Animal Dentistry

I have heard about this a little, but there is really a significant business in treating dental problems of animals. Kind of surprising! Some veterinary practices are specializing in dentistry for dogs and cats and other various animals. There are two links at the bottom to some of these.

Dentistry on the Wild Side:

Open Wide!------>

Interesting links:
Veterinary Dentistry Practice
Another good link

Designer Travel Toothbrush

I was watching the Home and Garden Network the other day. Now, that channel is not my usual fare, but I'm doing some remodeling around the house, and they have some cool programs on there for that kind of thing. For some reason while showing bathroom fixtures, faucets, sinks and the like, they showed this travel toothbrush. You evidently place toothpaste in there and it comes out through the brush bristles when you need it. I thought I'd never see a travel toothbrush go upscale. Well, if it promotes better oral hygiene, then I'm fine with that! Hey, you have to be on the cutting edge of style even in dentistry.

The 10 million dollar smile

America Ferrera, the actress that plays "Ugly Betty" has her smile insured with Lloyds of London:

Ugly Betty's Smile Insured for 10 Million Dollars

Hollywood

I just returned from a trip to Los Angeles. While there, I went to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On the way to the taping, I had to pull over to allow a fire engine to pass by. After driving over the mountain and into the Valley where Warner Brothers and NBC Studios are located, I saw a gigantic fire! This fire was quite close to the studio; in fact Jay mentioned it in his monologue. We were right in the middle of the action. The ash was in the air, on my car and even got a little on my jacket. Luckily no one hurt, but you can see, like many things in Hollywood, very dramatic. I like Los Angeles, but it's good to be home.

Rudolph and Hermie the Elf Update

Here is a copy of a previous post of mine regarding North Pole News with additional information at the end of the post:


News Flash! A soon to be dentist, Hermey (aka Herbie), an elf employed by Santa Claus at the North Pole, has saved Christmas. Evidently Santa’s trip was under threat of cancellation due to inclement weather. Santa was able to make the trip with the assistance of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The little known behind the scenes efforts of Hermey made it possible for Rudolph to be available for the trip. The abominable snowman (Bumble) had evidently captured Rudolph and friends. With Rudolph unconscious, Hermey organized a rescue mission with Yukon Cornelius. Upon discovery of the bumble’s real problem, (bad teeth), Hermey with his dental skills, rendered the Bumble a gentle giant. Anesthesia services were provided by Yukon by droping a big rock on the Bumble's head. Rudolph returned unharmed to help guide Santa’s Sleigh! Once again showing the triumph of Dentistry.

Merry Christmas!


*Followup information on these events may be found here: What Ever Happenned to Hermie the Elf?

Disney "Magic"

I just got back from a very nice Disney Cruise Line vacation on the Disney Magic, one of Disney's cruise ships. We went for the 7 day cruise. I was quite impressed with the organization of the entire operation. The entire staff (cast memebers as they call themselves), worked constantly to make our vacation a great one. The children were kept entertained and all of us were well fed. I felt a little guilty having so much fun while they worked so hard. I am impressed with their corporate style and management. Their methods might apply to most dental offices, especially pediatric offices. Some of the Disney "service guidelines" includes the following:

-Make eye contact and smile.
-Greet and welcome every Guest.
-Seek out Guest contact.
-Provide immediate service.
-Display appropriate body language.
-Preserve "Magical" Guest experience.
-Thank each and every Guest.

Most of us would certainly aspire to be that good at patient/parent relations. If we in the dental profession can emulate such service, I think we will be doing our patients a great service.

Mission Trip to Rio

Back in 1999, a group from my church went on a misson trip to Brazil. Most of the participants were engineers, houswives, NASA or other government employees, students, etc. I was the only medically related professional to go on this particular trip. Therefore, the objective was not dental or medical treatment. There are such trips organized specifically to serve and treat the poor in various countries while spreading the Gospel. Our particular trip had two main parts. We went to the Methodist camp for children located outside, far outside, Rio DeJaniero, Brazil. Later on, we went into the heart of the favelas (slums) in Rio to a church sponsored school.

Way out in the countryside we arrived at the camp. It was September, so it was basically Spring down there. The weather was great. We worked on construction of a new residence building for the kids who came to the camp from Rio. It was one of the few and perhaps only times they would travel outside the city. The building methods were these lightweight clay bricks connected with morter and a wire framework. Much of our time was spent mixing cement, bending wires, lots of digging in the mud, etc. I escaped some of that toil by setting up a mini-dental clinic in one of the other buildings. The kids from the city arrived at the camp about the time we left for Rio. However, children, and some adults, would arrive by foot from the surrounding villages to receive dental treatment. This was done with the help of Evangemed. I spent two days basically removing badly decayed teeth. The mobile van usually used for dental mission trips was temporarily out of commission, so I couldn't do fillings or travel out to the villages. The only thing we could do was extractions. Those of you who have gone on dental mission trips know that most of what you do is extractions anyway. A local physician and dentist from Evangemed were there to do most of the medical stuff. The dentist helped me with some of the dental treatment as well. One evening we went to a local Methodist church service. They do a lot of singing down there and we had to make our contrubution too. We were not prepared for that. I think they may think twice before asking those Americans to sing again! By the way I discovered Guarana down there. It's a ginger-ale like drink made from a bean they have there in the Amazon; really good!

