Simple Steps To Better Dental Health
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Featuring consumer information from Columbia School of Dental & Oral Surgery
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Oral Health Made Simple: Your Prescription For Knowledge
 PREVENT PROBLEMS
Small BoxAll About Cavities
Small BoxBrushing and Flossing
Small BoxFluoride
Small BoxMouth-Healthy Eating
Small BoxSealants
Small BoxTaking Care Of Your Teeth
Small BoxTobacco
Small BoxYour Dental Visit
Small BoxMORE
 CONDITIONS
Small BoxBad Breath
Small BoxCavities
Small BoxCold Sores
Small BoxDry Mouth
Small BoxImpacted Tooth
Small BoxSensitive Teeth
Small BoxTMJ
Small BoxTooth Discoloration
Small BoxMORE
 TREATMENTS
Small BoxCrowns
Small BoxDentures
Small BoxFillings: The Basics
Small BoxGum Surgery
Small BoxImplants
Small BoxRoot Canal Treatment
Small BoxScaling and Root Planing
Small BoxWhitening
Small BoxMORE
 GENERAL TOPICS
Small BoxControlling Pain
Small BoxCosmetic Dentistry
Small BoxEmergencies
Small BoxFill, Repair, Replace
Small BoxKids And Teens
Small BoxOral Health and Your Body
Small BoxOrthodontics
Small BoxPeriodontics
Small BoxSeniors
Small BoxMORE
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Step 1 Prevent ProblemsSimplestepsPrevent Problems
Step 2 Understand ConditionsSimplestepsUnderstand Conditions
Step 3 Explore TreatmentsSimplestepsExplore Treatments

go to Parents' Guide go to News go to Ask The Dentist go to Interactive Tools

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Help With Search

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space placeholder.How To Search.
space placeholder.Search For Medical Professionals And Administrators.
space placeholder.How Search Works.
space placeholder.Refining Your Search.
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space placeholder.How To Search
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The Simple Steps To A Healthier Life® search system enables you to search the health information content available anywhere on our site.  To do this, simply enter the desired information in the search box available at the top of the screen and hit the "go" button to the right.

The search function is available from the Simple Steps home page and throughout the Simple Steps site.
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space placeholder.Search For Medical Professionals And Administrators
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You can search for information by ICD-9 or CPT-4 code. Simply type in the ICD-9 or CPT-4 code for a diagnosis or procedure in the search box available at the top of the screen and hit the "go" button to the right.
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space placeholder.How Search Works
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When you request a search, the information in the Simple Steps database is searched.  The components that make up the database are called records, and a record that matches the requested search criteria is called a hit.  Each hit will be listed in a search results window that immediately follows your search. 
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space placeholder.Refining Your Search
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There are many types of searches you can use. The search text entry box allows you to enter search criteria in a variety of ways.  The most basic way is to enter a list of words.  Any record that contains one or more of the words will be returned and ranked in order of relevance.

 Wildcard Searches
If you are not sure of the spelling of certain words, you can use wildcards. You can use the ? and * operators. The ? operator will substitute any single letter in place of the ? and the * will replace multiple letters. For example:

  • If you enter *ed, you would find all three-letter words that end in "ed." In this case "bed" and "red" would satisfy that criterion.
  • If you enter *ed, you would find words of any length that end in "ed."
Boolean Searches
Boolean searches are more specific than regular keyword searches. Boolean searches allow you to indicate specific combinations the keywords you specify.

The Boolean operators are:

  •  and
  •  or
  •  not
  •  near

These words can be used in combination with the keywords to further specify the search criteria. Boolean searches work as follows:

If you enter "blue and green and red," you would retrieve only the records that contain all the words. Records that contain only one or two will not be returned.

  • If you enter blue or green, you would find all the records that contain either of the two keywords.
  • If you enter blue not green, you would find all the records that contain "blue" and do not contain "green."
  • If you enter blue near green, you would find all the records that contain both words when the words are close to each other in the text.

You can combine operators to further to pinpoint your search:

  • If you enter blue and green not red, you would find all the records that have both "blue" and "green" but that do not have the word "red."
  • If you enter blue and green near red, you would find all the records with "blue" and "green" in which "green" appears close to "red."
 Literal Phrases
You may want to search for terms that only have meaning if they are grouped together. To instruct the search engine to group words together, use the ' (single quote) character. An example is shown below:
  • If you enter 'red house', you would find all the records that contain those words next to each other.

You can combine literal phrases with Boolean operators. For example:

  • If you enter  'red house' and blue not green, you would find all instances of "red house" that also contain the word "blue" but do not contain the word "green.”
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Last updated September 28, 2004
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© 2002-2008 Aetna, Inc. All rights reserved. All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before starting a new fitness regimen. Use of this online service is subject to the disclaimer and the terms and conditions. External website links provided on this site are meant for convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement. These external links open in a different window.