Our Practice

About Our Practice
Our Treatment Philosophy
Patient Comfort and Safety
Dr Matschek and Team
Fees and Financial Options

About Our Practice

Our practice encompasses all aspects of modern dentistry, including: preventive; cosmetic, which includes whitening, bonding, veneers, mercury-free tooth colored restorations (fillings), microabrasion, crowns and bridges, and implants; periodontal and endodontic dental care for families. Designed with our patients' comfort, safety, and the highest quality dental care in mind. We have a modern office with state-of-the-art equipment to provide our patients the very best dental care.

You are important to us and our first concern is for you, our patient. We will listen to your needs and treat you as an individual with concern for your general well being, as well as your dental health. Our entire staff is gentle, caring and understanding, and will do everything possible to make every visit with us an exceptional dental experience.

Prior to initiating treatment, we always discuss all treatment options with you so you fully understand what needs to be done and why. We encourage you to ask any questions at any time. Once you make your decision about treatment, Dr. Matschek has the training and expertise to create the results

Our entire staff is involved in continuing education to give you the most up-to-date treatment available. If specialized treatment is indicated beyond our scope of services, we refer to highly qualified specialists.

We Emphasize Prevention
Prevention is always better than dealing with a cure, and this is how we approach our dentistry. We do all we can to educate our patients in preventive measures to ensure good dental health. Further, we recommend treatment that will prevent more complicated, extensive, and expensive treatment in the future.

Appointments
We see all patients on an appointment basis. In fact, your scheduled time is reserved exclusively for you, and we allow enough time for the best possible care. We respect your time and make every effort to stay on schedule, and ask that you extend the same courtesy to us by arriving on time for your appointments.

With You in Mind
We look forward to making your visit comfortable and pleasant...an exceptional dental experience. Further, we are always open to suggestions you may have on how we may better serve you. We look forward to building a lasting relationship with you and your family.

Free Parking
Our practice is located right off Highway 26, one exit west of the Oregon Zoo at the Sylvan exit. Parking is free.

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Our Treatment Philosophy

The ultimate goal of all dental treatment in our practice is first, to get to know you and your particular dental wants and desires, and second, to achieve and maintain the optimum health of your teeth and the supporting structures for a lifetime. Our philosophy of dentistry involves a comprehensive dental examination to identify all factors capable of causing or contributing to the deterioration of your oral health or proper dental function. This complete exam provides the necessary information to develop a personalized treatment plan for you.

Dental disease is almost always the result of a combination of factors. Therefore, in my examination I isolate and analyze every factor capable of causing disease, disharmony or instability, including: muscles involved in chewing, temporomandibular joints (TMJ's), all soft tissues (lips, gums, cheek, tongue, floor of mouth, palate), bone support for the teeth, each tooth and its' position in relation to the other teeth. We will be checking for a number of symptoms such as cavities, gum disease, cracked or broken teeth, decay under existing fillings, proper occlusion (the way the teeth fit together), and oral cancer, to name a few.

There must be harmony of all parts of the masticatory system for optimum oral/dental health to exist. What affects one part of the body will eventually affect the other parts. Rather than simply treating symptoms, our comprehensive examination allows us to identify the causes. An analysis is then made of all possible methods that can be used to eliminate causative factors or neutralize their harmful effects.

Finally, we present you with the diagnosis and recommendations for the best treatment approach (and alternate approach, if appropriate). All treatment we recommend is consistent with our goal of providing and maintaining the highest degree of oral health possible for you.

It is important for you to realize that we are literally partners in your dental health. It is my responsibility to diagnose, recommend, and complete any treatment necessary to bring your mouth to a healthy condition. It is your responsibility to keep your mouth spotlessly clean and to report any uneven stresses so they can be corrected. It is also important to maintain your overall health through proper diet and exercise. This affects your dental health and vice versa. Our goal is to work with you to maintain your dental health and smile for a lifetime.

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Patient Comfort and Safety

Our Commitment to Our Patients
Our entire dental team is dedicated to, and concerned about, our patients' protection from infectious diseases. Every time a patient visits our office, we realize that a very special trust is placed in our hands. We take this trust seriously and are committed to providing our patients maximum protection.

Our Office Procedure
The dental profession has, for many years, promoted preventive dentistry... brushing, flossing, the use of fluorides, and sealants. Today, people are concerned about another kind of prevention...the prevention of disease transmission.

Because we feel a very strong responsibility to make our office and our procedures safe for all our patients, we go the extra mile to provide you this safe environment.

For example, each tray of instruments is prepared with a sterile surgical wrap and then autoclaved (heat sterilized) for safety. This sterilization procedure kills any potentially harmful microorganisms and prevents cross contamination.

Our clinical personnel wear masks, surgical gloves and eye glasses for your greater safety to prevent the possibility of microorganisms being transferred during dental procedures. We also provide safety glasses for you to protect your eyes during dental treatment. Gloves are changed between patients, and again at any time during treatment on a patient when the doctor, assistant or hygienist must leave the treatment room. Yes, we do go through many, many gloves each day!

Further, our dental equipment in the operatories is appropriately sterilized and disinfected, and handpieces are heat sterilized (autoclaved) after each patient. Everything used in our patient's mouth is either sterilized or disposable. Disposable covers used on chairs, x-ray equipment, and air/water syringes are changed for each patient. These measures are taken to provide you the safest environment possible for your dental treatment.

