Cavity Wars

Well, as promised, here is my take on political correctness, especially as it pertains to the current CHRISTMAS season.

I remember as a kid in school looking forward to Christmas break. It wasn't winter break, it was Christmas break! We sang Christmas songs at the Christmas program! We said Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays (or maybe more correctly, "Have a joyous winter season holiday occurrence"!)!

So what is the deal with taking Christmas out of Christmas. It really gets back to the First Amendment, and being politically correct, as well. You know the one, the separation of church and state. But have you ever read what the First Amendment actually says?

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; (Yeah, right) or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Hey, no where in there does it mention separation of church and state. So what was the First Amendment about? Why did the framers of the constitution make that the First Amendment? What was there concern here?

It gets back to why our founding fathers came to the New World, to escape religious persecution. Have you ever read the Mayflower Compact? Written while the Mayflower was still off the New England coast, even before landing at Plymouth Rock (which the members of that ship believed to be God's providence that they were even at that location. They tried to go further south but were prevented by weather and the physical make-up of the coast). The members of that group felt they needed a compact, or covenant with their Lord even before they set foot on the "New World".

This country was founded as a Christian country. Our laws are based on Christian principles. Does that mean everyone in the country has to be a Christian. Of course not, no more than everyone in a Muslim country has to be Muslim (although in those countries it ain't easy if you aren't).

What has happened is that liberal judges (Circuit, Federal, Supreme court) have MADE new laws. That is not their function. They are supposed to function to enforce the law, interpret the law based on their understanding of the constitution. But in many cases, they have created new law, actually the function of the representative branch of government. That is why we have separation of power (Executive, representative and judicial branches of government). If allowing prayer in schools, or the discussion of Christian principles (absolute right and wrong for one), or the use, for many years, of the bible as a text book goes against the First Amendment, why did it take more than 150 years for that to be corrected? Why didn't the original Supreme Court Justices, or the many since then, not correct that "error" sooner? Because it was never the intention of the framers of the Constitution or the Declaration Of Independence for God to be left out of public or political life. You can not make a logical argument that they overlooked that error for more than 150 years. Even our House and Senate begin their sessions with prayer, still!

The other reason we see Christmas being taken out of Christmas is political correctness. Oh my, we don't want to offend anyone. Well, I am offended! We are all supposed to be accepting of each other. However, have you noticed that does not include accepting Christians? It is alright to slight them. Why hasn't the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union or is it Anti Christian Lawyers Union?) stepped up to protect MY First Amendment rights? Because they are not interested in protecting the free expression of my faith. They want to suppress that right.

So there you have it. Well, anyway, I hope everyone had a very blessed and merry Christmas

Ben Stein just gained a whole lot of respect from me this morning while I was watching Good Morning America. He gave a commentary about the use of the word Christmas. He states he is Jewish, all his ancestors are Jewish and he doesn't like being pushed around because he is a Jew. He said he suspects that Christians are tired of being pushed around because they are Christians. He calls Christmas trees Christmas trees, because that is what they are! He likes to be told Merry Christmas. It shows we are all brothers here. He doesn't mind the manger scene, nor the Minora a few hundered yards away.

I have been thinking of writing a post about political correctness (things like saying "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas) and the true meaning of separation of church and state. It will require some research, but it will be coming to a blog site near you soon.

First, let me explain this photo. This is a picture of my Mom, Dad and oldest brother, Walter Lee (Skip). This was taken, most likely by my Dad, prior to the time that there were color photos. Dad most lilely took the photo, developed and printed it in his "dark room" at home (the bathroom). Then, my Mom hand oil painted the photo. My brother Skip is no longer living, having been killed in a heliocopter crash on May 1, 1981.

What I want to do with this post is talk about my Dad. He has a very interesting past. One that I am sure most people don't know.

Dad was born in Miles City, MT, Nov. 14, 1919. His was not the happiest of families. Although his Mother, older brother, two older sisters and a younger sister got along, his Father was a drunken tyrant. My Dad has many stories of his Dad beating him. One I remember is of his being beaten because he lied (of course not a good thing) to his Dad. Dad worked at a golf course as a caddy and made 10 cents a day. However, one day he got in an extra round and made an extra 10 cents. He spent it on ice cream. When he got home, his Dad asked for his money and Dad gave him the 10 cents. When his Dad found out about the extra 10 cents, he beat Dad. What did my Grandfather want the money for? Booze. He was a boozer. To give you and idea of how much my Grandfather was "loved" by his family, when he died, he died in a refrigerated railroad car. My Dad says he probably was drunk and didn't know what he was doing, or someone put him in there. Anyway, the Sheriff came out to Grandma's house to ask her to identify the body. Now this is a small town, so you know the Sheriff knew who it was. Grandma figured that much and told him she wasn't going to waste her time doing that but hoped it was him!

