So Glad To Be Here

Today I want to share a communication I got from one of my colleagues on the Academy of Comprehensive Esthetics forum.  June is not a dentist.  She is a Ph.D. who focuses on development and performance.  She's very smart.

So here's a Guest Blog from June Darling.

And as always, you can read my blog at our website.

Enjoy!

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So Glad to Be Here

Perched in her high chair, the toddler seemed extremely thoughtful. She must have something big on her mind. As a matter of fact she did, because when her mother asked her what she was thinking about, she said, "I'm thinking about my pancakes."

That thought seemed all too appropriate, perfectly sensible, and somehow funny since she was at that very moment eating her pancakes. Why did it seem so humorous?

Quite often we aren’t thinking about what we’re actually experiencing. The toddler was thoughtfully focused on her pancakes, being right here, right now, in the present – a sound, practical, and unusual way for many people between the ages of four and ninety-four to live (The young and the old are often the best practitioners of what some call “being present.”)

Many of us spend much of our time hovering around somewhere outside our present experience. We may be worrying about something bad which could happen in the future or feeling depressed about something that’s already happened. We are quite unaware of what is actually happening now.

We are often so unaware of what is going on with us and around us at this particular moment that we live our present on auto-pilot. That happens to me.

A number of years ago I was on my way to work. I parked my car. When I started to get out, I realized I was not in the parking lot of my present workplace, but rather in place I had worked previously.

Test yourself. How many of these “unpresent” situations or similar ones are happening to you?

I experience some emotion and may not be conscious of it until some time later.

I break or spill things because of carelessness, not paying attention, or thinking of something else.

I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way.

I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time.

I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I am doing right now to get there.

I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time.

I snack without being aware that I’m eating.

If you’re like I am. A good dose (or two) of “being fully present” would be useful.

According to psychologists, in addition to helping us get where we want to go, being present helps us feel healthy, happy, and aware. It's an antidote for stress and worry (and can also improve our relationships and help us perform better).

I'm not suggesting that we live every moment in the present (though some people do recommend that), but for most of us a bit more thinking about our pancakes, when we are in fact eating our pancakes, could make for more enjoyment of our pancakes – that is… our lives.

This month let’s use the toddlers' and old folks' cure for anxiety, depression, and unhappiness (which I am personally calling “thinking about my pancakes”) by being more present - right here, right now. We won’t be upset if we notice that our attention has skittered off. We won’t beat ourselves up if we find ourselves in the past, the future, or our old parking lots. We’ll just smile and gently bring ourselves home.

Our life is an experience we don’t want to miss.

How might being “more present” help you move up To The Good Life?

June Darling, Ph.D.
President of Summit Group Resources, An Executive and Personal Coaching Company specializing in organizational and personal development, peak performance, and happiness.

Follow June on Twitter

Migraines and the NTI

Is this you?

We can help.

Over 29 million Americans suffer from migraines. And some dentists are trained to deal with them

We are one of them.

We can design and create an amazing little piece of plastic that fits between your front teeth that can dramatically reduce or even eliminate your migraine symptoms.

It's called the NTI-tss.  The NTI-tss is an FDA approved migraine prevention option. It is a small nightguard that comfortably fits over your four front teeth. It's patented design keeps your canine and back teeth apart. This separation minimizes the intensity of your nighttime clenching forces.

Check it for yourself

To demonstrate how the NTI-tss works, simply hold the muscles of your temples (like the woman in the photo) while biting down on a pencil with only the back teeth. The temporal muscles will bulge and intensely contract. But  when you bite down on a pencil with only the front teeth, the temporal muscles remain relaxed.  There is a reflex (it is actually called the "Nociceptive Trigeminal Inhibition" reflex) that prevents hard contraction of the biting muscles when only the front teeth touch.

Thank you, Dr. Boyd

The NTI-tss therapeutic protocol was developed by a California dentist, James Boyd, DDS. Having suffered chronic, daily headaches and frequent migraine attacks for 12 years, Dr. Boyd developed the protocol to rid him of pain. He is now an associate with The Headache Center Neurology clinic in Encinitas, CA. He is something of a genius.

