Christopher Crists’ Dentist Pulls All of His Teeth

19 04 2013

dental exam

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/christopher-crists-dentist-pulls-all-his-teeth_n_3054482.html

You may have seen this article in the news about a patient who had all of his teeth pulled out without his consent during a dental procedure.  Quite a few of the comments were questioning how could a patient have his teeth removed and not know they were being removed and really questioning the patient, and the fact that his teeth were probably in poor condition, or why would the dentist remove them.  Other people really were furious with the dentist, some even wanting his demise.

I will share my thoughts with you from a dentists perspective, though, with no direct information about this particular situation.  Great communication is the key factor when it comes to working with your health care providers.  I guess the most important thing that I want to share is that it is very important to ensure that you are as informed as possible when you undergo treatment, and that if you are not able to, always make sure that you have a representative who understands.  A great relationship between you and any healthcare provider, can prevent alot of mis-understanding and upset.

The article stated that the patient was autistic, therefore, it would have been very important that he had someone with him who could help him understand the intended treatment.  It is important to make sure that when you go to any health care situation, if at all there are any questions, that someone  who is truly able to advocate on behalf of the patient is there to ensure the best possible outcome. The article also stated that he was given a pill prior to initiating treatment.  On may occasions, we sedate the patient prior to treatment if they are very apprehensive.  If the patient was sedated, then he was not able to consent to dental treatment during the procedure.  He would have therefore been unable to tell the dentist what he would need or want.  The young man had to have 3 teeth removed, which means that there were possibly other teeth that were in poor shape only.  The parent had some reason to state that she only wanted 3 teeth removed.  It is possible as well that there were some financial concerns which may be why she only wanted certain work done.

Many times we as dentists, and other healthcare practitioners make decisions for our patients based upon what we feel are there financial limitations (we try and diagnose their pocketbooks).  See, I would like to believe that this dentist, maybe saw the young man’s mouth in disarray, and felt that it may have been more cost effective to remove all of his teeth at the same time, while under sedation, thinking that he is helping cut costs for the patient in the long run.  Oftentimes, we feel that they might not be able to afford it, and let’s just get the other bad ones out before it starts to hurt them down the road.  That is just a limiting backwards way of thinking, though the dentist is feeling that  he or she is trying to help.

I think that the teeth are so valuable!  You only get one set as an adult, and you must find every means of saving the teeth, try every option possible.  Never, make a decision for the patient, though you may THINK you are trying to do what is in the patient’s best interest.  Always think, if it was your mother, brother, or sister, where finances for dental care would not be in question, what would you do for them?  Get into really good communication with the patient and their concerned relatives and come up with a plan that everyone can agree to; and, think, what can we do to help the patient keep their teeth for a lifetime, if possible.

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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Gum Disease – Get the Facts!

16 04 2013

Dental HealthStyles

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.

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When Can Tea cause Tooth Loss?

24 03 2013

Image

When it comes to eating anything, moderation is key.  Here is an article from the Huffington Post which shows that over-consusmption of tea, can actually cause tooth loss.

Decades of hard tea drinking led to tooth loss and other bone problems for a 47-year-old Michigan woman, reports the New England Journal of Medicine. After treating the patient for severe pain in her back, arms, legs and hips, her doctor Sudhaker Rao discovered that consuming “astronomical amounts” of highly concentrated tea for nearly 20 years had caused her fluoride levels to spike to more than four times the normal amount.

As a result, her bones had become so brittle that her teeth had to be extracted. “Her bone density was very high, seven times denser than normal,” says Rao, “it was like steel.” In the US, brewed tea contains hight amounts of fluoride, which Rao believes was causing her bone problems. “There have been about three to four cases reported in the US associated with ingesting tea, especially large amounts of it,” he notes. The patient had been downing a pitcher of tea–containing roughly 20 milligrams of fluoride–a day. “Most of us can excrete fluoride extremely well, but if you drink too much, it can be a problem,” he says.

