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Cool Dental
in Lethbridge, Alberta

Dr. Karstan Lachman

Dr. Lachman is a general dentist whom has taken numerous extensive post-graduate courses in craniomandibular and temporal mandibular joint disorder diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Lachman has a special focus on various treatment modalities for treating temporal mandibular joint disorders and works closely with other health practitioners.
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General Dental Services Lethbridge, Alberta

Dr. Karstan Lachman

Whether your dental needs are a complete exam and cleaning, a full-mouth restoration, or anything in between, we promise to provide you with exceptional care as we enhance the natural beauty of your smile. Come in and find out how we can help.
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(403) 382-2273

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice, and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the Alberta Dental Association and College (ADA&C), Health Canada and the Canadian Centre For Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.

To ensure the health and well-being of our patients and team members, we have installed 2 different types of air purifiers at our dental office. Both of these are manufactured by the Canadian company, Surgically Clean Air.

CASCADE WHITE - The Cascade White is the first unit you will see when you enter our office. We have placed this in the waiting area because this is the largest room in our office. The Cascade White is able to filter up to 576 cubic feet per minute.

The Cascade White filter has 6 stages of filtration including UV sterilization, plus two additional negative ion chambers to ensure the air is as fresh as possible. These six filters capture 99.998% of dust particles, pollen, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), mold, allergens, viruses, odors (like formaldehyde and smoke), bio-aerosols, laughing gas, and many other pollutants that are found in the inside air. The negative ion generator makes the indoor environment feel more pure, clean, and energized.

JADE - The Jade filter is what you will find in each of our operatories. The Jade filters still have the same 6 stage filtering system and will move 383 cubic feet per minute. This means the Jade will filter all the air in a 10 x 10 room in about 2 minutes.

Both of these filters perform their duties without being loud, (an industry-leading low level of about 55DB) or creating a “breeze” that can be uncomfortable for our patients.

Some additional changes you may also see when it is time for your next appointment. For example:

Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office. We will not allow patients to enter our office who have symptoms or have traveled outside of Canada in the last 2 weeks.
We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
In the interest of physical distancing, we are advising all adult patients to attend the office alone to prevent crowding.
Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
For our safety and yours, we currently cannot accept walk-ins.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (403) 382‑2273.

So come on in to get your dental work done and enjoy Surgically Clean Air!

A Lifetime of Oral Health

From: Dr. Karstan Lachman

Most people understand that diet and exercise play a large part in keeping our bodies healthy. Besides diet and exercise, practicing positive oral hygiene habits and keeping our mouths healthy go a long way in keeping our body healthy.

Deficient oral hygiene habits and poor oral health can affect one's quality of life. Infections within the mouth, pain and missing teeth can affect the way a person speaks, eats and talks. These oral health issues can negatively impact a person's quality of life by affecting mental, physical and social well-being.

Oral infection and disease, like any other condition in the body needs to be treated at the first signs to prevent progression and super infection. Infections in the mouth can be acute or chronic. Typically, acute infections produce marked symptoms such as pain, bleeding, pus and swelling while chronic infections these symptoms may present are less likely to do so.

Chronic infections in the mouth may show symptoms such as mild bleeding, swelling and tenderness which may not be as alarming as an infection that shows up overnight. Both are equally as important to treat in a timely manner. A chronic infection is a serious problem that should not be ignored. Research in the last 10-20 years has proved the association between oral disease and other health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and preterm/low birth weight babies. Evidence from research also shows that oral infection and disease can aggravate other health conditions and keeping a healthy mouth is important part of a healthy body.

Follow these 5 tips to positive oral health!

See your dentist as recommended. Seeing your dentist every 6 months does not work for everyone, for some who have a chronic oral disease like periodontitis they may need a visit every 3 months. Frequency of dental visits is dependent on the health of the oral cavity, follow your dentists' recommendations to keep your mouth healthy!
Practice good oral hygiene at home! Brushing is important 2-3 times a day, but did you know that flossing is one of the most important things you can do for your oral health? Flossing cleans the area where sticky plaque laden with bacteria resides. This sticky bacteria laden plaque can cause cavities and gum disease. The goal is to floss your teeth at least once a day.
Eat a healthy varied diet! The vitamins and minerals that come from healthy foods may help you fight oral diseases as well as keep your gums, bones and jawbone strong against bacteria.
Check your own mouth regularly. You can identify potential problems in your own mouth. Look for signs of gum disease such as red, shiny, puffy, sore or sensitive gums. Check for areas that bleed when you brush or floss or bad breath that won't go away. While you are in your mouth look for signs of oral cancer which may show as sores that do not heal within 2 weeks, white/red patches, numbness or tingling, small lumps and thickening on the sides/bottom of the tongue, the floor or roof of your mouth the inside of the cheeks or the gums. If you identify any of these see your dentist as soon as possible for an oral examination.
Do not smoke or chew tobacco. Smoking and chewing tobacco are both dangerous to your oral health. Tobacco in general is a major cause of tooth loss through gum disease and may lead to oral cancer. Tobacco can increase your risk of heart disease and a variety of systemic cancers.