In addtion to practicing dentistry, the dentists at Wahl Family Dentistry do research and writing. They recently published an article in the E-Journal of Dentistry, “Articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine versus articaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine,” and showed that the anesthetic formulation with the lower dose of epinephrine was equally efficacious as the formulation with the higher dose of epinephrine. They concluded that formulations with lower epinephrine doses should be preferred over those with higher. In addition to Drs. Michael Wahl, Peggy Schmitt, Jean Wahl, and Syamack Ganjavian (now in his own practice), we were very grateful to have the invaluable contribution of Dr. Thomas Ilvento, a statistician and professor in the Department of Applied Economics and Statistics at the University of Delaware. He was incredibly thorough and patient with Dr. Mike, explaining some of the nuances of statistical analysis that were critical to the paper. I was not surprised to find that he gets very high ratings from his students as a professor. In his spare time, Tom plays in a rock and roll band. Thanks Tom!

Tina makes great corn-on-the-cob, and I ate two ears today (I can’t hear anything!), but every time I eat it, I get a bunch of corn stuck between my teeth. The main purpose for brushing and flossing is to remove dental plaque, an invisible, sticky substance of sloughed-off skin cells, bacteria, and food particles that forms on your teeth in as little as twenty minutes.

Proper toothbrushing is great for removing plaque, but the toothbrush bristles are too small to reach in between the teeth. That’s where floss comes in. Used properly, it removes the plaque where the brush can’t. We recommend brushing at least twice a day and flossing (or other interdental cleaning) at least once. Personally, I’m a bit obsessed, brushing at least three or four times a day and frequently flossing two or three.

Besides removing plaque, however, floss is excellent at removing large food particles from between the teeth, especially corn. After eating the corn-on-the-cob today, my teeth were full of corn skin — it was awful! Naturally, I thoroughly flossed (and brushed) my teeth, and in very little time, my teeth felt incredibly clean. I thought about it, and floss is really just string on a spool, but you don’t need any batteries for it and you don’t need an IT guy to help you with it. It always works (although some of the cheaper brands of floss break too easily).

In this high-tech world we live in, I am very grateful for something very low-tech: our old friend dental floss.

Diana Nyad, age 64, swam 110 miles from Cuba to Florida in over 50 hours without a shark cage, completing the swim on Monday September 2, 2013.

“I’ve got three messages,” she said. “One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you’re never too old to chase your dreams and three is it looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team [effort].”

I congratulate Diana for a truly inspirational achievement and life. Here’s a link to a TED talk she gave after a failed attempt in which she asks, “What will YOU do with your wild, precious life?”

Krystle recently had braces put on by Dr Fiss. It was very convenient for her just to walk upstairs in our building to Drs Fiss and Rafetto’s orthodontic office. What a great smile Krystle has, and it will look even better when she’s done.