In 1932 at the ripe old age of 13, during the depression, he and two friends heard that work was available picking peaches in California. So, he and his two buddies hopped a frieght train and headed to California. When they got to California, the forman at the orchard they went to asked how old they were and they told him the truth. The guys said if they had said 18 he would have put them to work, but they were to young. So, back to the trains and back to Montana. One of the things I remember Dad saying about riding the rails was about being very hungry. I have heard him many times talk about going to a house and when the lady of the house answered he would say, "Maam, can you spare a glass of water, I'm so thirsty I haven't had a bite to eat in a week".

He did a lot of different kinds of work but ended up enlisting in the Navy, where he spent the next 20 years as a weather forecaster. He served on several ships, including the carrier, The Bon Hom Richards (or as they called it, the bonny dick). I could go on about a lot of his Navy stories, but it would take to much space.

During most of his Navy career, he was a self-proclaimed athiest. Some people say they are athiests just to avoid having to talk about religion, but Dad would do his best to convert you to his point of view. One day he got angry with my Mom for taking Skip to church, so he picked up the Bible and told her he was going to prove to her that the Bible was wrong. To make a long story short, he retired from the ministry a few years ago after about 30 years. I really can't imagine the number of people he has impacted for the kingdom of God during that time, but I suspect that he will be surprised by the number of people that will be in heaven as a result of his service.

Well, there are a lot of things I could talk about as far as my Father is concerned but I think the most appropiate thing I can finish with it the end of Jeremy's poem, "I Want To Sit In The Middle"


He looks surprised and sneaky
Smiling as always
As if daring death to come near him

"I dare you to come for me,
because when you are done with me,
I will be done with you

And the berries will keep falling
Into my bucket
Enough for a thousand pies

Then I will lean against the back of my truck
In my favorite robe
And wave goodbye"

I truely believe the first words Dad will hear when he passes away will be,
"Enter my good and faithful servant, for great is your reward"

Parker, I just had to post this photo for you.

One of the things that I enjoy doing when riding the Hog is participating in a contest that Harley Owners Group (HOG) has every year. It is called the ABC's of Touring. It is certainly not a contest I have any hopes of winning any time soon, but it is still fun to do.



The idea is to get as many photos as you can of your bike in front of "official" signs. The rules are that you get up to 26 points for having a city that starts with each letter of the alphabet, as well as 26 points for counties. You can get 50 points, one for each state and 50 points for each state HOG rally you attend. You also get points for various Harley facilities, national parks, national forests, countries, Canadian providence and a few other odds and ends.



I have yet to get all 26 letters for cities. Of course, the only city in the US that begins with an X is Xenia, OH. It will be awhile before I get that one. Oh, and you also have to have one of that years HOG Magazine issues or Enthusiast Magazine. The photos have to be submitted before Dec 31st, and since the next issue of those two magazines don't come out until after the new year, you can't start on next years photos early. You will notice in the photos posted that there is a magazine being held.

I love this photo because it reminds me of better times spent with these two. The one thing missing is my oldest, #1, Jeremy. That would have made this an even better photo. This was the day Jake turned 18 and was old enough to smoke, legally, that is. He and I are enjoying two millennium cigars I had saved for this occasion. I am having trouble remembering what brand but I believe they were Fuenta Annivesario Millinniums, made for the new millennium, of which they made 300,000, numbered. Of those, they sold 100,000 in the US. I managed to get 4 of them. Jeremy and Josh smoked theirs on the millennium eve, will I saved mine for 2 1/2 years to share with Jake. Check out the ash on Jake's cigar.

OK, lets talk decay. After all, the name of this blog is Cavity Wars. So I would think the first place to start with is, what is decay? There is a lot of misconception out there about that question. It seems most people believe decay (cavities) are caused by bacteria munching on their teeth, making holes. Wrong.

There are three things needed for cavities to occur. First of all, you have to have teeth. Second, you have to have bacteria and we all do. And finally, there has to be some kind of sugar substrate the bacteria can digest.

