- Published on
Both the dental patient and the dentist have a problem!
It’s tough to have the patient’s head positioned comfortably, AND ideally for the dentist.
This challenge makes the dentist’s job difficult because without the best view of the mouth, and without the best light on the mouth, the dentist is working in the dark.
And, it is difficult for the patient to be tolerant and still and be engaged in something interesting during the otherwise boring dental treatment. If the patient is not comfortable, to be tolerant and still is an impossible task for him/her.
It helps if the patient can read a book, pad, or use a game or cell phone during the otherwise boring time in treatment.
Hammacher Schlemmer & Co. started as a New York City hardware store in 1848, and in 1881 began distributing its own catalog (The 1912 catalog was 1,112 pages.) The store was the first to offer the newest and greatest - a pop-up toaster (1930), a portable radio (1930), an electric toothbrush (1955), and a telephone answering machine (1968). Although these amazing products were very practical, Hammacher Schlemmer also sold whimsical and luxury items. Regular customers have included the British royal family, the King and Queen of Spain and Lord Rothschild, many U.S. Presidents and First Ladies decorating the White House, and Princess Grace of Monaco. NYC mayor Rudolph Giuliani renamed one block of 57th Street in NYC as Hammacher Schlemmer Way. The catalog today still has fascinating, unusual and fun items.
About 15 years ago, I was browsing through the current Hammacher Schlemmer catalog and saw this ad:
It’s tough to have the patient’s head positioned comfortably, AND ideally for the dentist.
This challenge makes the dentist’s job difficult because without the best view of the mouth, and without the best light on the mouth, the dentist is working in the dark.
And, it is difficult for the patient to be tolerant and still and be engaged in something interesting during the otherwise boring dental treatment. If the patient is not comfortable, to be tolerant and still is an impossible task for him/her.
It helps if the patient can read a book, pad, or use a game or cell phone during the otherwise boring time in treatment.
Hammacher Schlemmer & Co. started as a New York City hardware store in 1848, and in 1881 began distributing its own catalog (The 1912 catalog was 1,112 pages.) The store was the first to offer the newest and greatest - a pop-up toaster (1930), a portable radio (1930), an electric toothbrush (1955), and a telephone answering machine (1968). Although these amazing products were very practical, Hammacher Schlemmer also sold whimsical and luxury items. Regular customers have included the British royal family, the King and Queen of Spain and Lord Rothschild, many U.S. Presidents and First Ladies decorating the White House, and Princess Grace of Monaco. NYC mayor Rudolph Giuliani renamed one block of 57th Street in NYC as Hammacher Schlemmer Way. The catalog today still has fascinating, unusual and fun items.
About 15 years ago, I was browsing through the current Hammacher Schlemmer catalog and saw this ad:
I thought, “Wow! I know what those are for! - those are for dental patients in the dental chair!” And sure enough - FINALLY - a solution that works fantastically. At the time I called them ‘gameboy glasses’, because then, gameboys were what every child wanted to play with while in the dental chair!
These glasses are fantastic - today! For the patient, they can comfortably hold their book, pad, phone, with their arms resting on their torso, and see it well. The operator’s hands and instruments working on the patient’s mouth are not in the patient’s way at all.
For the operator, the dental light beam is able to shine on the oral treatment area perfectly without the patient blocking the light or the view at all. AND, perhaps the biggest bonus is that in order for the patient to have their head at the angle where the glasses work best, they tend to tip the chin up a bit.
In other words, the patient naturally tips his head up, which makes the view perfect! EXACTLY where we dentists want the patient’s head to be.
You can order them from Amazon (see photos on left ). I recommend having a pair at each chair. Once they have used the glasses, the patients will ask for them each visit. And you will be happy with the result.
For my child patients, whether they are reading a book, a pad, a phone, or watching a movie on our computer monitor, they are engaged, comfortable and off on “planet-la-la land.”
Talk about a win-win solution for you... and for your patients!
These glasses are fantastic - today! For the patient, they can comfortably hold their book, pad, phone, with their arms resting on their torso, and see it well. The operator’s hands and instruments working on the patient’s mouth are not in the patient’s way at all.
For the operator, the dental light beam is able to shine on the oral treatment area perfectly without the patient blocking the light or the view at all. AND, perhaps the biggest bonus is that in order for the patient to have their head at the angle where the glasses work best, they tend to tip the chin up a bit.
In other words, the patient naturally tips his head up, which makes the view perfect! EXACTLY where we dentists want the patient’s head to be.
You can order them from Amazon (see photos on left ). I recommend having a pair at each chair. Once they have used the glasses, the patients will ask for them each visit. And you will be happy with the result.
For my child patients, whether they are reading a book, a pad, a phone, or watching a movie on our computer monitor, they are engaged, comfortable and off on “planet-la-la land.”
Talk about a win-win solution for you... and for your patients!
- Published on
Dr. Chris Baker's groundbreaking book, Your Child's Smile, is a parents guide for their children's oral health. It is available on Amazon.com.
You can have happy and loyal transfer patients!
In the UAE, because the expats come and go so often, we are accepting and sending many patients in transfer situations. And it works fine - even well. You can do it too!
Earlier this month, I promised to tell you what to do when the mother and her daughter, a cute transfer patient, are sitting there, waiting for you to tell them about her transfer orthodontic treatment.
How can you take (most) transfer orthodontic patients and enjoy them? Part of the answer lies in how you charge them, so they don’t feel taken advantage of -- and so you don’t feel taken advantage of. And, how do you work with and communicate the unknown amount of treatment time left?
I've heard quotes like these from parents, “The other doctor told me we would need to ‘take off the braces, and start over,'” and “We just saw another dentist who said, ‘Whoever was doing your treatment didn’t know what they were doing.’”
There are NO benefits to tearing down the decisions the parent/patient has made in the past, in their choice of practitioners, in their lack of compliance, in "the other dentist’s work", etc. That only serves to make the parent, patient and you feel bad.
