The Mouth and Eyes

I have been taking care of one of my patients for more than 25 years and as much as I tried to convince him to become a dentist, he chose opthomology. He had an appointment yesterday for a checkup and he told me about one of his patients that recently became blind in one eye and may lose her eye. The cause of the infection that led to blindness was bacteria that came from the patient's own mouth.

I told you so...

The medical profession and the insurance industry treat teeth and the rest of the mouth as being completely separate from the rest of the body rather than being just part of our bodies. The list of medical problems that arise as a result of bacteria in our mouths is getting longer every day; low birth weight, premature babies, brain infections, heart problems and now eyes are among others have been reported in the scientific literature.

Isn't it time for physicians and insurance companies to wake up and realize that problems in the mouth affect the rest of our body? And most importantly...DEMAND that their patients visit a dentist 2-4 times a year?

Or maybe I am becoming crotchety as I get older.

Passion To Be The Best

Zwilling J.A. Henckels is a manufacturer of fine kitchen knives and "Passion to be the best" is their slogan.

I can identify with Henckels Corporation because that is my philosophy as well. Let's be clear, the State of New York FORBIDS any professional from making the claim that they are 'THE BEST' and for very good reason: EVERYBODY would make the claim that they were 'the best.' And, with very few exceptions, there is no single best dentist in their area of expertise but rather a very small group of dentists who are 'the best.'

With the above disclaimer stated, it remains my goal to try to be among the very best in the area of restoring teeth. Passion, skill, talent, education, hard work, motivation, and the refusal to accept failure are among the components involved in getting to be 'the best.'

I owe it to my patients to do the very best work that I can for them. Not 'the best' that I can do so that I can make it to the golf course on time. Or not the best that I can do in the 10 minutes that I have alloted for the procedure. But rather the best that I can do for any reason and without excuses.

What we see on a daily basis is the art of compromises and as such, we are becoming more accepting of mediocrity. My goal is to become the best ...just like J.A. Henckels.

"You Are The Best"

That is the hand written message on the inside of a "Thank You" card I received this week. My patient had suffered more terrible things in her life than any of us want to imagine...Some of the bad things that happened in her life were directly related to her bad choices. Humans are not perfect and we all know that. I did a favor for this person with little or no expectation of earning any money or if I did, it would only cover my office overhead.
My point in telling you this is that even when people are down and out and cannot fall to any greater depths, some of these folks take the time to say 'Thank You.'
I did the favor for this patient because no one else would help her in any way.
To this human being, I say, "You are most welcome."

I Want to Watch You Work

Many dentists have visited my office to watch me treat my patients.Most of the dentists are young with less than 10 years of experience and want to see how others go about performing a particular technique..This happens all the time and I have paid other dentists in the Northwest to visit their office and watch them work so that I can pick their brains and learn their secrets.
Yesterday, one of the most successful dentists in the country from McKinney,Texas surprised me when he posted the following message on the ACE internet dental forum:
"On my dental "Bucket List" is to go watch Gerald do a composite restoration."
One of the MOST SUCCESSFUL dentists has set one of his professional goals to come to Saratoga Springs, NY and watch me do a most ordinary (for me) restoration: The direct posterior bonded restoration. This is something that I do many times a day and both you and I take getting a bonded white filling for granted.
But let me tell you a secret...my colleagues both near and far consider me one of the best dentists in the world at doing direct posterior bonded restorations (or to you and me...a white filling in a back tooth.)
The Mega successful dentist from Texas has a dream of visiting Upstate NY so that he can watch an old dentist do what he has been turned into an art form.
I am honored when other dentists admire my work.

Because We Care

I have consulted with a wonderful and attractive woman who is elderly but certainly not old. She wants some cosmetic dentistry and I have spent 4 hours speaking with her about what would be involved in her treatment and how many hours in the chair it would take. Trust me...I did not want to perform treatment unless my patient was ABSOLUTELY sure that this is what SHE wanted. This would be how I would treat MY Grandmother. My patient made her decision and she decided to go with less treatment than she originally wanted. We called our patient the day before her 2.5 hour appointment as a reminder and she asked what the appointment was for. I was in disbelief when Donna, my secretary, told me.

My patient arrived the next day for her appointment and I AGAIN reviewed the treatment that we were going to start. She then asked me why her upper lip no longer moved up to show her teeth when she tried to smile.

THE LIGHTBULB WENT ON!!!!!!!!!

