Two Things with the Same Name Are Not the Same

Is a car a car? How about if one car has 12 air bags and another car has only 4 air bags? Are they the same.

How about if one car stops 25 feet shorter than the other car from 70 mph? Will your life be saved by stopping 25 feet sooner? Are the two cars the same?

If two people play golf and one earns $25 million a year playing golf and the other plays once a month and earns nothing...Are they the same just because they both play golf?

Americans are very quick to say all dentists are the same. Why? Because if all dentists ARE the same, you might as well go to the dentist that has low fees, participates with your insurance company and is around the corner from where you live.

I recently saw the following photo on Facebook and it perfectly explains the above visually:

Things that cost more are usually better made and last longer and in regards to dentistry, the work can actually last DECADES longer.

Many years ago I heard a dentist lecturing and he said, "If you don't charge what you are worth, you will become worth what you charge." The real interesting thing is that the dentist that put the filling in   the left photo probably makes much more money than the dentist that so beautifully restored the tooth in the right photo. Why? Because the dentist who fixed the tooth on the left spent 10-15 minutes fixing that tooth and could fix 5 or 6 additional teeth in the same amount of time that the fabulous dentist took to  perfectly fix the tooth on the right.

In general, you get what you pay for.

So How Are Things Going?

I have had the most miraculous recovery. That said, it has been the hardest, most challenging and difficult recovery of all the surgeries that I have had. I met a 70 year old man in a restaurant in Charlotte last weekend who had his arm in a sling and I started to chat with him about HIS shoulder replacement. When we parted he said, "If they had told me how hard the recovery would be, I wouldn't have had the surgery." When I asked my surgeon why he had not told me that I would have residual life  limitations even after a grueling recovery period, he said, "If we told people how hard the recovery would be, no one would have the surgery."

I have been to physical therapy ( Tony DeMatteo at Saratoga Physical Therapy) for 12 straight weeks, 3 sessions per week. I have worked very hard and have not missed one appointment. This meant that I lost 8-9 hours of work time at my office which means you know how costly recovery has been...

But I don't care... Making money has never been important in my life and I have never let my life be ruled by money; I would never hurt a patient or take advantage of a patient simply to enrich myself.

Getting well and returning to work so that I could take care of you was the most important thing for me and I can tell you that my life in my office, taking care of patients, is exactly the same as before my fractured shoulder.

In my personal life, I have great limitations from my injury. It is hard to put a shirt or sports coat on and impossible to adjust my collar after putting on a tie. I will never be able to raise my right hand above my head...

But I can take care of you with the same level of skill and talent as before my injury. An amazing recovery.

I thank all of you for your continued support and concern for my health...It goes both ways.

We Provide Dental Care for Other Dentists

I am honored when any patient selects our office as their dentist. I am especially honored when other dentists ask me to be their dentist.

This week, we saw two local dentists for dental treatment. We have cared for many dentists over the years even though dentists usually ask their dentist friends to help them out when they have a specific dental problem.

I hope that it is comforting to our patients to know that THEIR dentist is often the dentists dentist.

I truly am honored to care for each and every one of our patients.

We Do NOT Treat Everyone

I saw this on Facebook this morning and it reminded me of our policy in our office.
If a patient is unreasonable, if they will not understand that our main concern is to help our patient despite the fact that THEY think our main is to make money and if they refuse to listen to our explanations of their current situation...

THEY WILL NOT REMAIN A PATIENT IN OUR OFFICE.

We cannot save every tooth and we cannot restore every mouth back to perfect health because we (our office) are  NOT composed of perfect human beings. We are very talented at what we do and very knowledgeable in our field but we cannot and will not treat unreasonable folks.

We will not be everyone's dentist.

And They Paid No Federal Income Tax

This is the Forbes  top earning Hedge Fund Mangers:


These five Americans earned SIX BILLON DOLLARS among them and paid NO Federal Income Tax, No Social Security Tax and No Medicare Tax (1.65% of 1 Billion dollars IS a lot of money)

Up until a few years ago, they only paid 15% Capital Gains tax; now they pay 23% Capital Gains Tax.

No one likes to pay taxes but when the super wealthy don't pay taxes that means that the average working guy...YOU AND ME... have to make up the shortfall...

Do you REALLY want to help a rich guy?

