Dr. Memet Oz : Bad Dental Advice..... (but great hair)

     I was not surprised to see Dr. Oz giving advice on teeth whitening. After all, he’s a celebrity doctor, and celebrities are known for their megawatt bright white smiles. Whitening is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures we do, and people are always looking for a way to do it at home.
     Unfortunately, Dr. Oz’s method, a mixture of lemon juice and baking soda has two problems:
1) It doesn’t whiten your teeth
2) It can destroy your tooth enamel and make you much more susceptible to decay and tooth errosion. 

     Lemon juice has a PH near 2, which is as acidic as the stuff in your car battery. Acid is the mortal enemy of tooth enamel. In fact, tooth decay is caused by the acids produced by oral bacteria.

Baking soda is just an abrasive, which is not the greatest thing either, although not quite as destructive as the lemon juice. Baking soda also happens to be alkaline, but not enough to neutralize the lemon juice. 
When you combine the acid and the baking soda, their effects are magnified. The lemon acid starts to dissolve the outer layer of tooth enamel, making it easier for the abrasive baking soda to erode the surface.

      Here’s the kicker: It won’t whiten your teeth. It could actually make them darker. 

     The whitest part of your tooth is the enamel. The layer below, the dentin, is a deep yellow color. If you thin your enamel with abrasives and acid, more of the yellow dentin will show through from below.

If this sounds bad, it is. I’m not sure who gave Dr. Oz this gem, but I bet it wasn’t a dentist.

     Dr Oz is clearly a smart guy. But he’s not a dentist and he has let himself be fooled by something that seems reasonable, but is really just a very bad idea. I would hope this episode would encourage him to learn more about dental and oral anatomy and physiology, so he could better advise the millions of people who watch him on T.V.

Sealants: Not just for kids.

     Like most things, the need for dental sealants should be evaluated on an individual basis. Caries Risk Assessment is the name for the current process for determining which patients have an elevated risk of tooth decay.
     Adults who continue to develop decay in the deep grooves of the back teeth should have sealants placed in any tooth that does not already have a restoration (filling) in it.

     Dental sealants act as a barrier, protecting the teeth against decay-causing bacteria. The sealants are usually applied to the chewing surfaces of childrens' back teeth (premolars and molars) where decay occurs most often.

This is what the process looks like....

Implants: The new normal

The modern practice of dentistry is primarily focused on prevention, and the newly emerging links between dental health and total body health bear out this model. We should be doing everything possible to keep our mouths and bodies healthy, so we never need to have any teeth removed.
However, when missing teeth need to be replaced, implants should now be the frontline therapy. Dentures and bridges, less effective therapies, should be considered when an implant solution is not possible.

The video below is an excellent review of current treatment options in Implant Dentistry.

3i Patient Video

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor of the Los Angeles Times:

     Imagine my frustration  reading about the shortage of dentists at the Remote Area Medical clinic held in Los Angeles this past weekend. Hundreds of needy people went without care because California will not allow doctors licensed in other states to volunteer their services.
     I was prepared to fly to LA for this event, but my application was rejected as unacceptable because I am licensed in the state of New York.  This policy is truly inexplicable. Many doctors would willingly take time away from their own practices, patients and families, fly out at their own expense, and help those truly in need, if only it were allowed.
     California is a progressive and innovative state. There must be a way to promote and encourage this kind of volunteerism, as many other states do.

Sincerely,
Mitchell Rubinstein D.M.D.

Printed in the L.A. Times, May 3rd 2010

The "Waiting" Room ?

   What is a reasonable period of time to keep a patient waiting? I recently took my 4 year old son to an opthalmologist, who kept us waiting over an hour. Our appointment was at 1:00 and we were taken into the treatment room (which also turned out to be a "waiting" room) a little after 2:00. It was at least another 10 minutes before the doctor appeared. What sort of mood to you think my 4 year old was in by then?
   No one would tolerate such a delay with a restaurant reservation or when bringing a car in for service. Why do some doctors consider this normal? Why do some offices run continuously late, whereas others are able to run on time? There is rarely a good excuse for keeping patients waiting an inordinate amount of time. 

Staff should be trained to consider the patient's feelings when scheduling appointments. The goal can not be to cram as many patients in as possible. Visiting a dentist's office is often a stressful event. A caring and helpful scheduling procedure will make the whole office run more efficiently.