And this approach makes you either look bad, OR, for a little while, like the “knight in shining armor.” (In time, the parent/patient may decide you are not this hero. When a dentist tries the "knight in shining armor" approach and fails, things get even worse.)
Better communications include statements like:
Here is a great approach for charging transfer patients:
A transfer patient is not an opportunity to take advantage of the parents and their money. Immediately charging a full case fee is not a good approach.
I have developed a fee structure that works well for the patients and for us. Remember parents have already paid a lot of money and are distressed when they are told that it will cost them a full case because you are "starting over."
Here is my method:
Make an upfront charge to cover new records that you need, unless they come with very recent progress records. For example, if they have not had ceph tracings and other diagnostics you need, it is appropriate to give them a records fee that allows you to do just that.
If your diagnostic workup for that patient shows you do indeed need to replace all or many of the brackets, then you can have an upfront fee that covers that cost for the first visit. This means, when they start, they might pay as much as $1000 or $1500 for the ‘start-up’. Don't charge this if you don't need to replace brackets.
Following that, there is be a per month charge which includes any patient visits that month, whether 1, 2 or even 3 times. That monthly fee might be $350, or whatever is typical on your patient contracts, after your “down-payment” has been paid at bracketing.
Again, our office charges it monthly, even if we need to see the patient more than once, to change power chain, etc. We charge only once for that month. If we don't need to see a patient for 6-8 weeks, they pay for the month in which we see them.
This monthly fee will go on for as long as the treatment time requires. Then there is a removal and retainer delivery fee at the end, usually about $1000 to 1500 in our practice.
I have had patients who needed four or five months of finish up treatment, and I have had patients who needed a year and a half or more.
Also, I have had patients whose previous practitioner did not diagnose an ectopic tooth that was not a erupting, or an open bite that would need to be treated over a longer period of time, or with TAD’s etc. etc.
Most transfer patients need several months to a year or so of treatment. Many do need at least several brackets re-bracketed due to position changes that you need. If it is minimal, we absorb that in the monthly fee, and just begin the monthly fee when we see them for the first treatment visit.
However, if you use .022 wires and the transfer patient has an .018, or vice versa, you may wish to change the brackets. Again if that is needed, charge that initial fee to cover the removal and rebracketing.
Oh, and by the way, if the patient needs something at the transfer exam appointment, we ‘throw that in’ for, say, a module change or a pack of elastics.
Make sure your total fee for everything does not exceed your normal case fee that would be charged for that patient
Often patients are happy to be more compliant because the parents understand that their fees will be based on how many months the patient needs to be in treatment.
Sometimes patients come in with worsened appearances in their dentition or occlusion, due to the orthodontic care they have already received. I have had patients from several various countries come to our practice in the UAE with this situation. The first thing to do is take the wires out and let the teeth settle for about a month and see where everything is, then take your progress records and proceed.
In the UAE, because the expats come and go so often, we are accepting and sending many patients in transfer situations. And it works fine - even well. You can do it too!
Earlier this month, I promised to tell you what to do when the mother and her daughter, a cute transfer patient, are sitting there, waiting for you to tell them about her transfer orthodontic treatment.
How can you take (most) transfer orthodontic patients and enjoy them? Part of the answer lies in how you charge them, so they don’t feel taken advantage of -- and so you don’t feel taken advantage of. And, how do you work with and communicate the unknown amount of treatment time left?
I've heard quotes like these from parents, “The other doctor told me we would need to ‘take off the braces, and start over,'” and “We just saw another dentist who said, ‘Whoever was doing your treatment didn’t know what they were doing.’”
There are NO benefits to tearing down the decisions the parent/patient has made in the past, in their choice of practitioners, in their lack of compliance, in "the other dentist’s work", etc. That only serves to make the parent, patient and you feel bad.
And this approach makes you either look bad, OR, for a little while, like the “knight in shining armor.” (In time, the parent/patient may decide you are not this hero. When a dentist tries the "knight in shining armor" approach and fails, things get even worse.)
Better communications include statements like:
- "Let me show you where your child is right now with her bite…" Then, show the patient's occlusion, molar relationship, canine relationship, overbite, overjet, and other issues.
- "My best 'guesstimate' is treatment for approximately (x) months, depending on how well she wears elastics, how long eruption of the ectopic tooth takes.., and then retainers."
- "We may need to replace some brackets to provide the best results in my hands, and be the most time-efficient." And/or, say, "There are two sizes of ‘slots’ in brackets. These brackets on her teeth are the ‘other’ size, so we will switch the brackets to the size we use, so that our wires and sequences work the best for your child."
- "Today I recommend records as to where she is now - photography of her teeth, (x-ray if needed, and models for measurement if needed.) The cost for those records is ___."
- "Your next visit will start with a review conference where you and I can review the treatment remaining, and the plan to accomplish it. Then, we will proceed to x-y-z (bracket revision, wire change, etc.)"
- "The fees for her remaining treatment will be..." (Doctor, read and think about the following, and then you can project fees that the parent or adult patient will feel are ‘fair’ or ‘appropriate.’"
Here is a great approach for charging transfer patients:
A transfer patient is not an opportunity to take advantage of the parents and their money. Immediately charging a full case fee is not a good approach.
I have developed a fee structure that works well for the patients and for us. Remember parents have already paid a lot of money and are distressed when they are told that it will cost them a full case because you are "starting over."
Here is my method:
Make an upfront charge to cover new records that you need, unless they come with very recent progress records. For example, if they have not had ceph tracings and other diagnostics you need, it is appropriate to give them a records fee that allows you to do just that.
If your diagnostic workup for that patient shows you do indeed need to replace all or many of the brackets, then you can have an upfront fee that covers that cost for the first visit. This means, when they start, they might pay as much as $1000 or $1500 for the ‘start-up’. Don't charge this if you don't need to replace brackets.
