DENTAL FRUSTRATION, 1 OF MANY....

I love my job, anyone who knows me has had a Slightly forced conversation about dentistry. In my defense, I’m usually not the first one to bring it up, but do have a hard time stopping. I work for an AMAZING dentist. Not only is he a down to earth, great guy, but he really is an insanely talented individual. This last summer he has spent HOURS and HOURS taking continuing education courses, so he can offer more comprehensive care to his patients. The things about my job that have caused uncountable hours of frustration have nothing to do with “My Job” or our practice, but dentistry has a whole.

STANDARD OF CARE: Dentistry does not have a united standard of care, and this is a growing problem. Dentist’s are permitted to practice as long as they want, only needing to maintain minimal CE credits, which can often be gained through reading articles and listening to CD’s. There is no regulation on the actual skill level or results dentists produce. Patients, even the most educated, choose their dentist based on personality, not skill or ability. It’s not their fault, what else would they do. Very few people can interpret x-rays and understand the importance of materials, margins, open contacts/floss-ability, and the importance of being conservative while providing longevity. I am stunned at the dentistry being done everyday. It should be UNACCEPTABLE! I feel like there should be something dental professionals should do, similar to board exams, to insure they have what it takes to produce predictable and acceptable restorations. The only one’s loosing are the patients. Now, the need for dentistry or even the need to periodically update the dentistry you have is not necessarily the fault of the dentist, in fact a majority of the responsibility belongs to the patient. But if a dentist does unsatisfactory work (work that is actually making the tooth worse and lasts less then 5 years) and continues to see that patient back for hygiene exams and chooses to say nothing, ignores the EXCEPTIONALLY obvious problems, this is WRONG, ethically and legally. Supervised neglect is cause for a malpractice suit. I’m not recommending or condoning law suits, but maybe that is what it will take to make dentists open their eyes and take responsibility for the work they produce. Telling a patient everything looks good, and knowing you would never have that dentistry in your mouth, is wrong.

So to anyone who had the patience to read this, I’m not saying your dentistry or dentist is bad, but I am warning the people I care about to be aware. Some of the worst dentistry I have seen has come from the nicest, most honest professionals. Although few people have the passion for dentistry that I do, we all have to deal with our teeth and TRUST ME, you don’t want to be on the other side of this conversation, a frustrating and often emotional one I have with new patients everyday. So if you’re close enough to come to our office (I now have friends and fam traveling 4 hours) please consider a free consult. This is not an advertisement; I really do want to help the people I love find the right dentist, and avoid a future of bad dental experiences.

Skylier Update

It's been 12 days since Skylier got sick. He tried going to work today (he has been off all last week) but they sent him home again. The lights and noise are just too much... Not really much to report, no changes in the paralysis, the head aches are still hard to handle. For some reason it's not as scary, more frustrating at this point (I think we are just getting used to it). This last week I had some time off, which was great timing since Sky has about had it with being home alone all day. It's still hard for him to talk, but I think just having someone siting next to him makes him less lonely. I know I feel better being home to take care of him. He finishes his steroids in 3 days, if there is still no improvement we will make an appointment to see another doctor. I'll post again when I have more info. Thanks for all the nice comments and e-mails. I read them to Skylier and he smiles (lopsided) :/

Scary and Hopefully Over Soon

So things have been a little tough around our house the last week. Skylier was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy last Thursday. It really puts things in perspective. He has complete paralysis of the right side of his face. It started with cold sores, then pink eye (which I got) and then within a few days we knew something was really wrong. Joe's brother-in-law (doctor) was so nice to see Sky at his house at 10:30 at night. The good news is 95% of the time symptoms subside and most patients have a complete or almost complete recovery. The frustrating and scary part is it can be permanent. We aren't dwelling on that, but it's very hard for him. He can hardly eat, your lips and jaw muscles play a big part in that. Talking is difficult since almost all pronunciation comes from the lips. His eye sight and hearing are very hypersensitive. The medication he takes makes him hungry, which makes the inability to eat even worse. He has had all the soup he can handle. He was sent home form work today because the lights and noise give him a terrible headache. He can't move his eye lid, so it's hard to sleep and his eye becomes dry and sensitive. We have eye drops now and are trying to tape his eye shut at night. It is a helpless feeling knowing how scared and miserable he is, and I can do nothing. Everyday we monitor the muscle movement, or lack of it, and are hoping his eye lids don't get worse. He thinks they are. The paralysis can't be spread since it's a unilateral inflamed nerved, so at least there is no concern of that. I will keep babying him, and trying to come up with more food that he can eat. I wont post pics, don't think that would help his self esteem. I hope this post serves as only a bad experience, that passes. But it does remind me how unbelievably lucky we are to have our health. I love him very much and am praying for a speedy recovery. Normal recovery is 2 weeks to 3 months and up to a year. Were sure hoping for 2 weeks, his birthday is November 6th... Sad if he can't have a good b-day dinner. Wish him luck!

What happened to fall??

Friday was my brother's birthday, so in addition to Stacey's shower, we also had birthday celebrations. My parents, and my brother and I went to Jackpot Friday night. We had a ton of fun. I could play craps for hours (and have). My mom and I tried some new card games and did really well. All in all I lost money, but that's not what it's about for me. My brother got us compt a suite, it was really nice, and free! First thing Saturday morning my dad woke me up to show me the snow. It had snowed 2-3 inches by 8:30 am. We figured since the pass can get bad, we would head home early and we were glad we did. From that point on, it NEVER STOPPED SNOWING. For 24 hours it snowed on the 11th of OCTOBER.... The total snow fall was estimated at 18 inches. WOW, that was something I had never seen, 18 inches in one day in mid October. The roads to Utah were closed, I thought I was stuck. But Sunday morning the sun came out, the roads cleared and the freeway opened. I loved being home, but I was anxious to get back to check on Skylier. The snow was still every where of course but it really was a site to see.

