When the Godfather of Cosmetic Dentistry Speaks

I posted this case on DentalXP a high level internet dental site and one of the all time great cosmetically oriented dentists (Team Atlanta) commented on my case.

Orthodontics by Brendan Cooney of Malta NY

Post ortho but prior to restoration close up

                                                      Restored smile minimizing negatives










Reply                                        

 Ronald Goldstein says on 02.24.2014 07:14 PM

Gerald, I am looking at the levels of the gingival papilla of the adjacent teeth and it appears to me you have lined up the veneers very well to support the tissue. Very nice result!

Reply

 Gerald Benjamin says on 02.25.2014 06:56 AM

Dr. Goldstein;
You have been one of my mentors for much of my almost 40 year career and perpetual students of our craft live for favorable comments by those we respect. I am truly honored.

Don't Believe Doctor's Internet Rating Systems

I received this email from health grades:

As of 21 February 2014, you have 7 reviews. This is only based on 5 out of 75 websites that we are monitoring for you. Do your online reviews truly reflect your quality of care and the practice that you have developed? Call us today at (888) 424-8479 or reply to this email to connect with your dedicated Review Concierge team and create the online reputation that you deserve.

DR. GERALD CHARLES BENJAMIN 4164 Ny2 Troy, NY 12180 (518) 279-1116

based on 7 reviews

A Current Grade

I have been in Saratoga Springs for the last 5 YEARS and this website still has me listed in Troy, NY.

If these websites can't get the address right what makes you think that they will get their rating systems right?

What I Have Told My Patients for Years

In the 1950s and 60s President Eisenhower warned Americans about the Military/Industrial Complex and how they would spend the country into oblivion.

If President Eisenhower were alive today, he would warn us about the Medical/Pharmaceutical Complex.

I have not trusted the Health industry in quite some time and I believe for good reason. Last year I blogged about the most renown sports medicine doctor in the country, Dr. James Andrews who was interviewed by the New York Times in a front page story in which he said that MOST MRIs for sports injuries were unnecessary. He said that an MRI gave us little additional information than when a physician examined a patient, talked to a patient  or watched him perform a task. When Dr. Andrews was asked why there were so many MRIs taken he responded: "MONEY."

Last week a Canadian Medical team reported that mammograms performed yearly  in women over 50 did not save additional women from dying of breast cancer.

In yesterday's New York Times the lead story was about over the counter and generic drugs made in India and sold in America.  The report said that a significant number of generic drugs made in India were fakes or did not contain the active ingredients  in cancer drugs or antibiotics. In fact, one of the leading drug regulators in India said the following:

“If I have to follow U.S. standards in inspecting facilities supplying to the Indian market,” G. N. Singh, India’s top drug regulator, said in a recentinterview with an Indian newspaper, “we will have to shut almost all of those."

Do you see why I don't know who to trust when it comes to our health?

In Appreciation: Without comment

Message:

Dear Dr. Benjamin,

A heartfelt thanks for the beautiful gift basket that touched our hearts today.  Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated during this difficult time.  You are not only the best dentist in the world but a truly kind person as well.

With gratitude and love,

April



"Dr. Benjamin Is Too Expensive"

Patients sometimes tell my staff that they think that I am too expensive. My staff and I would respectfully disagree with these comments. The patient in these photos works in the dental industry and his previous dentist told him that the broken tooth in the photo  (middle tooth) would require a crown because the mercury filling was very large and the tooth is weak. The cost would have been somewhere in the range of $1100-$1300.

As you can see from the photos, I replaced both mercury fillings with direct resin bonded fillings using rubber dam. The cost to repair BOTH teeth was a little over $600.

Now where I come from $600 to repair TWO teeth is a heck of lot less than $1300 to repair ONE tooth.

More importantly, the broken tooth had NO healthy tooth structure removed during the repair process. A crown would have required ALL of the remaining healthy  enamel to be removed and when the crown eventually failed as all dentistry will, there is a good possibility that the tooth would also be lost and an implant required (~$5,000)

When we compare apples to apples, not am I NOT more expensive I am actually a VALUE  bargain because  my patient usually pays less (in dollars) AND they get to keep all of their healthy, irreplaceable, beautiful, strong tooth structure.

I don't think that I have to discuss this subject again. NEXT.



Why I refer to Root Canal Experts

My first patient on Monday morning was scheduled to have a crown on a tooth that recently had a root canal. After greeting my patient of 30 years, I reviewed that we would be preparing her for a crown. She immediately asked me if it was 'ok' to ask a question. She placed her finger between her tongue and tooth near the floor of her mouth and told me that we she pushed there, her tooth hurt and she asked, "Is this normal?" I told her that I wanted to take an x-ray of her tooth just to make sure that I should be placing a crown on this tooth. The above x-ray shows a RED arrow indicating where the endodontist finished treatment of the tooth. The green arrow shows the actual end of the root which means that the endodontist that my patient decided to have treat her tooth did not get to and clean to the end of the tooth.