After our camp experience, we went into the city to spend a couple of nights there. One night there was gunfire nearby. There were also some local pigs, yes pigs, that just roam around--kind of neat. One year a group of Americans had some things stolen from their dorms while they were gone. Word got around the favela and the items were returned right away. The locals knew we were there to help them and they rounded up the kids/teens that took the stuff and made them give it back. As a touristy thing, we went to a cute coastal town and took a boat to a nearby beach and had a great meal at a restaurant on Copacabana beach that evening. Also, we went way up a mountain to the Christ Statue-Amazing!

My first thought when I got back was how much "stuff" we have in the U.S. especially our huge houses. It's been a few years since I sent there, but I still miss the people, the strong coffee, the stunning scenery, but I have to say it's good to be home!


For more info in Mission Trips click here: Evangemed
For more info click home or here:Pediatric Dentistry

Pediatric Dental Office Decor

Dentists usually hope to have the "dream office" with great decor. If you look at a general dentist office, you will see rich colors, marble counters, adult colors, and modern lighting. It's all to make the patients feel at home, more comfortable. In upscale offices the decor is intended to reflect the high quality of patient care. In pediatric offices it's similar, but the idea is a little different. We do try and have modern everything, but the decor has to cater to the parent (usually mom) and the child. There are play areas, animal pictures, and bright colors. Most pediatric dental offices are well done and have these features to some extent, but usually nothing extreme. Some pediatric offices I have seen are really works of art. Our office (APDA) has a space theme to go along with our community's NASA heritage. We have one of the best around here, expecially our play area.

You'll see a lot of "open bay" type design in Pediatric and Orthodontic offices with lots of chairs in one big room. We have private operatories as well. If you want a tour of our offices, check out our main web site here APDA. Also, I will try and have more photos on the blog later.

I think the best decorated office I have seen is Dr. Lee Baker's
office in Augusta, Georgia. A long time ago, he visited us at APDA. I guess we scared him off because he decided to go to Alaska for a few years, Ha! After working there, he came back to the South and set up practice in Augusta. Take a look at his office. I have posted a few photos from his web site.

APDA Spring Carnival 2006

Click on this picture to load a VIDEO of our Annual APDA Spring Carnival. Sometimes it takes a while to download (a few minutes). You will need "Quicktime" to view the video*. The whole thing is about three minutes long. This is the first time I have posted video on this blog. I hope it goes well! We had a great turnout with lots of kids and adults in attendance. It may not look it, but those hot dogs were great. Oh, check out the Tooth Fairy! By the way, that's not me screaming out at the begining.
*Quicktime media player is available as a free download from www.Quicktime.com If you have iTunes, you probably already have it.

How I Lost My Retainer, Let Me Count The Ways

Some years ago, (longer than I care to remember), I was wearing my orthodontic retainer faithfully. I was cruising around town with my friends and suddenly realized I didn’t have my retainer. The last place I remember having it was at the Dairy Queen. Yes, I had placed it on the tray, covered it with a napkin or something and thrown it out! I went searching through the garbage, but never found it. This seems to be a common teenage problem. Some of our patients eventually lose their retainer at McDonalds, or at a ball game, or the dog ate it, etc.

Many dentists have told me all kinds of stories of how their patients lost their retainers. It seems to be just par for the course. So, let me know how you lost your retainer, because I know you probably did. Ha!

After you post your comments, you can check out this humorous book on how some kids lost their retainers: myretainer

APDA Spring Carnival

This year we are planning another Spring Carnival at our Huntsville office. We really had a great time at last year's celebration. We decided to have a festival/cookout- free for our patients, staff, friends, any really anyone who happened by. Our next Carnival is scheduled for May 13th. Come by our Huntsville office at 4001 Balmoral Drive in Huntsville. More info here: Spring Carnival 2006 info. Last year the doctors spent a lot of time cooking the hot dogs. This year I think we will have more of a chance to mingle and see everyone. I think the tooth fairy will be there again this year. See if you can find her in these photos from last year's carnival.

Narwhal "Unicorn" Whale Tooth

Check out this whale tooth. This, believe it or not, is the left central incisor of the male Narwhal whale. The right incisor is there, but remains small and does not protrude. It is interesting not only because is it beautiful and unusual, but because the structure is similar but different than regular teeth. Most teeth have the pulp chamber inside with a layer of odontoblasts or cells that produce the dentin. The dentin has many small tubules. The outer layer is the hard enamel. Well, the narwhal tooth does not have enamel, just a cementum covering like the root of a tooth. Some people think the tubules enable the whale to sense their environment. This whale's "tusk" looks like a unicorn doesn't it. Pretty cool huh?

