Flashbacks

I saw a patient today that has been in my practice since 1979. I redid all of her really old dentistry more than 20 years ago and now one of the restorations that was placed had cracked so we were replacing it. While I was waiting for novocaine to become fully effective, my patient reminded me of something that I said to her more than 35 years ago. "If you follow my recommendations, you will keep your teeth all of your life."

And so it has been.

I also saw another family this week who have been my patients since 1980. The children were 12 and 9 when they joined our practice and the 12 year old is now almost 50!!!! That family also has almost every tooth that they had when they entered our practice.

What else do my long time patients have in common? Unlike  in most dental  practices today, my patients have very few crowns on their teeth.

Can you draw the conclusion that the fewer crowns you had placed when you are younger, the more likely it is that you will keep all your teeth?

Why can't other dentists come to the same conclusion?

Just something to think about when your family members or friends are having their teeth cut down for crowns.