ASDOH Health Insurance Requirements

Minimum Coverage Reuirements

• Deductible maximum $2,500 per year
• Coninsurance-60% in network, 40% out of network
• Lifetime Maximum of at least $250,000
• Needle stick coverage required for students in the following programs:

o PA

o DMD

o DO

Note: If your program of study requires you to travel out of state for clinical rotations, it is recommended that you have an insurance policy that will transfer from state to state.

It's time to start looking at health insurance

Here is a list I received in an email from Amy K. McCarty, Assistant Registrar at ATSU.

Listed below are insurance companies that have been used by ATSU students:

· Aetna – www.aetna.com

· American Community - www.american-community.com

· American Family - www.amfam.com

· American Medical Student Association (AMSA) - www.amsa.org

· Arizona Department of Insurance – www.id.state.az.us/consumer.html

· Assurant Health - www.studentselect.com/SS/Home

· Blue Cross Blue Shield - www.bcbs.com

· Golden Rule – www.goldenrule.com

· Kaiser Permanente - www.kaiserinsuranceonline.com

· Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) – www.somainsurance.com

· State Farm - www.statefarm.com/insurance/health/health.asp

· Ziemann Insurance Services – www.ziemanninsuranceservices.com

· In addition to the companies listed above, you may also consider contacting a local
insurance agent in your area.

*The University does not associate neither promote these companies.

Calendar update

I have been waiting for ATSU to provide a calendar in the student portal for the class of 2012. Up until now they only had it for classes 2011-2008. I have updated the embedded calendar at the bottom of the screen now so that it will import scheduling that applies to my class. There isn't much there right now but as they post more and more in the portal it will all directly feed to the calendar on my blog. So check back for updates!

Finding a place to live around ASDOH

When it comes to finding housing as you are going through dental school I would say that most agree that the two most important factors are "cheap rent" and "proximity to the school." Well if those are your only two factors you will probably end up either living with roomates to split up the rent or if you are married you will probably end up gravitating toward the San Angelin apartments which from what I hear are subsidized housing--plus they are very close to the school. There is another subsidized housing oportunity a little further out at an apartment complex called tierra antigua. At the time of this writing the rent for a three bedroom is around $780/month if you qualify to live there (most dental students do).

I have some friends that live a half a mile away from the school who told me that they heard that there is a lot of drug problems and crime at the San Angelin apartments. While the rent can't be beat, you are placing yourself in an atmosphere of lower income families, and unfortunately this demographic also tends to point toward crime.

My wife Kristina and I decided after much debate that we would rather pay a little more for our rent going through school than sacrifice the safety of our children. Melia will be riding the bus to school and we want her to associate with good friends. Granted, there is risk where ever you live, but hopefully by avoiding places where you know FOR SURE that there are problems you can stack the odds in your favor.

House or apartment?

The next question we had to answer was whether it would be better to live in a house or an apartment. Right now we are living in an accessory apartment to a house. It is a two story town home and it feels very much like a house because of the 3/4 acre fenced in yard behind it that we share with the owners. This has been our first experience with more of a home-like setting and we have loved every second of it. The neighborhood is quieter and feels safer, the yard has been a huge benefit for the kids as well as Mom, who can send them out to play when she needs a break. Well, after a few months of living here we felt like we really wanted to get into a home down in Mesa. However, the more we looked into it we found out that although at first the rent for a three bedroom house seemed to be cheaper on average than that of an apartment, the utilities were a lot more expensive for a home. So in the end you would pay about the same for a house as you would for an apartment, if you could find a good deal. Most of the houses we saw that were a little cheaper rent didn'nt have access to a pool, and most had rocks in the yard instead of grass. After looking around we just felt better about going with an apartment. Plus none of the house owners we called to set up an appointment ever called us back.

The Final Decision

So we settled on getting an apartment because they had a pool, bbq's, work out room, club house, conference rooms, etc. Out of all the ones we looked at around the school our favorite that we both agreed on was the Waterford apartments. Luckily they had an opening for a three bedroom coming up right when we needed to move in. The apartment is going to be great for us. It is huge! It has almost 1600 sq ft, 3 bedrooms 2 baths and a den. The den is actually called a computer alcove because it doesn't have a door to the room. The carpets and cabinetry are all new because this place only opened up about a year ago.

The Area

It is about three miles to the school and is very near walmart, costco, fry's grocery store, the mall, golf courses, movie theaters, the public library, etc. It really is in the heart of things. The elementary school is in the Mesa school district and is called Wilson Elementary. Kristina and I went there and from what we can tell the faculty seems very friendly and the facilities seem very nice. I think it will be a good school for our kids. It is about two miles from the Waterford Apartments and there is a bus pick-up stop at the apartments for the kids to get to school.

The Money

The rent for our three bedroom is going to be a little more than we wanted to pay but with all the perks of the place I think it pays off. It will be $1100/month with just electricity and water to pay...the water ends up being about $30/month and the electricity can range from $80-$150 at least that is what we have been told. It will be good to get down there and see. Now where ever you choose to rent you are going to have to fill out an application and show proof of income. You typically have to make three times the monthly rent in income per month to qualify. Now, don't freak out about the fact that you have no income as a dental student. You can still qualify. All you need to do is contact the financial aid department at the school and have them write up a financial aid award letter stating how much money you will be receiving in loans. Hand this letter in with your rental application and you will qualify just fine.
Right now Debbie Richards is probably the best one to contact for that letter.

