General Dentist for hire
PROFESSIONAL GOALS
To work with state of the art technology in a team setting delivering Quality Care
To build trust with patients, ultimately building a community of Patients For Life
To pursue lifelong clinical and practice management learning/education
To utilize modern technology like CAESY to engage patients in the receipt of excellent dentistry
To employ a strong sense of ethics and to act with integrity
To be coached and trained by successful clinical colleagues
To achieve and share professional success
To maximize my individual and professional potential. A life of service is the highest calling
To promote excellent dentistry in the community and to improve the quality of life for my patients.
To ensure that each patient has a comprehensive diagnosis and a complete treatment plan.
Professional and Personal Interests
Cosmetics
I like to see my patient's facial expression after a dramatic cosmetic reveal. I have seen a patient weep with happiness. That kind of validation makes me want to keep doing that. So, cosmetic dentistry has always been special for me. But, general dentistry affords us much more than a monolithic repertoire. I like to help the most dentally debilitated: the edentulous, too.
Implants
Patients that depend upon full and partial dentures have always told me that they want to stabilize their prosthetics. Now, with the advent of implants, I have a way to help them. I enjoy the placement and restoration of anterior mini implants for full lower denture stabilization as well as the use of Locator attachments for the support of distal extension partial dentures.
Orthodontics - Adults & Children
Aligner orthodontics addresses the need of stealthy teeth straightening. But there are patients with major orthodontic issues who prefer to solve them quickly. The six months technique is perfect for them. It always makes them smile and me too. That is not to say that I avoid aligner orthodontics. I like to provide this service, too. Aligner orthodontics takes less chair time but requires strict patient compliance.
Amateur ("Ham") Radio
In 1991 I became interested in amateur radio. This is known as the "Amateur Radio Service" under Part 97 of the F.C.C. rules. It is the technical and service aspects that drew me to the hobby. People go into Ham Radio for a multitude of reasons. Outside of the hardware and technical considerations, it is the personal contacts that I like. I have made contacts all over the world as well as locally. I have participated in health & welfare projects from Tournament of Roses communications to assisting the Los Angeles County Sheriffs in apprehending bank robbers (for which I have a commendation). There are currently four classes of Amateur Radio Licenses from entry level to the highest level available, the Amateur Extra class license. Back in 1992 when I went for an license upgrade, the Extra class license required proficiency in the use of Morse Code at 20 words per minute. (That code requirement was dropped some time ago.) So, I learned the code. What I also learned is that if I want something bad enough, there is nothing that can stop me.
Team Pheasant Hunting
One can learn a lot from team sports. With team bird hunting, it gets serious. All of the hunters in the group must work well together and follow the safety rules or a team member can get seriously injured. I feel fortunate to have been associated with this fine group of bird hunters because we all have the same goal: to protect one another, the environment and have some enjoyment of the process. This is a great bunch of guys, mostly professional engineers (although, I did meet a sales rep from Phillips - the Sonicare people on a hunt in 2011).
Home And Personal Security
My interest in security and safety began as a young adult with a new job, a new wife and a new baby. I had recently graduated from dental school and had a couple of jobs working three days a week. Like most people I always thought that security and safety were a given. It didn't take long to learn that that was not true. It was just after my son was born that our apartment was burglarized. I was at work. My wife and son were out of the house when the burglars let themselves into our apartment and took everything of value that we had. We were devastated. Like anyone we felt compromised, violated and insecure. It wasn't so much what we lost, but the feeling that the perpetrators could let themselves in at will. I did not know what to do.
I talked to some of my friends: they didn't know anything more about security than I did. They were comforting, but not very helpful. The way the burglars got into our apartment was that they picked the lock on our front door and just let themselves in. So, I went out to the hardware store and bought a better lock. I didn't know if that was the right thing to do but at least I was doing something.
But that “something” was not good enough. Exactly one week later, while I was having breakfast on my day off the crooks returned. As I was sipping my coffee, someone knocked at the door. I was seated and in my robe and slippers and I debated whether I should answer the door or not. I went to look out through the peep hole. I saw two well-dressed men wearing three-piece suits, so I opened the door. I asked them what they wanted, to which they replied that they were looking for someone whose last name was similar, but not so close to my own. I told them that no one by that name lived here so they turned and left.
It seemed suspicious to me. So I followed them down the stairs and watched as they turned and walked down the block to turn left on Empire street. I thought that was peculiar, because when you go looking for someone by name wouldn't you park in front of their house? And yet they were on foot and walking far away. That was pretty darn scary and I thought I had actually seen the bad guys. So I called the police detective who is working on our case and I gave a description of the men and told him what happened and he said that he would contact the police car in my area to let them know to look out for these guys. They cops caught the bad guys that day. That's when I became a security expert.
