Zygge Handyman

Somehow having a game cube for entertainment in the office waiting room invites footprints on the wall. Recently I was discussing with the father of several of my patients how upsetting it was that I could not scrub the footprints off the wall. He responded with “I can fix that.” As he described the solution his child immediately dragged him to another of my needed repairs: the arm on my dental chair (which requires frequent repair because patients push it out of the way without pushing the release button). The child said with pride, “My father can fix this too.”

So this weekend Zygge the handyman came to paint my reception area as well as the wall behind my new x-ray machine. He attached plexi-glass to the walls surrounding the game-cube, repaired the arm of the dental chair, and he even repaired the window screens. I was impressed that the office did not smell from fresh paint just hours after painting, and that there was absolutely no construction mess after the job. Zygge paid attention to every detail!

Zygge Handyman also does roof repairs, tiles, kitchen and bathroom remodeling, flooring, painting, door locks, and replacing windows, doors and faucets. He does all the work himself; he does not hire day laborers. Zygge can be reached at (914) 438-7533. He and I agree on his motto: “The best advertisement is word of mouth and doing a good job.”

Smiling in Italy

It always feels good when someone appreciates something you've done, but it is even more rewarding when you can change someone's whole self image.

Today I was speaking to the father of one of my teen patients. He said "Oh my god Dr. Okun, I have to tell you. I have to tell you that my daughter's smile is so gorgeous. We went to Italy this summer, I'm an Italian American, but anyway, she knocked them dead over there. The men and the boys. You did it. It was entirely you."

When you feel good about your smile, you smile more often. And when you're smiling, people smile back at you. Being surrounded by those return- smiles makes you feel more confident, and then you change your posture, and how you present yourself. This is how I was able to change this young lady's life. With braces and dentofacial orthopedics, I changed the balance of her face, and how her teeth supported her lips, which changed her smile and her entire self image. This new self-confidence also changed her whole experience in Italy!

How Can You Have Fun If You’re Embarrassed To Smile?

Last night Okun Orthodontics was a sponsor for the WFAS “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” event at the Riverview in Hastings-on-Hudson. Our presentation was based on the fact that its hard to have fun if you’re embarrassed to smile (because your teeth don’t look nice) or if you’re in too much pain to smile (from jaw-joint or face pain either due to an accident or from clenching/grinding your teeth.) One of the ladies said to Dr. Okun, “It’s so true” and started relating to me the story of how she used to have horrible self esteem because she was embarrassed to smile. After a lot of dental work- which she had in her twenties- she loved her smile, and smiled all the time, and developed a great self-image. Recently, however, she has not been able to afford to go to the dentist to maintain her dental work and she said that she is now emotionally back to where she was before her dental work was done. Dr. Judith Okun is the one to see if you need to “get your smile back”. She can create the beautiful smile you’ve always wanted with straight teeth and no TMJ pain.