The patient has been prescribed a tea-free diet, and has since recovered. Experts say her case serves as proof that extreme consumption of almost any substance can be harmful. New York City doctor Joseph Lane, chief of the metabolic bone disease service at Weill Cornell Medical College, says he once had a patient who “overdosed” on fish oil. “Then she had a minor injury and bled a lot, almost like hemophilia,” he explains, “it turns out the patient had too much vitamin E in the blood.”

 

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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“LET ME LOSE ALL OF MY TEETH! I DON”T WANT TO EVER GET GUM SURGERY AGAIN…”

4 03 2013

pre and post lanap

That is the common sentiment of most patients who have received gum surgery done in the traditional way.  The cutting of the gums with a scalpel, removal of the infected tissue, and then suturing the mouth to help the gums heal, has been the traditional way to treat gum disease, or periodontal disease over the years.  This type of surgery, though very neccessary, instead of losing your teeth, has been the standard protocol for years.  Well, that’s how things have been until the LANAP surgery- or Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure.

You see, periodontal disease is what has been affecting millions of American adults for many years.  In the past, we thought that after you get to a certain age, you will just be a candidate for dentures or partial dentures.  We thought that gum disease was an inevitable condition as a part of aging.  However, intensive research has been performed over the years, and we have found that if you are able to keep the plaque off of your teeth successfully, and you can pay attention to your diet, then you are expected to keep your teeth for a lifetime.  Additionally much research has been done about the relationship between heart disease, lung disease, many other degenerative diseases and periodontal disease.  What we know now is quite stunning.  The area of your body with the most bacteria is your mouth.  A periodontally compromised mouth will allow the bacteria to travel from the oral cavity to other parts of your and wreak havoc on your other organs.  In the healthcare field, we are now fully realizing the impact of poor oral health on your total body health, and therefore, we have to treat periodontal disease, not just to save the teeth, but also, to keep the rest of the body healthy.  Well, enter LANAP.

The LANAP protocol is a surgical therapy designed for the treatment of periodontal disease through regeneration rather than resection (cutting tissue away).  This therapy was developed in  1991 by Dr.  Robert Gregg and Dr. Delwin McCarthy to achieve consistently effective and predictable outcomes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the LANAP protocol for the treatment of periodontitis, or gum disease, in 2004.

No cut, no sew, no fear!  The mantra of LANAP.  We do not use the scalpel, we do not need to suture the gums back together, and patients say it is like night and day, compared with the old traditional way of periodontal surgery.

If you or a loved one, has bleeding gums, bad odor in their mouth (bad breath), red or inflamed gums, or know you have a history of periodontal disease; find a dentist who performs the LANAP surgery, you can save your teeth.  Your teeth should last you for a lifetime!

lanap pics

 

 

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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Gum Disease – Get the Facts!

27 02 2013

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

26 02 2013

i feel sorry for the public

I shared an article on this blog over the weekend, which really hits home how the food industry intentionally creates food that are convenient, low cost, high in sodium, fat, sugars and extremely addictive.  I was very incensed about the fact that it is really not just about the willpower of the public, but that a conscious effort is made in the laboratory settings and marketing meetings to get people hooked on these foods.  The article spoke about the fact that  1 in 3 adults in the United states are clinically obese; that 24 million Americans have Type 2 Diabetes; and, one in 5 children have type 2 Diabetes.  What was not included in this article was that 50 percent of the American population has periodontal disease.  Clearly all of these degenerative diseases are making us as a country very sick.  I see the ill effects of eating these harmful foods and how it effects the oral cavity.  It is critical that we stop just picking up the easy to get convenient for us foods and take some time and read labels.  What seems like the easy way now, becomes the hard way in terms of pain, disease, and suffering in our future.  Please, if you haven’t read the article,  take time to do so, it is so important to be aware of the thought processes that go into the food that we so casually pick up at the store and place in our mouths.  Become aware! Stay healthy!

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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Morningside Dental Care

22 02 2013


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The Strawberry and Basil Martini

21 02 2013

strawberry and basil martini

I am having dinner at Ristorante Settepani in Harlem observing people sitting at the table nearby enjoying their food, laughing, discussing, talking and just having a good time.  To me, the mouth is one of the most important parts of the body that we so often take for granted until it has a problem.  So, instead of just keeping all of this information to myself, let me share some of the insights I have with over 20 years as a dentist.