There's a neat website about this at www.TheHeadacheRemedy.com.  And you can check out our website page on this at http://www.drsteveross.com/migraine-tmj-facial-pain.html.

Don't live with pain. Call (845-297-62063) or send e-mail (DrSteveRoss@aol.com) and we will be glad to evaluate you.  We can help! 

Fixing Cavities - The Old Way and the New Way

One of the most common questions asked in our practice concerns our choice of the material that we use to repair cavities in teeth.

Amalgam: The old stuff (we don't use this)

Silver-mercury (amalgam) fillings were introduced to dentistry over 100 years ago. At the time, this mixture of silver and mercury was considered a miracle material (of course, at that time, so was indoor plumbing).

Is it safe?

Today, amalgam fillings are made of a mixture of silver/zinc/tin/copper alloy and mercury. And as of today the American Dental Association believes that amalgam is a safe and effective material for use in the human mouth. They are entitled to their opinion. Here is my personal opinion about amalgam:

It is possible that the mercury in amalgam is not harmful to us. However, mercury is a toxic substance and according to the EPA, must be disposed of in a Toxic Waste Disposal Site. In my opinion, anything that must be disposed of in a Toxic Waste Disposal Site should maybe not be placed in our mouths. 

But this may simply be an over-cautious position on my part. I do not actually know what the long term outcome of on-going research will be. I do know that some European countries and a couple of states in the U.S. have regulated amalgam use, mostly because of environmental contamination reasons. Some European countries have banned the use of amalgam in pregnant women and young children.

I want to be clear on this. I have not used amalgam since April of 1982. And I'm not going to use it again. And the reason has nothing to do with its safety or non-safety. The jury may still be out on that.

So what do I like?

The reason I do not use amalgam is that, in my opinion, it is a poor restorative material compared to newer materials we have now. Like everything else, improvements have been constant over the last 100 years. It took science until the 70’s to develop an alternative to amalgam, and into the 2000s to improve it to its current excellent level.

The material I favor and use as my first choice is bonded composite resin. This material is extremely biocompatible and flexes and wears like natural teeth. A silver-mercury restoration has no bond to tooth structure. Expansion and contraction of amalgam over the years causes cracks in teeth and eventually, many teeth will fracture. You may have had this happen to you, even when you were eating something soft. Amalgam tends to leak after five or ten years, causing recurrent decay. Amalgam corrodes and turns black.


M.I.D.
Another reason I like to use bonded resin is because I am a strong proponent of what dentists call Minimally Invasive Dentistry.  Those of us who have this philosophy believe that as much natural tooth structure as possible should be preserved when restoring teeth to good form and function.  You would think that every dentist would believe this, but they don't.  It is easier to drill away teeth and make crowns than to artfully sculpt and bond modern resins onto the natural tooth. It takes time, skill and care.  But it's better for the tooth and that's what matters to me.  Crowns are very appropriate in many situations, but not as often as many dentists use them. I prefer to preserve if possible. The easy way is not always the best way.

I also restore teeth with various types of wonderful ceramic materials (usually called porcelain) and the always terrific old standby, gold.  You can use these in minimally invasive ways also.

When aging amalgam restorations are replaced by bonded composite resin or ceramic restorations, the strength of the tooth is improved and underlying tooth structure is sealed.

Plus, of course, composite resin and ceramic restorations are tooth colored and are so much more attractive and natural looking than metal fillings.

Let's talk about cost

Now let me talk with you about the economics of composite resin. Composite resin and ceramic restorations are more technique sensitive and are more time consuming to place. Special care must be exercised to operate in a controlled environment that can be moist when desired and dry when desired. These bonded restorations are more sensitive to moisture control procedures than amalgam. When placing these fillings, we use bonding agents to seal the dentin against bacterial infiltration and protect the dental pulp from irritation. As a result of this necessary expertise and the increased time associated with composite and ceramic placement, the cost of restoring teeth is a little higher than with amalgam.