Following that, there is be a per month charge which includes any patient visits that month, whether 1, 2 or even 3 times. That monthly fee might be $350, or whatever is typical on your patient contracts, after your “down-payment” has been paid at bracketing.
Again, our office charges it monthly, even if we need to see the patient more than once, to change power chain, etc. We charge only once for that month. If we don't need to see a patient for 6-8 weeks, they pay for the month in which we see them.
This monthly fee will go on for as long as the treatment time requires. Then there is a removal and retainer delivery fee at the end, usually about $1000 to 1500 in our practice.
I have had patients who needed four or five months of finish up treatment, and I have had patients who needed a year and a half or more.
Also, I have had patients whose previous practitioner did not diagnose an ectopic tooth that was not a erupting, or an open bite that would need to be treated over a longer period of time, or with TAD’s etc. etc.
Most transfer patients need several months to a year or so of treatment. Many do need at least several brackets re-bracketed due to position changes that you need. If it is minimal, we absorb that in the monthly fee, and just begin the monthly fee when we see them for the first treatment visit.
However, if you use .022 wires and the transfer patient has an .018, or vice versa, you may wish to change the brackets. Again if that is needed, charge that initial fee to cover the removal and rebracketing.
Oh, and by the way, if the patient needs something at the transfer exam appointment, we ‘throw that in’ for, say, a module change or a pack of elastics.
Make sure your total fee for everything does not exceed your normal case fee that would be charged for that patient
Often patients are happy to be more compliant because the parents understand that their fees will be based on how many months the patient needs to be in treatment.
Sometimes patients come in with worsened appearances in their dentition or occlusion, due to the orthodontic care they have already received. I have had patients from several various countries come to our practice in the UAE with this situation. The first thing to do is take the wires out and let the teeth settle for about a month and see where everything is, then take your progress records and proceed.
- Published on
Dr. Chris Baker's groundbreaking book, Your Child's Smile, is a guide for dentists treating children, orthodontists, and for parents concerned with their child's dental health.
Dentists, you know the story: A patient comes in and you're asked to “finish” an already-begun orthodontic treatment. The mother says, “We only have four months left,” or something like that.
So, you look at the patient, wanting to please the parent, and wanting to take the case (you ARE in business to make money as well as care for patients).
Yet you think, “I have NO idea what this patient’s remaining treatment will entail - it sure looks like a lot more than four months, and I don’t know where they started.” When you look at the records the parent presents you, they are not a lot of help.
You hate to commit to anything just yet. What do you do right now, as the mother and her cute little girl are waiting to hear your response???
What you do know:
What you don’t know (the "Accursed Unknowns"):
*Note: It’s important for you to understand, that you can ONLY do a great job for your patients if you can love them as you interact and treat them. This goes for patients AND parents. So, if the parents’ needs, personalities and expectations are not easy for you to meet and love, it will be very difficult for you to treat them.
It is best for both you and your patients and their parents, that you work to identify if the relationship can work, or if it may not. Do NOT take them on as patients if you have doubts.
So, as to transfer orthodontic patients. The typical answer by many-to-most orthodontic practitioners, to a transfer patient/parent is something along the line of “I don’t take transfer patients,” or “We’ll have to take the braces off and start over,” or “I have no idea what your previous practitioner was doing/thinking…”
Why this answer? Because of the “Accursed Unknowns” and our own "inside-the-box" thinking.
The problem with us and orthodontics is that, as engineers and artists, we get so stuck in our idea of what we've learned and what our "system" is, that we have a hard time thinking "outside our box."
The dentist's approach to orthodontics is often so formulaic that he/she never looks outside the box. Sometimes the best treatment for an orthodontic patient IS outside that box.
In my next blog, I will tell you what to do as the mother and cute girl are waiting to hear your response, to wit, how to how to take (most) transfer orthodontic patients and enjoy them; how to charge them so they don’t feel taken advantage of; and you don’t feel taken advantage of; and how to work with and communicate the unknown amount of treatment time left.
So, you look at the patient, wanting to please the parent, and wanting to take the case (you ARE in business to make money as well as care for patients).
Yet you think, “I have NO idea what this patient’s remaining treatment will entail - it sure looks like a lot more than four months, and I don’t know where they started.” When you look at the records the parent presents you, they are not a lot of help.
You hate to commit to anything just yet. What do you do right now, as the mother and her cute little girl are waiting to hear your response???
What you do know:
- There is a patient sitting in your chair, whose parent wants you to treat her.
- They seem nice. (If the parent seems to be unsure, unhappy, demanding or difficult, obviously you have poor or no chance at a therapeutic relationship, so don’t take the case - * see my note below.)
What you don’t know (the "Accursed Unknowns"):
- What the REAL starting point was
- How the patient's teeth have responded.
- How compliant the patient has been with plaque control, appointments and wear of appliances…
- What the mom’s expectations of you really are, so you have no idea if you can meet those expectations. (Or, if you even want to try.)
- How much treatment time truly remains, in your hands.
*Note: It’s important for you to understand, that you can ONLY do a great job for your patients if you can love them as you interact and treat them. This goes for patients AND parents. So, if the parents’ needs, personalities and expectations are not easy for you to meet and love, it will be very difficult for you to treat them.
It is best for both you and your patients and their parents, that you work to identify if the relationship can work, or if it may not. Do NOT take them on as patients if you have doubts.
So, as to transfer orthodontic patients. The typical answer by many-to-most orthodontic practitioners, to a transfer patient/parent is something along the line of “I don’t take transfer patients,” or “We’ll have to take the braces off and start over,” or “I have no idea what your previous practitioner was doing/thinking…”
Why this answer? Because of the “Accursed Unknowns” and our own "inside-the-box" thinking.
The problem with us and orthodontics is that, as engineers and artists, we get so stuck in our idea of what we've learned and what our "system" is, that we have a hard time thinking "outside our box."
The dentist's approach to orthodontics is often so formulaic that he/she never looks outside the box. Sometimes the best treatment for an orthodontic patient IS outside that box.
