We have had many false fire-alarms in our building of the Rye Ridge Plaza (from staff people cooking lunch in the office microwave), so when I drove into work yesterday and saw all of the fire activity in the shopping plaza, I just had to  ask the firemen if it was real this time.  Unfortunately it was.  There was an electrical fire in the building across the parking lot from us, and the stores in that row will be shut for at least 3 days.  Thanks to the Rye Brook Fire and Police Departments who take every alarm seriously and were here in full force to help!

Parasailing and Orthodontics: Choosing a safe professional

Dr. Okun went parasailing last month, the same day as that awful parasailing accident off the coast of Florida. (In the crash, the rope connecting the parachute to the boat broke from high winds, and the girls crashed into a building, ultimately landing in a parking lot.) The difference between the parasailing trips was the experience and safety awareness of the people who ran each activity. Dr. Okun went with Parasailing Adventures, a company that emphasized safety. Their web site stated: "We are members of WSIA (Water Sports Industry Association,) are PAPO certified, and employ a 100% drug free crew." When the winds were too high on the day of Dr. Okun’s reservation, Parasailing Adventures called her to cancel her trip and recommended that she come another time.

Dr. Okun practices orthodontics with the same safety philosophy. She recommends against treatment which she feels won’t accomplish the treatment goals or might attain an adverse result. She tells growing patients when the timing is not ideal, so that their parents can reschedule at a more appropriate time for treatment. The goal is always to attain the most esthetic, most functional alignment of the teeth and jaws for each patient, in the least amount of time that is reasonable for treatment.

When Dr. Okun went up with the parachute she couldn’t stop smiling, and she hopes that her patients will have such a wonderful experience that they can’t stop smiling either.

Taylor's School Paper about Dr. Okun

school paper entitled “Dr. Okun” By Taylor R. age 10

 

You may thing YOU have the best orthodontist, but you thought wrong.  I think I have the best orthodontist.  She can fix anything (in my mouth).  She has strategies.  She is smart and organized and guides me.  I have the best orthodontist.

 

Dr. Okun always tells me to breathe through my nose before she does anything in my mouth.  And she tells me to go out of the room and tells my mom and dad things for me so I don’t freak.  Sometimes she gives me things to focus on so that I don’t fidget or focus on what hurts.  For example, she gives me colored rubber bands to choose from in order to take my mind off what she is doing.  When she first pulled out the drawer with the colors I looked at them with amazement.  There must have been 1,000,000 colors!! And she lets me pick from all of them.  And another strategy is she tells me to look at the fish hanging from her ceiling or the picture of the ocean to help me relax.  Dr. Okun’s strategies help me get through all the appointments.

 

Before she does anything in my mouth, besides telling me to breathe, she always goes through everything step by step.  She also makes sure I know everything she is going to do.  For example when I got my palatal expander on and off she told me everything she was going to do.  And one thing she does that I really like is that she doesn’t dive right in.  She waits so there isn’t as much pressure.  Particularly when she tightened my palatal expander for the first time she had to do it a few times so she waited between turns.  Dr Okun is smart and organized and prepares me for procedures.

 

Dr. Okun guides me to make good decisions that are right for me.  For example she makes sure I don’t have any pain, like when I had a sliding wire that kept poking me and she told me how to slide it back.  She tells me what to do if something goes wrong like if something breaks or bends.  She fixes it as fast as she can.  One other thing she does is she makes sure I have everything I need.  For example, once I needed rubber bands for my cross bite.  She made sure I had enough.  Dr. Okun helps me make decisions about my braces.

 

“It’s a process,” that’s what my orthodontist always says to me.  I have learned to be braver and get through everything.  All of this is thanks to Dr. Okun.

Is that napkin empty?

It happened again. It’s the most common scenario for lost retainers. The patient removed his retainers to eat (this time while at a baseball game for his traveling team) and wrapped them in a napkin. His mother put them in the car; His father thought it was just a dirty napkin and threw them out (with the napkin.) Sometimes it’s the waitress who throws out the crumpled tissue; sometimes it’s a family member. Once it was during a black out, and the father of that patient was looking for kindling for the fire place; he found the crumpled napkin on the dining room table and threw it in the fire- with the retainers enclosed.

So the message is clear. If your retainers are not in your mouth they belong in a retainer box in a safe place. If you don’t have the box with you don’t take out your retainers. Dr. Okun always makes sure that you are able to close your teeth properly so that it is safe to chew food while wearing retainers.

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.