During this year’s annual blood drive, we managed to collect 60 pints of blood from our amazing 

blood donors — double the number from 2021! These donations will help save up to 180 lives, just as blood donations helped save the life of Lily Grace. 

Blood Donations Help Families Like Ours

Lily Grace was just four years old when she was diagnosed with a hole in her heart, called sinus venous ASD. She was also diagnosed with PAPVR, meaning two of her pulmonary vessels were pumping blood to the wrong side of her heart. She needed an operation to correct the defects and save her life.

Lily Grace underwent a five-hour, open-heart surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. During that surgery, she received two units of blood. This life-saving measure changed how the Gairhan family thought about blood donations. Today, Lily Grace is a happy, healthy 9-year-old. We are forever grateful to those who donated the blood that helped save Lily Grace’s life. We are also forever grateful to our community for stepping up to donate blood every year. Your generosity makes a huge impact for families right here in our community.

Since then, Gairhan Dental Care has partnered with the Red Cross to host an annual blood drive! We want to give back by paying it forward to those who need life-saving blood themselves. 

Thank you to our amazing Jonesboro, AR, community! We’ll see you at next year’s blood drive!

Kristie is one of our registered dental hygienists and a favorite with our patients! She’s been working here at Gairhan Dental Care for ten years this month! If you’ve been in our office, you’ve probably seen Kristie taking x-rays, cleaning teeth, and checking for periodontal disease. Kristie loves expanding her mind whenever she can. When she’s not working, you can find her working puzzles, reading, or listening to her favorite podcasts. 

Kristie believes education is the key to excellent oral and overall health, which is why she likes to keep our patients informed of important medical information. Most recently, she informed us about a new study linking gum disease and COVID-19 reactions.

Does Gum Disease Affect COVID-19 Response?

The study was published recently in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology. Researchers studied more than 500 patients between February and July of 2020 who were infected with COVID-19. It found that those with periodontal disease were 3.5 more likely to develop complications that would lead to hospitalization or even death. 

The study found that COVID-19 patients with gum disease were 3.5 times more likely to end up in intensive care and 4.5 times more likely to need a ventilator. They also were almost nine times more likely to die compared to those without gum disease.

Why Does Gum Disease Make COVID-19 Worse? 

The belief is that the inflammation caused by gum disease weakens the response the body can give to COVID-19 once a person is infected. The weaker response allows the virus to do more damage faster. The study says that “oral care should be part of the health recommendations to reduce the risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes.”

This isn’t too surprising, considering that oral health has long been a key to excellent overall health. The American Dental Association has its own information that shows that oral health can provide hints to problems with overall health. 

The bottom line is, the healthier your mouth, the healthier your body. So keep your teeth and gums healthy!

Compassionate, Friendly, Energetic — That’s Our Team!

Kristie is part of a team that is dedicated to making Jonesboro, AR, smile! We have an atmosphere of true friendship filled with laughter and genuine conversation, and we happily invite you into it! We believe in an honest, straightforward approach to your dental care and cosmetic needs. You’ll find a hometown approach to dental care and cosmetic services here that’s always excellent and friendly but never pretentious.

Stop in and say hello to Kristie and the rest of the team, as well as Dr. Gairhan herself! You’ll see the difference our amazing team can make for you and your family’s dental and cosmetic needs! 

Because so many of our friends and neighbors showed their support, this year’s blood drive ended up collecting 31 pints of blood. That means up to 93 local hospital patients will receive lifesaving transfusions!

This event holds a very special place in my heart, and it means the world to me that our community joined us, even when the circumstances haven’t been ideal. We host this blood drive every year in honor of my daughter, Lily Grace. I never understood the importance of giving blood until I experienced it first hand. I’m so grateful, and I love to give back to others in need. Lily Grace is 8 years old now, and she’s the sweetest little soul you could ever meet. She’s super active and does just about every activity — art, tennis, tumbling, dance, basketball — you name it!

When she was 4, my daughter had a cough that wouldn’t go away. The doctor heard a murmur, and we quickly found out she had a congenital heart defect. She was diagnosed with sinus venous ASD (which is a fancy term for a hole at top of the heart) and PAPVR (which means 2 of her pulmonary vessels were pumping blood to wrong side of heart). At just 4 years old, Lily Grace underwent a 5 hour open-heart surgery in Houston at Texas Children’s. She received 2 units of blood during the bypass. Thankfully, she recovered well and now has a faint scar we call her “zipper.” 

Since that time, Gairhan Dental Care has hosted this annual blood drive. We hope to pay forward the grace that was shown to my family during an extremely difficult time. Lily Grace’s bravery and zest for life inspires me every day. There are many other children and adults out there like Lily Grace, who are in dire need of life-saving blood. Thank you to all the members of the community that joined us in giving back to those in need through a donation at our annual blood drive. 

