Putting Your Best Patient's Care First

This is the chart of a patient that has been under my care for FORTY YEARS. In all of that time, I repaired 6 teeth and not one of them is a crown despite the fact that in most dental offices , four of the teeth would have been suggested for crowns and yet my patient has none.
You might be thinking that  this long term patient is a one of a kind patient with fabulous teeth...And you would not be wrong. But I can show you many treatment charts where I have fixed 20 teeth for a patient and the patients have ALL OF THE TEETH that they started with me with only 1 or 2 crowns in 30 years.

How is this possible? Because I don't place many crowns on live teeth (no root canals) for patients who are 20,30 or 40 years old. Crowns must be delayed for as long as possible if a patient wants to keep all of their teeth for a lifetime. Sometime less is more.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope that you have a wonderful day with your friends and family.

I hope that you notice that after every appointment I thank you for trusting our office to take care of you....and I sincerely mean it.

Not Accepting the Concept of Excellence

I consulted with a patient who had Invisilign Orthodontic Movement on her lower teeth but her orthodontist recommended that her upper teeth be treated restoratively with porcelain veneers. The orthodontist told her, "Go talk with Dr. Benjamin." The patient told her long time dentist that she was planning to see me and his response was, "Why do you need veneers and if you do want them,  I will do them for you. There is no special training for Cosmetic Dentistry so that I can do the work."

Some history:

 1.The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry was founded in 1984 and was started to establish rules of  Cosmetic Dentistry. The AACD offers Accreditation in Cosmetic Dentistry.

2.The State University of New York and the University of Minnesota Dental Schools both offered a Certificate of Proficiency in Esthetic Dentistry since 1998.

3.  95% of all Americans feel that you be a happier person and will do better in advancing your career if you have a beautiful smile.

I have been doing Cosmetic Dentistry for almost 30 years and, in fact, Won the AACD Smile Contest twenty years ago.

Only a mediocre clinician would say that you don't need any special training to do Cosmetic dentistry.

What do you think?

Richard Nixon ....NOT POLITICAL

I was alive and an adult during the Watergate Hearings. I have a BA in History and I knew the significance of the Hearings.

Today, some people like to talk about fake or biased news on CNN or FOX. Last night HBO had a special presentation (shown on CNN) , "Nixon on Nixon" in which ALL the audio that was heard was the voice of Richard Nixon and  his staff member...There was NO analysis or commentary...ZERO.. There was no fake news or bias... Just the words of  President Nixon.

And what did we hear about  and learn about Richard Nixon?

1. He hated Jews...He called them "kikes" and devious.
2. He hated Black people.
3. He did not believe that women should hold important positions in our government.

To hear the most powerful person in the world say hateful things was disheartening and sad.

You need to see this for yourself on CNN, HBO or perhaps YouTube.

Capital District Top Dentists....Again

As you might have seen in the October issue of Capital Living Magazine, I and all the members of my team have been selected “by our colleagues “ to be among the top dentists in the Capital District of NY. There are two significant problems with the selection. Obviously, I would rather be included on the list than not but the selection process is flawed/corrupt.
1. In past years I actually voted for dentists to be included BUT THIS YEAR I WAS NOT SENT A BALLOT.
2. There are many general dentists on the list that, I believe, are not deserving to be on anyone’s “Best Dentists List.” How and why do I say this?
         A . None of the dentists have thousands of hours of high quality CE.
         B.  None of the dentists have any special Certificates or Accreditation by a major dental
               organizations like the AACD or a University Program.
         C.  None of the dentists have posted their cases for their peer review or the public viewing.
         D.  None of the dentists present lectures to local , State, National or International meetings.
Why is this important?

Because the Public must TRUST lists that claim they have indeed selected THE BEST.

Capital Living Magazine must do better.
Look

I’m Back

Google has changed my Blogger.Com account and I have been unable to log in to create new posts. I have that cleared up and I will be blogging again.

A Short Facebook Chat with an Unexpected Outcome

As you know, I have been participating with Dental Forums for more than 20 years. It provides me with the opportunity to discuss dentistry in all of its forms with a variety of dentists....Some of the discussions valuable but most not. It also gives me a chance to show a significant number of dentists many of the cases that I have done and my work has generally be viewed very favorably.

One of BEST dental sites is DentalXP which is dedicated to a significantly higher level of clinical dentistry and much less social bantering.