	Rank	Name	2014 Earnings ($mil)	Company
	#1	Steve Cohen	$1.3 B	Point72 Asset Management
	#2	Ray Dalio	$1.2 B	Bridgewater Associates
	#2	George Soros	$1.2 B	Soros Fund Management LLC
	#4	William Ackman	$1.1 B	Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P.
	#4	Ken Griffin	$1.1 B	Citadel LLC

My Shoulder

I go to my physical therapist 3 times a week and perform exercises everyday at home. Last Thursday my physical therapist described my recovery as 'impressive' which is not often heard from Tony DeMatteo. I  am about three weeks ahead of schedule and my performance at work is nothing short of remarkable.

Life outside the office remains painful and very limited. I can't put on or take off my lab coat or a sports coat. I can't turn the radio in the car on or off and I can't put on a tie by myself. The list is a lot longer but there is no point in boring you. I will be permanently disabled in that I never will be able to lift up my right arm over my head again...Fortunately, none of my physical issues affect my work or your dental treatment and for that, I am very grateful.

Life goes on and I certainly am very lucky following my launch into a wall by a handpiece hose that was laying on the floor unlike the other 5 hoses that were suspended in air and out of the way.

Many of my patients were nervous that I would not return to work and take an 'early' retirement...
Not a chance in hell. I truly believe that some of my best work will be done  in the last decade of my career. I would be very surprised and disappointed if this was not true.

PS: I am probably the oldest dentist in New York State that still works 5 days a week and my last vacation was 1986.

"It Can't Be Done"

The crown has become the 'go to' restoration for dentist these past 15 or so years; and they do it for two reasons:

1. We were taught in dental school that if a filling or cavity was more than 1/2 the width of the tooth ,tongue to cheek, that the tooth was weak and needed the protection of a crown.
2. Insurance companies do not play fair with dentists and refuse to cover the costs to run a dental practice for a very well done direct bonded resin restorations (fillings) placed under a rubber dam therefore when the decayed part  of the tooth even approaches 1/2 the width of the tooth, the dentist most often decides that a crown is the better restoration.

Do I believe that most teeth that have crowns NEED  crowns? A resounding "NO!"

My reasons:

1. With the introduction of adhesive dentinal bonding in 1992 , teeth that are restored with a well bonded direct resin placed under a rubber dam  ARE NO LONGER WEAK.
2. I have not placed a silver mercury filling in almost a quarter of a century and well done bonded resins do extremely well long term AND DO NOT LEAK and ARE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY WEAKER THAN MERCURY FILLINGS.

There are a relatively few dentists in the world that would consider placing a direct resin restoration for this tooth...I am one of them. It takes a lot of education and some talent to place a bonded resin restoration with 75% of the tooth missing.

Remember that a crown could cost almost $1500 while the patient paid approximately $400 to restore her tooth and not a millimeter of healthy tooth structure was removed..And people will tell you that Dr. Benjamin is very expensive. Let me see $1500 or $400. Which would YOU  rather spend?

By the way..How bout all that ugly bacteria (tooth decay is bacteria) under that old filling? Most of YOUR old mercury fillings look exactly like this one.

Democracy Gone Bad

There is no question that the United States is the greatest nation in the history of the world. That said, our Democracy is being stolen from us by super wealthy citizens who openly buy and pay for our Congressional representatives and do their bidding. An incredible story in today's NY Times told us how Presidential Candidate Rubio had a "close relationship" with billionaire Norman Braman, a Florida resident. The following was in the article:

"A detailed review of their relationship shows that Mr. Braman, 82, has left few corners of Mr. Rubio’s world untouched. He hired Mr. Rubio, then a Senate candidate, as a lawyer; employed his wife to advise the Braman family’s philanthropic foundation; helped cover the cost of Mr. Rubio’s salary as an instructor at a Miami college; and gave Mr. Rubio access to his private plane.

The money has flowed both ways. Mr. Rubio has steered taxpayer funds to Mr. Braman’s favored causes, successfully pushing for an $80 million state grant to finance a genomics center at a private university and securing $5 million for cancer research at a Miami institute for which Mr. Braman is a major donor.

Even in an era dominated by super-wealthy donors, Mr. Braman stands out, given how integral he has been not only to Mr. Rubio’s political aspirations but also to his personal finances.

Mr. Rubio, 43, is unabashed in acknowledging the influence of Mr. Braman, a commanding and litigious figure with so much clout in Miami that he almost single-handedly recalled a sitting mayor.

