REMEMBER 2004?

I know I know, we will! For the hurricanes, the elections, and… but first, I want to wish everybody the Greatest Holidays and a Happy New Year while hoping for a quieter 2005. We all deserve a sweet one after the vicious hurricanes that hit us lately.

HURRICANES

Most of our friends, patients and employees sustained considerable damages to their houses, trees, and cars. Even if some were lucky, we all suffered some trauma because of the loss of power at home or at work, the inconvenience of reduced services available in the area, and the overall stress of going through the loud, lasting winds. Snowstorms I experienced as a kid were a lot more fun, anyway.

Sylvie and I felt very lucky for the little damage to our house and the practice. Our kids, Sarah and Simon, though, experienced roof and water damage (from hurricane Charley) like a lot of people in Orlando . They are both now in Orlando where Sarah is studying in mathematics and Simon in computer graphic design. I got to work on drywalls and joints as ceilings collapsed in their place. My carpenter dad would have been amazed, or rather amused, to see me at it. They had to survive many weeks in the mess along with noisy fans and dehumidifiers.

ELECTIONS

Also, 2004 was quite a year with the presidential elections. What a long fight! And at war! I just hope more international commitment will help by joining our troops so we can reduce our count of lost lives. And why not eliminate the deficit and go back to surplus. Dreaming? It's worth a try.

HUNTING

Like friends and others on our team, we now experience the “empty nest”. We are still busy, but in a different way. I am back into a sport that I had forgotten for 30 years… hunting. For Halloween, I went home to Quebec and felt a continuity from my teenage years, when I used to follow my experienced dad, quite a lifetime hunter. I paid a quick visit to my mom and spent two days in the woods. I saw rabbits, partridges, a black bear and lots of deer, all females, which are protected by law. Click here or “BAMBI” at the top of the page to see the pictures we took. This was our first experience at an outfitter where Sylvie and I made new friends. These very welcoming entrepreneurs, Jean-Pierre and Jeannine, were like family to us at once.

My sister Diane came to Florida for an old dream of hers: shooting clay. We had a great time targeting the flying clay, which is something we couldn't afford when we were teenagers, but we're finally getting to enjoy it.

DIET

Guess what? I finally found the way to lose weight. It's nothing complicated, and it's not even hard for me. All I put aside is carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta and rice, but I can still treat myself once in a while. Thanks to Dr. Priest who got something to click in my mind and make the shift. There's one more requirement, 30 minutes a day of cardiovascular exercise. I would say I like the kind of diet that allows meat, of course, I reduced my portions.

CONVENTIONS

As every year, I attended the Florida National Dental Congress to meet my continuing education credits requirement and get informed, not to say harassed, by dental representatives about new products and equipment. The New-Orleans Dental Conference is also a must for me… the food, the music. It was cancelled due to Ivan (the 4 th hurricane) but I will go to the rescheduled one in December. The whole staff was concerned for the American Dental Association convention this year in Orlando as we had planned it long ago and it could have been threatened by Jeanne…remember? Fortunately, it went on scheduled and we could all escape our powerless homes for the air conditioned hotel.

While there, I met (very coincidentally) an “exchange” colleague. We exchanged polite words in an elevator and when we started discussing about our different universities, we finally figured out we were the two students, him from Montreal, myself from Laval University in Quebec City, that shifted back to our preferred schools. Thanks to him, I could stay in my university to switch to dentistry, so I did not need to move to Montreal . Further talking brought us to the next big convention of the Federation Dentaire Internationale which regroups the associations of all the countries of the world (similar to our ADA ). He is working on organizing the one in 2005 in Montreal along with the Canadian Dental Association and Quebec Order of Dentists. Dentists will come from all over the globe by the thousands. What a small world, after all.

