Here's Joan!

Hi. My name is Joan and I am the Patient Care Coordinator for Dr. Ross. Dr. Ross likes to tell our patients that I'm in charge of everything here that doesn't get wet.

Dr. Ross thought our patients would like to know more about who I am when I’m not in the office helping them.

So here goes.

What do I do when I’m not in the office doing what I do here for you? I follow a lifelong passion.

After helping people throughout my nursing career (I'm a Registered Nurse) and with Dr. Ross here at our office, my next biggest passion is music. I sang in children and youth choir in Church, was allowed into the adult choir at age thirteen (probably because my voice was too tiny at that time to do any harm and I loved the Alto part), sang in high school choirs and played piano for the high school choir in my Senior year. Then nursing school and my Bachelor's and Master's degrees from University of Pennsylvania. That tough schedule got in the way of my singing but I never lost my connection to music. In 1979, I was watching the Phil Donahue Show and saw the Penna-Fores, an international champion Sweet Adelines quartet, and thought, hey, I wanna do that.

Well, I did end up as a member of both Sweet Adelines International and Harmony, Inc., two women’s barbershop harmony organizations. I have sung in three Sweet Adelines choruses and one Harmony Inc. chorus. One of the Sweet Adelines choruses won the International Championship three times. It's hard to describe the feeling when they hang a gold medal around your neck in front of 12,000 screaming, cheering people. That's a thrill you never forget.

Here I am in full Lion King Costume and makeup for a performance (2nd from right)


And I have been in four quartets (but not at the International Championship level).


My most recent chorus is Harmony Celebration Chorus, which was formerly Ramapo Valley Chorus (the one that won the championships). When our great Director Renee Craig retired, the chorus retired the chorus’s name in her honor and re-invented ourselves with a new name. We have a wonderful Director named Scott Brannon who in less than two years helped us back to the Greater New York Regional Chorus Championship and we are going to compete at the International Chorus Contest in October 2010.


I sing Baritone, which is the Barbershop harmony world’s name for a harmony part that isn’t the highest (Tenor) and isn’t the lowest (Bass) and sometimes is above the melody part (Lead) and sometimes is below the melody part. I love it because it is the smart part and is what helps form the special close harmony four-part chord that is the special sound of Barbershop Harmony rather than the sound of glee club singing.

I judged Barbershop Contests for 17 years. That includes my time training to become a Certified Judge plus 15 years of active judging. I coached performance presentations for both women's organizations and also was part of the first group of women judges allowed to judge at contests for the men’s Barbershop Harmony Society. I taught at music schools for all three organizations, and I represented Harmony Inc. as their International Education Services Coordinator for seven years.

So when I wasn’t here in the office where I am a familiar helping face, I have had more than plenty to do. If you hear me around the office humming a tune, you’ll know that the music is in me all the time and sometimes it just has to pop out!

Want help with your teeth or your smile? Call me. I'll see that you get it.

All The Best To You and Yours!

2010 is almost here!

Here's my hope that your holiday is filled with joy, and that the coming year overflows with all the good things in life.

I wish you all the very best for 2010.

Dr. Steve Ross

Never Have A Loose Lower Denture Again. Mini Dental Implants To The Rescue

I wrote this blog today because there are still lots of people who have lost their teeth and are using dentures. There are approximately 50,000,000 people in the United States who are "edentulous" (literally meaning lacking teeth. Many suffer discomfort as a result of loose or ill-fitting dentures. Many denture wearers simply withdraw from any type of social engagement as a result of having to wear them. Moreover, it's not uncommon for family members to complain about a denture wearer's disagreeable breath as a result of food being trapped and decaying under their denture prosthesis.

I know this is unpleasant and I apologize, but it's important to know.

Wearing and using dentures is not a character defect or a cause for embarrassment. A denture is a prosthesis – a body part replacement. People lose body parts through accidents, disease and other unfortunate facts of life. And prosthetics is the science of replacing the lost structures and function and restoring quality of life.

Dentistry replaces lost and missing teeth all the time. We do it pretty well, actually.

But there is one type of dental prosthesis that is still not where we and our patients would like it to be. And that is the case of the complete lower denture.

When a person loses all their lower teeth, the denture for that has been a problem for many, many denture patients. There are a lot of reasons why. They have to do with the shape and mobility of the lower jaw, the presence of the tongue and the narrowness of the lower gum ridge.

But things have gotten tremendously better. Because now we can make lower dentures stay in place, be comfortable and stable and that ma

kes lower denture patients very, very happy.

How, you ask? I'll tell you how.

Mini Dental Implants, that's how.