Debbie Richards
Phone: (480) 219-6117
email: drichards01@atsu.edu

Check it out

If you are interested in seeing the place please tell them that Dustin Webb referred you.


www.WaterfordAtSuperstitionSprings.com
7311 E Southern Avenue
Mesa, AZ 85209
Phone: (480) 656-5335 Fax: (480) 656-5337

Here's the Skinny on Teeth Whitening...

Many of us wish we had a little brighter and whiter smile like all those great looking faces we see on the big screen. Well, there are a lot of different options out there from professional treatment to in-home teeth whitening systems. Most all of them follow the same basic technique, that is--making use of some sort of peroxide gel to bleach the teeth.

Professional Treatment
If you have it professionally done the dentist will coat and protect your gums with a paint on rubber dam and then apply a hydrogen peroxide gel. The high concentration of this gel allows the teeth to be whitened in a fairly small amount of time. The procedure will probably last about an hour and the average nationwide cost is about $650. However, I have known many dentists to implement marketing campaigns that offer free teeth-whitening for new patients.

Dentist-Dispensed Take-home Whitening Trays
If you are a do it your selfer dentists highly favor professionally dispensed whitening kits which have a higher concentration of peroxide gel than that which can be obtained over the counter. These kits include custom-fitted application trays which have either been pre-loaded or that are accompanied by syringes with peroxide for loading upon time of use. Kits range from $60-$400.
The most common Professionally dispensed whitening kits recommended by dentists are:

• Discus Dental Nite White and Day White ACP
• Discus Dental Nite White Turbo
• Discus Dental Zoom! Weekender Kit
• Opalescence by Ultradent
• Opalescence Trèswhite Supreme

Over the Counter
The only advantage of the over the counter kits are that they are more inexpensive, ranging from $20 to $100. The concentration is very low and uses a carbamide peroxide which is not as powerful as hydrogen peroxide gel. Also, the trays are one-size-fits-all and the whitening strips often only treat the front teeth.

A few things to consider
Many people do not realize that the color of the teeth after whitening may take up to two weeks to reach its intended result. This is particularly important for those who may be going in to have a crown done. Make sure you have given enough time for the whitening to take full effect beforhand so that the dentist will match the appropriate shade for the crown.

Also if you are pregnant or nursing you should avoid teeth whitening. If you chance to swallow bleach it may have an adverse effect on the fetus or baby.

If you are not getting desired results consider this:
The outer layer from the gum line to the crown of the tooth is made of enamel, which originally has a white luster to it. This enamel is made up of microscopic crystaline rods which are meant to protect the surface of the tooth. However, over time the more yellow dentin from the inner side of the tooth shows through the enamel due to tiny cracks and abrasions which have occurred in this protective surface. These microscopic cracks as well as the gaps between crystalline rods often fill up with stain and debris causing discoloration. This discoloration is removed during the bleaching process returning the enamel to a more desirable white. However if your enamel has worn down too much it becomes more and more transparent and the yellow color of the dentin will show through and be difficult to eliminate.
If you have a yellow color at the base of your teeth due to recessed gums it will be difficult to whiten these areas as well. What you are seeing is exposed dentin which naturally has a more yellow color than enamel.

Show me the money!

So did you ever want to know how much dental school can cost you? Well here are a couple of documents that sum up the estimated budget for my first year in dental school. Granted, ASDOH is not a state school and will therefore run a little more expensive than most schools. But take a look at this expense worksheet and add this up for four years and all I gotta say is "Its a darn good thing that dentists make some sweet moola because I'm going to need it for the first 7-10 years to pay off the third of a million dollars of debt I'll be in!"
1. 2008-2009 ASDOH Freshman Budget
2. Expense Worksheet

Automate Your Patient Retention and Communication for FREE!

Dentalsenders.com, a free service courtesy of Elexity, sounds like a great solution for those of us who like to automate tedious tasks--umm...that would be just about everyone. Instead of trying to explain it all here I thought I would just let you watch their demo video and let them tell you all about it. I think it sounds like a pretty sweet way to go!
Check it out

Osteoporosis vs Osteonecrosis

Science Daily put out an article discussing how Osteoporosis Drugs are Linked to Jaw Infection

The article says that "Microbial biofilms, a mix of bacteria and sticky extracellular material, are causing jaw tissue infections in patients taking bisphosphonate drugs, said Parish Sedghizadeh, lead researcher and assistant clinical professor at the USC School of Dentistry.

Sold under brand names such as Fosamax, Boniva and Actonel, bisphosphonates are prescribed to millions of patients to combat osteoporosis, a bone-wasting disease that increases the risk of fractures.

Sedghizadeh said there have been increasing reports of osteonecrosis (bone death) of the jaw in patients who have been taking the drugs for osteoporosis or for treatment from the bone-wasting effects of cancer. He said he decided to investigate further after seeing patients in USC dentistry clinics who had the unusual jaw infection..."Read more

Virtual Bluetooth Laser Keyboard

I'm sorry but this is probably the coolest gadget that I have seen in a long time!

This bluetooth virtual laser keyboad can hook up PDA, Smartphones, and PC's and then projects a full QWERTY Keyboard on any flat surface. When you strike a virtual key it breaks up the light emission of that particular beam and communicates to the sensor that a key has been struck. Very Cool.

Thinkgeek has it listed on their site if you want to check it out.