My North Branford Patch Interview

Hello again ever present, ever ready internet audience.  I know you've been salivating for another blog post this millennium, and I know so far I've let you down immensely, but I'm back and ready to go.  Here's the reason I've been neglecting my blogging duties:

Its my healthy baby boy Reed!  Things have been great, though hectic ;)   Anyways, this is going to a shorter post, but I wanted to share a link to an interview I did with the North Branford Patch.  Enjoy!

http://northbranford.patch.com/articles/a-day-in-the-life-david-sherberg-dmd

-DRS
www.northfordfamilydental.com

The Power of Pen to Paper

"All right class, it's time to practice our penmanship," Mrs. Clark tells her second graders in a cheerful voice.  "Everyone get out your pen and paper."

Mrs. Clark's second graders respond with befuddled faces.

"I'm just kidding!  Everyone grab your iPad 20 and lets get started!" 

The children groan as they pull out their transparent screens.  Mrs. Clark continues, "Since we're going to be writing a letter to a family member today, we will be using SpaceSerif font.  This font will give your letters a personal touch..."

The students' fingertips fly across their LCD screens as digitized type emerges at a quickening pace.   

"...and our goal is 400 words per minute." she continues.  "And be sure those auto-spell-correctors are turned on."  Satisfied, Mrs. Clark takes a seat and begins grading the class's last e-assignment on her iPad 20 Teacher's Edition.

Is this scenario realistic in the not-to-distant future?  Personally, I think it's inevitable.  We voraciously gobble up the latest digital trends and beam with pride as we show them off to our friends.  The old ways of doing things are dying at an exponential rate.  Children scoff at the idea of going to a library.  Google it!  They listen in wonder to tales of our ancient "Pen Pals," "YellowBook Pages," and "Rand McNally Maps."  They shudder at the idea of a world without cell phones

I'm not trying to sound like an antiquated old goat.  I have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and run our practice's web page, Facebook page, Twitter account, Google listings, Space Station, E-mail/Text Reminder Service, Blog, Teleportation Device, and e-newsletter (only two of those are fictional).  Furthermore, my handwriting looks like footwriting.  I welcome the digital age.

Last week, however, I recieved these via snail-mail:

These letters touched a neglected part of my heart that has grown dusty in the recent years.  Upon receiving these hand-written letters, I realized the power of pen strokes on paper.  There is something conveyed via a hand-written note that ASCII characters on a screen cannot capture.  Each wobbly letter made me feel plugged-in and connected -- phrases we usually reserve for some i-gadget.

I'll admit, I was surprised that a hand-written letter, something commonplace not that long ago, could move me so much.  Dagnabbit it did, though, and now I wonder if we're going to lose this personal connection to one another as our lives become further and further digitized.  I hope not.  But then again, what do I know?  I am writing all of this on a digital blog, after all.

Maybe I'm just set in my ways, as people often are.  A dentist in the past probably complained about the loss of the singing telegram.   A future dentist will probably lament about how the kids' new i-holograms (only $30,000) will never beat the personal touch of a Facebook post.  Maybe the manner of building community is different for every generation, and this post just shows my lack of understanding of where we're headed.  Maybe we're doomed.  Maybe nirvana is right around the corner.  Maybe I'm digressing.  No, I'm definitely digressing, and I'm pretty sure I've just reached my official pontification limit for a single post.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail, text message, Facebook message, or Twitter me.  Or, just write :)

-DRS
www.northfordfamilydental.com

Periodontitits: A Dangerous Disease You Don't Know About.

Hi everyone.  Today's post is going to deal with periodontitis, a very prevalent yet often overlooked disease.  In fact, studies indicate periodontitis afflicts 1 in 4 people in the U.S., and new research shows it effects not only our teeth but our entire body.  So what is periodontitis?  Well, its a bacterial infection of the gums and jawbone.  Plain and simple.  I could go on to talk about specific bacteria species, colonization factors, the chemical mediators of infection and inflammation, etc., but unless you're a biologist or have a curiosity streak that leans towards the nature of oral bacterial flora, I'll skip that level of sciencey talk in this post.  All you need to know is that malicious bacteria in your mouth colonize the area between your gums and teeth, and due to inflammation (your body's natural response to this or any infection) the bone and tissue that actually attaches your teeth to your body melts away.  Sometimes this bone/tissue loss occurs over the course of a year or two, but more often than not its a slow and insidious process that silently takes place over the course of many years.  Furthermore, often the only sign its even there is bleeding, slightly swollen gums.  Its only when your teeth literally become loose that you realize something is wrong.  By then, its often too late and the affected teeth will fall out on their own.