I dentist from Queens, NY also posted his work on DentalXP and I have always been impressed by the quality of his work. We recently became friends on Facebook and I messaged him this morning:

Hi I never realized that you are in NYS. You do nice work

Thank you Gerald!

You are my Inspiration!

I was truly honored to receive his compliment.

Conservative based dentistry

Newton Fahl and I have many things in common. One of them is that neither of us cuts down teeth for crowns UNLESS there is no other option especially for our younger patients.  Newton and I have both mastered resin based dentistry which allows us to save as much natural tooth structure as possible and permits teeth to be kept for a lifetime.

I have told you that the vast majority of people who have been my patient for 25,30, 35 and even 40 years have virtually all the teeth that they started with me years ago. And that is because I don't destroy your teeth for my economic benefit.

I place HUNDREDS of implant support crowns a year but on my LONG-TERM patients only one or two...

WHY?

Because my patients have very few crowns.

The more crowns that you have, the more likely that you will ultimately lose teeth and have some implants.

The most common reasons that people lose teeth;

1. Having large silver/mercury fillings (Amalgams) that split teeth
2. Poorly done root canals (Which is why you should  go to Root Canal Experts)
3. Having many crowns that ultimately fail and many times cause the tooth to be lost as well.

So while I am not as good as Newton Fahl, we are both committed to saving your teeth with strong, correctly bonded, resin posterior fillings.

Dentistry for a lifetime.

Another Class with Newton Fahl in Chicago

Newton Fahl is the greatest resin based dentist in the world and has been for almost 30 YEARS.  No one will ever surpass Newton in talent and the ability to exactly reproduce a tooth in resin that matches God's natural tooth....No one.

I have probably taken more courses with Newton than any other dentist in the country during the last 20+ years.  Newton and the Cosmedent's Center for Esthetic Excellence are very kind and deferential to me because they know the quality of my work and because I have studied in Chicago longer than anyone else.

I was the oldest dentist by far and probably the most accomplished. But to my classmates I was just an old guy who doesn't walk well and should probably hang it up.

When I began UB Dental School there was an old professor, Dr. Brown, who was the Chairman of the Restorative Department. He was old all right but he was still at the top of his game clinically and everyone revered him. A few years ago when my East Coast mentor, Dr. McIntyre retired,  he told me, "You know, you are going to be the Dr. Brown of dentistry soon."

99% of young dentists have no clue who the best clinicians are and nor do they care. It is not like sports or rockstars  where fans knew everything about their 'heroes.'

 Doesn't matter because my patients still know that they are receiving fine clinical dentistry.

You Need to Read This (This is NOT political..unless you want it to be.)

Empathy and sympathy and what is referred to as 'humanity' are strictly human qualities. When someone tells you that their child is very sick or that they have been diagnosed with cancer, most of us will offer our concern for that person. It is what we do.

In today's New York Times, Roger Cohen writes about a young woman that was repeatedly raped when Isis soldiers took over their Yazidi town in Iraq.  After freeing herself from sexual slavery she started a campaign out to end mass rape in war. In addition to the rapes, her mother and 6 brothers were killed by Isis soldiers.

For her efforts she was awarded a Noble Peace Prize.

When the President met the young woman in the Oval Office, he asked her,"  “They gave it to you for what reason?”

I don't care if you like the President or not  but when you cannot show your compassion, empathy, and sympathy for being raped repeated (as were thousands of Yazidi women), I have to question your humanity and ask why you are the most powerful man in the world?


If you want to read the article for yourself:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/26/opinion/trump-nadia-murad-meeting.html

I Am So Honored

I have told you before that the student LIVES to be complimented by his or her mentor. I have been most fortunate to have had the support of many of my mentors during my long career.

That said, many times we influence people and gain their respect at great distances because of the internet. I have 'known' dentists for 20+ years on dental forums but have never had the pleasure of meeting them in person.

Today, an older dentist from Texas presented the dentists who he has followed during his early years and who have served as his mentors. He concluded by asking other dentists on the forum who we followed and who inspired us.

One dentist that I know all of my 20+ years on this forum wrote the following:

"David Hornbrook solidified my confidence in doing cosmetic cases.

And via the many internet forums over the years I have learned so much that I consider Rick, Guy, Ray Voller, Gary Henkel, Gerald Benjamin, Jeff Blank, John Highsmith, Suz, Gerilyn Alfe, Sander and so many others as mentors, whether they knew it or not.  All you guys have made me a better dentist."

