PA Oral And Facial Center
Circa 2010- 2015

This web site is filled with valuable information about our oral and facial practice located in
Du Bois, PA. Our site offers information about the many professional services that we provide such as Oral Surgery, Oral Pathology, Facial Cosmetics, Dental Implants and our Solutions Laser Center. We encourage you to visit our website often and whenever you may have questions about your oral health and well being.

We invite you to look through this website in order to better understand our talents and the many services that we offer. We encourage you to email or call our Du Bois oral surgeons office at any time for answers to your questions about oral surgery or to schedule an appointment with us. We pride ourselves on practicing the art of exceptional oral surgery in an environment that is caring and designed with your comfort in mind.

Thank you for your time and for visiting our web site!

Jeffrey Rice, DMD, PC and Firas Ali, DMD

We are dedicated to providing the highest level of Oral Surgery care available. This includes the treatment for defects, injuries and diseases involving the head, mouth, teeth, jaws and neck. Your comfort and peace of mind is our greatest concern. Our practice is dedicated to your comfort and well being.

Dr. Firas Ali

Dr. Firas Ali received his Doctorates in Dental Medicine from Tufts University school of Dental Medicine in Boston Massachusetts. After graduating from Tufts University, he went on to complete his residency training in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood Illinois, regularly ranked by U.S. News and Chicago news as one of the Nation's best hospitals.

He was named one of America's Top Dentists in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery by the Consumer's Research Council of America for 2009.

While in Dental School, he was a National Dental Board Honors recipient and a High clinical achievement recipient. He also received an Appreciation award from Special Olympics Health Athletes for Participating in volunteer cancer screening for patients with special needs.

Dr. Ali is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons and is board certified by the North East Regional Board of Dental Examiners. Dr. Ali is a Fellow of both the American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons and the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Oral And Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Dental Association and the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology.

Dr. Ali is trained in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basic Life Support and Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and in Advanced Pediatric Life Support.

Dr. Ali participated in multiple published and non-published research papers as well as academic and professional presentations.

He is on medical staff at the Dubois Regional Medical Center, ELK Regional Health system and practices the full-scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery with special interests in Dental Implants and Facial Cosmetic Surgery.

Dr. Ali is dedicated to providing the highest quality of patient care. He regularly attends continuing education seminars to bring the most advanced knowledge and newest techniques available to his practice. Dr. Ali is also a member of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry

Dr. Jeffrey Rice

Why We Use Lasers

What is laser surgery?
Laser surgery is a type of surgery that uses special light beams instead of instruments for surgical procedures. Laser stands for "light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation." Lasers were first developed in 1960. Newer laser modifications continue to have a large impact on medical and surgical practices. A large part of their impact has been seen in the treatment of various skin lesion and diseases.

How does a laser work?
The functioning of a laser goes back to Albert Einstein's quantum theory of radiation and includes other theories that help explain local tissue damage. As the light beam hits the skin, the skin may either reflect the light away, scatter the light, absorb the light, or let the light pass through the different layers. Each layer of the skin uses the light differently.

Certain parts of the skin, called chromophones, absorb the light. When these chromophones absorb the light, physical, mechanical, chemical, or temperature changes may occur in the tissue. There are many different types of lasers, including the carbon dioxide laser, the YAG (neodymium, or yttrium aluminum garnet) laser, and the argon laser. Each type works in a different manner and may be used for different treatment options. Laser light can be delivered either continuously or intermittently.

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Laser Hair Removal

Our Center offers the latest in Laser Hair Removal. The Sciton NdYag (Profile) laser is a safe and effective treatment for permanent hair reduction. The Sciton Profile Laser selectively targets the hair follicles and generates a safe, yet effective amount of heat to destroy the follicles in the designated area. Topical anesthetic is typically applied 30 to 60 minutes prior to the treatments. The laser incorporates a system for cooling your skin to remove heat as it leaves the follicles. This cooling feature allows us to provide treatment on all skin types, in all areas of the body, and to ensure a more comfortable experience. However, since the sensation varies from individual to individual, it is emphasized that you try to use a topical anesthetic prior to the treatments.

After a treatment, you should expect redness and swelling in the treated areas. This is a natural phenomenon caused by the irritation to the hair follicle and should subside within a few hours. Instructions following the treatment include: keeping the area clean, wearing a sunscreen when appropriate and trying to minimize trauma for the first 24 hours (e.g. shaving, exfoliating, hot showers and applying topicals with active ingredients). You can have tanned areas treated. However, Laser Hair Removal is a safer and more effective treatment on areas that are tan-free.

You should expect to have 4-6 treatments spaced out every 4-8 weeks. Each treatment should yield a reduction in the quality and quantity of hairs. At the end of this treatment series, you should have a significant reduction in hair growth. You should not come in for a treatment if you do not detect growth - wait as long as the 8 week mark to ensure an effective treatment. There are three phases of hair growth: anagen, catagen and telogen. Only hairs in the active growth phase, anagen, can be successfully treated.

Acne Treatment

What is Acne?
Acne is a chronic disorder of the hair follicles and sebaceous glands. Acne causes clogged pores which leads to pimple outbreaks, cysts, infected abscesses (areas of pus), and, sometimes, scarring.

