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212-517-9000 | www.reitdds.com Glenn Reit D.D.S.
WINTER 2024
TIME AFTER TIME
Time waits for no one and here we go again. In the year 2024, it’s twenty five years since Prince sang party like it’s 1999, and no Y2K — we’re still standing — yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you made any resolutions? Is your plan ready to go? Hopefully, you thought about this back in November — but better late than never. For me time is going faster and faster. Time doesn’t actually fluctuate but it sure feels a whole lot quicker. When my brother and I were little, every summer we were shipped off to sleep away camp. We resided in the Pennsylvania back country for eight weeks. Sometimes, I thought since my dad was a World War II Army veteran he wanted us to experience a little military enlightenment. How’s that? Well every morning there was Reveille and every evening there was Taps. We lived in bunks like barracks, we ate together, and played together somewhat like a platoon. One thing I did notice was eight weeks seemed an awfully long time. Today eight weeks goes by so fast you can’t believe it. It’s three weeks before Thanksgiving and now it’s January. Hard to believe I’ve been out of LA for 17 years — seems like three. You could say I miss the milder winters but I definitely don’t miss basically living in my car, for nobody walks in LA. It seems a whole lot better now to be here in the Big Apple than in Cali; and anyway I’m from New York. The saying you can take the New Yorker out of New York but you can’t take the New York out of the New Yorker still rings true. So, if you haven’t made a plan you need to take action, now. How are you going to get where you want to go without having a plan? It’s like traveling down a river and gazing at the scenery and not realizing there’s a Niagara Falls approaching until it’s too late to take action.
Importantly, you need to maintain and strengthen your body, i.e. health. If you lose your health life becomes a whole lot harder and it’s hard enough already for most of us. Family relationships are important unless you like to be alone on the ship of life. Finally, some sort of income is nice. It’s not so much the money but the security it provides. To keep your body healthy, some form of aerobic exercising is important. Being a New Yorker the easiest one is just walking. Here in New York City, everyone is walking and walking is good for you. We have many free stair masters available. Just try using the steps going down the subway or up into your office or apartment. For me in addition to walking, I like to swim and we do have here a few good indoor pools available. As you get older your muscle mass decreases so a little weight training is helpful. Ideally, you want to use some weight machine. This forces you to maintain proper form. Wrong form can lead to a painful experience. One thing about exercising is that at some point you always pull something. Then you’re in pain and have to wait it out until you can continue but the alternative is slow deterioration. So, it’s a new year and if you have dental insurance you have a clean slate and your teeth do want to be clean. Wishing everyone a healthy and happy new year and looking forward to seeing all of you in the coming year. Your teeth and those talking to you will thank you.
Glenn Reit, DDS
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With winter here one of the pleasures of life is going skiing. Although we only go for five days, for me it is enough. We head out west and this year we will be going to Telluride in Colorado. Time flies, the last time here was five years ago – seems a whole lot shorter than that. Telluride is where Quentin Tarantino filmed the outdoor scenes of the Hateful Eight. It is a bit off the beaten path and is a small Western town. We go the first week in April. At the end of the season the slopes and accommodations are empty. No lift lines here and when skiing it’s not like you’re on the LIE. Even if you have skied an area before, each day is different. Skiing is one of the sports where you can exercise for six to eight hours per day. You’re at 10,000 feet, the air is lighter, the sun in April is shinning and you’re doing aerobic exercise. New York City seems to be very, very far away. After a day of skiing a plunge into the hot tub and a quiet dinner in a nice restaurant is especially rewarding. At night it is generally very quiet and you realize how much noise we put up with at home. The best part is that after several days, you relieve all the stress that you have accumulated over the year. Yes, there is a learning curve. It is important to learn how to ski – meaning how to turn and stop. Trees and rocks don’t move for you. In fact trees like to embrace you TO SKI OR NOT TO SKI HOW TO GO SOMEWHERE WITHOUT EVEN GOING
if you ski too close. For me the only down side is when the chairlift stops moving in midflight. Then you are hanging in the air with nowhere to go. It’s not like you can just jump off. Foot rests on the chairlifts is a needed bonus in these situations. Telluride is a lot friendlier than Beaver Creek or Deer Valley. Maybe because I lived in California for many years I prefer a more laid back atmosphere. So hopefully you’ll be going somewhere special over the next several months and possibly I’ll see you on the slopes.
