Every apple has a bite to it. This one has teeth. A gift of appreciation from an artist patient of the eccentric kind: OURS!
We love this art because it is unique and one of a kind. Every vein on the apple is hand painted and even the gums. We are the luckiest bunch to receive this kind of gratitude for just doing the work that we love so much.  It makes us feel so good.
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Our office has worked with many different organizations to promote preventive dental care throughout the decades. We have worked with low-income school districts to supply them with free toothbrushes, floss, toothpastes and even mouth rinses. We also worked with the special needs populations from the elementary school level to adulthood. We even work with private high schools to help fundraise for educational projects. Each year we try to involve ourselves in our surrounding communities because we believe that it takes a village to make life better. One cannot survive happily alone. 
This month we received a gift basket from one of our community partners and it was such a nice surprise. I don't think we did anything special but welcome everyone to our office with open arms. We encourage you to be you: red, white, black or blue, and we listen to your stories. Because sometimes just knowing your past is enough to understand why you want your treatment a certain way. We love being appreciated just for doing our daily job. It makes us feel good.  It reassures us that we're doing alright thus far.  So, thank you for the wonderful reminder that our openness is valued. 
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I went to a dental conference and part of the entertainment was a visit to the local art museum because dentistry is about 35% art. Everyone has their own opinions about art, as they do in dentistry. Sometimes art comes from our imagination. Sometimes it comes from the quieting of the mind. The pictures below are from a Japanese artist who needed to quiet her mind to function. Yayoi Kusama, born in 1929, was tortured with all the noise in her head. Art was a way for her to quiet the noise. In all of her madness, she brought about a world of repeated polka dots. Their formed patterns were used in fashion, architecture, illusions, and many more. 
Below is one of her illusions; a room filled with LED lights surrounded by mirrors giving it an endless look. Being in the room was amazing. Craziness was the last thing on my mind. It was so beautiful and romantic being in the dark as the colors change. The room was cooler and as people move around, the lights swing back and forth so the landscape in front of you changes. I was amazed how simple the thought but incredibly smart in the execution. 
The artist lives in an institution today in Japan as she waits for the indefinite silence. It's unbelievable to me that someone's mental illness can be transformed into something so creative.  It is true of what they say: One woman's crazy is another woman's intelligent art. The experience is simply unforgettable. 

I know there is only a day to celebrate international women but why only one day.  We're doing it all week and all year. Our office has an international myriad of women. We have it all: multilingual, colors, shapes, sizes, looks, intelligence, personalities, etc. Our office is the epitome of women and sisterhood.  We celebrate all women, be it the natural-born females or the gender-altering females . We all have a heart and brain to guide us individually through this ever-changing society that challenges us daily. We all have our attitudes and personalities to deal with hardship that is thrown at us.  We have our nice days and not-so-nice days. But really, who doesn't?  Men have them, too.
Celebrating individuality is awesome because we are all special. It's okay to be different and even better to be proud of being different. Conformity is so restricting and kinda bland. Color variations make a picture brighter, as people variations make life more beautiful and interesting.  Please remember to be kind to everyone, especially to the women around you. We have it rough. We need understanding from our counterparts who are given power just for being born with XY chromosomes. I mean, it's the women that  carried you for up to 40 weeks in the belly. Be kind to those women and the women who supported her during this period.  There are women out there who taunt their own kind, due to skin color or esthetics. It's superficial but it's true. I was born into a family with strong female role models. I intend to continue that trend for my own kids. I believe our younger generations need to see examples of compassion and practices of common sense. It's such simple knowledge but it gets lost easily. I hope the good vibes continue to vibrate throughout the world. Change needs to start somewhere, so why not at home?
Happy International Women Day to all my female peeps. Without you, the world would be very sad. Thank you for your contribution to all the beauty and magnificent magic we all get to experience. Please hug the female next to you, with permission of course. 

When this patient came in, he was already in pain and angry. The pain has become so unbearable that his personality has changed. He was aggressive and short with his answers. It was a rough first impression. But once we removed the tooth, he was a changed man. So happy he was anesthetized, the offending infected tooth was removed, and he didn't realized it came out.

Look at the roots on this one...they hooked onto the bone, making it a complicated extraction. So this is one of our trophies in the office. We were relieved when it came out in one piece as the patient had a hard time opening his mouth for us.