NEW STUFF

From the conventions, I came back with loupes, a shade scanner and light, a bigger sterilizer and another digital camera. You might find my new vision loupes a bit scary like big extended eyes. They are difficult to get used to and you'll see me trying. I enjoy the magnification but I am kind of uncomfortable with it because it restricts the field of sight. Shade Scan is a new camera so high-tech that it can picture the tooth according to many parameters such as value, shade, opacity and translucency so we can match the color and appearance of teeth better than ever before. It will allow me to deal with my technician for crowns and bridges all electronically. We also got a shade light to help with shade picking in any condition of light such as sunny, cloudy, closed verticals, etc. I upgraded our fastest sterilizer to a bigger unit, so we can handle more, as fast as in the past. Kodak came up with a powerful digital camera especially for dentistry, one I couldn't resist.

Erin and Barbara, our hygienists, got an extra Cavitron Jet to work with, you know, the ultrasonic scaler and the salt blaster. They also have a new cotton candy flavored prophy paste to add to the already popular Zinnamon and cookie dough. I found a new grape flavor for the topical gel to start numbing, even though I still prefer the Walterberry.

In the office, we now listen to the music of Muzak, so we don't get anybody tired of my CD's, which are still available for listening. You can choose from the Sirius variety of music as well since we have Muzak delivering the satellite DishNetwork to all our TVs for full option of channels from News to Sports and not to forget locals. Most of you already surfed the Network with the remote. As usual, we upgraded the patient education DVD that keeps running on the TVs in the office. I am still working on replacing the bulky TV monitors with light flat screens. I need to find the right kind of arms to move them anywhere so there is no chair position that prevents you from a comfortable watch, or game for the Nintendo players. You will notice our “sky lights” providing a blue sky with a few cotton ball clouds at all times, rather than looking at bulbs. Let me know if you like them at your next visit.

I was very tempted by lasers this year, to be the first dentist in town to use it as a tooth drill. They are very efficient and useful in soft tissue management but still have limitations for general dentistry use such as fillings (cannot remove old amalgams or crowns) and crowns (unless free of old fillings, which would then rarely need a crown). You still need to use the slow handpiece, the one that vibrates, to remove the soft decay when deeper. They improved a lot from the days lasers would “burn” the tooth. I watch their evolution very closely.

I heard about the new use of ozone in dentistry. We have used it for years as an air purifier and water line sterilizer. HealOzone is a new machine which treats decay over 20 seconds in order to save more tooth structure. Until the FDA approves its use in the country, we will watch the Canadians experimenting with it.

DENTAL NEWS

Links between periodontal disease and heart attack, stroke and pneumonia are confirmed in new research. Even some of the new research involves links to other systemic conditions, which needs more investigation. What we now know forces dentists to educate patients about the risk of serious complications from simple gum disease. We always worked hard on preserving the gums and keeping them in good condition with cleanings and scalings, and that is why we recommend frequent hygiene maintenance appointments at least twice a year, and more often for people whose gums cannot keep up at this pace). Some people build up calculus very fast compared to others. Patients know that periodontitis must be controlled and eliminated to avoid eventual loss of teeth.

We have known for some years now that the treatment of periodontitis is not limited to saving teeth longer but even more importantly to prevent life threatening conditions which require hospitalization and expensive treatment with expected sequels. That justifies strong recommendations for regular care and actual treatment when we find actual damage to your gums and bones.

So when we refer to the periodontist, we really mean to take care of your condition before you get into much more serious health problems than you would think of. Denial will not save your life, maybe ruining it, at best. These findings reinforce my philosophy of prevention and I expect my patients to follow regularly for their own good. After all, periodontitis is not only a gum disease. Be aware.

The electric toothbrushes I keep recommending to all my patients are not big news but it is always a great time of the year to remind my patients that they make great Holidays presents, to yourself, to your family, to everybody. They keep improving. Sonicare came up with a smaller head and Oral-B Braun added speed to theirs. The old models on the market are still great, but cheaper. The new ones are top of the line and worth the extra dollar. Be careful to avoid the battery kind because they only spin and will wear your roots. Look for rechargeable units of respectable companies. Any will do much better than a handbrush, which I may not be handing out much longer.

As usual, I send you some brochures so you can share with family, friends and coworkers. I appreciate your referrals as they keep the practice active and healthy.

Have a Happy New Year

Yours sincerely,

Andre J. Bérubé