There are Good People out there

While My son and I were in San Diego a  few weekes ago for Comic Con International I wrote a few blog articles.  Our internet access was intermittent so they will be posted over the next week or two:

What are the odds of losing something in place crowded with 130,000 people and being able to find it?  Better yet have someone else find it and turn it in to the lost and found? And what if this item is a highly sought after commodity.

On our first night here in San Diego Comic Con, we made a purchase that was awkward to carry, so we decided to bring it back to our hotel room and then return to the convention floor.  Our hotel is a few blocks away but we hoofed it in order to get back before the con closed for the night.   While in our room, my son noticed that his ID credentials were missing from the lanyard around his neck.

Because of the sheer volume of people, you can't even enter the convention center building without your credentials.  We rushed back to the convention center, my son waited outside the building and I tried to retrace our path.  When that proved to be a dead end, I was directed to the lost and found.  Now we all know that lost things rarely wind up in the lost and found, but it was worth a try, if nothing else they could direct us how to possibly get him new credentials.

I have failed to mention the value of the credentials, SDCC is sold out a year in advance, passes go for $175.00 (the monetary value is not the issue), and photo ID is required to pick up your passes along with a secure individual bar code that was issued several months ago.  To the uninitiated it is difficult to understand, but these tags are the holy grail of geekdom.  They allow you access to a world unlike any other, one they consider home.

Alas there are good people about there.  I went to the lost and found, told them that my son had lost his credentials, they asked me his name.  They had his badge, someone had turned it in, YAY!!!  But they wouldn't give it to me.  He would have to show ID in order to get it back, ah, here is the catch 22, without his badge he can't get into the building and without getting in to the building how can he show them his ID?  One of the staffers was nice enough to walk to the door where he was to check his driver’s license and give him back his credentials.

We are back in, thank you kind stranger for returning this valuable commodity.

A Day in the (Skate) Park

A Day in the (Skate) Park

Dental x-rays, To Do or Not To Do, That is the Question

I'm sure by now you have all heard the news, Dental x-rays cause brain tumors...we are sure that you are all concerned about your health and safety.  I want to assure you that we too are concerned with your health and safety, that is why we do what we do.  We believe that a healthy smile brings a healthy life.

Let me take a moment and help you better understand the brief glimpse of flawed information that the media is capitalizing upon.

Dental x-rays are used to diagnosis and determine necessary treatment of dental conditions. We use them to evaluate and monitor problems such as decay and periodontal disease.

Without x-rays, we are unable to see the true extent of a potential problem, we are literally only seeing the tip of the iceberg.   X-rays allow us to check for decay between teeth, periodontal disease, and any bone irregularities, without them our hands are tied and we are not delivering the BEST possible treatment.  In our office, we take digital x-rays, which use up to 80% less radiation than the traditional x-ray films used in the past.

The epidemiological (solely a statistical study, not a scientific analysis) study linking brain tumors to dental x-rays is flawed in a several areas presented below are a few:

There is no scientific study. In this study, patients were asked to remember their history of x-rays, but their answers were not verified by their dental records, or even insurance records. In our office, many patients do not always remember correctly when their last dental visit was, let alone exactly what type of x-rays were taken.  It is simply one of those things that we file as something we did, you might remember your last visit 6 months ago but do you truly remember what happened at the prior 3 or 4, or 20?We take x-rays according to the recommended ADA guidelines. 

This study discusses exposure with film x-rays which were used in dentistry in the past, few offices still use standard film x-rays. Digital x-rays are used in many offices today, and they reduce radiation exposure by up to 80%.  At Griswold Dental Associates we have been using digital technology  for all x-rays, for the past few years.

There are inconsistencies in the data. The study found a link with 2 bitewing x-rays, but no link with the 16 film full mouth series. If 2 x-rays show a link to meningiomas, logically, wouldn’t 16 x-rays show a much greater link?   the lack of association with full mouth x-rays led one expert  to question the connection.

"They found a small risk (from) a pair of bitewings, but not from a full mouth series, which is multiple bitewings.  That inconsistency is impossible to understand to me," said Dr. Alan Lurie, president of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.

The benign tumor being associated is a meningioma, which is found in 3 out of every 100,000 people. The way to diagnose this tumor is by a CT scan (which uses radiation similar to dental x-rays) or by MRI.

Radiation exposure: measured in Sv (sieverts)(millisieverts = 1/1000 sievert)

Chest x-ray Computed Tomography (CT scan)    6900Sv
Natural Radiation per year                                    2400Sv
Round trip Flight from Tokyo to New York           200Sv
Chest x-ray                                                                50Sv
4 digital x-rays                                                    .013mSv  (.000013Sv)
full mouth series of x-rays                                  .180mSv  (.00018Sv)


When dental x-rays are recommended in our office please ask why, that is your right.  We will explain their importance, all our treatment is guided by each patient's individual needs.

