Specialty Services in Durango, CO

Why race across town to dentists you don’t know? We provide comprehensive, specialized dental care in one familiar place.

At Dr. Rothchild’s dental practice, east meets west. For an integrative approach to your treatment, we may use acupuncture as an adjunct to mild sedation, dental anesthesia, pain control, and TMJ pain.

Another alternative therapy and optional adjunct is MPS Therapy (Microcurrent Point Stimulation). This therapy integrates acupuncture, microcurrent therapy, cranial osteopathic techniques, intramuscular stimulation, trigger point treatment, and neural therapy.

What is Cranial Osteopathy?

Osteopathic health care is the philosophy that the body has mechanisms and substances that, if given the opportunity, will establish balance and recreate health. Restrictions to the harmonious functioning of these processes can cause disease. By relieving these restrictions to proper motion, the body has the ability to restore harmonious function.

Osteopathic physicians and dentists are skilled in the use of their hands to diagnose and treat dysfunctions of the body. Manipulation of bones, soft tissues and fluids stimulate the body’s self-healing mechanisms to aid in the recovery or prevention of disease processes and to relieve pain.

How can it help you?

Techniques of Cranial Osteopathy are used whenever structural problems have a negative impact on health. Patients of all ages can be treated successfully.

Adults who have experienced serious medical problems or who have a history of severe injuries may not respond as well to treatment as a child or someone with less serious problems. It is important to remember that the younger the patient, the more resilient the tissues. Recent injuries respond more easily than those that are long standing. Patients must be evaluated individually because each patient is unique and will respond differently.

Physicians and dentists performing Cranial Osteopathy use gentle techniques, but some discomfort may occur when the therapy is focusing on a particular area of restriction. The discomfort will often subside as the treatment progresses.

Dr. Rothchild is one of only a few dentists in the country who prescribes, treats, and teaches this concept. As a member and former board member of the Cranial Academy, he continues to upgrade the skills and knowledge necessary to provide the finest care in the field of Cranial Osteopathy.

Pinhole Gum Rejuvenation™

A Breakthrough Treatment For Gum Recession

Gum recession is the process in which the margin of the gum tissue that surrounds the teeth wears away, or pulls back, exposing more of the tooth, or the tooth’s root. The progression of gum recession can eventually weaken your teeth, causing greater sensitivity, root damage and even tooth loss.

Gum Recession can result from several factors, including;

• Misaligned bite
• A genetic inclination toward gum recession
• Clenching or grinding
• Hormonal fluctuations
• Improper brushing
• Inadequate dental care over an extended period of time
• Periodontal disease
• Piercings of the lips, tongue, or gums
• Crooked teeth

Advantages of Pinhole Surgical Techniques ™ (PST™)

• No incisions or sutures
• No need for scalpels or invasive surgical tools
• No need to take donor tissue from the patient’s palate
• Fast recovery and healing time
• Multiple teeth can be treated in one visit
• Excellent, natural-looking, long-lasting results

Treat your Recession today!

If you are concerned about receding gums and want to explore alternatives to a gum grafting procedure, please call us today! We will be happy to discuss the details and benefits of The Pinhole Surgical Technique™.

Hospital Dentistry is a service that we can provide for patients that are severely medically compromised or apprehensive or uncontrollable children. This includes children that may have a significant amount of work that needs to be done and special needs children. Mercy Regional Medical Center provides board certified and licensed anesthesiologists that provide the service in the operating room setting. Side effects typically associated with hospital anesthesia are virtually nonexistent.

Mercy Regional provides the billing and fees for the service independent of Dr. Rothchild’s fees.

If you or a family member chronically snores and wakes up extremely tired in the morning, it is possible that they or you are dealing with a sleep disorder known as Sleep Apnea.

Sleep Apnea occurs when a section of the airway becomes obstructed, causing the body to essentially choke on itself. This obstruction can cause repeated episodes of partial or complete suffocation, sometimes lasting a minute or more while the sufferer is asleep. Because these choking and suffocating episodes can often repeat frequently throughout the night, they can put the sufferer at increased risk of a myriad of health complications including stroke, heart attack and even death. Amazingly, nearly 1 in 4 adults over 30 are suffering from at least a mild degree of Sleep Apnea and don’t even know it.

The cause of this collapse in the airway is typically due to the soft tissues in the mouth, tongue or throat closing and blocking airflow during sleep. The first sign of this is often snoring, which occurs when one is attempting to breathe through a narrow airway. If left untreated, snoring frequently escalates to full OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea), caused when the narrow airway has become completely blocked.

Are you at risk?

There are several risk factors and symptoms which may indicate OSA. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do you snore loudly (louder than a person talking or loud enough to be heard through closed
  • doors)?
  • Do you often feel tired, fatigued or sleepy during the day?
  • Has your spouse or bed partner ever observed you stop or pause breathing in your sleep?
  • Do you have or are you being treated for high blood pressure?
  • Are you overweight or obese?
  • Are you over 50 years old?
  • Is your neck circumference greater than 16 inches?
  • Are you male?

If you answered yes to two or more of the above questions, it makes sense to have your sleep health evaluated. Our practice offers sleep assessments if you feel that you are possibly dealing with OSA.

New Hope for Sleep Apnea treatment with Oral Appliances

Traditionally, OSA has been treated with a CPAP machine, which feeds oxygen from an O2 tank into tubes that must be attached under or around the nose and sometimes even the mouth at night. While this helps to supply more oxygen to the CPAP patient, CPAP machines can be uncomfortable and noisy, which can makes compliance for some patients challenging.

Our practice specializes in fitting OSA patients with a custom fabricated oral appliance to help minimize the obstruction which often causes sleep apnea. The appliance works by holding your mandible (lower jaw) in a precise open and forward position. By doing so, the soft tissues in the throat and neck are no longer in a position to collapse, the typical cause of the nighttime choking and suffocating episodes associated with OSA.  

The oral appliances that we make at our practice to treat Sleep Apnea are custom fitted for each patient over the teeth and are worn much like a sports mouthguard. This low-impact appliance is usually much easier for OSA sufferers who find CPAP therapy difficult to tolerate, also resulting in more effective treatment for the patient. In 2015, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued updated treatment parameters, additionally recommending the use of custom fabricated oral appliances by specifically trained dentists for patients with snoring and sleep apnea who prefer the mouthpiece over CPAP therapy, or who have tried CPAP and are unable to maintain daily use.

Oral appliances can be a very comfortable and easy to use solution for managing Sleep Apnea and chronic snoring. If you currently have been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea or suspect that you may have it and would prefer to not use a CPAP machine, consult our office for a sleep assessment and to determine if you are a good candidate for a custom fitted oral appliance.

Get the rest you need!

Watch video below for more information on Sleep Apnea.

Dr. Rothchild has been involved in the treatment of TMJ and craniofacial pain for over 30 years. He is a member of several professional organizations that specialize in the field of pain management and head and neck pain. He has lectured on the subject throughout the United States and internationally. His approach to treatment is based on the individual. Every patient is unique and has different problems structurally that may be contributing to the problem.

The outcomes of his work have been highly successful throughout the years. The approach he takes initially is a very conservative approach.