In my next blog, I will tell you what to do as the mother and cute girl are waiting to hear your response, to wit, how to how to take (most) transfer orthodontic patients and enjoy them; how to charge them so they don’t feel taken advantage of; and you don’t feel taken advantage of; and how to work with and communicate the unknown amount of treatment time left.
- Published on
The brilliant Dr. Walter Doyle was the first dentist in the world to have taken and passed the boards in both pediatric dentistry and orthodontics.
Teaching orthodontics (like at this seminar near Washington, D.C.) is a big part of my life.
Abu Dhabi's Advanced American Dental Clinic is one place where I pursue my love of practicing orthodontics.
Orthodontics began for me in love.
After dental school, I loved the idea of learning about treating the poor growth and bites which can affect a child’s function, face and beauty. I wanted to help the child grow into his or her greatest beauty.
Before going off to the University of Connecticut for pediatric specialty training, while still at University of Kentucky College of Dentistry (as a faculty member), I visited the office of Dr. Walter Doyle, the world’s first dentist to have taken and passed boards in both pediatric dentistry and orthodontics. Wow! It was a privilege.
I was thrilled to see Dr. Doyle's cranio-facial orthopedic approach to young children with adverse growth, though I didn’t understand much then. He was teaching seminars for dentists, particularly pediatric dentists at that time, sharing his knowledge, wisdom and techniques.
Later, in my pediatric residency, I would get Dr. Doyle’s brochures for his seminars and read them longingly, wanting to take the seminars and learn more orthodontics. It had to wait. Connecticut was a “fur piece” from Kentucky.
But, God intervened with manifestation of my dreams!
After my pediatric residency, Orthodontic Faculty member Dr. Sam Weinstein offered me the opportunity to do a fellowship in Orthodontics there, at U of Connecticut. I jumped at the opportunity. Still I looked at the Doyle Seminar brochures and planned when I would be able to take those seminars.
Well, God again stepped in. Manifestations again, only better than I could have imagined.
One day I found myself talking to Dr. Walter Doyle about practicing with him in his Lexington, Kentucky, practice!!! He said, “Of course I would ask that you take my seminars.” OMG as we say!
The word co-incidence comes from a Latin word, congruens, “to come together perfectly.” (Shepherd, HE, The History of Coincide and Coincidence, Am J of Philology 1:3. 271-280)
To come together perfectly. Yes! (The rest is history, as they say.) As the Universe met my yearning to learn orthodontics, also, Walter and I fell in love and became partners in orthodontics and in life.
And in time, after the way-too-soon loss of Walter, the Doyle Seminars, now known as Dr. Chris Baker Seminars, represent my love and passion. They have continued to grip and guide me in my life of learning and teaching of orthodontics.
Coincidences in love and orthodontics - to come together perfectly!
After dental school, I loved the idea of learning about treating the poor growth and bites which can affect a child’s function, face and beauty. I wanted to help the child grow into his or her greatest beauty.
Before going off to the University of Connecticut for pediatric specialty training, while still at University of Kentucky College of Dentistry (as a faculty member), I visited the office of Dr. Walter Doyle, the world’s first dentist to have taken and passed boards in both pediatric dentistry and orthodontics. Wow! It was a privilege.
I was thrilled to see Dr. Doyle's cranio-facial orthopedic approach to young children with adverse growth, though I didn’t understand much then. He was teaching seminars for dentists, particularly pediatric dentists at that time, sharing his knowledge, wisdom and techniques.
Later, in my pediatric residency, I would get Dr. Doyle’s brochures for his seminars and read them longingly, wanting to take the seminars and learn more orthodontics. It had to wait. Connecticut was a “fur piece” from Kentucky.
But, God intervened with manifestation of my dreams!
After my pediatric residency, Orthodontic Faculty member Dr. Sam Weinstein offered me the opportunity to do a fellowship in Orthodontics there, at U of Connecticut. I jumped at the opportunity. Still I looked at the Doyle Seminar brochures and planned when I would be able to take those seminars.
Well, God again stepped in. Manifestations again, only better than I could have imagined.
One day I found myself talking to Dr. Walter Doyle about practicing with him in his Lexington, Kentucky, practice!!! He said, “Of course I would ask that you take my seminars.” OMG as we say!
The word co-incidence comes from a Latin word, congruens, “to come together perfectly.” (Shepherd, HE, The History of Coincide and Coincidence, Am J of Philology 1:3. 271-280)
To come together perfectly. Yes! (The rest is history, as they say.) As the Universe met my yearning to learn orthodontics, also, Walter and I fell in love and became partners in orthodontics and in life.
And in time, after the way-too-soon loss of Walter, the Doyle Seminars, now known as Dr. Chris Baker Seminars, represent my love and passion. They have continued to grip and guide me in my life of learning and teaching of orthodontics.
Coincidences in love and orthodontics - to come together perfectly!
- Published on
Being "bored" helps children develop their imagination and develop problem-solving skills.
Healthy play away from screens is essential for children's development.
“Mom, I’m bo - o - red!”
Many parents jump into action, feeling it’s important to entertain and play with their children so they won’t be bored. And, the children are often entertained with screens, TV, movies, videos, pads, phones, games and computers.
Screen use is damaging to brains (children AND adults) and prevents imagination and pondering. Imagining and pondering are kinds of thinking that have quite the opposite effect to screen use.
These healthful "problem-solving" thinking patterns help the brain develop in ways that teach your child to prioritize, organize, cope and feel empathy and compassion for others. They also help your child learn, perform better, reduce risk of addictions, and have better relationships throughout life.
Studies show screen use is associated with structural and functional damage to brain regions involving emotions, attention, decision-making and thought control. (Lin & Zhou et al, 2012.)
Psychologists and physicians explain sensory overload, lack of restorative sleep and a hyper-aroused nervous system are symptoms of brain damage from electronic screens.