This scenario is all too common and the possibility of losing your teeth is enough to have a dentist intervene and eliminate this infection.  However, recent studies have revealed concrete evidence this chronic infection in your mouth has a very negative effect on the rest of your body.   Below are some facts about how periodontitis DEFINITELY effects the rest of your body:

• You have a 20% higher risk for a cardiovascular event (such as a heart attack) if your have periodontits.  That's a huge risk increase.
• Expectant mothers with periodontitis have a higher risk for having a low birthweight baby or a preterm delivery.
• Diabetes and periodontitis are intimately linked.  Diabetes will make your periodontal infection worse, and your periodontitis will make your diabetes worse.

As you can see, this isn't just bleeding gums we're talking about here.  This infection effects your overall health, your life expectancy, and the quality of your life.  So what can be done to stop this infection?  A lot, actually.  Procedures such as scaling and root planing, localized antibiotic placement, attachment regeneration, and more have been developed to end this infection.  Its more complicated to treat this disease then to fill a cavity, though, and an entire specialty exists to deal with it.  Due to the growing evidence showing how pervasive this disease is and how important it is to eliminate it, we've added Dr. Ivelina Dean, a certified periodontis, to our team of doctors.  She is extremely well qualified to handle the complexities of this disease using the most advanced treatments available and has already become an invaluable member of Northford Family Dental.

So if your gums bleed when your floss, if your teeth are loose, or if it your teeth look longer because your gums have receded, come see us and find out if you have periodontitis.  Its important for more than just your teeth.

Have a great day, guys!  And lets all collectively pray his warm weather is here to stay!

-DRS
Northford Family Dental

Why the Six Month Checkup is Your Friend (and other news)

I'm back to blogging!  Its been a very busy past few months for me with a lot of twists and turns.  I'm engaged to be married AND...drum-roll please:

My fiance is pregnant!  We are so excited and can't wait to be parents!  We are currently debating about whether or not to find out the sex, so if you have an opinion feel free to weigh in on our facebook page.

Since there's really no dental segue I can make here, I'll just jump right in to one important point I've been meaning to make on this blog.  Namely, your 6 month hygiene exam (we in the biz don't like to call it a cleaning) is very, VERY important.  What are the benefits, you may ask?  Well, preventing periodontitis and checking for cancerous lesions aside, this exam will absolutely prevent time in the dentist chair, money out of your pocketbook, and pain. 

As you know from my previous posts, there are various treatments for any given cavity.  Small one gets your standard filling -- a thirty minute appointment and you're out the door.  However, larger ones (the kind that may cause a lot of pain) will lead to a root canal, filling, and some sort of crown or onlay.  This fix requires a minimum of three appointments.  Now here's the kicker.  Look at the rough difference in fees between the two scenarios:

Small filling: 100 to 300 dollars or so
Root canal, filling, crown:  2000 to 2500 dollars or so

Though these fees don't take into account insurance, the difference is still substantial.  For most of us, that amount of money makes a difference in our lives and we'd all like to hold on to it...especially in these tough economic times.  But here's the point I want to stress.  There's no middle treatment.  In other words, scenario one can change to scenario two overnight and treatment that could have been short and sweet has become long and tough on the pocketbook.  This is why I can't stress enough the importance of going to your dentist every six months and letting him/her check your teeth as well as take appropriate X-rays.  We can often catch these cavities when they are small and easy to deal with.  This is the reason insurance companies often cover hygiene appointments and X-rays so well.  They know these appointments prevent the expensive work and promote good health practices so they try to entice you to see your dentist regularly by optimally reimbursing for these visits. 

Moreover, those without dental insurance have all the more reason to see us regularly if only to avoid the fees associated with fixing a longstanding cavity.  So come to the dentist!  Let us catch these cavities when they are small!       

My next post will discuss periodontitis and how to prevent it.

-DRS