Doc Knock's Knocks

OUR OTHER WEBSITE!

2010-12-31T09:28:00.000-08:00

PLEASE GO TO www.portlandmainedentists.com to see our more frequently used website! Thanks!

2010-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all! We hope that 2011 is a great year for everyone. We here at Falmouth Dental Arts appreciate all the great Patients we have and will continue to provide for your needs. Our staff is eager to begin a new year with new challenges and joys. May all the best happen for you!

2009-11-16T16:20:00.001-08:00

Exciting things are happening at Falmouth Dental Arts! We are adding new staff members to better serve you and make your visit more comfortable. New lasers and digital xrays are invaluable to enhance health. Dr Vocal is making smiles beautiful with 6Month Ortho and we are extensively treating head, neck and TMJ pain with new technology. The new UnderArmour Performance Enhancing Mouthguards are here and receiving a lot of attention. More on all this later. Have a Great Thanksgiving everyone!

Oral Cancer Detection and Peru

2009-07-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Exciting things are happening in the practice. We will soon be able to do superb cancer screening with one of the new lights that help us detect it. Did you know that more people die of oral cancer than skin cancer each year? I wasn't aware of that myself. The scope is just another one of the new technological breakthroughs that keep coming out.

My grandson, Dewey, is back from Peru and had a fantastic time with the National Geographic crew that went with them. They will be sending him a DVD of his trip. He took over 2000 pictures while he was there and some are quite impressive.

I hope everyone is having a great summer (if it ever comes here in Maine).

A YOUNG NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CONTEST WINNER

2009-04-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long winter but it looks like we may even have a spring. We've had some exciting news in our family. Our grandson, Dewey, submitted a photo to a national contest for National Geographic Kids and Won! He was chosen, along with 13 other kids and two teachers. They will all be going to Peru for 12 days accompanied by their photographers, a guide, a biologist, a naturalist, some real life explorers and others. He is 13 and is very excited about it. WE are incredibly proud of him. Here is the winning photo. Dewey had to write a story about the photo and the following is what he wrote:

National Geographic Hands-On Explorer Challenge

Dewey Sheehan

Fossil Discoveries

My name is Dewey Sheehan, I am thirteen years old, and am from Pembroke, Maine. Pembroke is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and has large beaches covered with rocks made from shale. The ocean is about 100 yards from my house and I explore it often! Approximately 3½ years, I made a very interesting discovery! I found 490 million year old fossils. I was overjoyed by the discovery because I had never seen fossils before. The fossils I had discovered were marine snails and bivalve shells. It was awesome to see their imprints in the shale. The shells were arranged in different ways. Some were upside down (I call these “impression shells”), and some were right side up (these I call “pop outs”).
Once my excitement was over from the first fossil, I wondered if there were any more. I searched in some more shale and sure enough I found more and then thousands more! Since then, my brother and I have found many different types of fossils, including: brachiopods (an appearance of an open shell), backbone of a fish, a sea worm, fossilized plants, and a coiled rock that appears to be some sort of animal feces. Most of the fossils we find are lying on the beach. We also extract large sheets of them (with chisels) from huge pieces of shale on the beach.
I have done lots of research on the Maine Geological Survey website to find out the names of the fossils. I also learned that they are from the Ordovician Period. During the Ordovician, most of the Earth’s land was submerged under water, which explains why most of the fossils are shells, and under water creatures. Hopefully with extended research I will find out how they became non-existent in our world.

35 Years!

2009-02-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

What's it like to work with the same person for 35 years? Francine, my assistant, has been with me since 1974 and I truly think my patients would miss her more than me if I retired! 35 Years! That's unbelievable, especially when you think of how often people change jobs these days. She is truly a remarkable woman to have put up with me for so long. Between her and Sarah, my wife, it adds up to 78 years!

I am blessed with a fantastic staff. Many have been with me over 10 years and Sue has been with me 20. To have that kind of stability in a dental practice is a blessing. I appreciate each and everyone of the 10 people who support me and Dr. Vocal. When you are looking at your coworkers or the people you mangage how many have been with you that long? Wow!

2008 Reflections

2009-01-08T05:25:00.000-08:00

Well, the holidays are over, the economy is crazy, we have a new president coming in, and a few storms to deal with. So what else is new? I hope everyone had a good holiday season and you're ready to hit 2009 with enthusiasm. We sure are.

Every time I feel a bit down I make myself a gratitude list. Either on paper or in my mind. But, as I go through it, it sure makes me feel better about things. I have a lot to be grateful for - great relationships, wonderful family, and a great practice with incredible patients and an outstanding staff! 2008 was certainly a challenge, but without all of you, 2009 would not be fun to look forward to.

There are a lot of exciting things happening in dentistry. The technology is becoming amazing. The comfort of patients is getting better. The people part of dentistry is exciting. It's a great time to be a dentist and work with people to make their lives better. This is our mission. Please let me know if you have any questions about anything in dentistry or our practice and I'd be glad to answer them.

We are going to be posting more and more videos on youtube about different things that are happening in this great profession. I'll keep you posted.

Peace to all,
Glen

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2008-12-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

In this time of stress for everyone, I hope you find joy and peace in the faces of your kids or grandkids, love around you and time to reflect. The economy is doing what it wants to do, whether we like it or not. People come and go in our lives, whether we want it or not. Loved ones pass away, whether we want it or not. And life goes on, whether we want it or not. Einstein said that "happiness is an inside job". Living in the moment is one of the hardest things I have to do in my life, but when I do it I feel peace. I wish you all peace in your lives and a wonderful holiday season.

Glen

Sedation Dentistry is a Great Way to Go

2008-12-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of people really hate going to the dentist - I mean really hate going to the dentist. Most of the time the reason people don't go is because of fear. It's estimated that as many as 50 million people don't go because of fear! Wow!

But I can understand it. I had bad experiences with my childhood dentist and they come back to me every time I get in the chair, too. It doesn't keep me from going, and I usually get through the appointment very well, but it is still there. Now multiply that many times and even I would have a hard time going. So I can understand where these patients are coming from.

Well, now we have Sedation Dentistry, also known as Sleep Dentistry or Relaxed Dentistry. Our patients take a small pill known as triazolam, or Halcion, and usually are so relaxed that they doze off during the dentistry we do for them. It's great if there's a lot of fear. And another great thing about it is that there is an amnesia effect where not much of the appointment is remembered afterwards. It's also great for people who want to get a lot of dentistry done in one or two sittings. Often the appointments can last for several hours or all day. When the patient goes home, has a good meal and a good nap the experience is in the past and they usually feel great about it and themselves.

Oral Sedation Dentistry is a great fit for people with high fear or just want to relax through a long appointment. We also give our patients an iPod and Bose Headphones to dampen the noise. Many times they request a blanket and we also have massage pads available. Man, this is nothing like my childhood dentist or many others I've gone to, but I want to treat my patients the way I want to be treated!

Any questions? Go to http://www.knockoutsmiles.com/ for more info.

Yours for better health,

Glen

Mini Implants

2008-12-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

Mini Implants are one of the greatest services I have seen come along in ages! They are tiny implants that are inserted in the jaw in one appointment. They are fantastic for people who have loose fitting dentures and don't want to use all the gobble-de-goop that you have to put inside to keep them in. It's usually a one appointment procedure and the patient walks out with very solid dentures with little or no more movement when they eat. If you want to find out more about them, the company I use is at http://www.imtec.com/ or http://www.imtec.com/home.htm. Or go to our website for more information: www.knockoutsmiles.com. I'll have more on this in the future and some videos of very happy patients. Peace to all!

Dr Knocks's Smile Makeover Patient on TV!

2008-12-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

We now have a video of an extreme dental makeover I did for TV. It's available on our website at www.knockoutsmiles.com. Let me know what you think of it. It was very rewarding to help this young lady out!

2008-11-18T17:45:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone,

This is my new blog. We'll see what happens!

Glen