Dr. Victoria Dunckley’s book, Reset Your Child’s Brain, explains the child’s brain damage, symptoms and dysfunction caused by screen use. She explains the children are more impulsive, moody, and can’t pay attention. Dr. Dunckley reports on studies that explain the brain damage includes atrophy (loss) of both the brain's gray matter and white matter.
Screen use thus damages both brain function and brain structure (anatomy).
We used to think of computers as educational for our children, so it became important for children to have computer access at home and at school. Now we are realizing we were wrong about computer access.
Limit screen time. Watching TV, playing video games and spending time on the computer diminishes your child’s imagination by not letting them imagine worlds and outcomes of their own. Screen time also encourages children to be passive and uninvolved, which is unhealthy for mind and body. Better to be outside climbing trees, finding cloud shapes, running about…
Remember, it’s important for your mind to wander, to ponder. The wandering mind comes up with imaginative ideas and solutions.
Through boredom you find your curiosity, persistence, playfulness, and you develop hobbies that you like. Your brain needs you to spend time watching the world go by - people, cars, animals, and clouds.
Can you imagine sitting at the soccer game without looking at your phone? Or waiting in the pick-up line for your children at school? Or at work without looking at your phone all day?
Point is, if you go through your day and don’t look at your phone when you are waiting - for anything or anyone - you will be creating a more resilient, healthy, thicker brain, and enjoying your pondering.
Let your children be bored! Enjoy them developing in broader, amazing ways! Can you imagine? They will be smarter, more creative, more buoyant, happier, more quick to recover, stronger than ever, more interested in their world, nicer, more compassionate, more aware, more athletic, more fun to be around.
Let’s be bored
Many parents jump into action, feeling it’s important to entertain and play with their children so they won’t be bored. And, the children are often entertained with screens, TV, movies, videos, pads, phones, games and computers.
Screen use is damaging to brains (children AND adults) and prevents imagination and pondering. Imagining and pondering are kinds of thinking that have quite the opposite effect to screen use.
These healthful "problem-solving" thinking patterns help the brain develop in ways that teach your child to prioritize, organize, cope and feel empathy and compassion for others. They also help your child learn, perform better, reduce risk of addictions, and have better relationships throughout life.
Studies show screen use is associated with structural and functional damage to brain regions involving emotions, attention, decision-making and thought control. (Lin & Zhou et al, 2012.)
Psychologists and physicians explain sensory overload, lack of restorative sleep and a hyper-aroused nervous system are symptoms of brain damage from electronic screens.
Dr. Victoria Dunckley’s book, Reset Your Child’s Brain, explains the child’s brain damage, symptoms and dysfunction caused by screen use. She explains the children are more impulsive, moody, and can’t pay attention. Dr. Dunckley reports on studies that explain the brain damage includes atrophy (loss) of both the brain's gray matter and white matter.
Screen use thus damages both brain function and brain structure (anatomy).
We used to think of computers as educational for our children, so it became important for children to have computer access at home and at school. Now we are realizing we were wrong about computer access.
Limit screen time. Watching TV, playing video games and spending time on the computer diminishes your child’s imagination by not letting them imagine worlds and outcomes of their own. Screen time also encourages children to be passive and uninvolved, which is unhealthy for mind and body. Better to be outside climbing trees, finding cloud shapes, running about…
Remember, it’s important for your mind to wander, to ponder. The wandering mind comes up with imaginative ideas and solutions.
Through boredom you find your curiosity, persistence, playfulness, and you develop hobbies that you like. Your brain needs you to spend time watching the world go by - people, cars, animals, and clouds.
Can you imagine sitting at the soccer game without looking at your phone? Or waiting in the pick-up line for your children at school? Or at work without looking at your phone all day?
Point is, if you go through your day and don’t look at your phone when you are waiting - for anything or anyone - you will be creating a more resilient, healthy, thicker brain, and enjoying your pondering.
Let your children be bored! Enjoy them developing in broader, amazing ways! Can you imagine? They will be smarter, more creative, more buoyant, happier, more quick to recover, stronger than ever, more interested in their world, nicer, more compassionate, more aware, more athletic, more fun to be around.
Let’s be bored
- Published on
"When you're smilin', the whole world smiles with you."
Sure enough, Louis Armstrong was so right! Studies show that smiling is contagious. Ever been around someone who just had something fantastic happen? Their smile and joy makes you feel good, too.
"A smile is the most powerful force in the world."
~ Sujith, produce manager at Spinney’s, Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Why do parents want orthodontic treatment for their children? Why do adults and children want orthodontic treatment?
Simply, of course, to have a beautiful smile.
And, what an honor it is, to have the privilege of providing the orthodontic treatment and see smiles blossoming into beautiful - gorgeous - captivating - radiant - magic.
It takes formal training and lots of experience, to learn how to accomplish the customized, individualized movement of teeth set in soft tissues and bone.
But first, the diagnosis - and this is how to have the most fun with your patients’ orthodontics and smiles!
Include muscles, profile, frenae, tonsils, functional movements, facial considerations, habits, musical instruments - brass, woodwind, violin…
in your examination!
Trace and measure the lateral ceph, frontal ceph, panoramic and models!
Now - go have fun and co-create that smile you’ve designed!
“Every time you smile at someone, it is an act of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
~ Mother Teresa
Studies show that just seeing a smile can activate the muscles in your face to make that same expression (smile), without you even being aware that you are doing it. Crazy, right?
Make your smiles change the world!
Sure enough, Louis Armstrong was so right! Studies show that smiling is contagious. Ever been around someone who just had something fantastic happen? Their smile and joy makes you feel good, too.
"A smile is the most powerful force in the world."
~ Sujith, produce manager at Spinney’s, Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Why do parents want orthodontic treatment for their children? Why do adults and children want orthodontic treatment?
Simply, of course, to have a beautiful smile.
And, what an honor it is, to have the privilege of providing the orthodontic treatment and see smiles blossoming into beautiful - gorgeous - captivating - radiant - magic.
