If We Can't Do the Easy Things How Can We Ever Do the Hard Things

There was a story about Maj. Nidal Hasan, the psychiatrist who killed 13 people and injured 23 other military personel at Fort Hood. The story begins by calling Dr. Hasan, "the accused killer at Fort Hood." On November 9, it will be THREE YEARS since the shootings and Maj. Hasan has not been brought to trial. If you remember, Hasan was caught red handed in the act of assassinating 13 people.

If the Federal Government or the United States Military can't try and punish a criminal caught in the act of murder, the what can the Goverment do? Were I in a position of authority, I would call up the Government agency in charge of prosecuting Maj. Hasan and fire them on the spot...That is how an effective government operates. Next!

Others Can Say It Better

My young colleague from India emailed me the following when he viewed my case:


"Hello Master, beautiful as usual, you always motivate other dentists to copy your work, but its worth copying, i myself is an example, regards, Ashok"


As I begin the final decade of my career, I would like to inspire more young dentists to view dentistry as a craft rather as a job...an artform rather than a piecemeal, repetitive task that has to be endured 8 hours a day.



The pursuit of EXCELLENCE means that good enough is never good enough and that trying harder will yield even better results.

Angry,Jealous People

A dentist on the IDF Dental Forum decided to visit my website and read my blogs and send emails to the rest of the IDF group. The dentist reported that I criticized and demeaned other dentist (see my blog posting 'Dentists are Lousy at Dentistry.) He furthermore told the group that I was marketing to my readers that 'I claimed to be THE BEST DENTIST.' Lastly, he claimed that all I blogged about was how great a dentist I am and that I was claiming to have a bogus certificate of proficiency in esthetic dentistry from SUNY/Buffalo.


In 1995, at one of my early courses in esthetic dentistry, Dr. George Friedman gave our class words of encouragement at our completion ceremony. He told us that once we started taking many courses,our colleagues back home would hate us, feel threatened and be jealous because we would know more than they did.


BOY WAS HE RIGHT!!!!!


I would like to respond to some of the charges that the IDF member dentist made:


1. It is illegal and unethical in the State of NY for a dentist to claim that they are THE BEST dentist or that they are superior to another dentist. Never...NOT ONCE do I state that I am the best ,dentist. In fact, I have often told you that Newton Fahl is THE BEST restorative resin dentist in the world...But I have told you that I aspire to be like Dr.Fahl. You will never find one sentence in all the years that I have been blogging that I state that I AM the best dentist. Do I aspire to EXCELLENCE? YOU BET I DO!


2. The dentist claims that my blogs are only about ME. I recently blogged that the CNN columnist John Avalon reported that the liberal health care program (Obamacare) was the brainchild of the Conservative think tank,The Heritage Foundation as an alternative to Hillary Clinton's health care proposals.WHO KNEW????? And didn't I tell you about the story that 44 percent of folks on Social Security did not believe that they were participating in a government program? Or the jazz concert that I went to and there were no young people in the audience and I blogged that we must raise our children to appreciate the arts before they disappear?


3. The Certificate of Proficiency that I earned from SUNY/Buffalo was approved by the American Dental Association and sanctioned by the New York State Board of Regents. While SUNY/Buffalo no longer offers the Certificate, The University of Minnesota Dental School DOES grant the Certificate...And as Casey Stengel,the old NY Yankees manager used to say, "You can look it up."


No one likes to have their reputation or their integrity questioned. My job was, is and will always be to take care of you the best that I can.


Glad that I got that off of my chest.


(Aside: In the year that I have been a member of the IDF, I did not see one dentist show any of their clinical dentistry to the group other than me. WHY???)

Dentists Are Lousy at Dentistry

"Are you kidding me?"
"I can't believe that YOU are saying this."

I watched both the Republican and Democratic Conventions and I looked at people's teeth as the cameras surveyed the audience. What I saw was horrific crowns, poorly done fillings and lots of crooked teeth and gaps.

What does this tell me about the state of dentistry in America? It says that many dentists are not well educated and are not willing to inform and educate their patients about the wonderful materials and techniques available in dentistry today.

Crooked teeth??? Invisilign clear retainers will permit the straighening to teeth without unsightly and uncomfortable braces that we see children have.

Crowns on front teeth with black lines??? Why would anyone place a Porcelain fused to metal crown when dentists have beautiful, tooth colored and very strong all ceramic crowns.

I was grateful for one thing when I looked at the audience at both conventions.
None of my patients have smiles that look as bad as the smiles that I saw :)

The Facts Based in Reality

I have no idea which side of the political spectrum the journalist John Avlon of CNN, Newsweek and The Beast comes from. Nor do I know or care how he votes. What I did find interesting in his recent column was the following:

"...the heated debate over Obamacare is intentionally mischaracterized as a "government takeover of health care" despite that there's no public option for health insurance, let alone a single payer.

Whatever its many flaws, the individual mandate was a plan initially put forward by the conservative Heritage Foundation, proposed by Republicans as an alternative to "Hillary Care" in the 1990s. It was implemented in his state by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who argued it advanced the virtue of personal responsibility. But "government takeover of health care" polls better, and so it is repeated in the echo chamber until facts start to fade."

Something to think about when we think we know the facts.

My patients

I always inform my patients that I am a general dentist who limits my practice to fixing teeth and restoring implants with everything rising to the level of art. In addition, I also tell my patients that I am a general dentist with a specialty in esthetic dentistry by virtue of the fact that I have a Certificate of Proficiency in Esthetic Dentistry from SUNY/Buffalo School of Dental Medicine; only about 100 dentists in the nation hold this certificate.

My patients believe that I am a specialist and that many if not all of my patients are very wealthy. Just last week, a new patient in my practice who recognized that she needed a highly talented dentist (her words) told me that she knows that many of the patients in my practice are 'high profile people.'

The overwhelming majority of the patients in my practice are middle class folks just like the majority of Americans. I am blessed to have some of the most successful people in the Capital District as my patients and I believe that they are looking for the best dental care that they can find in our area. I have had more than one patient in my practice tell me that they must sacrifice in other areas of their life to come to my practice but that they feel that it is worth it.

The most significant thing that my patients must know is that each and every one of you are very important to me and my staff and that we will do everything possible to take care of you at the highest possible level.