My patient's tooth was still infected with bacteria and I did not believe that it would be right or ethical to place an expensive crown on this tooth. I informed her that she needed to call the endodontist and have him complete the root canal successfully.

I have worked with Francisco Banchs and Allyson Byrne for almost 7 years and they ALWAYS get to the end of the tooth.

I would strongly suggest that if and when you need a root canal that you take my advice and see the best of the best. Some dentists will charge less than others but they know what their dentistry is worth. It is less costly to see the best in terms of time, discomfort and even money because paying to have something redone IS really expensive.

Remember that I truly CARE about my patients and I would like you to be treated by the specialists that I recommend.

( I thought that you would like to see the x-ray of the completed root canal by Root Canal Experts so I have added it to this post. Now you can see why many believe that Dr. Banchs is one of the best endodontists in the world.)

Interesting Article on Health Care

Yesterday's New York Times lead story was about the cost of health care. A relatively few medical specialists make a significant amount of money while the average doctor's income has remained the same for the last 20 years or has fallen.

One of the points in the article is that physicians do not like to discuss fees with patients about what cost will be. As most physicians who wrote in to comment about the article said: It doesn't matter what their fees are, the insurance or Medicare will pay them a fraction of what their fee is so their is little point in discussing fees. The other interesting point was the many of the MDs are salaried and are paid the same salary without any bonus for production.

I think that it is worth going online and reading the article with particular attention to  both patient and physician's comments.

Big Problems, Small Solutions

Many times a patient comes to our office complaining of an esthetic problem in their smile that has bothered them for many years but they assumed that the cost to correct the problem would cost a small fortune. As I have told you many times, it is my job to conserve natural tooth structure  so that when dentistry ultimately fails in a few decades, we will still have a sufficient amount of tooth structure to enable the tooth to survive. This means that I do very few crowns on live teeth (and my 401K hates me for this).

The black triangle in the front of the mouth can be one of the most displeasing and challenging problems for a patient. The simple and costly solution is to prepare 10 teeth for veneers but my patient did not NEED, did not WANT, nor could she afford to have 10 veneers.  All she wanted was to close the space between her front teeth which we were able to do in less than 2 hours.

The best clinical dentists have the talent, expertise and passion to solve this problem using direct resin bonded veneers which can be beautiful, conservative and with a minimal cost relative to porcelain veneers. I posted this case on my Facebook page and received high praise from my colleagues around the country.

Can your dentist do this?

Saratoga at Five Years

Today is the 5th anniversary of the opening of our dental practice in Saratoga Springs. At age 60, I started all over and went heavily into debt to continue doing what I love to do…fix teeth. Had I not moved from Cropseyville, NY I would be 'celebrating' the anniversary of my retirement.

I cannot tell you that moving was financially rewarding; the same number of people that accepted big cases in Cropseyville, accept them in Saratoga. It is just as challenging to attract new patients in Saratoga as in Cropseyville and lastly the same number of people in each place complain that fees are too high.

I will say that I am much more accepted and  involved in the dental community in Saratoga than I ever was in Troy.

The best part of having opened my new office was meeting Drs. Banchs and Byrne who are not only great colleagues but great friends. They confirmed my belief that the pursuit of excellence is challenging, possible and the right (but lonely) thing to do.

I am hoping that the next ten years in Saratoga will be healthy, productive and happy years.

"All Dentists Are the SAME"

There is something about dentists and dentistry that is different from almost all other professions and products.

If we talk about cars, houses, diamonds, stoves, basketball players, musicians etc, etc, etc, everyone in America knows that NOTHING is the same as anything else with respect to quality, cost and talent.

It is virtually indisputable that Michael Jordan and LeBron James are the finest basketball players that have ever lived. It is accepted that the Beatles, Billy Joel and Elton John are among the finest and most talented musicians every to perform in front of an audience.

And yet, on a daily basis someone will tell me that all dentists are the same. Are you kidding me?
How is it possible that reasonable people would agree that a $10 million home is far superior to a house costing $250,000 but the same people believe that all dentists are the same.

Does this mean that every dentist has the same level of passion for their work or that a dentist with 3500 hours of continuing education is the same as a dentist with 350 hours of study?

To say that 'all dentists are the same' is the same as saying that the world is flat when our real world observations and space exploration shows us that the world is round.

Can you tell how I feel when I hear the statement that 'all dentists are the same?"