A mini dental implant consists of a miniature titanium implant that acts like the root of a tooth and a retaining device that is incorporated into the base of the denture, The head of the implant is shaped like a ball and the retaining device acts like a socket for the ball. The retaining device grips the ball and holds the denture firmly on the implant. The denture gently rests on the gum tissue, but the ball/implant prevents the denture from pressing hard into the gum tissue. The implant fixtures allow for micro-mobility while resisting natural lifting forces.

Having trouble visualizing how it works? I think a picture will help. Here's one.

Successful placement of Mini Dental Implants addresses and solves all the social and practical problems. Denture patients all over the world have experienced relief from loose or ill-fitting dentures from doctors who are trained to place these implants.

In our office the entire procedure of placing four Mini Dental Implants and the retaining devices into a denture that otherwise fits well takes about two easy hours. The patient walks right out with a stabilized prosthesis.

There is none of the surgery associated with conventional dental implants. No incision is made in the gum and only a local anesthetic is used. It is NOT a traumatic procedure. Most patients are absolutely amazed how easy it was.

If you have a lower denture and would like it to be tight, functional and comfortable, Mini Dental Implants are for you. We can help.

Our patients know how to call us. But if you are not a patient of our office, that's OK. We'll be glad to answer questions and help in any way. It's easy. Send us an e-mail at DrSteveRoss@aol.com and tell us what's on your mind. We will respond to you promptly. Don't be shy.

Don't suffer with a loose lower denture anymore. You deserve better.

Recipes, Anyone? We Want Your Recipes.

We are putting together a looseleaf notebook for our reception room and we will call it

"Recipes From Our Patients".

Many of our patients love to cook. We got to thinking that it would be terrific if we could share some of their best recipes with our whole patient family.

We'll print your recipe up real nice and put your name on top. If someone wants a copy, we'll make a copy to give to that person. Your recipe will then make others happy.

This is good karma and also a nice thing to do.

So if you have a favorite recipe we welcome your sending it in by e-mail, fax, computer file, even snail mail.

The first 50 patients who send a favorite recipe will receive a Dr. Steve Ross' World Famous and Highly Prized Patient Mug the next time he or she walks through our door.

Here's where to send your recipe:

e-mail: DrSteveRoss@aol.com

Fax: 845-297-1481

Snail Mail:1576 Route Nine, Suite 12, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

If you care, you share! So let's hear from you.

Aha! Hah Hah! Ahh!

A visit to your dentist means many things to people.

But my office team and I want every patient's appointment to contain these three things:

Aha! Hah Hah! Ahh!

Let's talk about them.

Aha!

My dictionary defines Aha! as an exclamation expressing, by different intonations, triumph or surprise. For us, this means that every visit should bring a learning experience to our patients. We want our patients to find something out. It might be great news, such as "You are amazingly healthy. It's terrific to see how well you've healed. You're doing a good job taking care of yourself." Or maybe it's not so great, like "Well, you have developed a little gum inflammation and you're beginning to lose some supporting bone around the roots of your teeth. But don't worry, because we have completely effective ways of stopping that, so you're gonna be OK." Or it could be something like "Did you know that chewing certain types of gum can actually prevent cavities? No, really. Chewing gum that contains xylitol is decay-preventive."

These are all examples of Aha! And a dental appointment should always provide learning. Because a Smart Patient is better able to have teeth he really likes all throughout his life. Knowledge is power. A dental office should be a place of education.

Hah Hah!

Here's a revolutionary idea: A dental office should be a place where you have fun. "What?", you say. I'm not kidding. Laughter feels good. Laughter makes everything better. Laughter is a great way to promote health. Who doesn't like to laugh? You should expect your dentist and his team to take their work very seriously, because it impacts on people. But taking your work seriously doesn't mean taking yourself so seriously. Life is tough enough without your dental office making it grimmer. If your dentist and his team doesn't look and sound like they're having fun, and if you are not having fun there, you should go somewhere else. Dentistry is a high tech thing, but it should also be high touch. One of my colleagues does magic in his office. What fun! We like to tell funny stories and jokes. We fool around a little. Laughter, love and a little Hah Hah! silliness provide a human touch and that goes a long way to making a dental office a fun place to visit.

Ahh!

This is what you say when something feels good. Good news. Relief. Pleasure. A great new smile. A very comfortable appointment that surprised you with how easy it was. A dental office should want you to feel an Ahh! at your visits. Attention to your comfort is important. A comfortable chair, great anesthetics that produce painless dentistry, lip balm for your lips, a soft touch, a hand on your shoulder if you're tense, appreciation spoken out loud for how great a patient you are, a phone call later that day or the next day to find out how you are doing – all these things and lots more create an Ahh! that makes your dental visit a great experience.

Aha! Hah Hah! Ahh! Part of what makes a great dental office great.

Check to see at your next visit if you're getting them.