So, just what is decay? Or perhaps better, what causes decay? Your teeth are made of a few crystalline materials, the most prevalent being enamel and dentin, the molecular make up of I won't bore you with. Suffice to say that there is Calcium in those materials. That calcium is in a constant state of movement into and out of the crystalline structure, which way it is going depending on the pH of your mouth. The more acidic, the more calcium moves out, the more alkaline, the more calcium moves back in. So, in a nut shell, decay is caused by acid dissolving out calcium. Oh, and why do dentist seem to like Fluoride so much? Because it has a greater affinity to the crystalline structure of enamel than calcium does. What does that mean to your teeth? If there is fluoride present in your mouth while all this demineralizing and remineralizing is taking place, the fluoride molecule fits back in very nicely where the calcium molecule was and it takes a lower pH to get it to come back out, therefore making your enamel less susceptible to acid. Fewer cavities! And yes, as a dentist, I would LOVE to see fewer cavities!

Where does this acid come from? For the most part, for most people, it comes from the bacteria. When ever you eat food with digestible sugar in it, the bacteria ingest that sugar, metabolize it, and then crap the waste products onto your teeth. The waste product? Acid. After exposure to sugar, the pH in your mouth drops for about 20 minutes, out goes calcium. Do this enough and you have cavities.

But a lot of people, particularly young males (particularly young military types), like to take a short cut to decay in the form of acid ingestion. Yeah, they drink acid almost on a constant basis. Have you ever heard of the experiment done with Coke and some kind of meat? Cover the meat with Coke overnight and in the morning it is dissolved. Why? Because Coke (Pop in general) is a very strong acid. So you have these guys, sipping away on pop all day, constantly soaking their teeth in acid, dissolving them away.

Finally, lets talk "Cavity Creeps, Sugar Bugs", bacteria. Dental decay is a communicable disease! Most people don't know that you are not born with these bugs in your mouth (Streptococcus Mutans). You have to be inoculated with them, which cannot occur until you have teeth. Where do they come from? Your primary care giver (usually your Mom) shares hers with you. She kisses on you, or she samples your food before giving it to you, thereby taking the bacteria culture from her mouth and placing it in yours! However, not all strains of Step Mutans is as good at making acid as others, so if you are lucky enough to have a Mom with good teeth, you will get the same strain. Unlucky, and you get bugs that do their job really well and you get all kinds of cavities.

So, the lesson here? You need bugs to make cavities therefore, keep the population down by brushing and flossing. The bugs need sugar to make acid, so avoid sugars or if you have sugar, make it short and sweet and then at least rinse your mouth. And,choose your parents well. Jeremy was lucky enough to have a mother with NO decay, so she had a strain of Step Mutans that was not good at making acid. Lucky for him I didn't inoculate him, as my bacteria are a lot better at that.

Per your request Aaron. This is a photo of a procedure called an apicoectomy and retrograde filling. The idea here is that for various reasons, a tooth that has had a root canal does not heal properly. I believe the history on this tooth was trauma at the age of 10, followed by a root canal. The root canal was done at least one more, maybe two more times. It still didn't heal. So, at that point you are faced with the prospect of either extracting the tooth (most people prefer not to lose front teeth, unless of course you are from Virginia) or doing the above mentioned procedure.

The surgery is done by peeling (I love that, PEELING) the gums off the bone to expose the end of the root. The root tip is then cut off and a filling is placed in the end of the root (that is the kind of whitish area at the end of the root on the tooth on the left). The tissue is sutured back in place, and hopefully, the patient is in the 50% that heal with no further problems. He was.

Anyway, it is fun to do. As they use to say in school, "A chance to cut is a chance to cure"

Having spent a night in the hospital recently (my first and hopefully my last for a long time), I learned some interesting things about them. First of all, I am convinced that somewhere in that hospital there was a sign-up list with my room number to make sure there was always someone available to wake me up! "Oh crap, it's 3 AM, I have to go wake Pegg up"! I also suspect since there isn't a lot happening on the floor at 3 AM, that the nurses sit back at the nurses station and watch your heart monitor. As soon as it starts to slow and they know you are relaxing and going to sleep, here they come! "Sorry to wake you up, but we need to check your pulse and blood pressure". What the heck, doesn't that monitor tell you what my pulse is! Then, if that isn't enough, they have a fail safe backup plan. They run an IV into you, pump fluids in like there is no tomorrow. If someone forgets to wake you up, no problem, you have to get up and take a leak every half hour anyway. Hospitals are no place to get any kind of rest! Sorry, Parker, but you have to know it is true.

And I always suspected people where just making up how bad the food is. I mean really, food is food, right? Is that liquid diet some kind of masochistic twist in the cook? First thing I did when I left that hospital was stop and get a big, juicy cheese burger! I thought they wanted to starve me to death.