Acne is very common -- nearly 17 million people in the US are affected by this condition. Acne most often begins in puberty. During puberty, the male sex hormones, called androgens, increase in both boys and girls, causing the sebaceous glands to become more active and, thereby, increasing the production of oil.

How Does Acne Develop?
The sebaceous glands produce oil (also called sebum) which normally travels via hair follicles to the skin surface. However, dried oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria can cover the hair follicles, blocking the oil coming from the sebaceous glands. When follicles become plugged, skin bacteria (called Propionibacterium acnes, or P. acnes) begin to grow inside the follicles, causing inflammation.

Acne progresses in the following manner:

• Incomplete blockage of the hair follicle results in blackheads
  (a semisolid, black plug in a pore)
• Complete blockage of the hair follicle results in whiteheads
  (a semisolid, white plug in a pore)
• Infection and irritation cause abscesses (areas of pus) to form

Eventually, the plugged follicle bursts, spilling oil, skin cells, and the bacteria onto the skin surface. In turn, the skin becomes irritated and pimples or lesions begin to develop. The basic acne lesion is called a comedo or comedone.

Acne can be superficial (pimples without abscesses) or deep (when the inflamed pimples push down into the skin, causing pus-filled cysts that rupture and result in larger abscesses).

Spider Veins

  

What are spider veins?
Spider Veins are very superficial veins which have become dilated to the point they are visible to the naked eye. The blood pools in these veins and may appear red, blue or purple in color. These unsightly veins may appear as a result of a number of factors, including pregnancy, being on your feet for long periods of time, weight gain, trauma or simply genetics.

How spider veins are treated:

When a laser is used to treat the veins, results are seen gradually with each treatment but several treatments may be recommended for effectiveness and maintenance. The laser beam is directed at the area of the vein, penetrating the skin. As the laser light is absorbed into the vein beneath the skin, it is converted to heat, raising the temperature of the blood vessel, and then safely coagulating it. This causes the vessel to seal and eventually the body removes the damaged vein. The process may take several months for the final result to be achieved.

Sclerotherapy, or injection therapy, is still the treatment of choice for these "spider veins". Small amounts of a salt solution are injected into the veins. The salt irritates the inside of the vein causing it to gradually swell shut. Treatments are spaced 3-4 weeks apart and generally 3 to 4 treatments are required to achieve the best results.

Tattoo Removal

Many people choose to have decorative tattoos in youth but live to regret this decision. Options for tattoo removal include surgical excision, dermabrasion, and laser.

Laser has become the treatment of choice. Laser Tattoo Removal Lasers target tattoo ink and rapidly heat it. Heat causes ink to expand and break up into smaller particles. The body is able to then absorb the small ink fragments and carry them away. Treatments are associated with mild discomfort, not unlike a small rubber band snapping against skin. The discomfort is well tolerated when small areas are treated, but if large areas are treated, discomfort may interfere with the procedure. Discomfort can be minimized by the use of ice, sedatives, pain medications, or injections of local anesthetic.

Each laser targets a different family of colors. To completely remove a family of colors, two to four sessions may be required. Because most tattoos are comprised of multiple color families, several lasers may be required. Some tattoos required 15 to 20 laser treatments for complete removal. Many other factors determine the number of treatments necessary.

The total number of treatments necessary cannot be established with certainty at the outset. The common range is between six and twelve. Treatments may be performed every one to two months or may be spaced over several years. The tattoo will begin to fade one week after each treatment and will continue to fade for several months. Some choose to save money by discontinuing treatments before the tattoo is completely removed. Others pursue laser therapy until there are no detectable signs of the tattoo.

Treatment of Age Spots

For Age Spots & Freckles
Photorejuvenation with IPL is the most versatile of all treatment options. Patients often schedule appointments during their lunch hour. IPL can treat numerous skin conditions at once. IPL is effective on red blemishes that originate from blood vessels. At the same time, IPL can treat brown pigment blemishes in the form of freckles, age spots and other sun damage. IPL also treats the neck, the chest, and the hands as well, where sun damage is often most visible.

Each year more than a million people in the United States are diagnosed with the most common forms of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. These two diseases are most often grouped as non-melanoma skin cancers.

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 1.3 million new cases of non-melanoma skin cancers will be diagnosed in the United States this year, making these two combined the most common cancer in the United States.

Most people who are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancers are age 50 or older, but because these diseases often are a result of too much exposure to the sun, everyone -- even the youngest of toddlers -- should take precautions against them.

We can help!

Call our office today at (814) 375-0500 or toll free at (800) 654-9053 to learn more about your options and the various skin cancer treatments we provide.

What Are Dental Implants?

A dental implant is an artificial tooth root that is placed into your jaw to hold a replacement tooth or bridge. Dental implants are an ideal option if you have good general oral health and have lost a single tooth or multiple teeth due to periodontal disease, an injury, or some other reason.

While high-tech in nature, dental implants are actually more tooth-saving than traditional bridgework, since implants do not rely on neighboring teeth for support.

PA Oral & Facial Center offers dental implants in Du Bois, PA. Please click on the topics listed below to to read more information about our dental implant services.