In an effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, all dental offices in Nova Scotia are shut down indefinitely for all dental treatment, including emergency dental care.  There are currently only select EMERGENCY DENTAL CENTRES that are designated to see dental emergencies.

If you have a dental emergency during this closure, please contact Dr. Hennessy on her cell phone at (902) 300-9075 and she will walk you through the emergency protocols, and refer you for emergency treatment as needed.  At this time, she is still able to provide advice about pain management, call in prescriptions, and answer questions about your dental situation. 

If you have an appointment with us in April, please consider it cancelled and we will be in touch with you once the office is open again to reschedule.  Please ignore all reminder texts/emails that you may receive indicating otherwise.

Please be safe, wash your hands, and read a good book. Call a neighbour. Write an email to a friend and tell them you're thinking of them. We need to support one another during this time.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

January 2020 brought with it some changes to our team at Wolfville Dentistry!  We said goodbye to one of our beloved hygienists, Tammie Waite who moved to Iqaluit to fulfill her life-long dream of living in the North.

However, every ending is also a new beginning and we have welcomed a wonderful new
hygienist, Marc Gaudet, RDH to our team. Marc is a born and raised "Blue-noser" and holds a BSc (Biology) and Diploma in Dental Hygiene, both from Dalhousie University.  He has practiced in Labrador and Alberta but thankfully for us, has chosen to return to his Nova Scotian roots to work and raise his family! You can read about Marc's impressive background on "our team" page on our website. 

We look forward to a new year of new adventures and of course we continue to welcome new patients of all ages to our practice!

We are so privileged to provide dental care for many of the core members of L'Arche Homefires in our town of Wolfville. L'Arche is an international organization which was founded in 1964, in France by a Canadian, Jean Vanier (1928 -2019).

Now with over 140 L'Arche communities worldwide, Vanier's vision of creating a world where "people with and without intellectual disabilities can live, work, learn, and grow together" is far-reaching.

L'Arche International has produced a series of short documentary films highlighting the way that the L'Arche vision plays out across the world.

This is one of Dr.Hennessy's favourite films. It will have you laughing and crying (sometimes all at once) and beautifully summarizes that when we support each other to live with dignity, we all reap the rewards! Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtLTpfjVvTk

Most of us now recognize that our mental health affects our physical health.  It is well known that when we are experiencing extreme stress in our lives, our overall health can suffer.  Even with short term stress, research shows that our immune system becomes compromised, and we become more prone to illnesses.

But have you considered how your oral health is specifically affected by your mental health?  Patients often find it strange when we ask them about their stress level, but we do so because we often see the ways that stress is causing changes to their oral health.

This week Dr. Hennessy was featured on Global TV discussing the link between Stress and Oral Health.  You can watch the interview here. 

Each year, the Nova Scotia Dental Association produces an Oral Health Report highlighting an oral health issue of interest to Nova Scotians.  This year's the NSDA has partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to produce a report entitled "Stress and Oral Health". Have a read to find out more about the connection between your oral health and you mental health.

For the third year, the gang at Wolfville Dentistry gang joined forces with other Annapolis Valley dental professionals for the annual "AVDS (Annapolis Valley Dental Society) Cares" Pro Bono dental event.  This event provides much-needed dental care to people who would otherwise not be able to access the care they need.  Participating clinics coordinate with their local organizations (food banks, shelters, churches, schools etc.) to identify patients in their communities who are in need of dental care. 

With over 50 volunteers (dentists, hygienists, assistants, office staff, and technicians) in 5 locations in the Valley, we offered care to 90 patients.  Patients received a free exam with x'rays in advance of the event to identify what they needed, and then were provided with an appointment to complete their care, and have a cleaning.  Across the 5 locations there were 104 fillings, 39 extractions, 4 root canals, and 90 cleanings done; this represents over $40,000.00 of dental services!  Thanks to all the volunteers, as well as Henry Schein for their support of this wonderful event!

In August 2018, Dr. Hennessy was  inducted into the International College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy.  These societies recognize a dentist's work in the profession as well as in their communities at large.  She was thrilled to share these honours with some of her favourite colleagues and mentors from across Nova Scotia, and the country at the Canadian Dental Association conference in Charlottetown, PEI.

We were excited to hear this week that, (ahem...) for the third year in a row , the "Wolfville Dentistry Duck" won "Best Dressed Duck" in the annual Rotary fundraiser event.  Our Duck put on her life preserver, ducky boots, and packed her fishing pole to attend the event this year.

Thanks to our ever-creative Debbie Usher for the execution of yet another brilliant award-winning concept!  You can see last year's tubing costume in last year's post! 

The many women, past and present, who have worked together with Jane over the years!

We danced the night away to "The Sundries"!

In a recent article in the Chronicle Herald, Dr Hennessy commented that barriers to care are concerning to the dental profession because oral health is absolutely linked to overall health. 

Dental fees are often seen by the public as one of the most significant barriers to accessing care.  Often our profession is blamed for "creating" a health care service that is inaccessible to the public.  However, it is important for patients and the public to understand that dental offices are heath care facilities that have no choice but to be operated as small businesses.

This means that unlike other areas of the health care system, ALL the costs of delivering dental services must be covered by the fees collected from the patients for those services. 
Despite what many people think, the money you pay for a filling or a cleaning is not going directly into the dentist's pocket!  It covers the many costs of running a dental office.

It is often difficult for patients/public to understand the costs of a dental clinic, because so many of these costs are not front and centre.  Of course there are the obvious things such as wages and employee benefits, rent, heat, and power.  But have you ever considered the costs of things such as the dental chairs you sit in (each the cost of a small car), the equipment used for your care, and the dental materials used everyday?  Dental offices are held to high standards of infection control, such that they are, in effect, "mini-hospitals".  The sterilization equipment and infection control processes alone are things that are often taken for granted, yet are a large cost to a dental practice.

I often think that if we were handed an invoice every time we visited our Medical Doctor or the Emergency Room, the public would have a much better handle on the high cost of the provision of health care!  It is an expensive undertaking, and indeed an important one that, as a society, I think we need to be more aware of.  So instead of taking aim at "dentists as bad guy", let's remember that dentists are health care providers, small business owners and employers.