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.

Sugar and Children's teeth

Parents often ask me about their children's tooth decay and juices and what they should drink. I am not a nutritionist and am in now way what one would call a "health food junkie" but what all evidence seems to point to is that as a country we have been affected by sugar in our diets. We know sugar causes tooth decay. It's a metabolic process of bacteria and and sugar that creates tooth decay. We can't remove the bacteria, only the sugar. We can remove the bacteria with our oral hygiene but in between brushing we eat and thus the need to control sugar.

I'm including a link to a very informative lecture on what sugar does to us and how we might begin to stop this childhood obesity and diabetes epidemic. This link was pointed out to me by an orthodontist friend of mine from Texas. His wife is a pediatric dentist and it is always very informative to talk dentistry with folks who see a lot of children day in and day out. Although my practice is almost fifteen percent pediatric patients and I take a lot of continuing education courses in pediatrics it is great to hear what happens in the practice of boots on the ground folks in the battle against childhood caries.

As long as there are companies benefiting from the selling of pop, juices, and other dangerous food items there will need to be a healthy debate about what we can and do feed our children.

"Sippie Cups"

We did several fillings on a 5 year old at the end of the day today. The day I discussed his decay with his mother she was surprised at his relapse as it seemed we had his decay under control. I was as well considering we have discussed oral hygiene and diet several times as he has been our patient since he was two years old.

At the end of that discussion we realized that it was likely due to his use of a "sippie cup" throughout the afternoon. So with some cartoons on the monitor in front of him and some "Iron Man Gas" ie laughing gas, we set off to complete his dental work. Things went well and our work was completed quickly and mother and son were happy and off to get some ice cream later.

It's situations like these that remind me that fighting tooth decay is a battle. You can improve things and increase dental knowledge but it takes staying on point and creating good habits and sticking to them. I was very happy to hear that they threw out his sippie cups the day they found out about his cavities.

We've also been working on several new videos for the site of patient interviews; and they should be up on the page soon. I think the finished product give a nice summary of what we do on a day in and day out basis.