I
am often asked whether it is better as a patient to be treated by a young
dentist who has been trained in all the latest technology and is up on the
latest trends and innovations in dentistry, or is it better to be treated by a
seasoned dentist who has had life experiences and has done thousands of
procedures like the one that you need to have accomplished. It is an interesting dilemma, and a question
not easily answered without some prejudices. I believe it depends on the procedure that you
need to have accomplished. For example,
I was taught at UCLA dental school in the early 70s to do gold crowns and
silver fillings only. And in fact the tooth-colored
restorations as they are currently accomplished today were not even available
until 1978, several years after I graduated. On the other hand, Dr. Naten who graduated 2 ½ years ago was
raised on composites and ceramics, the bulk of our practice today, and is thus
very comfortable with doing those procedures even though he has not done as
many of them as I have. I believe that
the best method to even out this educational divide was derived in California
many years ago with our continuing education requirements of over 50 hours of
education each renewal period. That
certainly helps, but it is each individual dentist’s investment in their
practice and care of their patients that is the real motivation to go beyond
the minimum requirements and get as many continuing education units as
possible. In my case, our last office
trip was to the Greater New York Dental Society meeting with over 55,000 other
dental professionals all trying to get the most up-to-date techniques and bring
them back to our practices to help our patients. Our staff is committed to that education
process otherwise they would not be here, and I am very proud of all of them
for their dedication to improving dentistry and the health of our huge family
of patients. I believe this is the real
answer. Is the dentist happy with his or
her work and do they look forward to going to work every day to try to help
people? If the answer is yes, I believe that is the dentist you want to see. Fortunately in our office we offer treatment
from both young and old dentists (Did I really say that?) so you get the best
of both worlds. As for those young
dentists out there, watch out for us old guys and gals. We are not necessarily behind you on the
technology bandwagon. You may have to
look forward to find us rather than behind.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
The Affordable Care Act
Well it is that time of
year again, no not Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwansaa, or New Years, it is open
enrollment time for the Affordable Care Act, until February 15, 2015. There
are many that oppose this law and many that support it, but since it has been
upheld by our Supreme Court, it is the current law of the land. But how was it
passed despite years of controversy? Well a huge proponent of passage was
the AARP, which stands to benefit with billions in income, and the wholehearted
support by the American Medical Association. But who is the American Medical
Association really? Well the story goes
back to when I was at UCLA Dental School in the early 70's. At that time the AMA and the ADA
had a participation rate of their doctors of approximately 70%. Our dental
society decided to undergo a huge transformation to increase its recruitment
efforts. We began aggressively sponsoring continuing education classes, having
annual meetings, and then at the National, State and local levels began insurance
companies, like The Dentists Insurance Company (TDIC) in California to represent
us for malpractice issues and the multiple needs for myriad of other
insurance issues. In addition to working closely with state boards and legislatures to pass
laws and regulations that help dentists, staff and patients overall well being.
What did the AMA do in that same time frame? Nothing. It was apparently way too
much trouble for those involved to increase participants and it has been doing nothing for recruitment
efforts since the 70's. Therefore, currently the ADA has a membership
participation rate of approximately 85% of all dentists and its is even higher in
the Sacramento District Dental Society. The AMA participation rate is somewhere
between 14 and 17% depending on the report you read. Who are the AMA members? I
would almost guarantee it is not your primary care physician at Kaiser, he or she is
as upset with the ACA as any of it's most ardent detractors. The AMA is made up
primarily of academics and administrators (like our congress person (Ami Bera)
and other “bean counters.” I only hope that we can fix the problems of the ACA before they are unsolvable. Interestingly enough,
I am starting on Medicare this year and therefore I will not be a participant for long.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Uplifting Moments
I
had a very uplifting moment last Saturday while working at the office. It reminded me of my initial blog, so I
thought I would put down my thoughts in this blog. In late 1989 I saw a new patient family in our
office and their young son, we will call him Jason. Jason came in with his parents for an initial
examination. Over the intervening 25
years we have been treating him with regular cleanings and hygiene visits and a
few miscellaneous fillings. He had a
typical complication we see with many young patients. Some hygiene issues leading to the cavities
that he now has fillings on. He came in
last Saturday to get his teeth cleaned and to say goodbye. He had just graduated from college and at 30
years old he has become an EMT and is moving to Half Moon Bay with his young
family to begin work there for the fire department. He has always enjoyed the water and we spent
many dental visits discussing his love for water sports. Now he is very excited because the fire
department in Half Moon Bay has water craft that the EMT’s use to help distressed
patients out on the water as well as the more typical land emergencies. I thanked him for his upcoming service to the community
as a first responder and wished him well with his career and the life ahead
that he is about to embark on. Perhaps it is moments like this that bring me into
work every day and make it so enjoyable. Can there really be a better profession then
one in which you get to help people every day over years and years and watch
them grow and to mature into such important contributors to our society. I think not, but perhaps that is why I am a
dentist.
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