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PREMIER DENTAL NEWSLETTER
EDITION 43
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MY DAYS IN ITHACA, NEW YORK 9 Experiences I Remember Well
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In the early 1980s, I spent five years in Ithaca, Central New York. I was in graduate school at Cornell University studying chemical engineering. Those years were intense, exhilarating, and enlightening while also challenging. Everyone knows about the harsh winters in Central New York. We got a lot more snow than New Jersey, but people in New York state were better prepared and have a different mentality than New Jerseyans. Five inches of snow was not newsworthy — snow was cleared quickly from the major highways and roads, kids skied to school, and few things were ever shut down. Importantly, people knew how to drive in the snow. I never saw as much panic about snow until I came to New Jersey! I owned an old rusty Toyota Corona. It had 90,000 miles when I purchased it. I drove it around another 60,000 miles. It never failed to start on those bitterly cold mornings. In fact, I remember helping jump other people’s cars. I finally got rid of it when I started to see the road through the floor of the car! From my time in Ithaca, the following experiences are still fresh in my memory.
1. There was a video game arcade at the entrance to the campus on College Avenue. I spent hours at this arcade playing Mario Brothers. At one point, I had registered the highest score, but someone outdid me within a few weeks. 2. All-you-can-eat chicken wings at Ground Round restaurant in the Ithaca Commons on Tuesday nights was a big hit with students. 3. Ithaca had some steep roads — Buffalo Street in particular. Imagine a steep road in the winter with snow and ice. I saw so many people slip and fall on this street. In the summer, people ran up this street to get a workout. 4. Lacrosse and ice hockey NCAA games took place on campus. These were the only two sports Cornell was good at! 5. We took powerboat rides on Cayuga Lake, which was the largest of Central New York’s Finger Lakes. It ran about 38 miles in length. We would rent a power boat and drive it up and down Cayuga Lake — those rides were fabulous. 6. The beautiful, 2,300-acre Cornell campus is located on a hill. Ithaca also had lakes, gorges, and parks just outside campus. Late spring, summer, and fall were wonderful times. I distinctly recall Taughannock Falls, which is the tallest waterfall in the northeastern United States. 7. I recollect using a Macintosh computer when it first came out. It was the first commercially available computer with a mouse and graphical user interface. It was very user- friendly. By contrast, the IBM-PC required the user to know MS-DOS commands in order to make it work. 8. MTV had just emerged at that time. Music videos certainly captured the imagination of people. The other thing I remember was watching the Yankees on WPIX channel. The Yankees had Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, and Ricky Henderson, but they never won a World Series during that era.
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PRACTICE MANAGER
PETER
TAUGHANNOCK FALLS, ITHACA
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DR. HEMA GOPAL: 20+ YEARS IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Is Your Child Ready to Go Online?
Internet Safety 101
Technology surrounds us now more than ever. There are always new apps in the app store, new games, and countless social media posts. Today, we also see children spending more time on the internet. But using these platforms comes with risks and responsibility — is your child ready to navigate them? Talk to your child about online dangers. Before giving your child permission to use the internet or buying a smartphone, they must understand the different types of online dangers. There are many harmful things on the internet your children do not need to see. Talk to them about phishing, piracy, obscenity, online predators, cyberbullying, revealing personal information, and how people may not be who they say they are. Set standards and boundaries for internet/phone use. What sites are they allowed to get on? Which social media programs are they allowed to visit? Is there any information you would want them to keep private? How long or often can they be on the internet? Don’t wait until something terrible happens to begin implementing online safety rules. Make guidelines proactively for your children to follow so they know what is expected of them. Encourage your children to talk to you. Unfortunately, around 60% of kids claim they hardly talk to their parents about what they’re experiencing online. Therefore, your children must know
they can come to you instead of hiding their concerns. Remember that your child may fear you’ll be angry with them if something questionable happens, so keep an open mind and understand your child’s situation. This will encourage them to come to you more often if a problem occurs. By implementing an open line of communication, informing them about the dangers of the internet, and setting boundaries, your child will have all the tools they need to safely use the internet and social media. Be aware of what they are doing and check their phones periodically. However, if you would like more resources on how to teach your child about internet safety, you can find tons of information online!
YOU CAN HELP IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT!
Consider Using Eco-Friendly Dental Products
Eco-friendly products are biodegradable. Typical dental products are made with polyethylene and nylon, which aren’t biodegradable. Because of this, they can take many years to decompose. Luckily, eco-friendly dental products exist, like biodegradable, compostable, and plastic-free toothbrushes made of bamboo. You’ll experience a more natural clean. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study has shown how the plastics in non-eco-friendly dental products can negatively impact the reproductive system of lab animals they were applied to. Studies are still being conducted to see if those chemicals affect humans similarly. In the meantime, choosing environmentally friendly dental products made from mineral clay, sea salt, and plant extracts can help you avoid potentially harmful plastics found in many dental products. Furthermore, many types of mouthwash are made with fake dyes, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and other chemicals. Eco-friendly mouthwashes avoid synthetic chemicals and only contain all-natural and non-toxic ingredients. If you’re interested in purchasing eco-friendly dental products, you can find them at your local supermarket or buy them online. For more information about environmentally friendly brands and items, go online and search for “zero waste” dental products.