Another young dentist that I met 3-4 years ago said the following:

"I have yet to met anyone more challenging than Gerald. I will also admit, I am very hard on mentors as I usually question them more than I accept from them. Gerald is one of the few who have withstood my cynicism.  It is too early to have a top 5 in my career, but Gerald stands above the rest.

I will also state that Gerald is the only doctor who has agreed to let me try and replicate the 'Tucker Gold Study.'  This is a question I frequently ask and most turn me down. I am not sure when I will be able to get up there  to do so, but to allow this level of transparency in someone he has never met speaks volumes about him and his confidence in his clinical dentistry, which is something I don't see very often. "

Matt

Matt and I did not see eye to eye at the beginning because I could not see any passion for clinical dentistry. I showed him my direct posterior resins that I would place for MY patients instead of destroying teeth for crowns, especially in younger patients in their 20,30,40s. He did not believe my success with resins but he admired my commitment and passion to help each and every one of YOU. Unbeknownst to me, he decided to copy my style of dentistry and began taking 100s of hours of  high quality Continuing Education. 

Matt has become a 'convert' to excellence. I am truly honored by his commitment to excellence and I am thrilled to have been his mentor.

A 16 Year Old Boy Can See it From 2,000 Miles Away But an Adult Can't See It From Around the Corner

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see an email in my office email account. When I opened it, this is what a young man from Minnesota said:


Message:
Dear Dr. Benjamin, 

My name is Max, and I am a tenth grader at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minnesota, and I am now looking back at your blog, that I found when I was in 8th grade. I found your blog in 8th grade, in my Tech Ed class, when we were constructing Pull Toys, and we needed a name for our toy, and we named it "Gerald". So, my partner and I googled the name "Gerald", and we found your picture, and we printed it out, and plastered it all over our pull toy. We got an A on the assignment, and I recently found the pull toy in my garage, and I remembered you being all over it. As I looked you up, I just wanted to say (from reading your blog), is that you seem like a fantastic dentist, and a great doctor. So, keep doing what you are doing, and I hope you find a little bit of joy reading this from a 16 year old kid from Minnesota!

Take care,

I wrote back to Max telling him that his comments made my day and that I hoped that he would pursue excellence in everything he does and to always do the right thing...

Even Doctors Don't Believe That There is a Difference

Most physicians and dentists believe that they are good at what they do.. A very old article (2004) appeared in the New Yorker Magazine about the differences in medical care and medical outcomes.

This is the article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/12/06/the-bell-curve

Doctors themselves were shocked to learn that some hospitals have significantly better outcomes than other hospitals.

How can this be???

Human nature. Every physician and dentist firmly believes that they are better than average until they are confronted with the results of their own outcomes.

This is why it is soooo important to be evaluated and treated by the best.

A Champion Always Gets Up Off of the Canvas

Champions have as much heart as they have talent.

Tiger Woods demonstrated that yesterday. Injuries and personal issues caused his fall from grace and many thought that redemption was not possible.

The heart of a champion.

Offended by Negative Reviews

After 42 years, I am still saddened when a patient leaves our practice. When someone writes a negative review about our practice, I am deeply offended.

A relatively new patient wrote that I am outrageously expensive....

What she meant to say is that she did not value fine restorative dentistry and if that is the case, then she should not be a patient in our practice.

This is like walking into a BMW dealer and telling the salesperson that they can buy a Ford, Chevy or  Toyota for 1/3 of the cost of the BMW...That is not comparing apples to apples.

As I have told you for the last almost 20 years of writing blogs is that I will never hurt you to increase my income. That I will never destroy your tooth structure with a crown to increase my wealth...That I will never listen to an insurance company and provide the least expensive, lowest standard of dental care for you or your family rather than do the best that I can do.

When patients complain about fees it is because they don't care about excellence OR the cost is above their comfort number that they believe that dentistry should cost.

As I wrote in a blog yesterday...one of my colleagues said, " Gerald does things the right way but most of us (dentists) cannot make a living without placing crowns." (Paraphrased)

If a patient thinks that all dentists are the same...that is fine. But I KNOW that it is not so.