Additional precautions we take are that all dental personnel are vaccinated against the Hepatitis B virus, and special precautions are taken in handling and disposing of potentially hazardous waste and materials in the dental office.

Finally, our entire staff is thoroughly trained and regularly updated in infection control procedures through continuing education. Many dental practices dread an OSHA inspection. We invited an OSHA inspector to our office to insure that we are in compliance with all OSHA standards and regulations.

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Your Comfort is Important to Us
Whether it's your first visit or your fiftieth, your first year as our patient or your twentieth, your comfort is always on our minds. We do everything we can to provide you an atmosphere that you'll not only feel comfortable in, but one in which you'll feel better after you leave then when you arrived. That means emotionally and physically.

For your physical comfort, we offer nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for those who desire it, headphones for music, blankets for that cozy feeling and a warm moist face towel after your treatment. You'll most likely find our dental chairs to be more comfortable than most and the view from the chair exhilarating. In the summer blue sky with birds in flight and trees in full foliage; in fall the miraculous change of stunning colors; in winter lilting snowflakes and raindrops and in Spring the vast array of greens of new life. Beverages are available in our reception area for you as well.

Your Safety is Important to Us
Infection control and the many, many sterilization procedures have become very expensive and are a major cost in dentistry today. Nevertheless, it is important considering the protection it provides our patients. We want you to know that we do not cut corners where your safety is concerned. You can be assured that all items used in your procedures are sterilized and contamination-free, and that all we do is done with your safety in mind. If you have any questions about our infection control procedures, please feel free to ask. We are more than happy to discuss them with you. We want you to know and feel you are safe, secure and can trust that your dental team is committed to your safety and good health.

There are many fine details involved in our infection-control system. We hope, by making you aware of what measures are being taken on your behalf, that your trust and confidence in our team will make your visits safe, comfortable and pleasant.

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Our Dental Team: Why Choose Us?

Our patient's express to us that "we are different." And we strive to be. Our goal for your every visit is to provide you with "An Exceptional Dental Experience"

It's not often that you find a team of people who truly care about each other, and about every single person that walks into a business. Yet, that's exactly the kind of people my team is comprised of. I am very grateful for each of them and know that not only is the dentistry we provide of the highest quality, but so is our service. Thanks to my team, we truly can provide you an exceptional dental experience.

J. Norman Matschek, D.M.D.

Meet Dr. Matschek...

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Fees, Financial Options and Insurance

Fees
Our goal is to provide you the best possible service at a reasonable fee. Our patients help us to keep our fees as low as possible by paying for treatment at the time of service. We determine our fees by our cost of doing business. We have chosen not to participate in any HMO, capitation or managed care plans because their fee schedules are often below our cost of providing dental care. To participate in these plans would require a volume approach to dentistry. My dental team and I cannot provide the kind of personalized care and level of service our patients have come to expect and enjoy if we do volume dentistry. We prefer a much more human, personalized approach, giving each patient our total attention during their appointment.

Understanding Insurance
If you have dental insurance, as a courtesy to you we will bill your insurance company if you provide us the necessary information prior to beginning treatment. It is important to understand, however, that fees for dental treatment are always the responsibility of the patient. We will estimate your benefits and ask that the portion not covered by insurance be paid at time of service.

The term "dental insurance" is really a misnomer. Insurance is a benefit to cover a catastrophic, unplanned event. Dentistry does not fall into this categories. Dentistry is seldom catastrophic and is an ongoing, necessary part of good dental health...indeed, good overall general health.

"Dental insurance" is really a "dental benefit" based on the premium paid. Where one plan pays $100 for a particular procedure, another plan might pay $400 for the same procedure...it all depends upon the plan chosen and the premium paid for that plan. Dental benefits have remained virtually the same for the last 25! The cost of providing dentistry, however, has gone up considerably, reflecting the cost of living increases, inflation, government mandates requiring greater expense to provide dentistry, licensing, better but more costly materials, etc.

What this means is that often times the dentistry needed will not fall within the dental benefits that were designed for dental costs of 25 years ago. With the cost of providing dentistry today, the insurance benefits should not be the determining factor of what treatment needs to be done. Unfortunately, many people have become programmed to seek only the dentistry covered by insurance. Because of this, many people have necessary treatment diagnosed, but they don't follow through with treatment.

We do not believe in and will not compromise doctor diagnosed and recommended treatment by allowing the insurance company to dictate the quality of your care. We value your health and will present to you the treatment plan we would present to our own family in a similar situation. We will outline the advantages and any disadvantages for you, involving you rather than the insurance company in the decision making. Our treatment recommendation is based on our professional judgment and what is in your long term best interests....and is not dependent upon whether or not you are covered by a dental insurance plan. It is important for our patients to know that we diagnose treatment when it is needed, and delaying treatment can cause greater problems in the future. The final decision, of course, is determined by you, the patient.

Financial Options
We have several options for your convenience, including cash, check, Visa, Master card, Discover Card, and American Express. For patients desiring payment plans we work with an outside financing firm to provide this option.

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Copyright © Dr. Norman Matschek