With the Holidays upon us I have been reflecting on my life and what it means to me to be a dentist. What is it that is so special about my profession? Some see dentistry as a boring profession where people burnout due to the daily repetition of tasks. Many have commented to me that they have heard that dentists have the highest suicide rate of all the professions.
Dentistry to me however is a very noble profession. How many people get to help others every day of their life doing something that is very creative and challenging? Dentistry is no longer just drill, fill, and pull. With the advances in technology over the last 15 or so years, dentistry has become a fascinating endeavour. It is no longer a mundane boring repetitive job. People, thanks to modern research efforts, are now realizing the links that exist between oral health and overall health of the body. Periodontal disease in particular has been shown to have a very strong link to Diabetes and the ability of an individual to control their Diabetes as well their susceptibility to Diabetes. Other links exist between Periodontal Disease and Heart Disease, Stroke, low birth-weight babies, and respiratory illnesses.
Adhesive dentistry (bonding to tooth structure) allows us to be very conservative with our tooth preparations when treating cavities. The surgical paradigm of cutting away parts of the body to heal it continue to evolve into an additive philosophy where we retain as much of the healthy tissue as possible and add to it to restore to the original shape, function, and beauty. This and the neuromuscular appoach to dentistry are my real passion.
Neuromuscular dentistry can help people in so many ways. Not only can it relieve the pain associated with headaches, neckaches, upper back and shoulder, it can improve the entire physiology of the body by bringing structures into better alignment which can allow for a more optimum flow of blood, lymph, and nerve transmission through out the body.
One of the exciting developments in recent years which I have written about before is the Pure Power Mouthguard. This is a sports mouthguard built to a neuromuscular jaw position which has been shown to allow an athlete to increase strength, range of motion, flexibility, and balance. We believe that it will change the face of sports in the near future. ... Performance enhancing mouthguards ...
As you can see, the future looks bright for us all. Thank-you to my TEAM at Downtown Dental Associates, my patients (who are like my extended dental family), the brilliant research taking place at LVI (more on that in a future blog), and all the people who inspire me daily.
I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2010. May it be your best year ever.
With Love and Gratitude in my heart,
Sincerely,
Marty Frankel DDS
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