Remember should you refuse xrays, this would not allow your dentist to accurately diagnose and treat your dental problems. If you are concerned due to this recent report on dental x-rays, please be sure you speak to us. 


sources:
Keio University
www.doctorspiller.com/dental
www.webmd.com
www.reuters.com

 

 

As the World turns… oh wait that’s been cancelled.

As the World turns… oh wait that’s been cancelled.

The original draft of this blog was dealing with the uses of social media, and the ways we all connect with each other.  I was going to discuss how our Social Media guru and I turned my mild mannered Office Manager into the tweeting Queen.  But I have a newer focus now.

Last week on my day off, before the work day was even beginning.  I received a phone call from one of my hygienists, “Terry’s(my Office Manager)  been in an accident, we need you to come to the office.”

Not to worry, Terry is fine.  While waiting to make a left turn into our office parking lot her car was rear ended, crushing the trunk practically into the back seat.  While she was being taken off in the ambulance I was on my way to the office.  What does this have to do with social media and technology communication; I promise I’ll get there.

Using her mobile phone, Terry called her husband and he arrived quickly, right after the accident.  Phones were used to call 911.  My hygienist used her mobile phone to call my mobile phone since we are all programmed into each other.  She could have texted but she knows that I would have called and asked questions so better to talk. 

Via Facebook I received a message from Terry’s sister that she was on her way to meet them at the ER, also by means of Facebook, she kept me up to date on what was happening.  I used her Facebook chat information to keep Terry’s daughter, who lives in Maine, current as to what was occurring by instant messaging her on Facebook.

As she was being released from the hospital, Terry was texting me as to her conditions and I was forwarding the information verbally within the office and a short notice on our office Facebook page.  Later in the day I noticed on Twitter, multiple conversations between Terry and her daughter in regards to what was happening.

How did we keep each other in the loop prior to all this technology?  Are we communicating more or less because of the technology?  I would say more, but will the next generation know how to speak or just type?  Social media and communication works.

Oh and did I mention that they did their new car research online.

Just Sayin’

My Animoto Video

My Animoto Video

Bridal Show 2012 Mohegan Sun

My Animoto Video

Help fight the Decay Ninja

Decay is like a ninja, you may not see a ninja coming but you will know when he gets there.  Most of the decay we see in dentistry begins in between the teeth.  Food gets trapped in the small spaces in between our teeth.  If you are like most Americans you only floss the week before and the week after your hygiene visits.

When food is not removed from these areas decay begins.  We're great clinicians and technicians in our office but we still haven’t developed x-ray vision.  We can only see the cheek, side tongue side and biting surface of teeth with our eyes.  We can’t see that ninja-like decay laying in wait where your teeth touch each other.

It is waiting, slowly creeping closer and closer to the nerve of your tooth, undetected….then BOOM!

Ninja star to the nerve, a crushing blow, taking you down with little effort and a lot of effectiveness.  All that can be avoided by taking bitewing x-rays once a year.  A radiograph is like daytime to a ninja, there's no hiding from my super detection rays.  Radiographs taken once a year can reveal decay when its small.  If we can catch it when its small we can usually restore the tooth with a tooth colored filling.  The longer it hides in the tooth the more it's destroying tooth structure and eventually can cause major damage.  Treatment then becomes more complicated.  Your tooth could need anything from a simple onlay to a root canal or a crown (cap) or even extraction(if you let it go too far). 

Please, help us, help you

Thank you to Nicole McCracken, one of my Treatment Coordinators, for writing this blog, I simply edited it.

Just Sayin'... let 2012 be the year we stop the Ninja



Don't go changing, why not?

As a new year begins, we all look back and reflect on the year that has passed.  What we need to do is use it as a learning experience to move forward into the future.  We can't stand still, change is what makes the world move . An old native American saying is that you can never step in the same river twice, it is always in perpetual motion. Constantly changing.

Sorry, Billy Joel.

Don't go changing, to try and please me,
You never let me down before,

Without change, where would we be?  The phone would never have been invented, nor the cell phone.  The technology with which I am writing this would still be a cave drawing.

Don't go trying, some new fashion,
Don't change the colour of your hair

Go for it, try a new fashion.  It may not work for you, but you won't know til you try.  Hair grows back, constantly changing, so take a chance, change the color, what do you have to lose.

I don't want clever, conversation,
I never want to work that hard,
I just want someone, that I can talk to,
I want you just the way you are.

Be yourself and you will evolve into the person you want to be.  Who you are comes from deep within you.  When my daughter was little and skating, people would say that she looked so happy, and she would say, I forgot to smile.  I always told her that a smile starts deep down in your belly and works its way out, the position of your teeth doesn't matter.  (believe it or not this advice came from dad the dentist)

To paraphrase:

Don't stop changing, try and please yourself

You'll never let you down

Just Sayin'...Happy New Year