These pictures were taken at 4:00 in the afternoon, about 11 1/2 inches. Imagine it was still snowing at 3:00 am and ended up 7 inches taller then this...

Stacey's Baby Shower

Last weekend I went to Idaho for my very best friend's baby shower. Stacey and I met when I was in the 3rd grade, she was in the 5th. We were neighbors, which in Rupert means about 1 mile away. We had so much fun playing anything we could think of outside. Stacey had horses and was a talented little cowgirl. I wanted to be just like her (never happened) we would ride her horses for hours, I got bucked off, bit and stepped on, what FUN :) We played with the cows, goats, kittens, you name an animal and Stacey loved it. She would always find sick or abandoned animals and take it upon herself to nurse them to health...usually doesn't work by the way. My first double date was with Stacey, my first high school dance Stacey was there. She is part of almost every memory I have from 8 years on. My first plane ride was with her, my first real vacation was with her. She is still my best friend. I was there when her son was born, I was there when tragedy struck, I even had a bedroom named "Crystal's Room" on the floor plans of her parents new home.

I am so EXCITED she is having another baby, only 5 weeks to go!!!! I love her two boys to death and this precious baby girl has already stollen my heart. Her shower was really nice, she had more perfectly pink gifts then I have ever seen. She has an outfit for everyday of her first 2 months...and I'm sure there is more to come. I now have to budget for baby gifts. Thanks for being such a great friend, I miss you and your boys everyday!!

Mohler BBQ

We went to Sky's step-brother Nate's house for a family BBQ last month. We were celebrating Shae's mission call, he's going to New York the 1st of December! We had a great time.. eating, playing football, I saw an even more competitive side of Mohler football (which I didn't know was possible) with all of Larry's kids playing. I think only a view tears, bruises and a little blood was spilled, that's a good sign. It was so nice of Nate to invite us over and we are so excited for Shae, hope we can do it again!

Happy Birthday To Me!

My birthday started great. My co-workers were so nice, I had balloons at my desk, great gifts (including a carmel apple from Rocky Mnt Choc factory Yum!!!), and a homemade cake that Kassandra cooked three different times to make sure it was perfect. Thanks guys!

My parents were in town the weekend before my birthday so we went to dinner and had a great time. The night of my birthday Skylier had reservations at The Melting Pot. It was a first for both of us. IT IS DELICIOUS!! The chocolate fondue was my fav!

We were in salt lake an hour early so we would have time to find the restaurant and parking. After circling the same 6 block area for 45 min we finally found it. Of course no parking, but they had valet, we had NO cash (not even $4....I really should listen to my mom). We had to drive 10 min to find a gas station with an ATM and the location was a little sketchy... So Sky went inside to get cash and I decided to put gas in the car. He was taking FOREVER. He decided to get us something to drink while he was in there...don't completely understand why we needed drinks when we were headed to dinner and he knew I didn't like being alone, but I survived. It wouldn't be a complete evening in SLC if two men hadn't approached me asking for money. FINALLY Sky came out and they approached again, this time for a ride. I'm always too friendly in situations like that, so I was quite surprised when, after Skylier said we didn't have time to give him a ride across town, the stranger said I better leave you alone before that one (me) calls the cops... I think I was smiling... Do I naturally look mean?... it was probably just my frustration for Sky taking so long. After all of that we were 10 min late for the reservation but it was no big deal. I specifically took my camera, and the battery was dead, all we had was our no flash camera phones... take my word for it the food was gorgeous! I had a great birthday and loved spending it with Skylier.

Camping

This August we went camping with some friends. We went up American Fork canyon, a first for me. It was really late when we all decided to go. So Sky and I decided, since we don't have a tent, we would just put a mattress in the back of the truck. So we loaded a queen size mattress in the truck, well the wheel wells were too wide. So after getting creative we discovered the twin box spring from the other extra bed room would fit perfect. We were set, dogs and all were loaded. Then Dave called and said it was raining in Salt Lake and it was headed our way. We were all packed so decided to add a few extra tarps and head out. We didn't even make it one exit before it was pouring! So we hurried and got the bed in the house, moved all of the stuff over to my car and were back on the road. By the time we got to Silver Creek Lake, it was about 9:00 and starting to get dark. We headed up the road and drove FOREVER. All the sites were taken and we needed a place with room for 3 vehicles and a place for our dogs. After the road got sketchy we decided the next corner was as far as we would go. One of our friends was 8 months pregnant and convinced if the road got worse she may go into labor. The next corner was the perfect place. It had stopped raining but was really wet! We had a huge site with a great big fire pit. We got settled about 10:00. A pretty late start for a one night camp out. We cooked dinner and enjoyed great company. Someone mentioned bears, so I was paranoid about the dogs safety. So.... all four of us slept in the back of my car. Well actually we just killed time until morning since it was so crowded and Samson is like a heater so we were cooked! All in all it was a great trip. We stopped and went fihing for a few hours, I think this was the highlight of Dave's trip. One reason we went is because Dave was leaving for the Marines in September and we wanted to do something fun with him. No good pictures, only had my camera phone.

More Food

I've been busy cooking...too busy to blog. Not really, but it sounds better then the truth. (so exhausted that every free moment I have, I'm taking a 15 min nap) Well I made these muffins for work and they were a big hit. Probably the most popular yet. They have a brown sugar crispy top that is simply delicious!

This brownie with white chocolate raspberry frosting was a special request from Skylier. He loves all three of those ingredients. It was a new recipe and turned out pretty good. I will make a few changes next time. I'm still looking for my signature dessert. That one dish that is a guarantee success. I'll let you know when I find it and share it with everyone!