I had taken photos of my patient on her first consultation appointment and when I reviewed the photos, I found that my patient was indeed correct and that her upper lip no longer moved when she smiled. I asked my patient if she was taking any new medicines to which she said 'no.' I then asked her if she had any medical treatment since February when the photos were taken. She told me that she had had her eyes treated. I then asked her what kind of anesthesia was used to which she responded, "The doctor put me to sleep."

Tentative Diagnosis: A mini stroke.

I called my patient's long time physician and informed him of my findings.

I made no money for my patients appointment since I could not in good conscience do any treatment...What I did do was extend this patient's life as she will probably be placed on blood thinners to prevent future debilitating strokes.

Why didn't I just do what was scheduled to be done and call the physician on another day? Because it was not the right thing to do.

Why did we do the right thing???? BECAUSE WE CARE...even when caring costs us money...It is not about the money nor will it ever be.

62

I turn 62 this week!

I have told you that a recent survey reported that the overwhelming majority of dentists practicing today want to be retired at my age...Of course.....They don't enjoy their profession and they haven't for many years.

If someone offered me 3 millon dollars to retire...I would have to turn it down...What would I do with my time??

I love fixing teeth and always have. I do it better today than at any time in my career. Why would I stop doing what I enjoy doing?

The MOST important quality for selecting a dentist is their level of passion for what they do.

A 62 year old passionate, highly educated, nationally recognized dentist rarely exists today...In fact, I can only think of one.

The Waiter

On short notice my wife went to Buffalo to see her Brother who travelled from Huntsville, Alabama to see his children. This meant that I was on my own for dinner. I went to the Health Food Store (Four Seasons) for some home cooked, healthy food and was walking around Saratoga and met a friend who flew in from Baltimore to be with his significant other. My friend convinced me to join them for a glass of wine which I did. The waiter soon discovered that we were dentists and he told us that he needed to have teeth pulled and how much did I charge. My friend whispered that I needed to give him my card since my office is 1/2 a block from the restaurant. But the more the waiter talked the more I realized that this person would hate being a patient in my office.

I have told you many..........many.......times that fixing teeth is NOT about the money but about providing excellence every single time I treat a patient. If a patient is only looking to find a dentist at the lowest possible price then that person has many options in Capital District...I am not one of them.

I am PASSIONATE about fixing teeth and the waiter said that he wishes that someone would just take out all of his teeth and that would be the end of his problems. (Aside: The end of some problems but the beginning of others.) Patients that sincerely want to keep their teeth as healthy, attractive and as long as they can have found a home at 18 Division Street, Saratoga Springs.

The waiter needs to find a dentist who cares as little about his teeth as he does. His search will be short.

This is NOT Manhattan

I saw my patient who is a model (her case is on my website) for a second time in two days and while we were chatting she told me that no one beleives that she has had cosmetic dentistry. They tell her that her teeth are just BEAUTIFUL and that they have to be natural...My job is to make teeth look like the very best that NATURE has to offer.

When other models from Manhattan tell my patient that they are planning to have cosmetic dentistry she tells them NOT to have veneers here (meaning Manhattan) but they need to take a trip to Saratoga to have Dr. Benjamin treat them.

Isn't that a change? Most of the time you hear folks say that they are going to New York City to buy something or buy some service.

Saratoga is not Manhattan but for some things....Saratoga rates right up there with Manhattan.

Something is Rotten in Dentistry

I friend of mine was in town to accompany his friend who was an exhibitor at a dental meeting in Saratoga. While he is a dentist, his primary career is making presentations for different companies that pay him to lecture.

What I have found is that many dentists will do ANYTHING not to have to do dentistry for their patients. They much rather talk to other dentists about doing dentistry for their patients.

There are so few talented dentists (aka craftsman) left to actually treat patients that I believe that general quality of dentists is NOT what it was 10-15 years ago AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NATIONAL HEALTH CARE OR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

It has to do with the middle class valuing other things than their health or their teeth. If folks don't value a very talented dentist, then fewer dentists will invest their time, money or efforts in becoming the best.

I have had many opportunities to lecture for money or represent companies for an honorarium but I would much rather FIX teeth than TALK about fixing teeth.

I want to be your dentist because I LOVE fixing teeth.

I Broke my Front Tooth and I have an Interview on Monday

Matthew has been my patient since he was a young teenager. He and the other men in his family used to play basketball and one by one, they all damaged their front teeth. Last evening his Mother called the office to state that his front tooth could not get out of the way of a fork and his tooth looked terrible and he has an interview on Monday morning.

I have told you again and again that it is my job to take care of you and if that means seeing a patient on a Saturday morning, I will be there for you.

You don't need me on Tuesday if your interview is on Monday...Think about this and ask yourself if your current dentist cares about you enough to take care of you when you need to be taken care of.