Let’s Talk About Roots

Spring is almost here which has us thinking about flowers. Like flowers, teeth have roots! Like the roots of a flower, the roots of teeth help bring life and health to our teeth. Incisors, canines, and premolars have one root. Molars have two or three.

The roots of our teeth go below the gum line and ...

Black History Month and Dentistry

Vada Somerville was a civil rights activist and the second African American woman to receive a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in California. After attending the University of Southern California, Vada married a Dentist she’d met in school. After the United States entered World War I, Vada decided to become a Doctor of ...

Let’s Talk About Children’s Dental Health

By: Dr. Kaitlin Haag

February is Children’s Dental Health Month and we’d like to talk about all of the great things you can do to protect your child’s smile.

BRUSHING

Creating good dental habits for your children should start as soon as they wake up. Before breakfast, you should brush your teeth with your ...

Let's Talk About Whitening

By:  Dr. Kaitlin Haag

It’s January and winter white is on our minds… so let’s talk about white teeth. Having white teeth can make us feel more confident about our smiles. The same is largely true throughout human history. We’d like to start by saying that we do not recommend teeth whitening for kids ...

Clenching and Grinding Your Teeth (For Teens and Adults)

Dr. Kaitlin Haag

The fancy technical name for this is bruxism. If you find yourself clenching your teeth during the day, or grind your teeth, or thrust your jaw forward over and over again, there’s a good chance you have bruxism and you should talk to your dentist. Doing these ...

Here are 5 ways to keep your teeth clean during Halloween!

Let’s Talk Mouth Wash

One of the questions I get on a regular basis ...

Keeping Your Gums Healthy

    You’ve probably heard of gum disease. It starts out as ...

Let’s Delve into Dental X-rays

    A dentist cannot do a full and complete examination ...

Antibiotics and Dentistry

    Antibiotics are medicines that fight bacterial infections. They have saved the ...

Why Your Baby Needs Teeth and Checkups

            Over the years, I’ve had so many parents ask me why they need to take their babies and young children to the dentist and why, if their young child has a cavity, it would need to be fixed if the tooth is just going to ...

What are early childhood caries, or ECC? Well, caries is the medical term for cavities. So it is cavities in young children. Anyone can get a cavity, including young children and babies. Any child under the age of ...

February is Children’s Dental Health Month and we’d like to talk about all of the great things you can do to protect your child’s smile. 

Let’s Talk About Halloween 2020

Dr. Kaitlin Haag

Southwest Nebraska Dental Center

McCook, NE

Whether you’re staying home this year or trick-or-treating, you’ll love these fun activity ideas as either a substitute for trick-or-treating or a fun addition to your October activities.

To start, here is an article from the CDC on ...

Let’s Talk About Saliva

By: Dr. Kaitlin Haag 

Let's Talk About a Career in Dentistry

By: Kaitlin Haag, DDS

Do you have ...

Let’s Talk About Dentistry as an Essential Service

Dr. Kaitlin Haag

Southwest Nebraska Dental Center

McCook, NE

2020 has been a rough year thus far. The COVID-19 pandemic has really shaken everything up. In the early phases of the pandemic in the United States, most dental offices were shut down except ...

Let's Talk Back to School During COVID-19

By: Dr. Kaitlin Haag

Whether your family is heading back to school in person, online, home schooling, or a combination of the three, it’s important that we do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19. We believe that the best way to do this is to keep communication ...

We know, we can’t believe it either! It seems like just yesterday they were off to kindergarten and now they graduated high school!  As they start thinking about packing for college in the fall, here are some things you can do in advance to ensure a healthy first year!

• Schedule a cleaning with our office! Getting on a ...

NEW LOCATION; SAME QUALITY DENTAL CARE

Exciting ...

By now you’re aware that it has been recommended (and in some states required) that dental offices limit appointments to emergency procedures until further notice. We realize this can be an inconvenience to our patients, but we also strongly believe this is a necessary measure to help control the spread of the coronavirus and hopefully bring life back to ...

International Women’s Day is March 8th and we thought it would be fun to highlight some of the trailblazing women in dentistry who have broken down barriers and fought for equality!

Emeline Roberts Jones was the first woman to practice dentistry in the United States. She was married to a dentist who didn’t think it was acceptable for ...

      Endodontics is the branch of dentistry specializing in the treatment of the dental pulp and tissues surrounding the roots of a tooth.  Endodontists are dentists that are “root canal specialists”. Dr. David Meier with Western Nebraska Endodontics is our go-to Endodontist at our office.  He is the only Endodontist on Western Nebraska. He practices in North Platte, ...

Respiratory viruses abound in the winter months. The virus that people usually worry about the most is the influenza virus. This year we are also concerned about the Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCov) outbreak. Our goal is to keep our children and yours smiling, healthy, and safe, so we thought it would be a good idea to go over some tips ...

February is Children’s Dental Health Month, and we’re excited to kick things off with some tips on keeping your family’s smiles healthy.

Creating good dental habits for your children should start as soon as they wake up. Before breakfast, you should brush your teeth with your kiddos. When children are learning good habits, modeling behavior can be beneficial. Let ...