When you go to the supermarket or drug store, you’ll come across many environmentally friendly products. But did you know you can use eco- friendly dental products? Not only are they good for oral health, but they’re also great for the environment! Here are three reasons to choose eco-friendly products for your oral health. You can reduce plastic waste. All the products you use for your oral health routine — toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, and floss — come in plastic bottles and containers. Although it’s recyclable, the plastic in your dental products cannot be recycled — they are sent straight to a landfill or dumped in our waterways. So, look for brands advertising sustainability on the packaging.
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“I’ll complete this task when I feel motivated.” You may have told yourself or heard others say this sentence more times than you can count. Unfortunately, motivation alone will not help you fulfill your goals or complete your tasks. You aren’t going to “feel” motivated every day, so choosing what to do and not do based on a feeling will only get you so far. MOTIVATION ISN’T ENOUGH How to Create Healthy Habits
Inspired by DinnerAtTheZoo.com Tasty Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
• 8 oz spinach leaves • 8 oz cream cheese, softened • 1 cup sour cream • 3/4 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts • 1 tsp minced garlic • 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese • 1 1/2 cups shredded
But not all hope is lost! There is something you can do to help you complete all of your daily items and goals.
mozzarella cheese, divided • Sliced bread, crackers, or tortilla chips for serving
Instead of relying on motivation, create habits that will get you into the routine of conducting and completing different activities. Habits are extremely powerful and can shape our lives either positively or negatively — depending on the habits we create. We can have routines that support our values and goals or practices that don’t, making life harder than it should be. Creating healthy habits is essential because the next time you don’t “feel like it,” it won’t matter — you’ll have a schedule and routine to ensure tasks will be completed. The best way to stick to your goals and values is to make healthy habits. How do you create healthy habits? Before you can create new routines, you first need to be aware of the habits you have now. What do you typically do when you want to finish something but don’t feel like doing it? What do you usually say to yourself? Once you can identify your trends and patterns, you can start changing your thinking and actions. Developing a healthier routine doesn’t happen overnight — it takes time, patience, dedication, and testing. Therefore, it’s best to start small and make progress each day. You can change one habit at a time until completing that task is second nature. Then, modify another habit until your routine is filled with actions that align with your goals and values. So, the next time you’re not feeling motivated and want to skip or delay one of your tasks, don’t! You made a routine and created healthy habits, and now it’s time to stick to them. Even when you don’t feel like doing something, do it anyway. You may be surprised by how productive you’ll feel.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray. 2. In a medium pan, steam or sauté spinach until wilted. When spinach cools, ring out excess water, then chop coarsely. 3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and 3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese. 4. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. 5. Bake for 20 minutes or until the dip is bubbly. Turn the oven to broil and cook for an additional 2–3 minutes so the cheese will begin to brown. 6. Immediately serve with bread, crackers, or tortilla chips.
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9. I was a teaching assistant for a year — it was an invaluable experience. It taught me to communicate with clarity and to explain things in different ways to students. Grading tests and homework assignments was an interesting experience and raised thorny questions. How generous should you be? How harsh? What grade do you give someone who was partially correct? The curriculum at Cornell was rigorous, and students were highly competitive. Resources and facilities on campus were world-class and so were many of the faculty. I remember the libraries, labs, computer center, and student center quite vividly. In those five years in Ithaca, I learned a lot professionally, made many good friends, figured out how to deal with winters, and enjoyed all the things that the Finger Lakes area and the university had to offer. In many ways, those experiences shaped my life. Is there a period in your life that made you the person you are today?
–Peter Gopal
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Inside
DR. HEMA GOPAL: 20+ YEARS IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
This Issue
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How Ithaca, New York, Shaped Who I Am It’s Time to Stream! Go Green with Eco-Friendly Dental Products Need to Make a Change in Your Life? Tasty Spinach Artichoke Dip
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Happy Dental Hygienist Month!
IT’S DENTAL HYGIENIST MONTH!
3 Ways You Can Say ‘Thank You’
Dental hygienists are the gatekeepers of oral health. They are the ones who perform cleanings and in-depth exams, take X-rays, educate patients on oral health, and more. If you have any questions about improving oral hygiene, they are your go-to experts. Because of the incredible work of dental hygienists, doctors can spend time on implants, crowns, and repairing cavities. If you think about it, dental hygienists are the third hand for doctors — dentist offices wouldn’t run efficiently without them! In honor of April being Dental Hygienist Month, here are a few ways to thank them during your next visit. Thank You Cards You don’t have to do anything grand to say thank you. A card with some kind words inside will do the trick. Your local supermarkets and other stores may have dozens of cards you can pick from. There are even cards specifically made for essential workers!
Practical Gifts We all have a wish list of items that would help us a ton at work, but we have yet to purchase them. The same goes for dental hygienists! Perhaps they need scrub caps, a new pair of scrubs, utensils, and other items. You could also purchase a gift card for them. But before deciding on a gift, please contact the office to confirm that gifts can be accepted. Provide Lunch You know what they say — the quickest way to someone’s heart is through their stomach! Sometimes, it can be a chore to prep and pack your lunch for the week — especially for dental hygienists who have demanding schedules. So, you can either pack lunch for them, or provide a gift card to a restaurant or fast food place for them to go to. We can’t thank our dental hygienists enough for their fantastic work. Their efforts don’t go unnoticed by our office or our patients. Thank you for everything you do!
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DR. HEMA GOPAL: 20+ YEARS IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
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