Category: Opinion & Editorial

By now most of us in Ohio who are treating patients have received our second vaccination for COVID-19. When the governor put dentists into Group 1A, I knew it was because of our proactive leadership and their relationship with state legislators including the Ohio State Dental Board. Amalgamating the science and information from the regulatory ... [continue reading]

What should we remember? Years from now, when we look back … Author Paul Coelho said, “Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen or by having everything happen all at once.” I’ve been writing lately about charting our course forward carefully, with intention and optimism. This month, I would like to ... [continue reading]

It is human nature to assume the experiences, good and bad, of current circumstances are paramount in human history.  That makes sense, as our own experiences are what we relate most strongly. One must wonder if the population of Europe, Asia and the Middle East felt the same when a volcanic eruption caused massive, sudden climate change ... [continue reading]

Welcome to 2021. New year. Same virus. New vaccine. New hope! Many people loudly expressed that they wanted to bid adieu to 2020. As “adieu” is French for “goodbye forever,” I can certainly empathize with that emotion. Living on the west side of Cleveland for 30 years, I’ve become accustomed to the “Irish Goodbye” as an excellent ... [continue reading]

Had enough of politics and COVID-19? This column is a little different. I hope after reading it, you’ll feel better about the state and country we live in. My wife, Maureen, and I volunteered to be poll workers after reading pleas from election officials that fear of COVID-19 had diminished the ranks of those willing to work. It turned out to be ... [continue reading]

By any measure, 2020 has been an awful year. I won’t recap anything, because the memories are all too painful and fresh in our minds. We are stuck in the time warp that began in March and the carousel keeps spinning without end. As we begin the new year, few people are suggesting that there will be significant improvements anytime soon. So what ... [continue reading]

It is Dec. 1, 2020. In eight days I turn 50. As I consume the last of my Thanksgiving desserts that I made myself for the first time I peer through my front window and appreciate twinkling holiday lights looking for acknowledgment amidst a white furry blanket of snow, covering our Northeast Ohio landscape. To me it is emblematic of what this year ... [continue reading]

Almost a quarter century ago, while attending a “Dental Emergencies” CE program, the speaker went somewhat “off topic.” The Doctor/Lecturer stepped back from the podium and challenged his dentist audience ... to be something other than just clinicians and openly wondered if we considered ourselves a “total health ... [continue reading]

As the leaves begin to fall, the afternoon shadows begin to lengthen and the daylight hours shorten, one becomes painfully aware that the winter months are rapidly approaching the Buckeye State. Given that inevitability, the silver lining is 2020 will be drawing to a close. It is safe to say few if any will miss this past year. But before Jack ... [continue reading]

We are rapidly approaching my favorite holiday. As a kid, I looked forward to Christmas and my birthday. As a young adult, New Year’s Eve, Memorial Day, Labor Day and the 4th of July were prime holidays. I do have to confess that I have never warmed to Halloween, but I know it’s become quite the event these days for many people. Then ... [continue reading]