It takes formal training and lots of experience, to learn how to accomplish the customized, individualized movement of teeth set in soft tissues and bone.
But first, the diagnosis - and this is how to have the most fun with your patients’ orthodontics and smiles!
- What does the smile look like now - glowing - wonky - ragged - gummy - crowded…?
- Train your staff to snap a bunch of photos and save them in the digital chart. You will be able to see a lot. As I tell the patients, I can study your smile when you aren’t even here.
- How and why did the patient grow the way he did?
- What are the positions and relationships of the skeleton - the skull bones, including the upper and lower jawbones, that hold the teeth?
- What are the positions and relationships of the teeth with each other? Most children have 20 primary (baby, milk) teeth, and another 32 (including the wisdom teeth) to come.
- How many does this patient have?
- Where are those teeth before they erupt - good position - poorer position - impacted?
- How does the patient use their mouth and teeth - chewing, talking, singing, clenching, grinding, biting, sucking, showing emotion and affection, expressions of feeling - frowning, smiling, habits…
- How does the patient breathe - through her nose, or through her mouth?
- What are the growth patterns and expected changes in the future?
Include muscles, profile, frenae, tonsils, functional movements, facial considerations, habits, musical instruments - brass, woodwind, violin…
in your examination!
Trace and measure the lateral ceph, frontal ceph, panoramic and models!
- Make a list of all your findings, skeletal, airway, occlusion, muscles, joint and function, tooth-size discrepancies, ectopic teeth, missing teeth, position of teeth, crossbites, need for sealants, restorative, future implants…
- THEN list treatment recommended to address the findings, in the sequence you feel will work best.
- Include retention as part of your treatment plan.
- Include future needs: periodontal cosmetic procedures, implants, bone augmentation, crown and bridge…
- Describe your “concerns” - the places in treatment that could be particularly complex or problematic.
Now - go have fun and co-create that smile you’ve designed!
“Every time you smile at someone, it is an act of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
~ Mother Teresa
Studies show that just seeing a smile can activate the muscles in your face to make that same expression (smile), without you even being aware that you are doing it. Crazy, right?
Make your smiles change the world!
- Published on
Studies show that a smile is a signal to the brain to be happy. This sweet smile certainly makes me happy!
A UK study showed that a single smile can create as much happiness as 2,000 chocolate bars.
This is my beautiful friend Dr Fernanda, pediatric dentist at the AADC Abu Dhabi dental clinic.
Do you know that even imitating a smile actually changes the way the neurons process emotion in your brain?
Your brain turns on emotionally and processes happiness when you smile. Your smile is a switch on to happiness.
In the UAE, we have many languages that we all bring together, and translations to our familiar English language are often very cute. My patients say, “On your phone or off your phone.”
Your smile “on’s” your brain’s happiness center. Even if you don’t feel like smiling, and you make a “fake” smile, your brain creates emotion of happiness! Pretty soon, you’ll not have to fake that smile.
“On” that brain - as often as possible.
In Great Britain, a study showed that ONE smile can create as much happiness stimulation as 2,000 chocolate bars! "On" your brain - smile!
Their study also showed a smile can create as much happy emotion as if you were given $20,000! Smile often!
Most of us think that we smile BECAUSE we are happy. Now you know if you smile you will GET HAPPIER!
NAMASTE! This precious greeting says to another, “The Spirit in me sends love to the Spirit in you.”
You see, your smile is a gift for the person with whom you share your smile, and when they smile back at you, it is your gift coming back! The Divinity in us is shared. WOW!
Hey - smiling also has been shown to reduce your stress hormones, increase your endorphins (happiness hormones), and lower your blood pressure. Smile as you exercise. Or - smile when you don’t take time to exercise. Smile lots!
Out in California at Berkeley they did a 30 year study of the lives of the students in yearbook photos. Guess what? The students who were smiling in their yearbook pictures scored higher on standardized tests of happiness, were inspiring to others and had longer lasting marriages. And the broadest widest smilers had the highest ranking in each area. In general, their lives were more successful and more happy.
“A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose! “ ~ Tom Wilson
Another study looked at baseball players on baseball cards in 1952. The researchers found that the players who were smiling in their baseball card photo lived longer than the non-smilers. And the biggest smiles had the longest lives.
Smiling is good for you!
Your smile makes people think more and better of you! From a Penn State U study, we find that when you smile, people think you are more capable, more likable and more courteous.
Smile - you will be healthier.
Smile - people will like you more.
Smile - you and others will feel happier.
Smile - you will reduce your stress.
and live longer!
“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. They are but trifles, to be sure, but scattered along life's pathway the good they do is inconceivable.” ~ Joseph Addison
Your brain turns on emotionally and processes happiness when you smile. Your smile is a switch on to happiness.
In the UAE, we have many languages that we all bring together, and translations to our familiar English language are often very cute. My patients say, “On your phone or off your phone.”
Your smile “on’s” your brain’s happiness center. Even if you don’t feel like smiling, and you make a “fake” smile, your brain creates emotion of happiness! Pretty soon, you’ll not have to fake that smile.
“On” that brain - as often as possible.
In Great Britain, a study showed that ONE smile can create as much happiness stimulation as 2,000 chocolate bars! "On" your brain - smile!
Their study also showed a smile can create as much happy emotion as if you were given $20,000! Smile often!
Most of us think that we smile BECAUSE we are happy. Now you know if you smile you will GET HAPPIER!
NAMASTE! This precious greeting says to another, “The Spirit in me sends love to the Spirit in you.”
You see, your smile is a gift for the person with whom you share your smile, and when they smile back at you, it is your gift coming back! The Divinity in us is shared. WOW!
Hey - smiling also has been shown to reduce your stress hormones, increase your endorphins (happiness hormones), and lower your blood pressure. Smile as you exercise. Or - smile when you don’t take time to exercise. Smile lots!