In an interview, Mr. Rubio described Mr. Braman as a father figure who had given him advice on everything from what books to read to how to manage a staff. After Mr. Rubio’s father died in 2010, Mr. Braman called every other day to check in.

Pressed on his financial ties to Mr. Braman, Mr. Rubio said in an interview that he saw no ethical issue. “What is the conflict?” he asked. “I don’t ever recall Norman Braman ever asking for anything for himself.”

He acknowledged that Mr. Braman had approached him about state aid for projects, such as funding for cancer research, but said that he had supported the proposals on their merits.

The reliance on Mr. Braman is likely to put a spotlight on the finances of Mr. Rubio, who ranks among the least-wealthy candidates in the emerging Republican field. Mr. Rubio left the Florida House of Representatives in 2008 with a net worth of $8,351, multiple mortgages and $115,000 in student debt. In his latest financial disclosure form, for 2013, he reported at least $450,000 in liabilities, including two mortgages and a line of credit.

Mr. Braman and aides to Mr. Rubio have declined to say how much personal financial assistance he has provided to Mr. Rubio and his wife, directly or indirectly, but it appears to total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."

(My Comments)

Are you kidding me? If the story is true and no one has come forward to repudiate it...Why isn't Senator Rubio going to jail for influence peddling like our own Silver and Skelos.

America's problems have little to do with Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative...Our problems have to do with BIG MONEY and the loss of our middle class voice..

I told you that my blogs are about dentistry, life, doing the right thing, and pointing out stories that many will miss during their busy schedules...

Oh yes I know that you are enthralled by Deflategate and the Actress with the frozen embryos. lol

"I Think About You All the Time"

Today I saw a long time patient that had his teeth cleaned and a periodic exam. He asked me how my recovery from my fall and shoulder replacement was going and I told him that it was another miraculous recovery...Not an easy recovery but an amazing one.

Then he told me that he thought about me often and said:

"You are a really good guy, a great dentist. You are always positive and upbeat and you  are so passionate about your work. More people need to be like you."

I am always honored when a patient takes note  of the fact that I love being a dentist and love taking care of my patients. Taking care of you has NOTHING to do with money and everything to do with earning your trust so that you know that I am putting your oral health and best interest above my financial concerns.

I have grave concerns that the next generation of health professionals missed the lectures on:
1. Do no harm
2. Place your patient's best interest above your own

What are we all going to do? Who will take care of us for the right reasons... What are YOUR thoughts and concerns?

No More Updates

It has been a rather long recovery at least in my mind.

I fell on February 24. My consult at Hospital for Special Surgery was March 4 and my surgery for a Reverse Shoulder Replacement was the following day, March 5.

I don't do well with general anesthesia or pain meds and it takes a while for them to leave my system.   Pain meds have been limited to night time only and  I rarely take anything for pain despite the fact that it is hard to fall asleep with the pain.

I go to physical therapy three times a week and have done better than anyone who has had a Reverse Shoulder Replacement according to my physical therapists...No surprise there as I went to one of the best shoulder surgeons for my surgery.

Every day I get better, stronger and more flexible in using my arm...My dentistry is exactly at the same level as before my fall. What is not good is living a normal life. As per my physical therapist, "You will probably never lift your arm above your mouth again." That was a shocker. I can't put on a tie or a sports coat and can't change the radio station in my car. There are a lot of day to day things that I will never do again. And this does not make me happy.

I take consolation in the fact that I have returned to work to continue to take care of you...but of course that has always made me happy.

This Says It All

Last Thursday, I saw four long time patients that I had cared for for more than 130 cumulative years (or each more than 25 years.)

You may not think that this is significant but I would bet that there currently are not many dentists (or physicians for that matter) who can make that statement.

Patient's loyalty to a dental practice is at an all time low and that trend started about 1990 when employers shopped around for new dental insurance every year so that patients and dentists never really go to know each other well.

Who gave a great injection of novocaine, who listened to your concerns, which patients were petrified of needles and which patients had very small appearing clinical cavities but once started, destroyed the inside of the tooth. The most important question the patient asked (other than where is the men's room) is "Do you take my insurance."

My long time patients know that I care about them, will charge them fairly and am dedicated to making sure that they keep the overwhelming majority of their natural teeth their entire life.  How do I know this? My average patient drives more than 30 miles in each direction for a cleaning or a simple filling...Distance is not a major issue when quality and trust are the main concerns of a patient.

I owe my success to my patients and I thank each of you for your loyalty all of these years.