Josh Bernstein, DDS, Cosmetic Dentist

Many people visit our office because they have worn, chipped teeth and they want porcelain veneers. It is important to realize that it is usually the person's bite that causes these problems in the first place. It would be easy enough to put porcelain veneers on these teeth as they are. In fact, Lumineers has an entire campaign devoted to promoting placing porcelain veneers without doing anything to the underlying teeth.

The risk involved in placing porcelain veneers without considering the underlying bite problem is that the new porcelain veneers are likely to chip, wear, or break in the same way that the teeth were damaged.

Here is a case where the patient had damaged 2 out of her 4 front teeth. Rather than just covering the front part of the tooth with porcelain, we corrected her traumatic bite in the process. Now this patient can look forward to many years of a beautiful all new smile.

Labels: cosmetic dentistry, Lumineers, porcelain veneers

Staying connected 24/7 seems to be the Holy Grail of technology today. Cell phones, Blackberry's, Treo's, iPods, laptops and WiFi all combine to "enable" us to have access to anyone, have access to all information, anywhere, anytime. And I don't use the word "enable" lightly! This is an addiction!

Having been exposed to a number of teenagers, I have seen certain individuals who are connected every waking hour. The ultimate irony is to see a group of friends together in a restaurant where everyone at the table is texting, listeing to music, or talking on their cell phone to someone who is not at the table. How connected are they--really?

Any device is a poor substitute for face to face communication. Yet face to face communication is growing more uncommon every day. Interrupting is commonly thought of as rude behavior, but so many of us have been in the middle of a face to face, only to be interrupted by the other person taking a mindless cell phone call or text message. I acutally know people who are
easier to communicate with by text or email than by face to face because they have simply lost the abiltiy to effectively communicate in person.

The more we become connected, the more it seems we are becoming disconnected. If this bothers you, try turning off your cell phone when you are with your friends and family. (And I don't mean to turn it on "vibrate!") Let any callers leave a message. You can always call back
later after you have had some genuine, face to face, communication--in person.

Labels: cell phones, email, text messaging