Westchester Oral Surgery June 2019

2975 Westchester Avenue, Suite G02, Purchase, NY 10577

• www.oralsurgeryofwestchester.com

Let’s Talk About Wisdom Teeth THE SMARTS!

I have a confession to make: I still have my wisdom teeth in.

“Ideally, wisdom teeth should be removed before patients turn 25.” “

Now, since I’m an oral surgeon, this might come as a bit of a shock. It can be even more of a shock for people who have heard Dr. Graffeo or myself recommend extracting wisdom teeth before patients turn 25. I promise that I’m not ignoring my own advice. While most people need to get some if not all of their wisdom teeth removed, around 10% of the population actually have enough room in their jaw to fit all 32 teeth. I’m part of that lucky crowd. Fun fact, Dr. Graffeo did have his wisdom removed when he was a teenager, and the extraction was performed by his uncle, the late Dr. Sanford Blecker. I’ve been thinking a lot about wisdom teeth recently, partly because we tend to do more evaluations and extractions at the beginning of summer. Once the school year is over, high school and college students — or, more likely, their parents — use that free time to schedule dental appointments. This is the perfect time to have school kids evaluated for their wisdom teeth. If their third molars need to be removed, scheduling the surgery for early summer gives them plenty of time to recover without missing school. The third molars tend to erupt around the age of 16. Once they start to erupt, there’s a nine-year window for the safest time frame for extraction. Ideally, wisdom teeth should be removed before patients turn 25. After this point, the risk of post-op complications increases. The recovery is usually much easier when patients are still young. A 24-year-old might only spend two days in bed with swelling. Meanwhile, if I needed mywisdom teeth out today, I’d be laid up for at least a week. Bone healing is also more efficient at a younger age. If I need to extract a tooth from the lower jaw, that bone will fill out from the bottom up. After 24, the bone isn’t going to fill the gap completely. Without the bone support, the next tooth over is at risk. Next to root canals, wisdom tooth surgery is one of the dental procedures that make patients the most anxious. They don’t knowwhat to expect, and sometimes that fear can make them put off getting treatment. This is why we want to do consultations. It gives us the opportunity to build a rapport with the patients, see how they are in the chair, and answer any questions.

Patients feel less anxious when they aren’t going into a procedure blind, so Dr. Graffeo and I want to give patients all the information they need.

Many patients are under the impression that wisdom teeth shouldn’t or can’t be removed until they cause pain or begin shifting the other teeth in the mouth. But we recommend wisdom teeth be taken out prophylactically. Once they become a problem, it becomes much more difficult. Impacted or poorly aligned wisdom teeth can lead to:

• • • • •

Pericoronitis

Periodontal defects

Decay of second molars Resorption of second molars Formation of cysts or tumors

Patients who believe that wisdom teeth don’t have to come out until they’re “a problem” need to understand that these complications are far more difficult and costly to address than preventive wisdom teeth extraction. As parents rush to get their high school and college kids to the dentist this summer, I encourage general dentists to speak to their patients about wisdom teeth extraction, if applicable. The summer is the best time for kids to have a wisdom teeth evaluation, so they have plenty of time to schedule and recover from surgery — if they’re not part of that lucky 10% like I am, of course.

–Dr. Harrison Linsky

Westchester Office • 914-251-0313

Make a Positive Impact

3 Strategies for Genuine Community Involvement

Even if most of your clients are located in other parts of the globe, the place your business calls home is a huge part of your identity. When a company makes a point to get involved locally, it’s doing more than making new connections and getting its brand out there — it’s also making a positive impact on the place it calls home. Most companies experience a slowdown in the summer. Here are some strategies to take advantage of that lull and create a plan for your business to get involved in the community and be a good neighbor. Support a Local Charity Every town boasts its share of charities and nonprofits looking to make a difference. Find a cause you believe in, then help out. This

could mean donating a portion of your revenue to a local women’s shelter, volunteering as a company at the soup kitchen, or sponsoring a gala that raises money for a children’s hospital. Supporting charities demonstrates your values and attracts the kinds of customers who share them. Join a Parade This sounds unconventional, but sometimes it pays to think outside the box. Most towns put on a Fourth of July parade in the summer, so why not join in? Building a float could be a great team-building exercise, and a lot of people will turn up and see your mobile advertisement in the parade. Being in the parade shows that you’re part of the community, and when you top it all off by tossing candy to the kids, you’ll really make an impact.

Work With Local Schools Your company could donate school supplies or even sponsor a program. Art and music programs are often the first to suffer from budget cuts, so support from a local business could make a huge difference. Donate art supplies to the classroom, sponsor high school theater productions, or offer scholarships to help young musicians pay for new instruments. Keep the arts alive by helping the kids in your community do what they love. These suggestions require time and resources to pull off, but making the effort can transform your company from just another business in a sea of many to a pillar in your community.

Strange and Magical Beliefs of Ancient Dental Care A CURE FOR TOOTH WORMS P rior to the birth of modern dentistry, “I shall give thee the ripe fig, [and] the apricot.” Mesopotamia, you would see an ashipu , which is essentially a sorcerer. Your ashipu would

dental health involved a big dose of superstition and folklore. Here are a few strange things people used to believe about their teeth. A Case of Tooth Worms Starting in antiquity and persisting until the 18th century, there was a widespread belief that dental cavities, periodontitis, and toothaches were caused by tiny worms eating away the

“Of what use are they to me, the ripe fig and the apricot? Lift me up and among the teeth and the gums cause me to dwell! The blood of the tooth I will suck, and of the gum I will gnaw its roots!” Schedule a Checkup with Your Ashipu

diagnose the cause of your ailment, which often included determining which god or spirit was responsible. They would then prescribe some charms or spell to drive the spirit out. Magic in Your Smile Throughout medieval Europe, a number of superstitions about baby teeth took hold. In England, children were told to burn their baby teeth after they fell out, otherwise they would spend their entire afterlives looking for their lost teeth. Other traditions warned that if a witch got hold of a baby tooth, they would have power over that child. Parents would burn baby teeth to protect their children. Scientific research has successfully debunked all of these old myths, though to be honest, patients might be more willing to floss if they had tooth worms to worry about.

