Category: Opinion & Editorial

People-watching is always a fun pastime and it gives me something to do as I stroll out from the dental school to the parking garage at the end of the day. The T-shirts sported by the students are certainly interesting. Most of the time, I wonder why someone would want that saying on their back. Occasionally, I see something thought provoking. The ... [continue reading]

At the end of the ODA House of Delegates on Sept. 15, the new officers of our association will be installed. I am looking forward to the unveiling of their plans for our association and I extend my utmost support to those whom have dedicated themselves to guiding our profession through a turbulent time. I ask each one of you who care about oral ... [continue reading]

Lots of people can watch what you do. Thanks to social media, now more than ever, hordes of anonymous people see who you are, who your friends are, what you are doing, track where you are going, read what you say … and comment on it. There’s an infinite number of complete strangers who are evaluating you, making judgments, scoring ... [continue reading]

I’m a sucker for an “underdog” movie. Ya’ll know what I mean. The character that isn’t supposed to win – that deserves to win ... and in the end – does! In one of my favorite movies, “Working Girl,” Melanie Griffith flawlessly plays an underdog role. During the climax of the movie her character ... [continue reading]

Economist Milton Friedman and Science Fiction Author Robert Heinlein were both fond of using the expression “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” (TANSTAAFL) as a way to express the need to be aware of the cost associated with everything we do. In economics this is called opportunity cost. The quote refers to the practice ... [continue reading]

Like most of you, I have become increasingly annoyed at the way the profession of dentistry is portrayed in the series of advertisements currently being aired by Aspen Dental.  While I “get it” that they are trying to be funny, I am concerned that the Aspen ads perpetuate negative stereotypes of dentists, the practice of ... [continue reading]

In the Sunday, July 23, 2017 “New York Times” (NYT), reporter Sheila Kaplan front-paged the relationship of the new CDC Director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald with Coca Cola, which yielded a million dollars to fight childhood obesity, a childhood health ill squarely attributed to consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Public health ... [continue reading]

You are viewed by your staff and your patients as the trusted source of knowledge on all things dental. It is a daunting task sometimes in a world that is changing so quickly. Over my nearly four decades of practice I have seen the science of dental materials explode with new innovations and techniques, witnessed the dawn of digital dentistry, and ... [continue reading]

After 30 years in private practice, I have accepted a new opportunity.  This month, I will join the faculty of the College of Dentistry at The Ohio State University.  I will be teaching both in pre-clinical and clinical settings, as well as becoming the director of the new Outpatient Care clinic in Upper Arlington.  Planning to ... [continue reading]

Most of us have had someone in our family or circle of friends graduate in the last month or so, so a lot of us have heard some version of a graduation speech ranging from tearful goodbyes to soaring inspirational rhetoric to Will Ferrell’s silliness. I am guilty of tending to zone out during a lot of these speeches, but this year I was ... [continue reading]