What is a Periodontist?

A periodontist is a dentist who specializes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of periodontal diseases (gum disease.) The specialty of Periodontics also involves the treatment planning, placement, and maintenance of dental implants. In order to become a periodontist, a dentist must first complete four years of dental school and then an additional two to three years in a periodontic specialty-training program. In addition to this, Dr. Scharf completed a general practice residency to receive advanced training in all phases of dentistry. Only approximately 25% of all periodontists attain the level of Diplomate of the America Board of Periodontology. Dr. Scharf reached this level by completing a rigorous written and oral examination process. To learn more about the benefits of seeing a Periodontist who is board certified, please visit the web site of the American Board of Periodontology.

Patient Information Includes:

1. Office Hours and Scheduling
2. When a new Patient Calls our Office
3. What will happen on a first visit to Dr. Scharf
4. Dental Insurance
5. A Word about Patient Protection
6. Payment Arrangements
7. Links

Office Hours and Scheduling

Dr. Scharf is available see patients Monday and Wednesday 11:00 am to 8:00 p.m. , Tuesday and Friday 8:00am to 5:00 p.m. On Thursday, Dr. Scharf teaches at New York University College of Dentistry in the Department of Implant Dentistry. Our appointment coordinator and financial and insurance coordinator staff our office Monday and Wednesday 9:00am to 8:00 p.m., Tuesday and Friday 9:00am to 6:00 PM and Thursday 9:00 am to 2:00 p.m. We will schedule your appointment as promptly as possible. If you have pain or an emergency situation, every attempt will be made to see you that day. Seven day a week, 24 hour a day emergency care is available to all patients of record. Simply call our office at (631) 661-6633 for instructions if you need emergency care.

We try to stay on schedule to minimize waiting at the time of your appointment. We schedule only one patient per appointment and endeavor to stay on schedule. This minimizes your waiting time. Our patients consistently give us high marks for seeing them promptly and reciprocate the courtesy by arriving on time for, and keeping their scheduled appointments.

When a new patient calls our office

When a new patient calls our office for an appointment, we will mail our welcome packet containing information about our practice as well as a patient registration and medical history form. By completing these forms at home before your appointment you can easily record information about any medications you may be taking and accurately complete the information required to access any dental insurance benefits to which you are entitled. By bringing this completed from to your first appointment, we will be able to see you promptly. These forms can be downloaded by clicking here.

Please assist us at the time of your initial visit to the office by bringing the following information:

• Your referral slip.
• Dental films from your family dentist, if requested.
• Any forms or insurance cards if you are covered by dental insurance.

Please Note:

Please notify the office before your first appointment if you have a history of a heart murmur, mitral valve prolapse, rheumatic fever, or an artificial heart valve. Also let us know if you have ever taken any diet pills.

All patients under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at the consultation appointment.

What will happen on my first visit with Dr. Scharf?

We strongly believe that each patient must be treated as an individual. Your first visit is designed to help us understand you as an individual. Your new patient visit will last approximately one hour. You will meet Dr. Scharf in a nonclinical area. This will give you the opportunity to discuss your dental history and your concerns related to dentistry in general and your periodontal or implant care specifically. We encourage all our new patients to bring a spouse, friend, relative or significant other to the initial visit if they would like. Dr. Scharf will review your medical history in detail. This will assure that your periodontal treatment can proceed safely. Dr. Scharf will consult with your physician when appropriate. Periodontal disease affects many medical conditions. Dr. Scharf will discuss with you the implications of periodontal disease on heart disease, diabetes, pregnancy and the unborn fetus where appropriate.

Next you will move into the treatment room. Dr. Scharf will perform a thorough head and neck examination as well as an oral cancer screening. This will be followed by a detailed periodontal and dental examination. Because the mouth is an entity unto itself, each tooth is related in some way to every other tooth. Even if you are referred for a problem on a specific tooth, Dr. Scharf must complete an examination of the entire mouth in order to arrive at a correct diagnosis and treatment plan. Dr. Scharf will explain each of the clinical parameters he measures and their significance as he proceeds. Through this process of codiscovery, you will reach a better understanding of the nature and severity of your condition. Dr. Scharf utilizes an intraoral camera to show you the conditions in your mouth. With this camera, you will be able to see things in your mouth on a television screen magnified over 38 times.

After the clinical examination is completed, Dr. Scharf will discuss with you any periodontal films that are necessary to make a proper diagnosis. Our practice utilizes digital, filmless radiographs. This state-of-the-art technology enhances our diagnostic ability and reduces radiation to the patient by 90% over conventional film based dental xrays.

Once the clinical diagnosis and dental images are completed Dr. Scharf will have a treatment conference with you. Many times this takes place at a separate visit. This will allow Dr. Scharf adequate time to study your case, and consult with your dentist. We usually schedule a separate treatment conference of approximately 40 minutes. We strongly encourage patients to bring a spouse, friend, relative, or significant other to the treatment conference. At the conference, Dr. Scharf will review the conditions in your mouth and the risks of leaving the conditions untreated. He will make treatment recommendations where appropriate, and discuss the fees and time involved in treatment. We strongly believe in thoroughly educating our patients and take a "no surprises" approach to patient care.