Ancient Mesopotamians were very concerned with dental

inside of the tooth. The earliest mention of these fictitious worms is from a Babylonian cuneiform tablet, “The Legend of the Worm”:

care. Hundreds of records from Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian physicians have been discovered with recommendations for dealing with anything from gingivitis to bad breath. However, health care in Mesopotamia was a mix of medicine and magic. If you were suffering from a toothache in ancient

The worm went, weeping, before Shamash, his tears flowing before Ea: “What wilt thou give for my food? What wilt thou give me for my sucking?”

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A New Study Examines the Impact of Dental Disease on Quality-Adjusted Life Expectancy

A recent study published in the March 2019 edition of the Journal of Dental Research is the first of its kind to report the contribution of dental conditions to quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) loss. Researchers examined QALE loss due to dental conditions in the U.S. adult population by analyzing data from three cross-sectional waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES waves 2001–2002, 2003–2004, and 2011–2012). An algorithm was used to derive disutility scores based on self-rated health and the numbers of physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, and days with activity limitation. The study aimed to estimate QALE loss due to missing or decayed teeth and periodontitis. The analysis included 9,445 participants with the average age of 48.4 years. In the published report, researchers noted “The association between disutility score and periodontitis

was not significant.” However, they found that decayed and missing teeth were “associated with a larger disutility score.” Starting at age 20, the effects of a single untreated decayed or missing tooth created a lifetime burden of dental conditions that represented a 5.3% of QALE loss due to overall morbidity (8.15 years and 95% CI). To fully highlight the impact of dental health on QALE, in the published report, researchers addressed QALE loss due to other public health concerns including diabetes (1.9 years), heart disease (1.2 years), obesity (1.2 years), and smoking (1.9 years). It’s important to note that the highest disutility scores were observed among older participants, women, those with lower education, smokers, and those with diabetes. The team behind this study called for more comprehensive public health strategies in order to address oral health inequalities and promote better oral health for all.

No. 1 Dad Hash Browns

Have a Laugh

Inspired by Bon Appétit

INGREDIENTS

2. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate potatoes. Transfer to a large bowl of cold water and stir until water becomes cloudy. Rinse potatoes under cold water, then squeeze out liquid using cheesecloth or a kitchen towel, removing as much moisture as possible. Season potatoes. 3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat ghee to medium-high. Add potatoes and cook until a crust forms underneath, about 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, break up potatoes and continue to cook, adding more ghee if potatoes begin to stick. 4. Cook until golden brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels; season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Serve.

• ● 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, or 6 tbsp ghee ● 3 russet potatoes (about 1/2 lb.), peeled ● 1 tsp Kosher salt, plus more to taste ● Freshly ground black pepper, to taste ● Pinch of cayenne pepper, plus more to taste 1. In a small saucepan, heat butter over medium heat until foamy. Reduce heat if needed to avoid browning. Skim off white milk solids to make clarified butter (ghee). Transfer to a bowl and reserve. (This step won’t be needed if using ghee.) DIRECTIONS • • • •

Westchester Office • 914-251-0313

2975 Westchester Avenue Suite G02 Purchase, NY 10577

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

914-251-0313 www.oralsurgeryofwestchester.com

INSIDE This Issue

PG 1

The Season of Wisdom Teeth

PG 2

Become a Pillar in Your Community

A Cure for Tooth Worms

PG 3

Dental Disease and Quality- Adjusted Life Expectancy

Hash Browns for the Best Dad

PG 4

Exploring the River of No Return

There’s more to Idaho than potatoes. Sitting square in the center of the Gem State is one of the largest contiguous areas of protected wilderness in the U.S. While the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area may not roll off the tongue as easy as Yellowstone or Yosemite, this 2 million-acre swath of mountains, gorges, and alpine lakes offers something for outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes. River of NoWhat, Now? The name of the wilderness may sound a little ominous at first — who wants to travel down a river of no return? — but in truth, it’s a title from times gone by when canoes and small watercraft could travel down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River swiftly but couldn’t fight the current going back up. Today, those same rapids make the Middle Fork a wildly popular whitewater rafting destination, with plenty of local and out-of- state enthusiasts making a return journey every summer. Rafting Isn’t for Me. What Else You Got? If crashing down 300 Class III rapids isn’t your speed, the Frank Church Wilderness has plenty of other ways to enjoy the wild mountain country. There are several lodges that were grandfathered in to the wilderness area, most of which are only accessible by jet boat, light aircraft, or good old-fashioned hiking. Some, like the Middle Fork Lodge, offer five-star accommodations, located conveniently close to one of the area’s many natural hot springs. Those with the right permits will find the rivers

and lakes full of fishing opportunities, and the surrounding pine forests are teeming with game.

Lodges? I Just Want to Get Away From It All. For those looking for a truly unplugged experience, backpacking to the many campsites scattered throughout the region can be an incredible journey. If you spend a night beside the crystal-clear waters of Langer Lake, hundreds of miles away from any light pollution, you’ll find peace, quiet, and a sky bursting with stars. If you’ve ever wanted to experience a truly untamed part of the United States, Idaho is the hidden gem you’ve been looking for.

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