While sipping a very delicious strawberry and basil martini, I felt the cool pieces of strawberries on my tongue and the small strawberry seeds that when you bite down you feel them between your teeth.  It is fascinating to me just how sensitive the nerve endings in the mouth can on the one hand allow you to bit into a large hard apple, yet still be able to detect the very miniscule small strawberry.  Not to mention that our mouth is critical to bite, chew, and grind food down into small particles to enable proper digestion.

I observe a very intense discussion with a group at a table, where a lot of loud talking and laughing ensue.  Suffice it to say that I cannot hear the details of the conversation, but, what I note is how the lips, teeth and tongue come together in distinct ways to create different sounds.   In order to create the sounds “th” , “s”, “m”, … every letter in the alphabet and all of words that we speak,  it is critical that we use our mouths.  Have you ever spoken to someone who has no teeth, or wears ill fitting dentures?  They cannot speak properly or enunciate their words.

Finally, the laughter!  We take so for granted a beautiful smile.  But each and every one of us first made the connection with our significant relationship from the first look, that smile.  Even if you date online, you must show upload a picture if you want to get any response.  It is quite tragic to see people who place their hand in front of their mouths, or keep their mouth almost shut, for fear and embarrassment when they have missing teeth, or teeth that are broken down.

I will admit, I love to eat!  My passion is Dental Health.  I see little children from the first tooth that comes into their mouth, to older patients, who are trying to hold onto their last teeth, and the whole spectrum in between.   I would like to prop up the status of the MOUTH and give it the respect it is due.  I know that there is strong correlation between oral health and general health.  As our community sees increases in diseases such as diabetes, obesity, certain cancers, etc. the mouth, and oral cavity play such an important part.  As a New Yorker and foodie, I am confessing my oral fixations and hope to provide some positive “food for thought” about the mouth, the oral cavity, healthy food choices and healthy habits and try to live a little bit healthier.

A “Food Network”  Recipe for the Strawberry and Basil Martini

Ingredients
7 basil leaves with stems
1-ounce strawberry puree
1 cup ice cubes
2 1/2 ounces soju (Korean vodka)
1/2-ounce lime juice
1/2-ounce sweet and sour mix
1/2-ounce strawberry syrup
Directions

In a 16-ounce cocktail shaker, add the basil leaves and the strawberry puree. Muddle until the basil leaves are broken into pieces. Add the ice cubes, then add the soju, lime juice, sweet and sour mix and strawberry syrup. Shake vigorously. Strain the drink into a 7-ounce chilled martini glass and serve cold.

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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A Funny Thing Happened in the Subway

20 02 2013

false teeth

One of my patients had me laughing hysterically when she told me the story of a man she observed in the subway this week.  She said he seemed partially asleep as she was on the 2 train in the evening, however,  he woke up to sneeze.  As he was sneezing his denture projected out of his mouth and he caught it in midair in his hands.  He was so embarrassed, that he place his head down, held the denture in his hands for the next two stops, then when the subway doors closed again, he popped it back in his mouth, and proceeded to open a bag of potato chips and started eating them.  Well, envisioning the situation, it just seemed hilarious as she described the situation, however, it must have been very embarrassing for the poor gentleman.

We really take our teeth for granted, until we lose them.  I see patients everyday who come into my office, and, it’s been a very long time since their last dental visit.  When they come to see me, they are in pain.  It really sometimes takes some convincing to get them to save the teeth, instead of their normal reaction to extract them or have them removed.  Dental pain is some of the worst pain you can have, and patients are always ready do get rid of their teeth, to alleviate the pain forever.  I always let them know, that the interrelationship of the teeth together is so critical, and that once you start down the road to extractions, it really becomes a never ending spiral.  Because, at the other extreme, I have patients who I see in my office, usually middle aged who have lost many teeth.  At this point they ask the dentist to perform a miracle and try and save the few teeth they have remaining.  These are always the same patients who confess “I wish I had listened to my dentist when I was younger” at the time, because of pain, and sometimes finances, I just wanted them removed, and I did not want to listen to the dentist.

