Year-end insurance reminder from Drs. Gilleran & Van Fossen

Drs. Gilleran and Van Fossen, as well as our entire team, would like to give those patients with flex spend, health savings, or insurance benefits a friendly end of the year reminder that it's about that time to schedule your dental visit(s) so you can optimize your benefits!

Now is the time to reserve you appointment with us. Space is limited and we get VERY busy around the holiday season, so don’t wait to give us a call at 312-368-8771! We hope you had a GREAT Halloween weekend!

The importance of oral cancer screenings, from Drs. Gilleran and Van Fossen

In our continuing efforts to provide the most advanced technology and highest quality care available to our patients, Gilleran and Van Fossen Cosmetic Dentistry screens our patients for oral cancer. The fact is, every hour of every day in the U.S., someone dies of oral cancer, which is the sixth-most common diagnosed form of the disease. The five-year survival rate is only 50 percent, and oral cancer is one of the few cancers whose survival rate has not improved.

Early detection of pre-cancerous tissue can minimize or eliminate the potentially disfiguring effects of oral cancer and possibly save your life. Ask Drs. Gilleran or Van Fossen about a screening at your next appointment! In addition to oral cancer screenings, we offer complimentary blood pressure screenings, take-home test kits for testing your cholesterol level and snoring/sleep apnea appliances.

Call us at 312-368-8771 or email office@drgilleran.com to schedule your appointment!

15 Creative Uses for Toothpaste

At Gilleran and Van Fossen Cosmetic and General Dentistry, we came across a great article about creative uses for toothpaste. Here are fifteen ways you can use toothpaste-other than for your teeth, courtesy of DivineCaroline.com.

1. Relieve irritation from bug bites, sores, and blisters.

2. Soothe a stinging burn.

3. Decrease the size of a facial blemish.

4. Clean up your fingernails.

5. Keep hair in place.

6. Scrub away stinky smells.

7. Remove stains.

8. Spruce up dirty shoes.

9. Remove crayon stains on painted walls.

10. Make silver jewelry and other silver pieces sparkle.

11. Remove scratches on DVDs and CDs.

12. Tidy up the ivories before tickling them.

13. Deodorize baby bottles.

14. Remove the burned crust on irons.

15. Defog goggles.

For more on the 15 ways to use toothpaste we encourage you to visit the article, ask us during your next visit to our convenient Chicago office! Or, ask us on Facebook!

Foods that Naturally Whiten Teeth, from Drs. Gilleran & Van Fossen

There are lots of foods that our team at Dr. Gilleran & Dr. Van Fossen's office want you to stay from, including coffee, tea, colas or red wine, which all stain teeth and cause some decay of the enamel. Apples and potatoes can cause discoloration, but they also tend to clean off the teeth. Just wash your mouth out after eating apples.

Great things to do for your teeth include:

• Strawberries can be made into a puree and smothered on the teeth, as strawberries have a natural enzyme that removes tooth stains.

• Orange peels can be used to remove tooth stains, just by rubbing the inside of a peel against your tooth surfaces.

• A little lemon juice and salt work very well to remove stains just wash your mouth out with this, or even rock salt and warm water will work at night to remove stains.

• Baking soda has long been known to work wonders on your smile. It may taste awful, but put some baking soda on your toothbrush, brush with it, and then wash your mouth out.

Drs. Gilleran & Van Fossen, supporting National Dental Hygiene Month!

Ah, October has arrived. The leaves are beginning to fall, the days get shorter and all that Halloween candy is beginning to make its rounds. For our staff at Gilleran and Van Fossen Cosmetic and General Dentistry, October is known as National Dental Hygiene Month.

We join our friends at the American Dental Hygienists' Association in spreading the word that good dental habits are easy to develop and even easier to maintain.

This year's theme is “Healthy Habits are Easier than You Think,” which focuses on prevention. Drs. Gilleran and Van Fossen know everyone is busy; living a life on-the-go is difficult for most people, but our staff is here to tell you keeping a healthy mouth shouldn’t be.

Your teeth are an important part of your body, and keeping them clean helps keep your mouth and your body healthy. By taking care of your teeth, eating a balanced diet, and visiting our convenient Chicago Loop office on a regular basis, you can have healthy teeth and an attractive smile throughout your entire life.

We encourage you to check out the ADHA's National Dental Hygiene Month website, which provides pointers on keeping your mouth clean and healthy. Lastly, has it been six months since your last visit to Gilleran and Van Fossen DDS? If the answer is yes, we encourage you to give us a call at 312-368-8771 to set up an appointment.

We hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend!