The Whole Tooth and Nothing But the Tooth
Open wide!
Yup. Here’s the whole tooth. And nothing but the tooth. I really am blogging about dental work. Either my life has gotten especially boring, or I really do believe that this profession gets a bad rap. Teeth are very important. A great smile is infinitely better than a clever post on Facebook. A toothache can mess up ones whole day. A great dental professional is a rock star as far as I’m concerned!
A trip to the dentist in my youth was scary and painful and weird. In fact, my dentist’s office as in a private home and I once had oral surgery under general anesthesia in his office. It seems almost barbaric compared to modern day dentistry. The X-ray process was like something out of Frankenstein’s lab and virtually every visit involved drilling, waiting, and discomfort. The only good part was the trinket I got at the end of the visit – usually a piece of toy jewelry.
My kids rarely got cavities because of preventative dentistry. Their teeth are white and straight. They have none of the ugly metal fillings that peppered my back teeth. Thanks to the miracles of modern dentistry, I had a root canal on Friday and within a few hours I was back at work, sipping Starbucks and whistling merrily. (Well, I wasn’t really whistling, but I wasn’t in any pain.)
My endodontist’s office is contemporary and warm. He even has a cool logo. He plays soothing classical music while he works and even the dental dam (a device designed to keep tools from falling into ones throat) had a fashionable look and feel to it. Dr. Kolnick was referred to me by my “regular” dentist, Scott Asnis, DDS of White Plains, whose office is also a fairly fun and peppy place to visit. He projects photos of wildlife on his TV screens when he’s not viewing x-rays and his staff is welcoming and painless.
The only thing that could be lacking in new-age dentistry is the gift of jewelry when I leave the office! That would REALLY make me smile!
Is there something you miss? A change you’ve been ruminating about? Contact me at nancys@theonswitch.com (or mail me a letter). I’ll happily entertain ideas for future columns!
Nancy A. Shenker has lived in Westchester for 22 years (40% of her life). Her business, theONswitch marketing, located in Yonkers, specializes in combining traditional time-tested marketing strategies with new media (including social media). She works with businesses nationally (and, thanks to technology, can sometimes even work in her pajamas). She is also the 
CEO of a new publishing venture, nunumedia and just launched a series of business comic books.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.