Cost is not the same as value

Teeth matter.  They deserve the best chance for lifetime function, comfort and good appearance.  Replacing teeth is much more costly than preserving them. We opt for the best value for our patients.

You have insurance?  That's good!  But...

Insurance companies are slow to embrace newer techniques, especially when it could cost them money to provide state-of-the-art care to their insured. Many insurance companies will only cover the cheapest material to restore teeth. Yup, that’s amalgam, and many will pay their amalgam benefit even when composite resin or ceramic materials are used. Yes, they are allowed to do that. That should irritate you, in my opinion.

My patients have mostly learned about the ways insurance carriers pay benefits. For example, they have learned not to be fooled by the “usual and customary fee” jive. They know that this is bogus and is intended to drive a wedge between patient and doctor. If you are concerned about anything you read in an Explanation of Benefits you receive, just call us. We’ll explain it with straight, honest talk. You don't have to be my patient to get advice; we'll be glad to help anyone.

The bottom line

Composite resin, porcelain and gold are wonderful, modern, state-of-the-art beautiful materials we use to help you have the strong, functional teeth and great smile you have always wanted.

Lose Your Teeth, Lose Your Mind

Ever have a senior moment? Then you might be missing some teeth, too.

I'm sharing today a remarkable piece of research published by Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine just a few days ago (yes, I actually do read this stuff).

We know that the connection between dental disease and system diseases are becoming better understood every day. We now know that there is a correlation between periodontal disease and heart disease, pancreatic and maybe other cancers, low birth weight babies and a bunch of other problems.

But this one is really startling. Read the article for yourself. Let me know what you think about this. If it makes you worry, that's not a bad thing, really. Worry is sometimes the first step to doing something important for yourself. I'd love to help you with that. All it takes is a phone call or e-mail.

Here's the article. It will also be available on our website at Dr.SteveRoss.com (click on the section called Blog):

April 30, 2010

Researchers at Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) link tooth loss and periodontal disease to cognitive decline in one of the largest and longest prospective studies on the topic to date, released in this month’s issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Dr. Elizabeth Krall Kaye looked for patterns in dental records from 1970 to 1973 to determine if periodontal disease and tooth loss predicted whether people did well or poorly on cognitive tests. She found that for each tooth lost per decade, the risk of doing poorly increased approximately eight to 10 percent.

More cavities usually meant lower cognition too. People with no tooth loss tended to do better on the tests.

Dr. Kaye says inflammation is a possible cause, noting that other studies found higher levels of inflammation markers in people with Alzheimer’s. “Periodontal disease and caries are infectious diseases that introduce inflammatory proteins into the blood,” she says. “There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence that inflammation raises your risk of cognitive decline and it could be that gum inflammation is one of the sources.”

The men studied—veterans living in the Boston metropolitan area—enrolled in the VA Dental Longitudinal Study in the late 1960s and early 70s and came back for medical, dental, and cognitive exams, which started in 1993, every three years.

Participants took two cognitive tests. The first, the Mini-Mental State Examination, tests orientation, attention, calculation, recall, language, and motor skills. The second, a spatial copying test, asks participants to copy nine geometric designs ranging from easy to complex.

“The ability to copy is one of the things people lose as they lose cognitive ability,” Dr. Kaye says.

Physicians might want to think about the dental health of their patients who test poorly, according to Dr. Kaye. “The findings should also give dentists yet another reason to prevent tooth loss and periodontal disease and encourage patients to do as much as they can to prevent dental disease,” she says.

Dental School faculty Drs. Kaye, Raul I. Garcia, Avron Spiro, III, and Thomas Dietrich; dental student Aileen Valencia, and Boston University School of Medicine nutrition student Nivine Baba worked on the study, which is a group effort among GSDM, the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston University School of Public Health, and the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry in the United Kingdom.