Equally Great Advice for Young Dentist and Young Physicians

Milton Packer, MD wrote a great short article to his young colleagues:

https://www.medpagetoday.com/blogs/revolutionandrevelation/79125?fbclid=IwAR0itWFpaTGs6YpGMOU92SASWTpmJj7P9xSdSloI8tcoYB2OzREDjYFk_UU

Asking whether medicine was their job or their career? The difference, according to Dr. Packer, is that if health care is your job, you are only concerned about making your employer happy. If health care is your career, then your goal  is to find positions that allow you to pursue your own goals and development. If you think of medicine as a career, you select positions that allow you to keep focused on your mission. He feels that being the best at some aspect of your job is very important  in a career but not the only important thing...What he truly believes is important is challenging conventional thinking and take your own path.

In 1956 we obtained the ability to bond to enamel and in 1992, we learned how to bond to dentin, the layer of tooth structure just below the enamel. At that moment, I realized that what I had been taught in dental school was no longer valid information when treating patients. Dentinal bonding meant that I no longer had to destroy tooth structure for a crown and therefore teeth would last longer and perhaps an entire lifetime.

I was roundly condemned by colleagues  but 25+ years later, I was right in not following conventional thought. How do I KNOW that I was right???? Virtually all of my long term patients of 20, 30 and even 40 years have almost every tooth that they started with me as their dentist...And they don't have many crowns.

I took a big risk and all of you won because you have kept your teeth.

"Gerald Has the Right Model, if You Can Do It"

A very fine dentist near Pittsburgh, PA posted a case on one of my few remaining dental forums in which he said that his patient was WILLING to have ceramic onlays placed on her teeth but that he could not destroy healthy tooth structure (and hurt his patient) in order to make a higher profit. This dentist is very talented and preferred to place conservative, direct bonded resin restorations over the more profitable onlays.

I wrote the dentist who has been a friend of mine for 20 years and commended his integrity for doing the right thing.

Another dentist posted his response on the forum and said,

"If direct resin fees were  raised to what the should be, more would be done and teeth preserved. A back ass model for sure. We are paid more to destroy teeth instead of more to preserve them. Gerald has the right model if you can do it."

Truth be told. We all know that insurance companies are responsible for tremendous numbers of crowns placed for patients  in America.

Congratulations for being wise enough and care enough to select our office for your care. I will always do the right thing even it means making less money. You get to keep your own teeth your entire life and I have the privilege of taking care of you.

Win-Win

And other dentists KNOW how I treat my patients.

Two Hour Drives Each Way

The average dental patient will drive 5-8 miles to visit a dentist.

Yesterday, two different patient each traveled more than 2 hours to have direct bonded resin restorations.

Two HOURS. One patient has been my patient for more than 30 years while the other patient has been with me for 5+ years.

Why would people travel that far for routine dentistry?

1. Because they trust me.
2.Because they know that I will take care of them.
3.They know that my work will last.

Despite the fact that my office is located in Saratoga Springs, the overwhelming majority of my patients do not live in Saratoga Springs.

If you believe that every dentist is the same, you would never travel 2 hours in each direction and you would never be MY patient.

SUNY/Buffalo Lecture

So how did my lecture go?

I showed dental students and post doctoral students about 20 cases that approached world class quality. And how did the students respond?

NADA....NOTHING....

NOT a single student asked a question.

Not a single student came up after class and thanked me or commented on my cases.

They exhibited no passion or excitement.

I left feeling unsatisfied especially given the fact that I spent 50 hours in preparation for the lecture..

SAD

Everything that a Dentist Does Fails

All dental treatment FAILS given a sufficient amount of time. The definition of a 'good' dentist is a dentist that makes things fail at the slowest possible rate.

I placed a 3 unit fixed bridge in patient's mouth in 1994. The patient has been in my practice about 35 years. As with most crown and bridge cases, the patient developed tooth decay around one of the supporting teeth causing the bridge to need replacement.

Was my patient angry?  Of course not...He had used the bridge for 25 years and reasonable people know that that is a very long time. (How many cars had he bought in 25 years?)

Very good dentistry lasts a very long time but that does NOT mean that it will last forever. How long do the shingles on your roof last???  It tells you right on the box..."This is a 25 year shingle."

The average bonded posterior resin filling lasts 7 years...Mine are lasting 20+ years  which means that they approach the longevity of an amalgam filling...

Dentistry is one of the best consumer values.