One of the joys in life for me is found in reading. Yes, you need to be able to sit still and concentrate, but books can transport you anywhere without leaving your favorite chair. Reading is the most intimate interaction between two strangers. You can go into the future or the past. It can be realistic or fantastical. As one reads you can quickly discern a good author from a hack. If I buy a book, I try to finish it unless it’s a disaster. For me, I only read hardcover books where the type is bigger, probably due to the fact that I’m looking at teeth all day. I was never into the Kindle. I like holding the book in my hand or maybe I’m a Luddite. I also like there is not a light looking right into my eyes while reading. So, now if you decide reading isn’t too big of a challenge with the lack of filmed entertainment on television or at the movie theatre, the question is: where are you going to get a book? The easiest source is Amazon. Yes it’s impersonal but quick, easy and for new books at the best price. I
like their feature look inside where you can see the size of the type of the book you’re purchasing. The other good feature is if you don’t like it, just bring it to the UPS store and Amazon takes it back with an immediate refund to your account. Since you’ll eventually be purchasing something else, it’s a quick and easy turnaround. However, sometimes you just want to see the book and hold it. At other times, you just don’t know what you’re looking for. Then it’s down to Union Square which for me is just a quick jaunt on the Q train. Here you have two choices. The multilevel less crowded Barnes and Noble is where I go here if I’m just looking. They have a Starbucks upstairs so you can get a coffee, sit down and peruse some titles before buying. However, if you’re a real book sleuth, the book Mecca is Strands a few blocks south of Union Square. First you have the bargain carts outside where all books are five dollars. The question here is do they smell and/or are they falling apart. However, you can find a lost title here at times in good condition.
Inside Strands, the front part is like Barnes and Noble but as you proceed to the back there are the stacks where thousands of used books in good shape are available to purchase at vastly reduced prices, typically seven dollars. You can find long lost titles from some of your favorite authors. The adage, so much to read and so little time, like most things require you to choose carefully.
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THERE’S STILL HOPE WHEN ALL IS LOST Keeping your own teeth is the best. Try as we do we can simulate but not totally recreate what evolution has given you. Your teeth come in handy if you like eating and having a pleasing appearance. You lead with your smile. lost teeth lead to a collapse of your bite, effecting how you eat and also how you look.
There are still other options like a removable denture but these are plastic teeth that you place in your mouth in the morning and take out at night and move around while eating. The standard dental bridge, somewhat like the George Washington Bridge, is connected to the two adjacent teeth. We generally prefer not to do these anymore since you are involving adjacent teeth which generally are happy to be left alone. Another problem is that now the teeth are connected together making flossing more challenging. Implants are the last option to save a missing tooth in a way that will make you function and feel as if you did not lose it. Sometimes this is a solution worth implementing. Here a piece of titanium which is shaped like your tooth’s original root is placed into your jaw. Over several months it becomes attached to the bone in your jaw and subsequently we restore it with a crown which resembles and functions like your own original tooth. We have been doing these
In life, things happen. Decay and trauma occurs. Sometimes a tooth reaches a point where it is not salvageable. In that situation we can bring your tooth somewhat back to life by doing a dental implant. What is a dental implant? It is a small piece of titanium that looks like the root of your tooth which we place into your upper or lower jaw. After residing there for a time, it cements to your jaw forming a platform upon which we can create a dental crown that resembles and functions like your original tooth. You always have the option of not replacing the tooth but if it is in the front of your mouth, esthetically this could be a no go. The problem of not replacing missing teeth is that it causes your other remaining teeth to carry additional loads while eating. Too many
procedures for the past decade right here in the office, so there is no need to venture out to have the procedure performed somewhere else. Maybe you or one of your friends, relatives or coworkers is in search of the missing tooth. If you hear about it, tell them to give us a call. You might become their hero.
TAKE A BREAK!
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Glenn Reit D.D.S. 212-517-9000 | www.reitdds.com
1498 Third Avenue New York, New York 10028
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What is New York City known for? Well, one thing for sure is pizza. It may have something to do with the water. Yes, our water supply more than a century old has lots things floating around in three pizza joints I’ve frequented. There’s Gotham thin, crusty and crispy; Serafina thin and gooey; and finally Delizia thicker, more oily and heavy. Now do you have a Diet Coke or cabernet with it? MANGE, MANGE, MANGE it. Those things make your pizza taste, well like New York. If you eat too much pizza, you’ll look like Clemenza from the original Godfather movie. Let’s assume you have a little self control. Here are
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