How To Get Straight A’s in College
This isn’t a joke and I can help if you seriously want to get straight A’s. But here’s the deal. If you decide not to follow my advice, and you don’t get straight A’s you will not whine or complain. You will admit to yourself and others that you chose the grades you got. Deal? […]
Orthodontics and Periodontal Disease
Does having periodontal disease mean I can’t or shouldn’t have braces to straighten my teeth? Periodontal disease, when active, results in bone loss around teeth. Orthodontics involves moving teeth through bone to relocate them in better places for both appearance and function. The process of moving teeth activates bone cells to remove bone in front […]
How to Succeed in Periodontal Therapy Part 5
Frankly, I have no illusion that I can single handedly change the quality and nature of periodontal therapy in every dental office in the world – at least not over night. There will come a day when dentists and dental hygienists train patients in ways very similar to how they perform clinical procedures today, because […]
The Therapeutic Importance of Hope
Hope propels therapy forward. Despair stops it cold. Dentists rob patients of hope when they want to project an inflated level of certainty. When dentists “know” ahead of time how everything is going to turn out, whether good or bad, the candle of hope is snuffed out. Yes, even assuring patients that everything will be […]
Two Competing Business Models in Dentistry
I had an interesting experience yesterday. A former patient from years ago came to see me. As sometimes happens she did not stay the course and slipped on making sure she was seeing dentists regularly. Now over five years later she returns with one of her upper central incisors slowly avulsing. She knows it needs […]
How to Succeed in Periodontal Therapy Part 4
Where Are We? It should be obvious by now that this presentation is not a “best practices” consensus on the subject of periodontal therapy. Rather it is my personal, but experienced advice on what I consider the best way for dentists to treat and manage chronic periodontitis. I also believe that reading and implementing some […]
How to Succeed in Periodontal Therapy Part 3
The Power of Story There are successful dental practices alongside unsuccessful dental practices. Each one of them provides similar services and has similar patients, yet some succeed and others do not. So what’s the difference? It’s really very simple. It’s explained in a story. Would you like to hear it? It’s every dentist’s story and […]
Rest Versus Laziness
What’s the difference between rest and laziness? And what does this have to do with my teeth and gums? Let me answer the last question first. There is an indirect association between laziness and flossing. It doesn’t take a lot of work to perform daily but the time just seems to slip away and we forget. To […]