How about that Weather?

It's the Polar Vortex here in Louisville and school is closed. I know its affecting things in Louisville when I visit the local Target to find it praticaly empty. Who would have ever thought that anything could keep people out of their neighborhood Taaaarget, as I've heard it pronounced. I am an avid follower of the daily and weekly economic news and I often stop and consider how the economy and our lives and workplaces are affected by weather.

A great example is last winter and spring was unseasonably warm year which allowed a lot of extra construction and new housing starts which helped fuel the growth of our economy and its recovery. This year it is quite different over nine thousand airline flights are cancelled. I will be interested in seeing the economic effects of this Polar Vortex has had on our U.S. economy.

Our offices are open because we love what we do and there are people that are willing to brave the ultra cold temperatures to care for their teeth.

What is cosmetic Dentistry?

I am reflecting on cosmetic dentistry today. We seated a denture last week and as I have mentioned before this was indeed cosmetic dentistry. But above all it was just good solid dental care. The individual needed their remaining teeth removed and we did that and placed a very beautiful full complete denture in place. The patient is very pleased and his smile looks better than it has for years.

This is a point I often make when I can to our team and patients. Cosmetic dentistry is not a specialty of dentistry, it is not a group, or test or a badge, it is an attitude and that attitude is reflected in everything from the shade of a composite filling to the all of the many other items we do in our offices. Whitening, Invisalign, and even dentures are cosmetic procedures.

Many people think of dentistry as a want based purchase in parts of the areas we draw our patients from here in Louisville. Others view it as a need based purchase because they understand that the health of their mouth and surrounding oral soft tissues affects their entire body. Educating patients to these facts is part of our job every day. Our work isn't just in the procedures we do to care for our patients, it is in educating them and passing along our decades of experience to them on a daily basis.

The Whole Body Connection

There is new information every day on how much our bodies speak with our environment and within separate parts with each other. I recently read a study and keeping in mind it was only one study, that showed a connection between depression and the degradation of DNA within the cell.

This particular study normalized for other factors such as alcohol, diabetes or other systemic diseases. This is also only one study, but I believe that many many years from now we will know just how important everything from mental health to diet to sun exposure and family time is directly important to health. In this case the scientists studied the decay rate of a particular protein called a telomere. I have always been interested in DNA and cellular biology, even as a child, In this case telomeres are proteins that actually help hold together our double stranded DNA within our cells.

DNA is the instructional code that tells every cell in our body how to build proteins and eventually organs and then the entire body. In this case it was found that people with depression had a faster decay rate and thus less inability to hold the DNA together.

More study will be necessary but this does not surprise me. We know that Oral Health or lack there of has an effect on diseases such as Heart Disease, Diabetes, and now we now that unhealthy gums are linked to Alzheimer's Disease.

It is basketball season her in the state of Kentucky and things will soon be heating up between the Cardinal and Cats Fans. Our offices gladly support both teams, even though both of our Doctors attended the University of Kentucky, we live here in the land of the cards so we show them the respect they deserve as last years National Champion.

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.

Technology in Louisville

I don't often get the time I want to simply explore business and technology news and my city. I was able to get some time today to just sip coffee and wait for the laundry to dry and just explored. First there was already not news to me about the new venture of the Hammerheads and Game owners over in the Loop area of the Deer Park neighborhood of Louisville. Those that know me are aware that I am a foodie and am a real nosey person when it comes to new places opening and in general all food related news. These guys really appear to have a vision to bring friends along the way with them and when I've seen them interact with Anthony Lamas about food and food shows they all seem to embody a joy of cooking and good food you can't have without being genuine.

I also saw that our Mayor Greg Fisher was speaking at the Code for America Summit in San Francisco. The good old fashioned curmudgeon in me asked exactly what our tax dollars where doing sending this fine man to the west coast....but then I just quieted down and started reading the article about his discussion of transparency in government and just took it al in. After that I read about and jumped to something very interesting.

This particular web page(or startup I'm not really sure) let's one input their zip or address to get crime stats and news very hyperlocal. It even told me about a new BBQ place I had heard of in the neighborhood that I wasn't quitte sure where it was located, and it gave me the opportunity to jump to the BBQ place's Yelp. This service seems ready to really make life hyperlocal it is called Louie Watch(beta). Look for it and I think you will at the very least find it interesting.

I always try to give a feel for what I am listening to and today the is a double live Album by the Tedeschi Trucks Band. THese two make great music as well as a beautiful family. I remember hearing stories back in the day of the two performing gigs in Louisville or Lexington and when one was performing the other might be hopping in their Volvo wagon and driving to the other city to perform. I don't know how true that is but I like to imagine these two awesome musicians having a wonderful family at home as well as on the road. Sounds like a movie screenplay to me...but what do I know. I have been a fan of Derek since he was practically a prodigy playing with the Allman Brothers and I saw Suzanne Tedeschi way back in the day in Lexington, what a soulful voice she brings to their sound.

Nick Drake and Social Media

I haven't written in the blog in a while but that's because I've been busy trying to figure out social media. Guess what? I haven't figured out much. But I do have a post a week strategy to at least like things on Facebook and put up something someone might find funny.

We've been active at the offices doing marketing via direct mail and getting to know people in the area. I am still amazed at folks who live down the street but don't know we are there until they get a postcard from us. I just had someone ask us yesterday how long we had been there because they had never seen us. Needless to say that spurns me on to do my best to let everyone know we are at 3707 Chamberlain Lane and 1169 Eastern Parkway in Louisville taking care of people's dental needs.

I have been on a big Nick Drake kick lately. One of these days I will figure out how to post videos again. If you are not familiar with Nick Drake he died about 40 years ago, so that might be why, but he was an amazing singer and songwriter. He performed a song called Pink Moon that you may have heard in a VW commercial 8-10 years ago haha. He was a great singer but his songs have an overwhelming sense of melody that in a way reminds me of a current singer whose band is called Beirut. In this case the singer's voice sort of becomes a melody in the song and they lyrics almost become an instrument. Check him out I don't think you will be disappointed.

IN teeth news this week has been about in my opinion doing the best thing the first time. In dentistry folks will often ask us to "make something work" because its "cheaper" or easier." I can safely say that cheaper or easier is often not the best route. Steven Covey takes about Beginning with The End in Mind. This applies ever so importantly in dentistry. If we know something may cost 40-60 percent more but will last ten times as long there becomes a dollar cost average over the lifespan of the procedure or item. I hope that over the next two decades we can do far more dental implants and increase the longevity of the dentition in our patients.

Nick Drake - Pink Moon