I also learned some interesting vocabulary. Actually, I learned it after I left the hospital and had a chance to talk to the local fire chief, who is a friend, and the first to my house when I had my little episode. He taught me what DRT is (dead right there - you know, they guy is shaving and just falls down, dead on the spot) and that they call guys that are not responding or didn't respond, drains, they are spiraling down the drain and there ain't no stopping them. And did you know, a lot of medical emergencies and deaths occur in the bathroom? Some old guy sitting on the throne (thank God not in a public restroom - wouldn't that just put Aaron over the top), straining to get out the prunes, and the strain is to much for his fragile blood vessels in his brain - pop goes the weasel - you guessed it - DRT.

"Private, have a seat in the dental chair" Picture the dentist sitting in the operatory with dark glasses and doing the Stevie Wonder head weave. "Private, we here at Camp Pendleton support the Blind Dentist Association (BDA) and Commander Jones here is our token blind dentist. He will be working on you today" "OK Doctor Jones, we are ready" Dr. Jones stumbles around the operatory and finally sits in the dental assistants chair. "No, no, over here" as the assistant guides him to his chair. Dr. Jones pickes up the drill, rev's it up to full speed and says, "OK, put my finger on the tooth we are working on"

Oh for crying out loud! What is with these guys that come to the dental office, all covered with tattoos, multiple body piercing, and tongue bars and then they act like whining babies in the chair! Had another one today. I swear, this guy had tats up and down his arms, a lip ring and a tongue bar and he was practically crying in the chair. Sounded like some little four year old. Geezzz, grow some hair, will you. I wanted to slap this guy heavily about the head and shoulders. He was embarrassing to the male gender of this planet. And of course there was the obligatory, "Nothing personal Doc, but I hate dentist." Wanted to say, "No offense taken, I hate babies."

There are several pet peeves that I have. Number one would be people who drive in the fast lane and can't seem to understand the simple words, "Slow Drivers Keep Right" and, "Keep Right Except To Pass". If you can't follow simple directions, you shouldn't have a driver's license.

But let's focus on dental patients, shall we. Now granted, the last post made it look like I enjoy inflicting pain, albeit, mental in those cases. And let's remember, it was the military and the Marines. Those guys are supposed to be tough. I was just doing my part to make sure they didn't get any pansies in the Marines. The truth of the matter is that like the majority of the dentists out there, my goal is to make the visit to the office as comfortable as possible.

The thing with dental patients is that a vast majority of them don't seem to be able to take responsibility for their teeth and the pain they cause them. You can't neglect your teeth, eat and drink nothing but junk, soak them in soda pop and not brush them, only see the dentist when you have a problem, and expect that you are going to have a wonderful dental experience. You are already in pain and now you want something done about it. I get the typical statements all the time, such as, "Doc, nothing personal, but I just hate going to the dentist". I would too if the only time I went was when I was in pain! And the real topper to me is that these are the same guys that don't seem to have a clue which end of a tooth brush to use, judging from the crap built up on their teeth. Lord Almighty, if you don't like going to the dentist, take care of your freaking teeth!

And the comment that really chaps my hide is the veiled threat, "I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me!" Hey, you are already hurting, you want me to get you out of pain and you THREATEN me. What kind of an idiot are you? Do you really think that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside? I'm about to poke you with a needle and you want to make me mad? Hello! I have told more than one patient, "Listen, I am here to help you but if you think threatening me is improving your odds, you need to find someone else to take care of your problem." So far, every patient I have said this to, has backed down, explained they are stressed and they are sorry. Granted, I understand all that, but sometimes, it is just to much. I didn't get your teeth in the shape they are in, you did. How any sane person thinks that the 2 hours a year at the dental office can make all the difference to their teeth, is an idiot. If you ain't doing the homework, nothing we do will matter. It is very distressing to get someone fixed up, only to have them return a year later all messed up again. It may be hard to believe, but I don't need that. However, the best dental care in the world will break down in a matter of months in a mouth with poor dental habits. It is one of the most frustrating aspects of dentistry. The truth of the matter is that something like 20% of the population drives 90% of dental treatment.

Ah, Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base. What sweet memories. The heat, the dead vegetation, the jarheads. Having served in the Navy Reserve Dental Corp for eight years, I had plenty of opportunity to observe each and particularly our Marines. Those guys will face live machine gun fire, exploding hand grenades and falling mortars with barely a qualm. But get them in a dental chair, that is a entirely new story. Sometimes I think the only thing keeping them in the chair was their exact attention to military courtesy and rank.