Each of your teeth are very valuable parts of the body.  You wouldn’t have pain on a finger or leg, and have the doctor remove the finger or leg?  There is a reason why our creator (whomever, that may be for you) decided that 32 teeth is what are necessary for proper chewing, speaking and digesting.  Once we start removing teeth, you are considered dentally crippled.  The sense of casualness that people have toward their teeth, and caring for their teeth worries me alot.  People are very casual about their teeth,  these vital parts of your body, until the day that you have none…you are in the subway…you sneeze…

Your teeth are some of the most important parts of your body.  It is so important that we always treat them as such!

 

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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Mandatory Toothbrushing? (Here is a reprint of an article from the NY Times Magazine from last weekend)

19 02 2013

Who Made That Toothbrush?

Jens Mortensen for The New York Times
By PAGAN KENNEDY
“I don’t have any of those toothbrushes that went to the moon,” says Dr. Ben Swanson, former president of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry. He was speaking from his basement, where he stores his trove of 40,000 artifacts related to dental history. Swanson once dreamed of owning every kind of toothbrush in existence, but ended up stockpiling only a few hundred. “I had to give up because there were so many of them,” he says. In fact, it would be nearly impossible to collect every specimen; the toothbrush is one of the most reinvented of human objects, with thousands of patents on file.

The story starts in China during the Middle Ages, when people began grooming their teeth with animal bristles. Legend has it that centuries later, William Addis, generally recognized as the first to patent the toothbrush, served time in Newgate prison in London, where he whittled down a bone and stuck it full of bristles.

Even when toothbrushes migrated to the corner store, many people preferred to rub their teeth with a rag. As late as the 1920s, “many Americans did not brush their teeth,” Swanson says. One reason is that those early toothbrushes could tear up your mouth — the tip of a boar bristle, under a microscope, resembles a spear. By the 1940s, synthetics offered a solution. One ad trumpeted: “For years, only hog bristle made fine tooth brushes. Then Science made round-end Prolon” — its soft bristles were designed to preserve the gums.

The advent of plastics also meant that toothbrushes could take any shape imaginable. And so brushes jingled and hummed tunes. They arrived on the drugstore shelf enshrined in hermetic tubes. They boasted “anti-soggy” bristles.

Asked to pick a favorite toothbrush from his collection, Swanson says he’s fond of a model that cleans both sides of the teeth at once. “You remember the Reach toothbrush with the angled head?” he says. “One year they came out with a brush that had two heads.” But the design failed to catch on. In the world of toothbrushes, apparently, two heads are not always better than one.

BRUSH HEAD

Vermin Supreme, a performance artist, has run for president many times; he espouses “mandatory-toothbrushing laws.”

You often carry a giant toothbrush to scrub away the decay that clings to public monuments. I’ve scrubbed many, many landmarks. I scrubbed the Kremlin back in ’98. We had a mandatory-toothbrushing parade; we had the text of the mandatory-toothbrush law translated into Russian. And we had like 30 Russians; we had musicians; we had the giant toothbrushes. The police came and told us to stop, and we stopped. It was a beautiful thing.

So what would these mandatory-toothbrushing laws involve? Secret dental police. Government-issued toothpaste containing an addictive yet harmless substance. Computer-dental-chip implants to keep track of you and your children for your protection. For too long this nation has been suffering a great moral and oral decay.

Over the last 25 years, you’ve pushed lots of politicians to answer tough questions about oral hygiene. That’s right. When I asked Bob Dole if he supported mandatory-toothbrushing laws, his response was, “As long as it’s locally controlled.”

Dr Donna Williams

Dr. Williams began her career in the field of dentistry at Howard University and graduated from Baltimore College Dental Surgery/University of Maryland. She is one of a select group of general dentists who have completed a fellowship in Holistic dentistry, and is also certified to use the only FDA approved laser for periodontal surgery. She is passionate about improving the health status of people throughout the community and beyond. Contact her at: Morningside Dental Care.


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