Dental Insurance

Our insurance coordinator is here to assist you in obtaining the full benefits to which you are entitled under your dental insurance plan. There are literally hundreds of dental insurance plans in existence. It is impossible to know in advance exactly what your benefits will be. We encourage you to bring your benefits books to your first appointment so that we may help you better understand your particular policy. You may want to call your insurance carrier and inquire as to what is your yearly maximum, and how much of that amount has been used so far this year.

We will complete all your insurance paperwork in a timely manner and make the process as easy as possible for you. We submit insurance claims electronically to speed your reimbursement by the insurance company. Your dental insurance company will work to limit your coverage through the use annual limits and UCR’s.

Before Dr. Scharf begins any treatment, he will provide you with an estimate of the cost of treatment. This information will be transmitted electronically to your insurance company. They will be able to tell you what portion of the fee will be covered by your insurance plan. Dental insurance is not meant to pay all. Unlike medical insurance, dental insurance has very low yearly limits on benefits. Most plans have a yearly maximum of $1000-$1500. This limit has not changed in the last 20 years. If the annual limit had kept up with inflation (as you know the insurance premiums have), it would be over $5000 today. Your employer does not tell you that your dental benefit is being reduced every year, but in reality it is, because the maximum does not keep up with inflation.

Insurance companies use UCR’s to limit their payments to you. For each procedure, the insurance company selects a UCR fee. From that fee they decide that percentage they will reimburse. For example, a plan with a high premium may set the UCR for a filling at $125. If the employer wants a plan with lower premiums, the insurance company will set the UCR lower, say at $85. Your plan booklet may say that they reimburse at 75% for fillings, but it is 75% of a number chosen by the insurance company. By lowering the UCR, the insurance company reduces the cost to the employer (lower premiums) but increases the cost to the patient through higher out of pocket expenses.

Quite often wee see a variety of UCR’s from the same insurance company for patients from different employers. When the fee exceeds the UCR chosen by the insurance company, they will tell you: "The fee charged exceeds the usual, customary and reasonable fee charged in your area". It would be more accurate to say, "The employer chose a plan that does not reimburse at the level charged by most dentists in the area."

Our fee is not based of the insurance company’s definition of UCR. The level of service and care you receive does not vary depending on payment by the insurance company. Our fees are based on the skill, time, judgement, care and office environment provided by Dr. Scharf and his staff. We strive to consistently provide the best care available anywhere in the world on a daily basis.

A Word About Patient Protection

In today's environment of infectious diseases, we pride ourselves on maintaining the highest level of care and protection for our dental patients. We want you to know that we share your concern over this matter, and work diligently to prevent the spread of all infectious diseases.

We want to inform you of the specific methods used in our office for controlling the spread of these diseases. For each patient we follow these asepsis procedures:

1. Scrub our hands before and after each appointment with a special antibacterial soap.
2. Wear disposable gloves, and change them before each patient.
3. Wear masks to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses,
4. Wear protective eyeglasses and face shields.
5. Sterilize all instruments in the autoclave. We autoclave (steam sterilize) all handpieces between each patient.
6. We have an incubator in the office to continually monitor and assure the effectiveness of the autoclave.
7. Use disposable products to prevent cross infections.
8. Disinfect and cover chairs other surfaces in the room between each patient.
9. Dispose of biomedical waste and sharps through an approved biohazard disposal company to minimize the potential for human contact and adverse impact to the environment.
10. Vaccinate doctors and staff members for hepatitis B.
11. Complete infection control training for all staff members.
12. We employ the latest technology to filter the water we use. All of our water lines have special filters that remove any bacteria from the water. The water that enters your mouth is the cleanest that current technology can offer.

Equipment Photos:

Autoclaves	Incubator	Filter
We have two steam autoclaves to sterilize instruments.	We constantly monitor the effectiveness of the autoclaves with an incubator.	Special filters remove bacteria from dental water lines.

These measures have been provided to eliminate the risk of infection from dentist/staff to patient, patient to patient, and patient to dentist/staff.

We treat our families and children in our office and we are proud of the lengths we go to in order to provide a safe environment for all our patients. Please feel free to ask us about any of these measures we take for your safety. We are happy and proud to discuss them with you or to give you a tour of our patient protection procedures.

Payment Arrangements:

For your benefit and peace of mind, no treatment will begin until payment arrangements have been made which are comfortable for you. We do not believe it is fair to our patients to begin treatment without an arrangement in place that fits within their budget. A patient should not have the added stress of being able to pay for treatment they may not be able to afford. All our patients have the opportunity to make payment arrangements with our financial coordinator in a private, personalized setting. For your convenience, we accept cash, check, Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

Implant Links

Academy of Osseointegration http://www.osseo.org/

Implant Companies:
Noblebiocare http://www.nobelbiocare.com/
Implant Innovations http://www.3implant.com/

Dental Websites
American Academy of Periodontology http://www.perio.org/
American Board of Periodontology http://www.perio.org/amboard/amboard.html
American Dental Association http://www.ada.org/