I had dinner with a friend the other night, and the conversation came up of how we each remembered the dentist from when we were kids. Over the course of the conversation, we recalled some of our experiences at the dentist when we were younger, but the more hilarious thing was how many memories we had of dentists in the movies. That conversation inspired me to compile a short list of hollywood dentists. So here it goes.
The three funniest portrayals of dentists in films, in no particular order, goes to, Ricky Gervais, the guy who invented the Office, who played a dentist who could see dead people; Ed Helms, who plays the only dentist that ends up with teeth missing in The Hangover; and Eugene Levy in Waiting for Guffman, playing a dentist who desperately wants to sing but really can’t.
The best dentist from films of past generations goes to Charlie Chaplin in a film called Laughing Gas, and Alan Arkin in The In-Laws. The naughtiest dentist goes to the sexually deviant dentist played by Jennifer Aniston in Horrible Bosses. The spookiest dentist was played by Christopher Lee, as Doctor Wilbur Wonka, Willie Wonka’s father in the newest version of that great classic. The most miscast dentist goes to Keanu Reeves, who played an orthodontist in Thumbsucker. I just couldn’t stop thinking of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and I didn’t want that guy straightening my teeth! And the most versatile dentist actor award goes to Steve Martin. He is best known for his role as the insane motorcycle riding dentist in Little Shop of Horrors, but he performs equally well many years later in the captivating murder mystery, Novocaine.
Maybe when I retire I’ll move to hollywood and advise the movie stars on how to play a real dentist. Then again, friendly patients and a calm and healthy environment might make for a great practice, but a pretty boring movie!

I’ve been thinking lately about how being a dentist and being a father are both practices of caring. I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest I love my patients the way I love my children, but I do think similar skills are required to foster positive relationships throughout our lives, and my practice as a dentist is no different in that respect.
Trust and communication are the foundation of successful relationships. With my children there is a great deal of time for establishing this trust, but with my patients a more concerted effort is required up front. While it is important for me to explain procedures clearly and lay out all the patient’s options, it is at least as important to listen, to ask the right questions, and to remember each patient is a unique person with unique needs. This may seem like a lot to deliver, while also insuring top-quality, efficient care that is sure to invest in that patient’s long-term well being, but listening and getting to know my patients is actually one of the most rewarding aspects of what I do. (more…)

Before

This is a very handsome man, but not so without teeth.  With teeth, many people say he looks like the guy in “The Most Interesting Man in the World” commercial.  In this picture, he does not look like “the most interesting man in the world”  because he is missing his front teeth!

A little about me, now a dentist in Palm Harbor, Florida, since 1988.  My family moved to Long Island, from the Bronx in 1962.  I grew up in Atlantic Beach, NY and went to SUNY @ Binghamton, receiving a degree in Chemistry in 1981.  I decided that I wanted to a dentist when I was 15, never wavering. I ended up at Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, graduating in 1985.  During my Dental Residency program at Nassau County Medical Center, I met Karen, the mother of my two incredible children, Mathew and Kendall.  Mathew and Kendall were both born in Clearwater Fl, in 1995 and 1998 respectively.  My interest in Implant Dentistry began in the mid 1980′s and grew like “Jack’s Beanstalk.”  My move to Florida in 1988 was the natural evolution of becoming a Comprehensive Dentist with a focus in Dental Implants.  I was fortunate to meet O’Hilt Tatum Jr, DDS in 1989 at an Alabama Implant Congress.  After being invited to train at his Dental Implantology practice in St. Petersburg FL, I found my mecca.  ”Hilt”,  ”Big Daddy” took me under his wing and trained me as he so generously trained scores of dentist throughout the world.

After

Who does this look like to you?  Is it “the world’s most interesting man?”  It sure could be him, he has teeth!

This man came into my dental office with a broken front tooth, very unhappy with his smile.  True multidisciplinary comprehensive dentistry, including extractions, bone grafting, dental implants and modern milled zirconia crowns brought him to this definitive place in March of 2013.

