Gregory Davis

'Living' Article May 2012- A Texas Dentist in the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:55:18 EST

How is it that a Texas dentist has been inducted to the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame? Meet Dr. Leonie von Zesch, born in Texas in 1882. By age 19 she had graduated as a dentist from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco during an age when women dentists were few and far between. She went on to postgraduate studies at both Chicago’s Northwestern Univ. and New York’s Columbia Univ.

As chairperson of the Cincinnati Dental Society’s “Access to Care” committee, Dr. von Zesch has won my heart! For nine months following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire she treated patients from a tent at Presidio. When two years later the US Navy established the Pacific Fleet at San Francisco she was responsible for the dental care of thousands of sailors. Next stop was a return to America’s southwest where she provided care for the Hopi Indians of Arizona’s high desert.

It was 1915 when Leonie set out on her “15-year visit” to Alaska. Soon thereafter she was licensed as the territory’s first woman dentist. At times she ventured out behind the wheel of a Model-T Ford decked out on cross-country treks. When necessary it was a dog sled that connected her with the Alaskans who needed her care. The most isolated of villages were reached via biplane.

“I’m totally smitten with this lady,” says Gail West, board member of the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame. “My husband and I have lived in Alaska for 50 years and wonder why we’ve never heard of her.”

Dr. von Zesch’s story came to light only recently when her niece Jane Troutman, now 86 stumbled onto her aunt’s long lost manuscript among some boxes of ephemera she had left behind. “I grew up with Leonie as my aunt not knowing that she had devoted so much of her time and energy to dentistry,” said Mrs. Troutman. “I never recognized any of this until I opened the boxes in 2002 and read her manuscript. I lived with greatness and didn’t know it.”

In the 1930’s Dr. von Zesch returned to California where she worked with the states many unemployed during the Depression. She also served young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps and treated patients at the California Institution for Women at Tehachapi, the state’s first prison for women.

You can find more about her incredible legacy of selfless service at www.alaskawomenshalloffame.org. Details concerning her now published autobiography “Leonie: A Woman Ahead of Her Time” are found at www.leoniethebook.com.

tags: History, tribute

'Living' Article April 2012- "Why?"

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:59:55 EST

Landen Living

April 2012

Why?

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me over the years why I wanted to be a dentist. Sometimes the question is asked by someone who quite clearly is creeped-out by the whole notion of dealing so closely with people’s mouths. But many genuinely want to know what motivates me in my profession.

In truth the answer to the question has evolved over the years. During my early dental years my response would have included comments about my fascination with life in general and the science behind our existence. I might have talked about my father’s advice, to find a job where I was my own boss. And then there was my childhood dentist who was a really good guy who just always seemed to love what he did.

Nearly 29 years into this dental experiment my answer would reflect more on just how fortunate I am to have stumbled into a profession that is much deeper than it seems on the surface. Today my “Why?” response is much less head oriented and instead is rooted deeper and deeper within my heart. I understand more fully and appreciate the multi-faceted nature of the mouth. Think for a moment about the elements of your life that are connected directly with your mouth. From the mouth we take in and enjoy nourishment. Both with and without verbalization we communicate using the mouth. The mouth conveys emotion and demonstrates beauty. With our mouths we have the potential to share ourselves on very intimate levels.

At my office my team and I encounter people every day whose needs are fully met through their existing dental status. But we also routinely come together with people who are in either physical or emotional pain that is rooted in some facet of dental disease or disrepair. Some are unable to eat many of the foods that bring them delight. Others have fallen victim to some sort of accidental injury. Some have seen a slow decline over time. They awake one day with an awareness that they are no longer able to smile freely and laugh loudly without a subtle but genuine inner haunt. Some gave up long ago a comfort they once had in sharing themselves closely and intimately with those they love.

Why am I a dentist? I’m a dentist because I know of no other role through which I might have better potential to connect with people on a meaningful level in search of wholeness and health. In dental school I was trained to be a rather skilled tooth technician. I could examine a tooth, identify disease when it was present and provide a complete list of options available for the restoration of that tooth to health. In the school of life I’ve learned that there are people behind those mouths, people that often have joys and concerns that go much deeper than the diagnosis of dental caries and periodontal disease.

Life is too short to accommodate factors that get in the way of comfort, health and joy. I’m a dentist because I have the potential with help to erase some of those factors. That is a gift both to me and my community.

tags: Why am I a Dentist?

'Living' Article March 2012- Is your dental implant at risk?

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:36:03 EST

Landen Living

March 2012

One of the most significant elements to rise on the dental horizon during my career has been the predictable, versatile and game-changing availability of titanium dental implants. Implants can be utilized to anchor and stabilize dental prosthesis like dentures and partial dentures. Bridges can be built between a pair of dental implants. But in my office they are far and away most frequently used to replace a single missing tooth.

Dental implants are extremely successful but like a natural tooth they are susceptible to inflammation in the gum tissue and bone that surrounds and supports the implant. When bone is lost around an implant there can be a number of factors that contribute to the pathology. With poor dental hygiene implants can fall victim to plaque-based periodontal/gum disease just like we see with natural teeth. Bone loss and implant failure can also occur if too much biting pressure is routinely loaded onto the implant.

Within the past two or three years however, multiple studies have surfaced that expose the single biggest contributor to bone loss surrounding dental implants. The offender we now clearly understand is often dental cement. Dental cement? Yes, dental cement.