Lecturing at SUNY/Buffalo

I have not taught at UB much since the Dental School listened to the dinosaurs on the Dental faculty and closed the world's first Esthetic Center within a dental school that I founded with Dr. Fred McIntyre. Ignorance must not be rewarded.

That said, I returned to the school after about a 7 year absence to teach Senior Dental Students and Post Doctoral students. My goal was to show them excellence in clinical restorative dentistry and I did that. Despite what many young dentists say and think, great dentistry is still available in the better dental practices around the country. Will fine dentistry always be available? That is up to the American people. If no one wants fine dentistry, it will cease to exists.

I am doing my best to help those that will follow me.

Tests Are Not THAT important

As many of you know, I was rejected by every dental school in the country at least once, three years in a row.

Why?

Because I didn't do that well on a few sections of the Dental Aptitude Test...What is on the test? Dentistry????

No, math and English.

And what does any of that have to do with being a dentist???

NOT A DAMN THING!!!!

I would like to suggest that you see a video about taking tests by Jay Shetty at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4a7giVa2E0

Just a Thought

14 Days ago Susan and I were sitting at a light  on Broadway and our car  was struck from behind  crushing the passenger side rear panel.

Fortunately we were not injured....at all...nothing. In fact, Susan turned to me and said, "What was that?" And I responded that someone just hit us from behind.

No injuries, no whiplash...How is that possible?

The only thing that I care about when buying a car is the safety features..Not the color of the car or the seats or the radio... Only safety. And unlike most people, I am willing to pay to add ALL the safety features to the car including the self stopping feature.

So what features prevented us from being hurt?

1. Surround the car cameras and radar
2. Pre-tensioning seatbelts that automatically tighten when the car senses an impending crash
3. A headrest that automatically extends 5 inches to meet the back of the head to prevent whiplash

I implore you to pay attention to safety features on a new car and be willing to add these features if the car you want does not have them.

This is like selecting a really good physician or dentist to take care of  you...It will probably save your life somewhere down the road.

Thinking Like This is UNSUSTAINABLE

Over the years, I have blogged  about the loss of excellence in every aspect of American Society and the fact that if Americans refuse to buy excellence, it will cease to exist. I am NOT talking about buying a Mercedes but about seeking excellence when finding people to take care of you: Medically, Dentally, Legally, Accounting etc.

On Monday a 25-30 year patient(who I used to have a business relationship with before he retired) presented to my office with a toothache. After taking an x-ray and performing an examination, I concluded that one of his teeth was infected and that a root canal would be necessary to save the tooth and eliminate the pain. As you know, I refer to one of the finest root canal practices, Root Canal Experts with offices in Albany, Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs. My office obtains an appointment for the patient for the following day as I strongly believe that it is MY job to take care of you even when I am not performing the treatment.

Yesterday, the patient calls and asks if it was OK to see another root canal specialist because they were cheaper..............

NO AND NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are MY patient, you KNOW how I feel about excellence and the need to be seen by THE BEST.

Mediocrity costs LESS BECAUSE YOU ARE GETTING LESSS!!!

If I am going to place an expensive crown or onlay on your tooth that is having a root canal, that root canal had better be expertly done...NO missed canals and cleaning to the end of each root of the tooth. I rarely see that in any other root canal office except ROOT CANAL EXPERTS.

I do not believe in false equivalency  which is two things with the same name ARE the same.

NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.

I will not refer to people that do not take care of you at the highest level. You may select a different specialist to take care of you but that is your choice and not mine. My job is to take care of you.

BUY EXCELLENCE!!

Interesting: An Analysis of Politics today (But not Political)

Sometimes I find articles that many of you might miss if not seen outside of the original source. For instance, I presented an article several years ago about the American Academy of Gynecology and Obstetrics opposing OBGYN physicians from treating males when they had anal cancer.

In this article, a group of experts talk about what drives voters to select one Political Party over the other. I found this interesting and a bit counter intuitive based on historical trends in voting ie the wealthier one is, the more likely that they are to vote for one party over the other...This is NOT political.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/opinion/republicans-democrats-2018-economy-prosperity.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage#commentsContainer

Either We Are Going to be An Advanced Country Or We Are Not

I went to the bank today, a Saturday, to send a wire payment to a company in Texas. The bank teller tells me that you can't send a wire payment on Saturday because of the high incidence of fraud...So there is NO FRAUD on Monday through Friday?????