George Washington’s Dentures

CAD – CAM Denture

Although comical, these pictures do highlight how dentistry has changed over the centuries.

A commonly held belief is that George Washington had wooden teeth.  False.  George Washington did have chronic tooth problems, but being one of the richest Virginians, he had the best teeth available at the time.  Pictured is one of his most favorite set, made by Paul Reverie, and on display in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian Institute of American History.  These have a cast gold base with hand carved hippopotamus ivory teeth.  They are spring loaded, the top and bottom dentures were constantly pushing against one another, hence the very stern look in images of him in his latter years.  Look at his face on the United States one dollar bill, can you tell that he was clenching his jaw, always pushing against the springs?

Fast forward a couple of hundred years and the Three Stooges show how dental care was and sometimes still is perceived.  In reality, with Sedation Dentistry, Implant Dentistry, Preventive Dentistry and Digital High Tech CAD/CAM restorations, there is no “good old days” for dentistry.

This staining was on one of my Palm Harbor patient’s teeth after using an OTC mouthwash for several months.  Although this is surface staining and not a disease process, it is very unsightly and when first noticed, can cause quite a bit of concern.

Treatment for this situation was a simple dental cleaning and polishing.  This put the patient at ease, it was also decided to discontinue the use of the mouth rinse.

Many of the prescribed and more recent mouth rinses can cause staining.  This is the most severe staining, from OTC mouth rinse, I have seen in my Palm Harbor Dentist office in the more than 25 years I have been in practice in Florida.

Tooth # 10 – Peg Lateral

What is a Peg Lateral?

A peg lateral is a term used in dentistry to describe  a particular abnormality of the upper lateral incisors (teeth #’s 7 and/or 10.)  The normal upper lateral incisors are roughly shaped like the central incisors but only 2/3 their size.  A peg lateral is not shaped like the central incisor at all.  It is much smaller and as the term implies, it is shaped like a “peg.” In this picture of a peg lateral, the patient’s upper left lateral incisor is “peg” shaped.  In some cases this condition can be corrected with a veneer or crown, but unfortunately, this peg lateral also had a very shortened root.  Ideal treatment, in my opinion (extraction, bone graft, dental implant, zirconia abutment and crown,) was not chosen due to financial considerations.  Extraction with a hybrid type of maryland bridge will be the final restoration.  This young lady began treatment in December 2012 and I will show pictures taken in my Palm Harbor Dentist office of the final restoration in place in 2013.

Do Broken Teeth NEED to be Fixed?

Being a Palm Harbor Florida dentist, I would have to say yes.  There are so many ways how to fix broken teeth though.

Extraction: replace?  removable, fixed tooth supported, fixed implant supported?

Save – patch, repair:  bonding, root canal or crowns?

In the first picture a flipper is seen as the “fix” for these extracted, broken teeth.  This is not the final fix as two dental implants and zirconia abutments were placed, with the definitive result being non removable crowns.

Missing teeth #’s 8 & 9

I was talking with a friend of mine who is a dentist in South Tampa the other day.  We were sitting at a table at an outdoor cafe in Palm Harbor talking shop, as we dentists often do.  We are both in our 50′s, have been practicing dentistry for a combined total of approaching 50 years.  We both have successful dental practices and we both enjoy being dentist but our dental practices have evolved differently.  He has taken a more traditional route in tooth replacement – tooth supported fixed crown & bridge, I have fully embraced the field of dental  implants.  Both types of dentistry are proper, good and acceptable ways to replace missing teeth.

Prior to extracting these two front teeth, this woman suffered from recurrent pain, swelling and infection.  She was referred to my Palm Harbor dental office for possible dental implant restoration.  Other possible treatment options after tooth extraction were removable teeth – a  #8 & #9 flipper, or traditional fixed crown & bridge.

An immediate flipper was fabricated and delivered upon teeth extraction and bone grafting.