Typical dental implants are shaped and sized somewhat like a tooth root and are threaded into the bone that typically supports teeth. At the time of surgical placement the top of the implant is intentionally positioned below the gumline level. In most cases a tall healing cap is screwed into the implant to extend it through the gum tissue which allows for proper healing. At roughly three months the supporting bone has literally grown or integrated to the surface of the implant and it is ready to be used. The healing cap is replaced by a tapered screw-retained piece called an abutment and in most cases a dental crown is cemented to the abutment. What we now know is that all too often excess dental cement is squished below the gumline at the time of crown placement and never fully cleaned up. Don’t get me wrong. We dentists are not generally careless or sloppy. The cement gets hidden below the gum level and often goes undetected.

Now that these cement-based problems are understood there have been a number of responses that responsible dentists have made. Today it is clear that the abutment piece may be the key. If the abutment used is a stock piece purchased from the implant supplier the margin where the crown joins the abutment will often be too far beneath the gumline. It may take more time and money but we now clearly understand that a custom made abutment provides for margins at or just beneath the gumline and is highly preferred. Under these circumstances it is much easier to find and remove excess cement residue.

For our implant cases there is a way to completely eliminate the use of dental cements within the mouth. Crowns can be cemented or bonded to the abutment outside the mouth where all of the excess cement can easily be identified and removed. For this to work there has to be a hole in the biting surface of the crown that allows for attachment of the crown and abutment with a screw into the dental implant. The hole is ultimately filled with a tooth colored filling material. As dental materials continue to improve this safest technique may become the new norm.

tags: implant dentistry

'Living' Article February 2012- "MATCHBOX" memories

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:59:52 EST

What better time than the frigid days of February for collectors like you and me to get in touch with our collections? My wife will confirm that I have been in regular contact with my “MATCHBOX” Toys friends in recent weeks. The reference books are out and open and the ebay button within my ‘favorites’ file is working overtime these days.

Back in 1958 the Lesney Corporation added an odd little British sedan called the Vauxhall Victor to the “MATCHBOX” Toys range. Today that toy in perfectly mint condition with its original box might sell for $75.00 at a local toy show and sale. A couple of weeks back I enthusiastically followed an ebay auction that offered an early example of the “MATCHBOX” Vauxhall Victor. The model had several paint flaws and the original box was nowhere to be found. When the dust settled and the auction ended the diminutive Vauxhall sold for $3025.00! Why so much? Across the seven years that the Vauxhall Victor was included within the “MATCHBOX” range it always featured a soft yellow body color. Always that is, except for a tiny handful of initial Vauxhall Victor castings that were coated in a trial run of lovely red paint. And this model in spite of its abundant flaws and missing box was decked out in that ultra rare red paint.

Stories like this leave most people with shaking heads. How on earth could or would anyone pay so much for a tiny old toy in poor condition? The story of the little red Vauxhall stands as a testimony to the Lesney Corporation’s success at blanketing the Western World with pocket-sized pieces of joy on wheels. And so it is that my two brothers and I were among those millions of children of the 1950s who lived and breathed “MATCHBOX”.

I know I’m not alone. I know there is a multitude of you out there who have a box or collector’s case of “MATCHBOX” Toys tucked away in a closet or the basement. I know there are many of you for whom “MATCHBOX” memories still bring warmth to your heart. My friends Bob and Calvin and I have tossed around the idea of taking a crack at starting a local southwestern Ohio gathering of “MATCHBOX” lovers. So during this cold month of February I’m inviting you closet “MATCHBOX” fans to reach out and give me a shout (newcomerdavis@roadrunner.com). Let’s get together and play! Perhaps you’ve got a red Vauxhall Victor in that box in the basement. I guarantee you those boxes are full of stories and smiles and what dentist isn’t a softy for a great smile. It’s hard to put a price on genuine joy!

tags: "MATCHBOX" Toys

'Living' Article January 2012- Combating Caries

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:08:38 EST

Landen Living

January 2012

What better way to start the New Year than with a piece of very promising news on the dental health front? Dental caries, the process that ends in tooth decay, is one of the most common and expensive of America’s infectious diseases. More than 50% of children and an even larger majority of adults are impacted by dental caries. The majority of the $70+ billion American’s spend on dental services each year goes toward the treatment of woes rooted in dental caries.

The November 2011 edition of the international dental journal Caries Research reports on a small scale clinical study conducted by the UCLA School of Dentistry in which a newly developed mouthwash demonstrated noteworthy success in specifically targeting and killing the Streptococcus mutans species of bacteria that primarily are responsible for tooth decay. Subjects within the study rinsed one time only with the experimental rinse and experienced a nearly complete elimination of oral Streptococcus mutans bacteria over the course of the entire four-day study period.

This potentially revolutionary rinse is the product of nearly ten years of research conducted by Wenyuan Shi, chair of the oral biology department at the UCLA School of Dentistry. Shi in fact has developed an entirely new antimicrobial technology called ‘STAMP’, Specifically Targeted Anti-Microbial Peptides.

The human body is home to a myriad of species of bacteria, most of which perform vital services in maintaining optimum health. Traditional broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents kill without regard both harmful and helpful microorganisms and typically remain effective for twelve hours or less. Shi’s STAMP products are designed to serve as a ‘smart bomb’ that specifically targets harmful bacteria while leaving other strains alive and well. In addition these products remain active for periods significantly longer than traditional antibiotic dosages.

While the UCLA study was very limited, the results were noteworthy. Indeed a New Investigational Drug application was been filed and more extensive clinical trials are likely to begin in March of this year. If UCLA’s rinse ultimately is approved for general use it would be the first anti-dental caries drug since fluoride was licensed nearly six decades ago.

“With this new antimicrobial technology,” said Shi, “we have the prospect of actually wiping out tooth decay in our lifetime.” Wow! That really is potentially game changing news within the dental health arena. I’m excited to watch this research and this potential unfold.

tags: Dental Caries- Tooth decay