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

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.