, porcelain and metal or any combination of these surfaces. This means that not only teeth but old chipped, cracked, broken or discolored porcelain or porcelain to metal restorations, such as crowns, bridges, or old veneers can be refaced without being removed as long as their marginal integrity is still intact and there is no other recurrent caries or dental tooth decay.  Again this can mean that patients can have their smiles redone with out having to get shots and having their old restorations cut off and replaced while eliminating the need for provisional or temporary restorations when waiting for the dental laboratory to fabricate the final restorations.

The Lumineers process reduces the time the patient has to be in the dental chair receiving treatment by more than 50%. Lumineers eliminate the need for provisional restorations needed for conventional veneers and that tend not stay in well and come off at the most inopportune time possible. With Lumineers the first treatment visit consists of taking very accurate impressions of the patient‘s mouth, making a bite registration of how the patient‘s upper and lower teeth relate to each other and choosing a shade for the Lumineers that the patient wants their teeth to look like once they are restored.  At the second visit the Lumineers are bonded into place after the final color, translucency and contour are established.  The excess bonding agent is removed the beveled feather edge-margin is finished and the Lumineers are polished to ensure an extremely smooth surface that will not allow bacteria to easily adhere to. At this point the Lumineers will still be attached to each other where adjacent teeth meet and naturally touch each other. The Lumineers can be separated at this appointment or at a later appointment depending on how the dentist wants to proceed.

Once the Lumineers are separated the patient‘s treatment is complete and their smile is now the smile of their dreams. Their self-confidence, self-esteem and poise are all increased immensely because they feel so much better about themselves. This can be a life transforming experience for many people, so don‘t delay any longer call today and find a Lumineer qualified restorative center near you and change your life forever.

Congratulations to M. Gerring of Tucson, AZ Winner of our September drawing for 1 free additional year of membership.

Ms. Gerring was the winner of July's drawing for 1 year of membership for free. Congratulations to our winner and thank you to everyone that entered the drawing.

Congratulations to J. Plumas of San Diego, CA Winner of our September Secret Word Contest

Mr. Plumas's correct answer was drawn and a check for $25.00 was sent to him.

Make sure that you look for the secret word this month, it could be worth $25.00 to you!!

To your health:
Flu Shots

Influenza season is approaching and you know what that means!  It‘s time to get a flu shot! Flu vaccinations are the BEST way to protect yourself against influenza.  There are two types of vaccinations: The “flu shot”- is a vaccine containing the killed virus.  It‘s given with a needle in the arm and is approved for people 6 months old and older. The nasal-spray vaccine- is a vaccine made with a live, weakened virus.  Only healthy people ages 2-49 years old who are not pregnant are recommended to try this.  A great alternative if you have a needle phobia.

• Allergy to chicken eggs
• Previous reaction to influenza vaccine
• If you developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome after getting a vaccine
• Children under 6 months of age
• If you have an illness with a fever

A question from a member:

Question:

My dentist said I‘m not on the “roster”, what does this mean?

Savon's Answer:

Each month we send each dentist a roster which indicates how many members are assigned to them.  Many providers use this to determine a persons eligibility.  If you are not on the roster, you are either assigned to another dentist or you are a dependent under someone‘s plan (only the primary member is listed on the roster).  In most cases, if a member does not appear on the roster, the dentist office will call us to verify eligibility.  Occasionally the dentist office may ask the member to call us themselves.  If this happens, just call us and a Savon rep will call your dentist and verify for you.  We try to keep the rosters as up to date as possible but with new members joining on a daily basis, the rosters are never 100% accurate.  To avoid any inconveniences, it is always a good idea to notify us of a change of provider immediately.

Medical Insurance and the Economy... A growing problem.

The economy has placed a strain on people from all walks of life with regard to medical care, from the low income group to the middle income group.

The facts...

• The percentage of indigent families has risen sharply among the elderly and low-income households since 2003, causing state and government sponsored programs to place limitations on medical care. Insurance plans are rarely based on income levels or ability to pay. Most are age-driven; the higher the age, the higher the premium. Some are claims-driven; the higher the number of claims and expenses in a given year, the higher your premiums will be in the following year. Because of this, elderly and low-income families are more likely to forego medical care or necessary pharmaceuticals than insured families. In contrast, these same groups are more likely to incur a higher expense when seeking medical attention out of necessity.


• Rising healthcare costs and insurance premiums have begun to take a toll on employers as well, and consequently, the result is that employers have had to enroll their employees in health plans that offer higher deductibles and cost sharing with fewer paid benefits. The cost sharing options that many insurance companies are now offering are leaving many insured adults with inadequate financial protection in the event of illnesses, catastrophic events and accidents.

• Approximately 35 million people in the US are either uninsured or underinsured. People are uninsured or underinsured for a variety of reasons; unemployment, low income families that are unable to qualify for medical coverage because of welfare reform initiatives.

• Your medical costs are greater than 10% of your yearly income
• Your deductibles are greater than 5% of your yearly income

The bottom line is this... Higher rates, higher deductibles, and limited coverage are raising the threshold of medical debt to it‘s highest ever. The more insured and uninsured people who do not seek medical attention when needed, the more catastrophic illnesses result. The debt climbs and, consequently, so do medical costs. The more medical costs climb, the more the rates, premiums, and deductibles are raised... There has to be a solution. When will this vicious circle end?

Straight off the press with:

Savon Q Print

• Party Invitations
• Wedding Announcements/Invitations
• Party Fliers and Banners
• Matching Business Cards, Letterheads and Envelopes
• Brochures and Business flyers

Savon Golf Classic date is set for April 25th. 2009

Get your clubs and join us in April. The annual Savon Golf Classic in scheduled for April 25th. 2009 at the beautiful Coyote Lakes Golf Club.  We are just getting started working on the details and filling the committee positions. Those of you that have participated in past events know what a great experience it was.  If you have not participated before, we invite you to join us this time. More information will be posted as it becomes available, but if you would like to help out, sponsor a hole, or sign up early, contact our chairperson, Corilee at 602-841-3494 or 800-809-3494

Dental Talk with Savon:

Come blog with us!  Dental Talk with Savon is a fun forum to post your interesting topics!  Your comments are welcome, it‘s free to use and no membership is required.

Some of the topics include;

• 10/07/08 Do Men PMS?


• 10/03/08 Beat the heat


• 10/02/08 The Baskin Robins of toothpaste!


• 09/26/08 Is This Going to Hurt?


• 09/25/08 Fun & easy crafts to do pertaining to dental stuff…

Dental fun facts:

• The average toothbrush contains about 25,000 bristles grouped into about 40 tufts per toothbrush


• More than 300 types of bacteria make up dental plaque


• The most valuable tooth belonged to Sir Isaac Newton. In 1816 one of his teeth was sold in London for $3,633.00 or in today's terms $35,700.00 The tooth was set in a ring. (Source: Guinness World Records 2002)


• In an average lifetime, a person produces 10,000 gallons of saliva


• A 60-second kiss burns 26 calories


• 86% of dogs over 4 years old have periodontal disease


• An elephants molars measure one foot across and weigh between 8 and 10 pounds each


• 57 dental schools already existed by the year 1900


• The first nylon toothbrush was brought to the market in 1938


• 22,000 dentists served in WWII