My Kids teeth and other Cookout questions

I was recently at a Holiday cookout when of course the conversation turned to parents asking me questions about their children's teeth. Although I am not a Pediatric Dental Specialist, I do see a lot of children and worked alongside the Pediatric Dental Residents during portions of my elective residencies at the Chandler Hospital at the University of Kentucky.

In this case the questions were about Fluoride and its history and when their children should receive it as well as questions about toothpaste. I really don't mind these questions of course when people start showing me their teeth it is a little less pleasurable cookout conversation.

In this situation I was happpy to give my opinion. Many parents leave their children to brush their own teeth a little too soon. A good rule is that if the child is able to tie their own shoes they are old enough to do most of the brushing themselves.

After this the discussion turned to toothpaste. Specifically "When should my child start using adult toothpaste?" The answer to that as with the answer to many things is "It depends." This isn't an age question but more a behavioral question." The main concern with adult toothpaste when it comes to a child is the amount of Fluoride that would go into the child's system if the were to consume the toothpaste. So if a child is mature enough to expectorate all of the toothpaste(ie. spit out) then this is the age that the child could use adult paste. And this would in my opinion be a priority to be accomplished by the time the child had their first few adult teeth, which is for the majority of children around the age of six.

TRON: LEGACY - Daft Punk's "Derezzed"

Tron Legacy

It often occurs to me differences in how people feel about their teeth. There are many very financially secure and successful people who simply do not care about their teeth. There are also people who come into our offices every day and ask: "Does my insurance cover it?" as if the shareholders of that particular corporation had the best interest of their smile and ability to chew food in mind when they sent out that years list of coverage.

When a patient visits our offices they are paying for a relationship. That relationship is one of trust, understanding, and education. The actual procedures we do are important and they are in essence what our team has been trained and schooled and tested upon. But the most important thing is the type of relationship our patients have with our team.

Its our goal to not just perform procedures and care for our patients but to educate them. I plan to say that very loudly and clearly. We depend on the insurance companies to help us take care of our patients, but at the end of the day Insurance does not cover a relationship.

On a personal music note I've been listening to a lot of Daft Punk from the Tron Legacy Soundtrack. I've been lucky enough to get out in the weather on my bike and techno has been great music to listen to while doing that. These days its harder to figure out how to get youtube into the Blogger but I'm still going to try to get the DeRezzed video from the film onto the Blog.

Billy Joel - Sings in the piano accompaniment of student

We recently had a situation where we had a patient who had neglected their dental care to the extreme. This young man was really pushing the envelope of ending up in the hospital. We had to do extensive surgery to remove the affected teeth as well as drain the area and see him multiple times. One of the things that my Fellowship in Maxillo-facial surgery has done for me is to let me help people that are in these straights. Luckily this young man knew how much he had risked his health. Many folks don't realize that recently a person in Cincinnati died from a dental infection. Several years ago a young man in Washington, D.C. also died from a dental infection. This person in DC was a child which makes it even more of a tragedy.

The other interesting the the last few days was a patient who came to our office having been given a lot of different information about dental implants. The thing that I find most saddening about the public's perception is that calling and seeing different folks will lead to understanding. In reality there are folks that are fly by night offices offering pie in the sky dreams for people that can't really have them. There is an old country phrase that I am thinking of here, You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. The other phrase that comes to mind is champagne taste on a beer budget. We all operate on a budget. Sure Donald Trump's budget is different than say The richest person in Louisville, Kentucky.

I can't get that german sports car I fell in love with at age 7 on the monthly payment of my used SUV I currently drive. That's just reality. Of course, If I wanted to live in a much more meager place, really really scrimp in my clothing and food I'm sure I could get that sports car. But its just not that important to me today. And teeth are the same way. It's important that people be honest with themselves first. I have a patient in her 90's that has all her teeth. It's important to her, when I've gone to tell her about a new dental care product, she usually already knows about it. There is with all things a bit of luck. But it is at the end about priorities.

What are your dental priorities?

We've been listening to a wide range of music at the office. Becky created a new station for the front office on Pandora. We had been combining all the Pandora stations our team and patients had created but good ole Pandora played a few they didn't think were quitte appropriate for the office.

Here is a viral video of the Great Billy Joel at Vanderbilt University being the Kind of Guy(or gal) I think many of us should be. Gracious and kind.

People's Perceptions

I recently had a situation where a person said something negative about our practice. When in fact what they stated on the internet is actually evaluated, they merely don't understand the role of the dental team members or how their particular insurance works. It's hard to not feel that things are unfair when someone takes out their frustration on you for things that they simply don't understand. But in the end it is important to remember that none of us can control the things that people say about us or even do to us. We are in charge of our own behavior and reactions and in fact an eye for an eye just leaves everyone blind.

On another note we just seated a very nice prep-less veneer on a patient's right front tooth and she couldn't be happier. Veneers that require no tooth reduction can only be used in specific situations, but when they can they are a great product that leaves Dr. and patient very pleased as this person was today.

We have been listening to a lot of 1970's music in the office this week. My assistant created a Pandora station based upon the Gerry Rafferty song "Bakerstreet". Many of you may remember Gerry Rafferty from the group Steelers Wheel and more specifically the song from the film The Reservoir Dogs "Stuck in the Middle with you". It is often mis-credited to Bob Dylan but is a very fun upbeat song that seems to allow Pandora to pick some very chill 1070's music.

Father John Misty performing "I'm Writing A Novel" on KCRW