So I ask the teller: "Why can't you take the information today and hold it until Tuesday (Monday is Martin Luther King Holiday.) and he says that the bank can't do that.

WHY???????

We will have to decide whether we are going to be a modern nation or not...Businesses work 7 days a week and since my wire payment was going from MY bank to the Companies bank. No humans are needed.

The people that run the government (It is illegal to send a wire payment on a Saturday) are fools and we need to send them back home.

Why We Don't Read Contracts

Add captionWe Don't Read Contracts because it was never intended that we would. All Corporations want to FORCE us into signing an agreement that we can neither read nor understand.

We Are All Good

The majority of dentists and quite a few physicians do not really buy into the concept of excellence; they firmly believe that, "Well all dentists are good but maybe one or two are a little better and 1 or 2 are a little worse."

That is like saying, "We are all great golfers" even though there are only 100+ professional golfers on the PGA Tour.

One of my colleagues said that there may be a fabulous dentist in a very small town that no one ever heard of.............I don't think so...

It takes thousands of hours of Continuing Education (CE) and decades of practice to be a really fine clinical dentist...Somebody, in fact, many people would have to see you at all the big meetings or all the super quality courses costing thousands of dollars.

And, if you want to get really good...No extremely good...you are going to have to show the dental world what you are capable of doing.

In any case, no one who is fabulous is sitting in a cornfield producing this unbelievable dentistry and no one knows them...And I should know because at one time, I WAS that dentist sitting in a cornfield.

In every profession, there is the good/bad and the ugly...You should try to find the BEST people to take care of you....because not everyone is the same.

Insurance companies are the payers...not the deciders

Susan went to her physician for the second time this week. She had a horrific cough for the last 2 weeks. The first time the urgent care health care provider said that she had a sinus viral infection that there was nothing that could be done.

Well how do you stop the coughing that is so severe that it causes vomiting?

On Friday the physician gave Susan a prescription for a steroid inhaler. When we went to pick it up, the pharmacy said that the insurance company hadn't approved the medicine and it might take up to three days..

REALLY????

The rule should be either they approve it in 10 minutes or they have a substitute.

But no.

So we paid for the prescription.

The insurance company is practicing medicine without a license and I will contact the NYS Department of Insurance and make a formal complaint.

We must not let insurance companies interfere with our relationships with our physicians.

But most of you will let them...And it is not right.

Copied from the Current Issue of HerLife Magazine

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A Dental Checkup Could Save Your Life

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Q: Why is it so important to have regular dental checkups? 

A: The first thing that probably comes to mind is to check for cavities and your periodontal health, or your gum and bone. While you wouldn’t be wrong, dentists can do far more than that. For instance, when I meet a new patient, I can look at their teeth and tell whether they have gastric reflux (heartburn) and how bad the problem is. When a physician looks into the mouth, she looks to the back of the throat and ignores the teeth. I can look at the mouth of my new patient and tell them that they have severe gastric reflux and that it’s time to see a gastroenterologist, who can help with their stomach problem. Severe gastric reflux not only removes some or all of the enamel from teeth, but also can cause ulcers of the esophagus, which can lead to esophageal cancer. In the same way, dentists are often the first doctor that will diagnose skin cancer on the face, throat cancer or oral cancer, including the tongue. Oral cancer has only a 35 percent survival rate because it is often not diagnosed in time.

Sometimes a new family will start as patients and send their teenager as the first member to “see if they like the dentist.” Often we see a teenager who is lethargic and overweight, and we can immediately determine that the youngster cannot breathe easily or at all through their nose. We strongly suggest a visit to the ear, nose and throat specialist, or ENT, so that the teenager can have corrective nose surgery. One of our patients was 15 years old, overweight and liked sports, but he couldn’t participate because he was always gasping for air. Following nose surgery, he grew another two inches, lost 50 pounds, and became a volleyball star at his school.

Often one of my long-term patients will come in for a checkup or with a dental problem, and I detect that their health has deteriorated. Most of the time we have a discussion and I learn that my patient has been treated for a health issue for months but that there has been no improvement. Just recently, a very long-time patient broke a tooth and wanted it repaired. Unfortunately, she had great difficulty breathing, and she told me that her local physician had told her that she needed to get her affairs in order. I strongly suggested the Cleveland Clinic for an evaluation. After several visits, her breathing had improved and stabilized. This is an example of what happens when a new set of eyes sees a patient and can offer a helpful suggestion.

