Thanksgiving Thankfulness

The seasonal decor is changing.  We went from back to school, to Halloween, and now we are in Thanksgiving.  This is is time of year we reflect on our lives and realize how good we have it living here in Westchester County. We have free public schools, libraries, community centers and recreation complexes, free garbage pick up, free collection of leaves and recycles. We have local fire and police services, as well as local banks and ATMs. We have ample local medical services including hospitals, urgent care clinics, and pharmacies. There are post offices and package drop-off locations in every town. We have many local amenities including parks, nature trails, playgrounds and sports facilities, public transportation, major highways and paved local roads, grocery stores and shopping centers. Our quality of life is good.

I would also like to note, that with modern dentistry we have the ability to create beautiful smiles. In this month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I can change facial balance in young children, improving their esthetics and chewing function. I am thankful that I can improve airway and breathing in young patients with palatal expansion. Improved airway leads to better quality sleep, which often leads to less daytime  hyperactivity and less nighttime bedwetting. In this month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I can align teeth in all age groups making beautiful smiles. I am thankful that I can treat and control TMJ pain (the pain you get from grinding your teeth when you have stress and anxiety), so that these patients can smile with relief from the pain. I am also thankful for my amazing patients who refer their friends and family, so they too can have beautiful smiles... Because a beautiful smile can change your self-image.

Did you ever notice that when you smile at other people they smile back at you? Having straight teeth and managed pain issues enable you to have a beautiful smile that you are comfortable sharing. Your reward for sharing your smile, is the smiles you receive back from the people that surround you. Being surrounded by smiles makes you feel good about yourself... This is how a beautiful smile can change your self-image.

In this age of corporate medicine and huge medical and dental practices, I still treat all of my patients myself in private treatment rooms.  I do not delegate patient care to technicians on an assembly line.  I value the one-on-one time, and the relationships that I have with all of my patients and their families. I look forward to many more years of delivering quality orthodontic and TMJ care to the people in my extended community.

-Dr. Judith A. Okun

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