I often traveled with the same Dental Tech, Alan. For a guy that was not a working dental assistant, he was one of the best dental assistants I ever have worked with. Well, Alan and I had a few routines that we liked to "pull", pardon the pun, on a Marine now and then.

One of my favorites involved a glass eye that Alan had one of the Medical Techs make for him, very realistic. I would palm the glass eye and shortly after seating the patient and leaning him (yeah, him, the female Marines were to tough to pull this on) back, I would start blinking rapidly. That was Alan's clue to ask, "What's the matter Doc, that glass eye bothering you?" Upon which I would put my hand up to my face and bring the glass eye down and ask, "Yeah, you see anything on that?" Clean the eye off, put it back up to my face. For the rest of the appointment, that poor Marine would be staring into my eyes. Alan would make a point to tell him now and then to quit looking into Doc's eyes.

Alan had another prank he really liked. Dental Dynamite. Dye a cotton roll red, tape some thread or floss to it. We would be working on an extraction and might be having a little trouble and Alan would look up, "Dental Dynamite?" "Yeah, looks that way". I would leave the room and Alan would get out the "dynamite" and tell the patient, tough extraction, need some help, dental dynamite. Then he would tell the patient he was going to put it in the patients mouth and for him to bite gently. Once in place he would pull the fuse and run out of the room to wait for the thing to go off. So, he would very slowly place the cotton roll, ask the patient to close, "No, No, not to hard!", jerk the string and run. Don't know why we never got court marshaled.

You would be surprised how many times patients will ask "Do you think we can save my teeth"? A question that always causes me to fight back a huge belly laugh. Not what patients want to hear from their dentist at that point.

The reason for the internal chuckle? I once worked in a large (we're talking over 100 dentist) group practice. One of the dentists in the clinic I worked with was a classmate of mine who was always good for a laugh or two. One day I was idly chatting with this dentist as he was doing an exam on a patient that had come in with a tooth ache. The patient asked "Do you think we can save the tooth"? I swear H. Dean didn't even miss a beat and replied, "Did you bring a jar"? I had to make a hasty retreat from the room so as not to embarrass myself or the patient.

Another thing patients seem to think is a wise thing to do is to put aspirin on teeth that hurt. Have you ever seen what aspirin does to soft tissue?! It is a very strong acid and it turns soft tissue white from causing acid burns. Well, patients think this really works well, and to some extent, it does. But not for the reason the patient thinks it does. What happens when you put an aspirin in your mouth...it dissolves and you swallow it. You just took an aspirin. Hey, the pain is getting less. But man, does that tissue hurt. All that to relate a patient coming in with a tooth ache, and once again I was idling away the time visiting with H. Dean. He took a look in the patients mouth and asked if the patient had been putting aspirin on the tooth. Yes. H. Dean immediately asked, "What do you do when you get a headache? Tape an aspirin to your forehead"? Another hasty retreat. H. Dean had a real way with words.

Well, I guess I will embark on this blog thing. This will be my first post on any blog. Yeah, I have posted comments on a couple but never my own post.

You might be asking yourself what the title of this blog has to do with anything? Since I am a general dentist in a small coastal community, it seemed appropriate. Don't let anyone tell you dental decay is a thing of the past.

What are my intentions for this blog. I suppose the main thing is just to have somewhere to write about life in the dental office and occasionally vent about the stupid things people do to their teeth, and some of the comments made by patients.

I will start with a discussion I had with another dentist today. I went by his office to drop off some patient records for a patient that is transferring their care from me to him. Our offices are about 3 blocks apart. When I handed him the records, I asked if they made it a habit to collect the patients portion of payment when services are provided (that part not covered by insurance). He informed me that they did try. I suggested that was a good idea (didn't want to tell him the patient owed me money and was probably why they were leaving, but I also wanted him to know that he better be sure to get money up front from this one, without really saying so). He got my point.

That started a discussion about accounts receivable (money patients owe). Neither one of understand why patients think they don't need to pay for services. You don't go to the grocery store and get groceries and not expect to pay for them WHEN you get them, do you? So why would it be that way with any other service? Of course most patients think, heck, he has lots of money, he won't miss it if I don't pay him or if I pay him once he threatens me with collections. This dentists accounts receivable are in the $120,000.00 range. It is hard to run any business when people owe you that kind of change. Mine runs around $90 - $100,000.00. So, I guess I just started my blog by posting a "vent". Why do people think that is OK? You pay for nearly everything else you do up front, but when it comes to dentistry, ah heck.