Our patients make us who we are.

The last seven days in our offices have been busy ones. A lot of dentistry has been done and a lot of excitement. Last Friday was very busy at our east end location. We saw a wide range of cases from a large restorative case to a very special pediatric patient. This young man stands out to me because he has a very special place in my heart. He is from China and when he first started seeing me he did not speak the english language. He has been my patient for probably 2-3 years. But I may be exaggerating, as it almost seems like he has always been my patient. When his mother first brought him to me she and I struck up a conversation about a vacation island off the coast of china my brother visited when he was in China. It turns out her parents had a place there or visited often. I've watched him grow as a boy, and sometimes he does not want to behave for me when we treat him. This is what you learn, there are good days to do dental treatment on children and there are not so good days. To me, it is important to recognize the not so good days and just say, hey lets do this another day it was nice seeing you and let them visit the "treasure chest". I know in this "busy" world we live in that seems like a waste of time. And don't get me wrong I am more of an old fashioned guy in many ways including the fact that adults are in charge. I am not one who believes that children should dictate our behavior as a protocol. But I believe in what is best for a child sometimes this coincides with what the child wants, and sometimes it does not. My child rearing beliefs have not been tested beyond my immediate family, as I have no children of my own at this time. I love children and see many in our practices. They amaze me every time I see them. I once read an article that likened having a child was like pulling the arm of a slot machine. You never know what you will get but at the end of the day the possibility of a jackpot keeps us going for another day with our small humans as I call them.

I am currently listening to the new Pearl Jam album, not so sure I am a big fan but as with the last several....it won't keep me from seeing them on tour.

If money grew on trees and everyone loved teeth.

I love teeth. I'm not sure how true that is because if I loved them so much I wouldn't have taken so many of them out over the years, right? Well not so much as they say. Some teeth are just too costly to repair, some are non restorable and some are even removed on young people for orthodontics. A few folks even have extra ones, you be surprised how many folks have few or more than the most often seen 32.

But what I don't like about teeth is when people have to make financial decisions while making dental decisions. Sometimes this is due to neglect and others its just a lack of education or even bad luck. But money doesn't grow on trees and nothing is truly free. Often I hear "well I didn't have insurance for a long time" but if asked many of these folks with dental problems have nice clothes and cars and the latest Apple or samsung mobile device with its data plan and a nice protective case. In a lot of cases a monthly cell phone bill is more than the recommended twice a year cleaning.

Even if dental care or medical care were free people would probably still go to bed after a tasty Coca-cola or as it could also be described carmel colored, acidic, high fructose corn syrup beverage. Many of these carmel soda pops can be used to clean the build up off of batteries, yet many are surprised they are bad for their teeth. So even if money grew on trees many of the people that don't visit the dentist wouldn't have great teeth because they don't love them. But I'm sure they would have nice cars, clothes and cell phones or Ipads or whatever was cool to have in their social network and socio-economic area. We've been playing a wide mix of music these days but it seems Dave Matthews has snuck back into rotation and also up front the hygiene area and reception seems to have added in some country music to its mix: a little more Toby, Kenny and Sugarland seems to be floating around the office. I've been stuck on the last two Eric Church albums.