She could be a model

My patients often tell me about the compliments they receive on their smiles. Rachel Geller, who is currently in undergoing orthodontic treatment, told me about her daughters, who have completed their braces. One of them has had her teeth photographed by their general dentist, Dr. Roxanne Dornbush, to use as her model of “what teeth should look like.” Another was approached at a party by the professional photographer. He asked her to come for a free photo shoot, since he wanted to photograph such a pretty model. He was attracted by her smile.

”No, the princess is not my patient, but everyone wants to feel like a princess (or prince) at their wedding.” Getting that perfect smile is just one step in the process.

This month Dr. Judith Okun has been invited to two weddings of previous patients. One family started all the orthodontic treatment for their children as older teens/ young adults in order for each to have a beautiful smile to “catch” the perfect spouse. This is the third child to get married since "doing their braces" with Dr. Okun. The other family felt that the personal attention Dr. Okun gives to her patients created a special bond between the doctor and each of their children. They felt it was important for their son to invite all the people who had contributed to his becoming the person that he was, and that Dr. Okun was a huge influence on his life. Dr. Okun reports that last night, “I was watching the sister, brother, and cousins of the groom smile, and realized they also were all my smiles.”

Dental Health Awareness Week: Poster Contest

Every March the “Dental Poster Judges” from the Ninth District Dental Society meet to evaluate submissions from children all over Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties. This year the topic for Dental Health Awareness Week was “Sugar, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. Two awards were given for each grade category. Here is the committee with the winners. Dr. Judith Okun is seated on the right side of the front row.

You're a Star

I received a thoughtful gift from a happy patient today.  She said that she noticed I have a lot of fish hanging from my treatment room ceiling to entertain my patients and that she was looking for an addition to my collection.  She told me that she wanted to buy a starfish because “you’re a star” but since she couldn’t find a starfish she bought this cute dolphin. 

It's More Than Just a Job

I heard two interesting quotes on the radio this morning. The first was, “The fact that Pope Benedict retired shows that even being Pope is a job.” But a job serves different functions. It can be the way one makes a living, it can be the way that one helps others, it can help create ones’ identity, and it can help create a sense of self fulfillment. For the Pope it is even a spiritual journey. Another report on the radio today reported the frustration of Female CEO’s. Now that they have made it to the top they are still asking, “Is this all there is? Where is the sense of self-fulfillment for which I sacrificed my personal life?

My role as orthodontist and effective CEO of Okun Orthodontics is more than just a job. I “put my heart” into the care of my patients. I make an effort to establish a personal relationship with each patient so that I am not only creating a beautiful smile with a functioning bite for my orthodontic patients and helping “TMJ patients” to eliminate their “head and neck pain”, but I am often acting as a life coach. I frequently find myself guiding young patients to appreciate their siblings, helping college students figure out their life goals, or enabling frustrated parents to vent their frustrations. Conversely my patients have taught me a lot about handling life as I watch them in their family interactions and jobs. Many of my patient- families have become my friends, and many of my friends have become my patients. I am very fortunate that my job is more than just a job.

Can you do it in the dark?

     My office survived Hurricane Irene (although I was out of power for 1 week at home) but the Noreaster that followed took away our office power for 24 hours. I spent a lot of time during “Irene” wondering what I would do if the power went out at work, and I had the opportunity to find out when the lights went out last Wednesday. I can change 0-ring colors in the dark (actually by window light), determine which way a patient should wear elastics, evaluate if the key on an expander is turning properly, and even do a “new patient” clinical evaluation. Then it gets a little more complicated. I can cement a band if I clean the tooth first with a tooth brush (instead of a prophy angle), have the patient rinse out with a cup of water and dry the tooth with a cotton roll (instead of using the air-water syringe), and cure the cement with the charge in the blue-light (until the charge runs out.) I can’t adjust the angle on the dental chair, put on brackets, reshape
teeth or remove “glue” with a hand-piece, or view my electronic records.

     Lets face it, Electronic records are very convenient but only while the power is on. In my modern dental office the schedule, charting, x-rays, photos, models, and finances are all recorded electronically. I know many dentists who not only could not work while their power was out after Irene, but they also couldn’t cancel their patients because they didn’t have access to their schedules. Here is where I felt very lucky. Because I have a third party provider providing my patients access to their digital records- their scheduled appointments, their ledger sheets, and their digital images- I had access to my office schedule. My office data was backed up in Seattle, Washington, far away from the storms on the east coast. I simply called Sesame Communications for a list of my scheduled patients. They e-mailed each patient who was scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday to let them know to call and verify we had power before they came to their appointment. I called each patient to inform them that my office was without power. This way I was able to reach almost everyone before they left the house. I also keep duplicate patient records- I still keep a paper chart in addition to my digital chart- so I knew where I was in the treatment of each of the patients who chose to come in for the limited care that I could provide... “in the dark.”

I like the blue one.

I have fish hanging from my treatment room ceiling- not real fish, fake ones. I have beanie babies and mobiles so that patients have something to look at while they are having their braces adjusted. Today I was taking braces off of a 9 year old patient while her mom and 2 year old sister were watching. Because the family will be doing a lot of over-seas traveling they elected to have 2 sets of retainers made, one in red-purple (a bright pink) and one in blue-ice (a clear blue). This way there would be a spare if the 9-year old lost or broke her retainers while they were in Europe. The mother and patient were having a discussion about the color of the retainers but the younger sister was having a discussion of her own- about the fish on the ceiling. I laughed when the 2- year-old announced to her mother: “you like the blue fish and I like the pink fish, just like (sister’s) ‘tainers (retainers).” What interesting logic!

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Last Sunday, October 21, Dr. Judith Okun joined thousands of “walkers” in the “making Strides Against Breast Cancer” event at Manhattanville College.  The “nationwide event unites millions of walkers with a common purpose: to end breast cancer forever.” By walking we help make the world aware of the need for research to find cancer treatment and we raise funds for the American Cancer Society of NY and NJ.  This organization not only invests in breast cancer research to find, prevent, treat, and cure the disease, but it also provides free lodging and rides to treatment for breast cancer patients who need it, improves access to mammograms, and provides support for cancer patients and their families.  To learn more about the many ways you can fight back against breast cancer year-round, visit www.cancer.org/stridesonline. Donations can also be mailed to American Cancer Society, Westchester Region, 2 Lyon Place, White Plains, NY 10601 (Information in this statement was taken from the “making strides” brochure.)