Out in California at Berkeley they did a 30 year study of the lives of the students in yearbook photos. Guess what? The students who were smiling in their yearbook pictures scored higher on standardized tests of happiness, were inspiring to others and had longer lasting marriages. And the broadest widest smilers had the highest ranking in each area. In general, their lives were more successful and more happy.
“A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose! “ ~ Tom Wilson
Another study looked at baseball players on baseball cards in 1952. The researchers found that the players who were smiling in their baseball card photo lived longer than the non-smilers. And the biggest smiles had the longest lives.
Smiling is good for you!
Your smile makes people think more and better of you! From a Penn State U study, we find that when you smile, people think you are more capable, more likable and more courteous.
Smile - you will be healthier.
Smile - people will like you more.
Smile - you and others will feel happier.
Smile - you will reduce your stress.
and live longer!
“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. They are but trifles, to be sure, but scattered along life's pathway the good they do is inconceivable.” ~ Joseph Addison
- Published on
Before: "Art in process." Molly in mixed dentition with orthodontic treatment begun.
After: "The finished work." Molly as a student at Texas A&M University (besides the fabulous smile, note the Corps of Cadets uniform).
Art ~ Expressing the author's imaginative or technical skill, producing works that are beautiful, to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
What could be more beautiful than the gorgeous smile of someone you love?
Think of the emotional power that smile has!
Orthodontics is art in the truest sense. I love the definition above, “expressing the author’s imaginative or technical skill.” The author is the orthodontist.
The imaginative skill makes it possible to visualize the beautiful smile that hides behind the “wonky” teeth and bite.
Without a mind picture of what the smile could be, there is no goal. The big, bold goal of orthodontics is the most gorgeous smile possible. And, the technical skill used is the engineering!
So, once again, love and orthodontics. Without love there is no impetus for the imaginative picture of what the smile can be, and thus, they weave together, using the energy, motivation, and desire of the patient and of the orthodontist.
In the end, the art is beautiful and appreciated every time your smile is shared. Sharing your smile has been shown to reduce stress hormones - yours and theirs, increase health - yours and theirs, and enhance the mood hormones - yours and theirs!
Your smile shared, lowers your blood pressure, AND the blood pressure of the people who see your smile.
Talk about powerful and life-changing emotional power - a fabulous form of art!
What could be more beautiful than the gorgeous smile of someone you love?
Think of the emotional power that smile has!
Orthodontics is art in the truest sense. I love the definition above, “expressing the author’s imaginative or technical skill.” The author is the orthodontist.
The imaginative skill makes it possible to visualize the beautiful smile that hides behind the “wonky” teeth and bite.
Without a mind picture of what the smile could be, there is no goal. The big, bold goal of orthodontics is the most gorgeous smile possible. And, the technical skill used is the engineering!
So, once again, love and orthodontics. Without love there is no impetus for the imaginative picture of what the smile can be, and thus, they weave together, using the energy, motivation, and desire of the patient and of the orthodontist.
In the end, the art is beautiful and appreciated every time your smile is shared. Sharing your smile has been shown to reduce stress hormones - yours and theirs, increase health - yours and theirs, and enhance the mood hormones - yours and theirs!
Your smile shared, lowers your blood pressure, AND the blood pressure of the people who see your smile.
Talk about powerful and life-changing emotional power - a fabulous form of art!
- Published on
Use of electronic games, phones, computers and pad computers can train children to poor posture and forward head position.
Open-mouth posture in a child (probable airway issues).
Adenoid Facies
Low tongue position caused malformation of face and a Class III bite.
A severe open bite, resulting from forward tongue position.
Effects of thumb-sucking on a patient's bite.
Orthodontics is a blend of engineering and art. Engineering - design and mechanics - includes
• architecture (the plan),
• physics (movement),
• chemistry (body physiology),
• ongoing changes in the smile, and
• work to stabilize the results in a dynamic (changing) human body.
How does the body change?
I tell the kids, “The toe bone is connected to the tooth bone,” like the old song. Indeed, the teeth, the bone around the teeth, the muscles and ligaments attached to the teeth, bone and joints, are connected to the muscles that hold and move our heads. They are also connected to the muscles and bones of the neck which are connected to the muscles and bones of the back, and the shoulders and arms and the hips, and the legs, down to the toes.
Each part of the body affects the rest of the body. That's the reality of it.
When a tooth is biting or chewing, ALL those connections are in play. Really. Then, we think about moving teeth orthodontically and “fixing” them. But, the teeth are moving targets, like shooting a Nerf dart toward a slowly shifting target.
Wouldn’t it be nice if braces could put teeth into a nice smile and bite and you’d be done? It doesn’t work that way.
Even without braces, everything constantly changes under and around the teeth. Baby teeth go, permanent teeth come. Bones grow. Muscles respond.
And, then other stuff is going on in the mouth - chewing, biting, grinding, clenching, nail-biting, sucking habits, chewing on pens… These all create forces on the teeth.
The tongue, cheeks and lips should balance each other with the tongue inside and the cheeks and lips outside, so the teeth sit comfortably between. Often they don’t.
For example:
Conley breathes through his mouth - a lot. Mouth open and the tongue pushing forward and down, so the lower jaw grows down.
Agnes is a mouth-breather too - her tongue pushes forward against her front teeth and jaw which grow more forward into a Class III.
And Andre’s thumb habit keeps his tongue low and allows his cheeks to push in on the upper jaw. So, his maxilla is too narrow, and he needs expansion.
Robbie slumps forward to play on his phone or iPad. Robbie’s back neck muscles are pulled longer and as his head becomes used to that posture, the bones grow to where the muscles are pulling.
After a few brief years of this in his young life, Robbie’s head and neck now droop forward. His teeth now bite differently (not in a good bite), than they would if his posture were more ideal.
Before, during and after braces, the teeth and smile live with amazing ongoing forces, from every direction.
But, while in braces, it is up to our engineering to work with, and “on”, and in spite of, these forces, to “fix” the teeth. The engineering of orthodontics.
Tomorrow -- the art of orthodontics.
