Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Are you ready, once again, for football???

Are you once again, ready for some football???

It's that time of year again. Well-groomed fields, crisp fall days, crowds cheering in the stands, and yes, football.  This year I am looking at the season with a bit of a tainted view.

As a dentist and healthcare professional, I read more and more evidence of the consequences of participation in high-impact sports on the player's long term health. How many NFL players are emerging with dementia, memory-loss,  and other neuropsychological and neurophysiological complications.  How can we as a society cheer on sports that are harmful to the players? Football isn't the only sport guilty of this situation, but this is the sport I am focusing on here. How can parents encourage their kids, or at the very least, allow them, to participate in this? How can they stop them?
If I am watching a game myself, am I condoning this sport? 

Besides these physical concerns, of late there are other concerns with the football world. Just a few days ago, Ray Rice, a professional football player with the Baltimore Ravens, was indefinitely suspended  from his team due to evidence of him committing domestic violence. A few months ago, Aaron Hernandez , former member of the New England Patriots, was indicted on murder charges. These are sports figures young players look up to and idolize. Really? What is this football culture that entices young players, makes them want to play, draws them in to become life-long fans of even the worst teams?

By now you may have figured out that I am an accidental sports fan. I never followed any sport, until I became a mother to my son. From before the time he could talk, he was mesmerized by many sports. I learned all about baseball, hockey, golf, and yes, football, from him.  (I still don't have all the details of football down, but I keep trying.) From my son's participation in all these sports, I learned how sports draw people together. If you are a spectator, it gives you something to cheer for, something to feel you are a part of, something to distract yourself from the pressures of work, politics, and the economy. If you are lucky enough to be able to play the sport, and be on a team, that is even more meaningful because you are part of something bigger than yourself. You learn about teamwork, cooperation, mutual respect, defeat and achievement. Sports can be a powerful instrument.

So this year, as I drove over to Stamford High School, to meet this year's varsity football team, I put all my negative thoughts about football behind me. I can't do much about the ill-behaved professional athletes, except ignore them and the media frenzy they create, but I can do something about the possible trauma that can come from playing this sport. I continue to make custom-fitted mouthguards for the team, as I have done for the past several years. I feel it is my way of trying to keep them safe.

                                                     

 










As I met the players, I was again impressed with their polite and grateful behavior, and I was even more struck with their fun-loving attitude, true sense of camaraderie, and love of this game.







So who is KEYSTONE? They are the great company that makes the mouthguard material, and donated all of the material needed to supply this team with their custom-fitted mouthguards.
So here's to you, Stamford Knights, and to a safe and successful season!  

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

52 DAYS UNTIL.........



TOP TEN REASONS PEOPLE DON’T GO TO THE DENTIST
1.       I DON’T HAVE THE MONEY
2.       I DON’T HAVE DENTAL INSURANCE
3.       I WORK DURING THE WEEK AND CAN’T GET THERE
4.       THEY DON’T ACCEPT MY INSURANCE
5.       THEY ARE GOING TO YELL AT ME FOR NOT FLOSSING
6.       IT IS GOING TO HURT
7.       I DON’T LIKE ANYTHING MINT – IT MAKES ME GAG
8.       I DON’T LIKE THE X-RAYS – IT MAKES ME GAG
9.       I DON’T LIKE THE DENTIST
10.   REPEAT – I DON’T LIKE THE DENTIST

I put together this list from my own experience.

As I said in my very first blog, I am out to change how people perceive THE DENTIST and dentistry.

So in a bold step forward in this direction, I am holding our very first day of charity. Yes, I am attacking reasons #1 -4 above.  My office will be open for one Saturday in May and we are not charging anyone for that day. Totally free.  No questions asked.  We aren’t going to ask anyone to prove their need. We aren’t here that day to be a government agency, we are here to do dentistry.  My hygienist most generously donated her day, and one of my receptionists is doing the same. We will be doing cleanings, examinations, fluoride treatments, sealants and fillings.  If anything more than that is required, we will talk about it, but on that day, that will be the limit.    

As for the other reasons listed above, we aren’t yelling at anyone about flossing, brushing or the like. That’s not our style. We will try our best, with lots of types of anesthetics, to not be painful. We have pastes that are NOT flavored mint – there is berry, cherry, vanilla. And we even have ways of dealing with gaggers.  Believe me, after almost 30 years of doing this, we have dealt with many people who label themselves as gaggers, and we have ways of helping them out too.

About the last two reasons – I will forever try to change that! Come on – give it a try, and here is your chance.

I will be reporting back on how our day goes.  It is MAY 3, 2014.  52 days to go. We will be ready – are you?

Friday, February 7, 2014

Toothpaste Terrorism - The Traveler's Solution

Toothpaste tubes have now joined the ranks of water bottles, hand lotion, facial cream, hand sanitizer - you know, the things that are highly suspect going through airport security. The items that may not make it with you onto the airplane. Items that we think of as our personal belongings, but send up a red flag as potential security threats.




As recently as yesterday, CNN reported that Homeland Security was advising airlines with direct flights serving Russia to be aware of the possibility that explosive materials could be concealed in toothpaste tubes. ( http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/world/europe/sochi-security-toothpaste/) This is directly concerning the Olympics which are beginning in Sochi, Russia. Those athletes, fans, media people  - they all need to brush, don't they?

It is hard enough convincing my patients to continue their oral hygiene practices while traveling, but this really makes things complicated. (Although I have to say that just this week a patient of mine told me that he was climbing a mountain in New Zealand, and he did not bring his toothbrush and paste but did bring dental floss!  Good for him) I understand that the threat is the idea that an explosive can be put into the toothpaste tube itself.  Really?  That has to be one giant size tube of dentifrice! What will become of oral hygiene? Will we become a society too afraid to travel with toothpaste?  

A few ideas came to mind.  I want people to still brush when they travel. Well, back in the day, one of the best dentifrices used was old fashioned baking soda.  Although this would eliminate the suspicious toothpaste tube, unless you took an entire box of baking soda with you, carrying a small container of the white powder is also highly suspicious. So that would not be a good alternative at all.

You could purchase toothpaste when you get to your destination. But I doubt many people would take the time to do that, and there probably would be a run on toothpaste, causing the prices to soar.

But there is a alternative.  It is cost effective, does not involve a tube, is not even a paste.  It is toothpaste tablets.  I was able to try these last year at a dental convention.  You chew a tablet, brush, and rinse. They taste great, and are reminiscent of that candy in the 1980's - PopRocks. They effervesce in your mouth. You can buy them online, Archtek Toothpaste Tablets.  



No paste, no problem. Get some tablets and keep them in your travel bag.  Brush, floss and be safe!