Fun Stuff

Here are some links to posts relating to amusing or interesting topics.


Aspiring Dentist Saves Christmas! It's all about Hermey the elf from "Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer"

Rudolph and Hermie the Elf Update

What’s the tooth fairy’s going rate for baby teeth? Hey, I know you're just checking!

APDA Spring Carnival 2006 This is a VIDEO! Yes, my first on the site. Check it out.

Cute Overload! Just a bunch of Cute Photos.

Dinosaur Teeth! Self Explanatory.

Narwhal "Unicorn" Whale Tooth A whale with a very long tooth.


If you want more, go back to the home page or click here:Pediatric Dentistry

Orthodontic Fashion

Most teenagers, and most adults for that matter, are really occupied with their appearance. One of the main reasons for getting braces is to improve one's appearance, but who actually wants to wear braces for two years or so? Those metal braces, yuck. Well, today there are some options that were not available when we were kids. First, braces are made up of brackets and/or bands that attach to the teeth. Then there is a wire of some sort that goes around the arch connected to the brackets in some manner. In the past you had to place a metal band around each tooth. Now there are bonded brackets, which are getting smaller and brackets that need no attachment device to connect the wire. The wire usually is attached by a small wire ligature or an "O ring" type alastic. These come in many colors and usually must be replaced monthly. Some kids pick out colors to make a fashion statement. There will be pink, purple, orange, or even black, team colors?, holiday expressions? You see all kinds of things. There are even gold brackets and wires. It looks pretty sharp actually. That's some bling bling.









For those who are concerned about even that, there are clear (really slightly opaque) ceramic brackets. Most wires are still silver, but there are some coated wires.







Now there is this thing called "Invisilign". There is also a similar product called "Orthoclear". That's great, but it has its limitations. It is often more expensive. It is not for growing patients---that means for the most part adults only. Invisilign is also only for what I would call mild crowding. The cases with moderate to severe crowding still require traditional braces.

So, whatever is you taste.... Fashion is a fickle thing. I read recently that teenagers in Thailand were getting phony braces placed just for a fashion statement, even though their teeth were fine. (That's risky and against the law by the way). More on braces here:When is the Best Time to to Start Braces?

Dinosaur Teeth!

These are Megalodon shark teeth. That was a dinosaur shark that lived millions of years ago. These fossolized teeth can be 4 or even 6 inches long. Some are even larger than that. Megalodon sharks lived in the Miocene-Pliocene Epochs (appx 24 million to 2 million years ago). I actually have one of these fossil teeth that's 5 inches in length. I'd like to collect more dinosaur teeth with time. There are many types available. They tend to fossilize well and last the test of time.



















You can also see a T. Rex tooth here. Most are just the crown without the root. Here also is a replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth. This replica wih root is 11 inches long. With that kind off root, you can imaging the torque it could sustain when in use. An actual tooth is shown without the root. Check out the serrations on the edge. T. rex lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 85 million to 65 million years ago.

Cute Overload!

I just had to post these. My kids thought these were so cute!
Hey, I can't blog about dentistry all the time.






Photos courtesy of Cute Overload.

Aspiring Dentist Saves Christmas!

News Flash! A soon to be dentist, Hermey (aka Herbie), an elf employed by Santa Claus at the North Pole, has saved Christmas. Evidently Santa’s trip was under threat of cancellation due to inclement weather. Santa was able to make the trip with the assistance of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The little known behind the scenes efforts of Hermey made it possible for Rudolph to be available for the trip. The abominable snowman (Bumble) had evidently captured Rudolph and friends. With Rudolph unconscious, Hermey organized a rescue mission with Yukon Cornelius. Upon discovery of the bumble’s real problem, (bad teeth), Hermey with his dental skills, rendered the Bumble a gentle giant. Anesthesia services were provided by Yukon by droping a big rock on the Bumble's head. Rudolph returned unharmed to help guide Santa’s Sleigh! Once again showing the triumph of Dentistry.

Merry Christmas!

What’s the tooth fairy’s going rate for baby teeth?

Well, I ask kids all the time what happened to their lost tooth. Most put it under the pillow to get some kind of monetary surprise. Most kids report in the one to five dollar range. (The average is probably one or two dollars with five dollars being common for the first one). I often tell them I used to get 35 cents! Well, one time the “tooth fairy” told me it was kind of dark in there. She placed a five dollar bill under the pillow and retrieved the precious tooth. The next day, it turns out it was so dark, the tooth fairy accidentally had left a $50 bill! That’s the most I have heard so far. Ha..Ha..

Update: I just talked to Dr. Butler this morning (Monday, November 21). He said a $100 bill, which was thought to be a $1 bill, was the most so far he has heard! Wow, the tooth fairy needs some night vision goggles.