Sometimes a dentist is the only doctor that a patient sees, and the dentist will diagnose systemic health issues that will save a patient’s life. A butterfly rash on the nose and face can often be systemic lupus. A dry mouth in conjunction with dry eyes can be Sjogren’s disease. Commonly, gastric reflux and sleep apnea have a third deadly component in cardiac problems. As a dentist, I will see the gastric reflux, which leads to a discussion about sleep apnea and a suggestion to see a cardiologist.

Sometimes a dentist sees a teenager with a tremendous number of new cavities, and the dentist will diagnose the youngster as having “meth mouth,” which again can open a discussion with the young patient or the parents about the possibility of a drug problem. And if drugs are not causing the massive tooth decay, then a seven-can-a-day habit of Pepsi or Mountain Dew is the problem, and we can discuss that too.

Let’s not think of regular dental exams as only being important to save your teeth or gums, but also as part of getting knowledge of your overall physical well-being. ■

Written by: Dr. Gerald Benjamin

Ten Years in Saratoga Springs

This week ends our 10th year in Saratoga. I have been in my "NEW" office 25% of my career. Has Saratoga been a lot better than Cropseyville, NY???? Marginally.

Would I move again? Sure because Cropseyville died a slow death, helped by the Great Recession.

It has been fun living in a small town.

To be sure...10 years is a milestone...My expectations were higher.....And there is still time to meet those expectations.

Pizza, Bagels and Dentistry

WHAT?????????

What could possibly be the connection between food and dentistry.

I know one thing with 100% CERTAINTY. And that is that clinical dentistry was significantly better in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Why? Because:

1. The post graduate dental education boom in American Dentistry was in full force. Extreme MakeOver had introduced Americans to beautiful cosmetic dentistry and in 1992, we had learned to grow bone to place implants.

2. Insurance companies were still at least fairly reimbursing dentists for treating dental patients.

3. There were still a large segment of the dental patient population that had a long standing relationship with their dentist and trusted him or her.

4. Becoming a dentist did not cost $250,000-$500,000.

Bagels in2019 are flavorless pieces of bread more resembling a roll with a hole in the middle...I have not had a fabulous bagel in the Capital District in the past 20 years...My wife says that I am old and do not remember...So I did the unthinkable. I ordered a dozen bagels and a pound of cream cheese from NYC sent overnight as an experiment...I had to disprove Susan's assessment that I was misremembering... I paid GOLDBELLY.com  an obscene amount of money to conduct this experiment and I can tell you with the highest degree of certainty that fabulous bagels are still being produced....just not in the Capital District.

Pizza: Absolutely Hopeless in the Capital District. If we lower our standards, everything becomes acceptable...Sorry....NOT. Pizza is pathetic.

Then again...so is a lot of the dentistry that I see. The vast majority of teeth restored with crowns could be treated more conservatively, less destructively and at a far lower cost..

If you don't mind   having lousy bagels, barely edible pizza  and destroying your teeth with crowns...Not my concern...not my teeth.

Tell Me That This is Real?

A long time patient moved to Arizona and sent me this note posted in a dental office. My patient, although she was not treated well by several dentists and ended  up losing her teeth (She did have implants.) is a very bright and astute woman. She ended her text to me by saying: "Yes I did Walk Out."  I thanked her and said, "You did learn a great deal." 

Note: The sign did not copy so I will tell you what it said,
"We make cheap , quick, not customized dentures and if you want more than this, You are in the wrong dental office."

We can't make this stuff up.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to our patients, friends and family (many of which are one and the same.)

We can all hope that 2019 will be a good year for our country and for each of us personally.

2018 was our first 'down' year in 10 years even considering time off following three surgeries. Why, one asks especially since I am continuing to do my best clinical dentistry?

My answer would be that America is changing.We are less appreciative of excellence and demanding more 'quick, easy and cheap.' Is this going to change? Probably not.

How does this affect dentistry? The mouth is a very demanding and challenging environment that is more like a Rainforest than most would like to think. Quick, Easy And Cheap in the mouth leads to more root canals, more crowns, more loss of teeth and more implants which when you add it up, costs  10 times more than having done things right in the first place.

We will continue to strive for dental excellence and take care of you and your family in the very best possible way.

Happy New Year.