One of the newest and most distressing epidemics among children and adolescents is vaping. So what are electronic cigarettes? Why are e-cigarettes so popular? Why should we as dentists and parents care?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a health advisory on August 30, 2019 to urge people to avoid e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are a public health crisis. In 2019, ...

The holiday seasons are about to descend upon us!  Halloween is later this month and with all the fun festivities most Americans are consuming more sugar than they do at other times of the year. So we wanted to talk about sugar. We definitely know there’s a link between sugar consumption and cavities, but let’s also look at ...

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a minimally invasive way to treat cavities and is easily the biggest innovation for pediatric dentistry in the US in decades. It’s been used in other countries in Europe, Japan, Australia, etc., for a long time. The FDA approved it for use in 2014, and it became commercially available in 2015. SDF is a ...

Pregnancy can sure be rough! Your body is changing in all sorts of fun (and not so fun) ways. And your mouth changes too. Pregnancy increases your risks of developing oral diseases like gum disease and cavities because of the physiological, dietary, and hormonal changes that are happening.

Did you know that if you're having problems with ...

Let’s Talk About Dental Insurance Series

Volume II:  Let’s talk dental insurance clause and imitations

By Katie Schutte

Welcome to volume III of our mini blog series about all things dental insurance!  Last week we talked about the differences between annual maximum versus deductibles, as well as calendar year ...

Let’s Talk About Dental Insurance Series Volume II:

Let’s talk benefit maximum versus deductible and calendar year versus benefit year

By Katie Schutte

Welcome to volume II of our mini blog series about all things dental insurance! Last week we 

Let’s Talk About Dental Insurance Series:  Volume I

Where do insurance policies come from?

By Katie Schutte

We all know that insurance policies can be tricky to navigate and are always written in hard to understand legal jargon.  Dental insurance policies, in particular, can be extremely hard to comprehend and ...

Did you know that fluoride is a naturally occurring substance? Most people associate fluoride with visits to the dentist, tooth paste, and municipal water. But let’s find out more about this inorganic anion! Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in many foods, soil, and water. And of course, you can find plenty at our Dentistry office in McCook, NE.

Do ...

A- Always brush & floss twice a day.  Lead by example and make oral care a family affair. Use toothpaste with fluoride! Using fluoride is one of the greatest ways you can protect your child’s teeth from decay. Start brushing as soon as your child’s first tooth erupts. Starting at an early age helps create healthy brushing ...

When you think of dentists, more than likely you think of the general, or “family dentist”, who provides a comprehensive dental care and the majority of dentists, are general dentists.  They provide a wide range of services, from teeth cleanings and fillings to root canals and implants.  However, dentists can become specialists in certain fields.  It’s important to ...

The best thing about being a dentist is helping people. Having a healthy smile is so much more than having perfectly straight and white teeth. Dental health impacts overall health and also impacts mental health and self-esteem. For most people who live in Southwest Nebraska and the rest of the United States, dental care is available and accessible. That is ...

Summer fun has begun in Nebraska and it seems like the list of things we try to put on our children to protect them keeps growing and growing. We thought it would be helpful to compile information from reliable sources (linked in each section) on what you need to cover your kids, literally and figuratively.

Bug Spray:  The American ...

There’s something quite exciting about when that first little baby tooth starts to wiggle!  It’s a sign that things are really going to start changing for your little one’s mouth!  Kids are getting excited about the tooth fairy and moms are getting teary-eyed because their babies are growing up.

As I get a lot of questions about this topic ...

Let’s Talk About Tongue Ties

with

Dr. Kaitlin Haag of Southwest ...

Let’s Talk About Fillings

It happens to the best of us ... you’ve been told you or your child has a cavity and that a filling is necessary. ...

One of the questions I’m frequently asked is, “When do I need to take my child to the dentist for their first visit?” 

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists (AAPD) recommends that a child be brought to the dentist when their first tooth erupts, or by their first birthday, whatever comes first. If you missed this deadline, please don’t worry. We ...

Let’s Talk About Children’s Dental Health 
 

February is Children’s Dental Health Month! Because we want the kids of McCook, NE to have the brightest, happiest smiles ever, we thought we’d go over the four important aspects of pediatric dental care.

BRUSHING

Creating good dental habits for your children should start as soon as they wake up. Before breakfast, you should brush ...

Let’s Talk Tooth Whitening

It’s January and winter white is on our minds… so let’s talk about white teeth. Having white teeth can make us feel ...

Let’s Talk Xrays With Dr. Kaitlin Haag 

I thought it would be a good time to talk about X-rays! Someof the most frequent questions I get asked in the office are about X-rays. Do I/my kids really need them? Is it safe? So I thought I’d share some of the basics when it comes to dental radiography and some of my ...

Let’s Talk Staying Healthy with Dr. Kaitlin Haag 

Did you know that saliva is one of your body’s defenses against viruses and bacteria? Keeping your mouth healthy helps keep your whole body healthy. Brushing, flossing, staying hydrated, and visiting the best dentist in Nebraska twice a year helps your saliva do its germ fighting job! In addition to keeping ...