Difficult to Understand

As many know, I am a member of several Facebook Dental Forums including a Dental Investment Forum. Recently, I stated that I was 70 years old and still worked 5 days a week. A young dentist immediately criticized  me by asking:

"What did you do wrong as a younger dentist that requires you to work full time as a dentist?"

My response was:

"I love being a dentist and that is why I continue to work; It has nothing to do with making money."

Another young dentist then accusingly ask, " What is wrong with you that you like this terrible job?"


I ignored that question because I feel sorry for young dentists that do not love being a dentist. How sad.

Senator McCain

It does not matter whether you agreed with Senator McCain politically  to recognize what an honorable human being he was.

It was outrageous that Candidate  Trump stated that Senator McCain was not a war hero with little pushback from others. Sorry but the Senator was a war hero by any measure.

Senator McCain was guided by the same principles that guide me on a daily basis:


DO THE RIGHT THING!

Many do not appreciate how important Integrity, Ethics and Honesty are in our daily lives. Unfortunately many Americans are losing respect for these most important aspects of our lives.

I honor the Senator for always trying to do the right thing.

My Colleagues Know

On many of the website forums that I participate in, I am recognized as someone who respects and strives for excellence. A dentist posted the following:

I do cosmetic stuff as an occasional treat; not a regular diet, and dread the prospect of FMRs.  This one felt good.

Pretty 30 year old with a lot of bruxism and erosion damage, and broken centrals. She was in with the hygienist and they started talking about what could be donet  with veneers, and she was ready to go before I came into the room. Did a simulation in the computer to be sure of expectations, and she couldn't  wait to have it booked.  Would have liked to have done 4 teeth, but two was all she could manage at this point in her life.  The acid problem is under control and she readily accepted a nightguard to protect them, so  Hey Ho Let's Go.  Did a couple of EMax veneers and she's over the moon.  She knows they'll likely need replacement at some point, and hopefully will have the ability to do all four incisors as crowns, since the linguals have been pretty thinned out by erosion.

Crtitiques? Should I have tried composite, Benjamin-style, lacking his talent? 

Should they have been longer so as not to look so wide? Would you have held out until she could do more teeth?  (She was so thrilled on cementation she was talking about doing the little laterals someday when she could afford to).

I did fix the cervical caries first, BTW, and she asked for them a shade light because she's going to whiten a bit.

You don't have to read or understand what the dentist was describing but what was flattering and appreciated was the reference to me by my colleague. 

Every dentist that knows me recognizes that I try to do the MOST CONSERVATIVE treatment that I can to preserve a patient's natural tooth i.e. Not destroy a tooth with a crown  and that I value EXCELLENCE and INTEGRITY above everything else.

It should make YOU proud when other dentists refer to me as a standard of excellence.

This is What Happens When We Let The Insurance Company Control Our Lives

There was a recent story on CNN about a 30 year old woman with Stage 2B Ovarian Cancer. Five noted Harvard physicians recommended Proton Therapy for the patient. A physician who was NOT a specialist in this form of Cancer made the decision that Proton Therapy was not effective and would not be paid for by United Health Care. The patient's parents mortgaged their retirement money and paid the $95,000 for their daughter's care.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US???????

Read the entire story here:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/15/health/cancer-survivor-insurance-denial-battle/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2018-08-18T10%3A30%3A03

So We Want Cheap Drugs?

CNN)Certain batches of hypothyroid medications are being recalled by Westminster Pharmaceuticals after one of its Chinese suppliers failed a US Food and Drug Administration inspection.

Foreign manufacturers will ALWAYS cheat when it comes to manufacturing and money. That is their competitive advantage. Do I believe that American made drugs should be so expensive? Of course not but at least they are pure.
Read it for yourself.


https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/15/health/thyroid-medication-recall/index.html

Happiness vs Meaning

There was a great TED TALK that someone posted on Facebook that I think that you might find interesting. The author and lecturer Emily Smith gave the presentation located by following this link:

http://bit.ly/2I7gC2S

Emily says that happiness is momentary and that only by having meaning in our lives will we truly be happy. She says that there are four pillars of meaning:

1. Belonging with others
2. Purpose (to serve others)
3. Transcendence (Feeling connected to hyper reality)
4. Storytelling or how we present the story of our life to others.

I think that you will truly enjoy this THREE MINUTE presentation.

Let Me Say It Again

I cannot say this often enough:

I AM NOT RETIRING!!!!!!!!

Tricia says that the reason we are not attracting a lot of new patients is because people think that I am old and will be retiring soon and why would anyone start with a new dentist that will be leaving..

I will be taking care of tens of thousands of teeth before my retirement. AND I can make sure that patient's mouths will do well for the next 15-20 years after I am gone so that they won't have to worry about problems.

I am STILL doing my best work today AND my colleagues around the globe can attest to that.

Something to think about.

Hats Off Night? Not in 2018

For the first time in 20 years, the City of Saratoga did not host a Celebration (called Hats Off) for the opening of Saratoga Race Track.

In my opinion this is poor planning on the part of our local government. I know that our Government  did not was not the prime mover in this event but the City of Saratoga should have pushed businesses to continue with the tradition of an opening Celebration.

Sad....

Another Farewell

I have been going to Pilates at the Reform Pilates Studio, located right next door to my office, for the majority of the time that I have been in Saratoga. Last week, the owner decided that the Studio was going to close at the end of the Summer.

Had I not taken Pilates twice a week, I probably would not still be working full time...It is THAT important.

Like my office, Reform's reputation was that it was excellent but expensive. As you can imagine, I adamantly DISAGREE with part of that assessment. Both Reform Pilates Studio and my office always aimed for excellence and in today's business environment, that is truly exceptional.

With regards to dentistry, making large sums of money is dependent on cutting down lots of healthy tooth structure for crowns. What is NOT healthy for teeth: cutting them down for crowns and the use of crowns must be limited especially in young people. I have NEVER destroyed your teeth for my personal gain....NEVER.

For Reform Studio, having a beautiful environment to strengthen our bodies was important. It is very hard to provide excellence in a place that is old, run down and moldy.

If folks think paying to stay healthy with Pilates is expensive then they should try paying for illness which is tens of thousands of dollars more costly....

Many Americans no longer feel that excellence is important and/or worth paying for.
I emphatically disagree and when excellence ceases to exist, folks will find out how TRULY expensive mediocrity is.

PS: We have had one of the slowest months (June) in more than a decade so I fully understand
Reform Pilates Studios situation.

80 years and Farewell

Bill and Lee started in my practice around 1980. Each has been an exceptional patient in that they always accepted my recommendations. Bill is moving to the Northwest and Lee, now in his mid 70s has decided that traveling from Albany is too much of a challenge for him at this stage of his life.

I am so honored to have taken care of both of these patients the past 4 decades.

I have always been saddened when a long-time patient passes away, moves away or can no longer make the journey to our office.

Thank you Bill and Lee; you have my deepest gratitude and appreciation for your loyalty.

I wish you both well.