• architecture (the plan),
• physics (movement),
• chemistry (body physiology),
• ongoing changes in the smile, and
• work to stabilize the results in a dynamic (changing) human body.
How does the body change?
I tell the kids, “The toe bone is connected to the tooth bone,” like the old song. Indeed, the teeth, the bone around the teeth, the muscles and ligaments attached to the teeth, bone and joints, are connected to the muscles that hold and move our heads. They are also connected to the muscles and bones of the neck which are connected to the muscles and bones of the back, and the shoulders and arms and the hips, and the legs, down to the toes.
Each part of the body affects the rest of the body. That's the reality of it.
When a tooth is biting or chewing, ALL those connections are in play. Really. Then, we think about moving teeth orthodontically and “fixing” them. But, the teeth are moving targets, like shooting a Nerf dart toward a slowly shifting target.
Wouldn’t it be nice if braces could put teeth into a nice smile and bite and you’d be done? It doesn’t work that way.
Even without braces, everything constantly changes under and around the teeth. Baby teeth go, permanent teeth come. Bones grow. Muscles respond.
And, then other stuff is going on in the mouth - chewing, biting, grinding, clenching, nail-biting, sucking habits, chewing on pens… These all create forces on the teeth.
The tongue, cheeks and lips should balance each other with the tongue inside and the cheeks and lips outside, so the teeth sit comfortably between. Often they don’t.
For example:
Conley breathes through his mouth - a lot. Mouth open and the tongue pushing forward and down, so the lower jaw grows down.
Agnes is a mouth-breather too - her tongue pushes forward against her front teeth and jaw which grow more forward into a Class III.
And Andre’s thumb habit keeps his tongue low and allows his cheeks to push in on the upper jaw. So, his maxilla is too narrow, and he needs expansion.
Robbie slumps forward to play on his phone or iPad. Robbie’s back neck muscles are pulled longer and as his head becomes used to that posture, the bones grow to where the muscles are pulling.
After a few brief years of this in his young life, Robbie’s head and neck now droop forward. His teeth now bite differently (not in a good bite), than they would if his posture were more ideal.
Before, during and after braces, the teeth and smile live with amazing ongoing forces, from every direction.
But, while in braces, it is up to our engineering to work with, and “on”, and in spite of, these forces, to “fix” the teeth. The engineering of orthodontics.
Tomorrow -- the art of orthodontics.
Text and images © 2016 Dr Chris Baker
- Published on
ABU DHABI -- It occurred to me today in the clinic that it is truly “love and orthodontics.”
There is nothing more joy-making than the beautiful smiles of the children and teenagers that I treat.
Oh, maybe there is - the incredibly wonderful connections with the children and their parents. It’s the happy grin of the bashful little Maryam I see as I approach her sitting in the corner of the reception room couch, drawing on paper. She won’t quite look up - she just grins and keeps drawing - until I am standing right there, and insist on getting a hug. Now the grin broadly covers her face and she stands and gives me a long, affectionate and happy hug.
Here in Abu Dhabi a medical (dental) office is called a “clinic.” Our clinic is the Advanced American Dental Center. What I do there is love and orthodontics.
One of the dads today said, “You know you are famous?” I thought for a minute, and realized, and said, “I do love being famous with the children.” Indeed. Famous because so many schoolmates see each other there at the clinic. (It’s fun how, to children, their teachers and dentists are “famous.”)
I regale Claude every night with stories of my day. And he patiently and interestedly listens. Oh do I have the best husband!
Tonight Claude and I walked down the steps of the clinic toward our white Honda CRV. Claude had parked it right at the clinic entrance.
I was anxious to tell Claude about Natalie’s mom offering to give me her daughter. But, our attention was taken by a calico Arabian Mau cat, walking from under our car, pausing to notice us, and our pausing to notice her.
Natalie and I had a talk about how and where to brush her teeth more effectively, and how the reason her retainer doesn’t fit now is inadequate wear.
And her mom asked me, “Do you miss Molly a lot?”
“Of course I miss my sweet (daughter) Molly a lot.”
Natalie’s mom, smiling wryly, “So would you like to take Natalie home with you?”
Me; ”I would take her in a heartbeat; but then you would miss her.” Both of us smiled at each other and Natalie.
There is nothing more joy-making than the beautiful smiles of the children and teenagers that I treat.
Oh, maybe there is - the incredibly wonderful connections with the children and their parents. It’s the happy grin of the bashful little Maryam I see as I approach her sitting in the corner of the reception room couch, drawing on paper. She won’t quite look up - she just grins and keeps drawing - until I am standing right there, and insist on getting a hug. Now the grin broadly covers her face and she stands and gives me a long, affectionate and happy hug.
Here in Abu Dhabi a medical (dental) office is called a “clinic.” Our clinic is the Advanced American Dental Center. What I do there is love and orthodontics.
One of the dads today said, “You know you are famous?” I thought for a minute, and realized, and said, “I do love being famous with the children.” Indeed. Famous because so many schoolmates see each other there at the clinic. (It’s fun how, to children, their teachers and dentists are “famous.”)
I regale Claude every night with stories of my day. And he patiently and interestedly listens. Oh do I have the best husband!
Tonight Claude and I walked down the steps of the clinic toward our white Honda CRV. Claude had parked it right at the clinic entrance.
I was anxious to tell Claude about Natalie’s mom offering to give me her daughter. But, our attention was taken by a calico Arabian Mau cat, walking from under our car, pausing to notice us, and our pausing to notice her.
Natalie and I had a talk about how and where to brush her teeth more effectively, and how the reason her retainer doesn’t fit now is inadequate wear.
And her mom asked me, “Do you miss Molly a lot?”
“Of course I miss my sweet (daughter) Molly a lot.”
Natalie’s mom, smiling wryly, “So would you like to take Natalie home with you?”
Me; ”I would take her in a heartbeat; but then you would miss her.” Both of us smiled at each other and Natalie.
