AN OLD TIMERS
PHILOSOPHY OF DENTISTRY
(Updated 11/17/2015)

(Doc Hemp)

Old Dentists Never Die ....
They Just Make a Bad Impression!

1. Let me begin by saying that there are many skilled dentists out there in the trenches today.... But .... I am taking the liberty of a little advice to the young whippersnappers and others out there since I am such an old timer. (Also discussed in our dental student section) .. Have seen and done a lot! I just hope maybe I can pass on a little of the great fun and enjoyment this career and profession has and still is providing for me and Becky. We are fortunate in that I don't have to work ... But we still have no plans to retire ... cut back more maybe .. We do work a shortened week. We do many other things too. Keeps the dentistry fresh, relaxed and enjoyable! Walk, don't run through your career! You are the captain. Chart a course with the size and quality ship that you will love to spend the rest of your life on! Bigger is not Better! Better is Better!
   
   
2. This is no different than what all of us were taught in dental school ... but we have always taken and recorded blood pressures with every examon every patient ... These records can help us refer and identify problems with a patients health over the years.
   I also insist that all our hygienists record and do soft tissue exams (pull the tongue out with gauze, etc.) with each cleaning, and I do the same with each of my exams.
   I have had Sandi (my dental assistant of 39 years) (now Shanon 11/17/2015) come in early every morning and completely flush each dental line, document and date it also. Getting the chlorinated city water through these lines along with filtration is still the best in my opinion. Establishing habits like these in our practices are no different than having our patients develop the habits of flossing and good oral hygiene every day.
   
   
3. My philosophy is to never stop growing as a dentist .. keep up with what's new, with what helps you to provide the best for your patients. Invest your time and profits every year into new up to date equipment and techniques. But ... Remember .. The best equipment is never any better than the person running it! Up to date equipment will make you a better dentist by keeping your interest peaked and a freshness in your practice. If this is done yearly and consistently it is affordable and makes the place we spend the biggest part of our lives fun too. If we continue to learn, study and take our time with our patients in a calm, relaxed, humorus and caring atmosphere we will love what we do ... The patients will love what we do. Go for the quality not the quantity, and you will never have a shortage of patients ... And never want to quit! .... So ..... Go ahead and buy that new equipment!
   
   
4. My Reason's for the Dangers of Bleaching Teeth
   
   
5. For you new graduates ... quit doing prophys yourself as soon as possible. Let's face it .. we just don't have the time to do it all ... And try to hire 3 dental hygienists when you can ... That way the patients have a choice as to which ones they prefer and it will be much easier to find a subsitute to fill in when one gets sick, etc.
   
   
6. Also .... always treat your staff with respect and kindness, always back your staff members if there is a dispute between them and an occasional patient. We know our staff much better than we know most patients. Losing a problematic patient is a blessing, losing a great staff member is a disaster! Becky and I are very blessed in having our average staff members with us for over 30 yrs.
   
   

7. My philosophy is that what God gave us is better than anything we can do! My Motto is "Look For Reasons Not to Drill, Instead of Reasons To Drill!" I do not believe in many of the gnathologists ideology to cut perfectly good teeth down, just to develop a centric relationship with an "ideal bite" Besides .. This is what Orthodontists and TMJ, etc. bite splints are for anyway! Plus ... Our elderly patients with the WORST OCCLUSIONS ARE NEVER THE ONES WITH TMJ PROBLEMS!!! I don't care whether you use a Stewart Articulator and tattoo the hinge axis! I would much rather have the fewest crowns possible done & articulated with a barn door hinge!!
   It is the PATIENTS OBLIGATION to spend the time to find the kind of dentist & dentistry they want done! If you are a patient .. ask around a lot! Be sure the dentist is gentle and has hygienists. Stop by a local Periodontist offices and ask them for a few quality dentist's names. Also be sure your new dentist is looking for reasons not to drill instead of reasons to drill ... Not scaring you into removing good functional amalgam (silver) fillings by saying the Mercury is poisoning your system.... Heck ... One fish dinner will usually give you more mercury than your silver fillings will in 10 years! One the other hand when one needs replacing anyway .. Then is the time to maybe put white Heliomolar in if you wish, especially if it might show.
   
   

8. Fluoride is a natural mineral it is not is a poison! Or a communist plot to ruin America for crying out loud! Please ask your community to add it to your water ... when a city reaches a certain size it is added to the water automatically anyway.
   
   

9. Many of us dentists don't think any patient should ever be embarrassed to even HAVE TO ASK for their own old gold crown back after it was removed for a new one or extracted! They paid for it as part of the expensive crown it was when it was placed! It is theirs to do whatever with! Old gold crowns can easily be sterilized. I think many other dentists feel the same as we do on this too.
   
   

10. It is also the dentists right to be able to treat the type of patients that he wants to too. In our office if a patient doesn't care enough to develop good home care, or is belligerent, no show, etc. .. They are sent a proper letter and asked to go elsewhere. Dentistry is a partnership with the patient. I do not care to waste my time & expertise (and the patients money) putting in work that will fail because of poor home care & or the disregard for regular dental maintenance!
    Prevention and conservative dentistry is the name of the game. Implants where there is enought bone available and left in LONG ENOUGH to prolperly fuse with the bone are MUCH better than grinding good teeth down for bridges.
    
    

11. (From our for Dental Students only page) Always remember your regular patients FIRST. The ones that told their friends about you! The ones that made your practice busy! Once you become busy and if you put most of your emphasis only on new patients with the most work to do and the most money to be made, you will need that full page ad in the paper or phone book in the future!!!!
    
    

12. I am against all hard porcelain occlusal restorations, and all thin Porcelain Occlusals (chewing surfaces). The new Vita II Blocks milled from the Cerec machines, replacing old deep fillings or fractured cusps has plenty of room for strength just by removing the old silver amalgam, without removing much if any good tooth structure for more room that would be too close to the nerve of pulp creating sensitivity. It has porcelain the exact hardness and expansion of our own enamel. I still do many restorations with traditional HIGH NOBLE GOLD Where Cerec (in my opinion) would not be the best to use.
    
    

    
    
    

13. I do not believe in the use of Nitrous Oxide in our office since the release of the study showing it alters the DNA in human sperm causing infertility, etc. And that study was just of the staff involved with the secondary inhalation of it! What might it do with concentrated therapeutic doses used every 3, 4, or 6 months on prophys & dental work of the patients too? Valium works better anyway.
    
    

14. Root Canals, Posts & pins implanted or Cerec porcelain bonded inside our own roots are better than foreign posts implanted into bone without any natural shock absorber & as good a way to seal the bacteria out as a natural root does..... But ....... Once an entire tooth is gone though, implants are now the treatment of choice in most areas. The age of the implant has arrived! (11/17/2015) No implant failures in our office in the past 15 years or so.

Thank You,
Doc Hemp

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