At Gairhan Dental Care, we love this community and the generous spirit of our friends and neighbors. We’re grateful for this opportunity to give back and to remember the grace shown to our own beloved Lily Grace!

“Jonesboro is my hometown. It’s where my parents and grandparents grew up. It’s where I grew up, and where I attended school from kindergarten through college at Arkansas State. I’m serving where I grew up because I love this town!”

Because most of the Gairhan Dental Care team has lived in Jonesboro all their lives, we know the special culture and people from this area. We understand that Jonesboro is a prominent farming community, in fact we take pride in it. For our patients who are farmers, we work around their harvest schedules to help their dental care fit their lifestyle. In fact, we help patients of all occupations, with all kinds of hours find ways to integrate routine dental care into their busy lives.

At Gairhan Dental Care, we believe that when individuals are healthy and thriving, their community will be too! When we help our patients live their healthiest lives, we are directly impacting the health and vitality of this community we love. Time and again, we have noticed that when our patients feel beautiful and confident, there is a ripple effect of beauty and pride that spreads across our entire city. 

We could not be more proud to live, work, and serve the beautiful community of Jonesboro, AR. Hometown pride is a part of our DNA at Gairhan Dental Care, and our patients can feel it. If you are looking for dental care in Jonesboro, or would like to find out more about how we could serve you, contact us. We look forward to seeing you!

You get the incredible group of women that make up the Gairhan Dental Care team. Our patients love them, and it is easy to see why. They truly put the sparkle in the Gairhan Dental Care experience!

Not many people can say that they love the people that they work with, but we can! We know that this makes us the lucky few who truly enjoy going to work each day. As a result, our office is full of positivity, laughter, and fun! Our team is truly one big family, and our patients are invited right in. 

At any moment in time throughout a normal work day at Gairhan Dental Care, our team will be found visiting and laughing with our patients like old friends. Partially because, in a small-town community like Jonesboro, we likely are old friends! For a dental experience that feels like family, you won’t find a better team anywhere than at Gairhan Dental Care. Find out more about our team, or to schedule your consultation today.

In our office, we really are like one big family. Our patients get the comfort of a small-town feel, with the benefit of access to the latest in dental technology and medicine. It is the best of both worlds for everyone. 

The incredible dental professionals that make up our team, care deeply about the health and wellbeing of our patients and our community. That is why we spend time getting to really know our patients. We know their kids and grandkids, their favorite sports teams, and pastimes. We’ve watched children grow up in our dentist chair, and welcome them back for a check-up when they are home from college. What we’re getting at is, relationships aren’t just part of our job, they are our whole job. 

If you’re looking for a family or pediatric dentist in the Jonesboro area, we would love the chance to show you just what makes Gairhan Dental Care stand out above the rest. Find out more about our services and to schedule your consultation here. We can’t wait to meet you!

After months of planning, we are so proud to finally unveil the new Gairhan Dental Care website! We’ve worked hard to update our website, pictures, videos, and blog! We felt like this was an important step for a few reasons.

We want every aspect of our patient’s experience to be exceptional. That means that we want to exceed your expectations whether it is through your first click on our website, or your 20th visit to our office! With this in mind, we felt like our website was in need of a little facelift, if you will allow us the pun. Now, our patients can easily navigate our beautiful, new site and find out all the ways Gairhan Dental Care serves the Jonesboro community. 

Updated videos and pictures share more about the Gairhan Dental Care story and philosophy. You’ll get to meet our incredible team of dental professionals, and find out more about your hometown dentists, Dr. Emily Gairhan. Easy to navigate pages will provide answers to common dental questions and more information about our treatment options. For new patients, our appointment request page will help you set up your first dental consultation. 

At Gairhan Dental Care, we believe that the details matter and that adding beauty, even in the small things, can make a big difference. Our new website is just one way that we’re striving to continually improve our practice and exceed our patient’s expectations. We’re so excited, so please take a look around or schedule your free, virtual consultation today!

• KöR Whitening is so effective; it is the only recognized system in the world that will even whiten tetracycline (dark) stained teeth, previously thought to be impossible.
• With easy periodic at-home maintenance your teeth will stay white permanently, even while you continue to drink red wine, tea, coffee etc.
• During the whitening process nearly all patients experience only low to typically no teeth sensitivity.

This procedure is comfortable and 100% safe for your teeth and gums. The result is a radiantly white, natural appearing smile that you will LOVE! It’s perfect for everyone, from 14 to 90!

To learn more go to www.korwhitening.com

As we move forward with our blog, we hope to promote dental awareness as a vital part of your healthy lifestyle. Here you will find a variety of articles and topics including dental news, advancements in dental technology and treatments, practical oral health advice and updates from our practice.

We hope you find our blog to be helpful, engaging and informational to ensure your best dental health. 

As always, feel free to contact Dr. Gairhan at our Jonesboro, AR dental office with any dental questions or concerns.