Dr. Mark W. Wilhelm’s Dental Caries Management Program Offers Patients a Revolutionary Way to Treat Dental Caries and Prevent Cavities
Dr. Wilhelm first to develop treatment and prevention program in Minnesota
WOODBURY, Minnesota – February 15, 2007 – Dr. Wilhelm, DMD MSD, today announced that he has created the first Dental Caries Management Program in Minnesota. The Program is unique in that it provides Dr. Wilhelm with a way to proactively diagnose and prevent dental caries prior to a patient getting their first cavity. Most treatment plans today focus solely on the symptoms of dental caries (cavities), not on prevention or a cure. Dr. Wilhelm’s Caries Management Program targets the biofilm, where cavity-creating bacteria grows, to treat and reverse dental caries, giving patients an easy, affordable and painless solution to a debilitating problem.
“More than any other technology that I’ve owned or techniques I’ve learned, this program has the most potential to change peoples’ lives,” said Dr. Wilhelm. “Until now I’ve only been able to treat dental caries through restoration and extraction. Now I can provide my patients with a noninvasive and affordable way to prevent or reverse a disease that was once thought incurable.”
Over the last one hundred years treatment has focused on eliminating bacteria by emphasizing oral hygiene and fluoride application. When that has failed, treatment involving a filling or crown is provided to restore the tooth. And so the symptomatic-cycle begins, dental caries patients continue to get cavities and restoration treatment without addressing the cause of the cavities. Dr. Wilhelm’s Caries Management Program is the first to provide dental caries prevention and restoration by first testing and measuring the level of bacterial activity in a patient’s mouth and then treating and altering the biofilm to create and keep healthy teeth. The treatment is then followed up with maintenance rinses, personal oral hygiene and professional exams.
Who is affected by Dental Caries?
- Dental caries (cavities) and periodontal diseases are the most common oral diseases and 85 percent of adults in the US are affected.
- Although dental caries is largely preventable, it remains the most common chronic disease of children aged 5 to 17 years – five times more common than asthma.
- Many adults also have untreated dental caries (27% of those 35 to 44 years old and 30% of those 65 years and older).
Statistics from Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General (2000) and National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2005).
About Dr. Mark W. Wilhelm, DMD MSD
Dr. Wilhelm has been in private practice in St. Paul and now Woodbury, since 1990,where he is focused on cosmetic dentistry, sedation dentistry, advanced restorative and implant dentistry. Over the years, he has integrated technology into his practice, allowing him to treat his patients using minimally invasive dentistry. For more information about Dr Wilhelm’s practice, visit his Web site at www.imagineyoursmile.com.
He is recognized as a Diplomate of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists and is an active member of the American College of Prosthodontists, American Dental Association, and Minnesota Dental Association. He is also an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and a consultant with the Cleft Lip and Palate clinic. An author, mentor and frequent speaker to dentists and the public on techniques that enhance oral health, Dr Wilhelm continually travels the world to improve his understanding and skill level in implant, restorative, and esthetic dentistry.