My dental assistant is taking classes at the local community college. She is working towards becoming a hygienist. It is the end of the semester and she had a performance for her tap class on Monday night.
I never had the pleasure of attending community college. I went straight from high school to UCLA. While at UCLA I was totally focused on the technical- math and science- classes. The only "fun" classes I took were Women's Studies and English literature. Also, I was so focused on my studies that I rarely carved time out for any exciting social experiences. I do regret not having more diversity in my undergraduate coursework!
It was so much fun watching the different classes (ballroom, jazz, ballet, impressionist) perform. Community college is a great way to get general education credits out of the way and to try out new things, all for minimal cost. I noticed there were some much older students in a couple of the classes...
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Baby Dental Care
My son is nearing his one year birthday now and has four teeth. I take Wednesdays off from work and use that opportunity to take my son to a Park District Baby 'N Me class. The babies in his class range in age from 9 to 15 months. Recently, some of the other moms have asked me if I see children and at what age they should start seeing the dentist.
Yes, I do see children in my dental practice. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, babies should start seeing the dentist at 1 year of age. Dental care for babies is all about prevention and informing parents about how to care for their children's teeth. The most important thing to know for babies, in regards to teeth, is that putting a baby to bed with a bottle or breast milk can cause serious tooth decay. So once a baby has teeth, on demand middle of the night feedings and falling asleep with a bottle should be eliminated.
The funny thing is that even though I know middle of the night feedings should be eliminated, it has only been in the last two weeks that I have stopped nursing my son in the middle of the night. So for about two months of my son having teeth, I didn't follow my own dental advice. Fortunately, he isn't showing any signs of tooth decay!
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
Yes, I do see children in my dental practice. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, babies should start seeing the dentist at 1 year of age. Dental care for babies is all about prevention and informing parents about how to care for their children's teeth. The most important thing to know for babies, in regards to teeth, is that putting a baby to bed with a bottle or breast milk can cause serious tooth decay. So once a baby has teeth, on demand middle of the night feedings and falling asleep with a bottle should be eliminated.
The funny thing is that even though I know middle of the night feedings should be eliminated, it has only been in the last two weeks that I have stopped nursing my son in the middle of the night. So for about two months of my son having teeth, I didn't follow my own dental advice. Fortunately, he isn't showing any signs of tooth decay!
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
5 Reasons to Join a Networking Group
I have been out of the networking realm for about two years now- marriage and baby has been keeping me busy. Recently, I decided it is time for me to reacquaint myself with networking. I attended my old Business Networking International group this past Monday morning and decided I am going to join again. Here are my 5 Reasons to Join a Networking Group:
1. Talking about your business is good business. The more opportunities you make to meet new people and promote what you do, the more chances you have at getting new business. A networking group is a great place to do just that because everyone there knows why you are there and is looking to hear the why and how of what you do.
2. Joining a group forces you to commit to a specific time each week where you will meet with prospective referral sources or clients. Often times we are so busy just getting the day to day things done at work, we lose focus of the bigger picture. In order to grow your business you need to spend a little time each week thinking about networking.
3. Seeing the same people each week is important because you get to know them on a truly personal level. Once you have become friends with someone they are much more likely to become a lifelong client. Also, they will have a much easier time referring their friends and family.
4. Not only do you get to talk about your business, but you get to hear about other people's businesses. Learning about other's successes and failures can be extremely helpful in growing your own business.
5. Being in a networking group makes you part of the community and will ultimately make you more aware of various seasonal community events and other networking opportunities.
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
1. Talking about your business is good business. The more opportunities you make to meet new people and promote what you do, the more chances you have at getting new business. A networking group is a great place to do just that because everyone there knows why you are there and is looking to hear the why and how of what you do.
2. Joining a group forces you to commit to a specific time each week where you will meet with prospective referral sources or clients. Often times we are so busy just getting the day to day things done at work, we lose focus of the bigger picture. In order to grow your business you need to spend a little time each week thinking about networking.
3. Seeing the same people each week is important because you get to know them on a truly personal level. Once you have become friends with someone they are much more likely to become a lifelong client. Also, they will have a much easier time referring their friends and family.
4. Not only do you get to talk about your business, but you get to hear about other people's businesses. Learning about other's successes and failures can be extremely helpful in growing your own business.
5. Being in a networking group makes you part of the community and will ultimately make you more aware of various seasonal community events and other networking opportunities.
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Disneyland and the California Dental Association
Every spring the California Dental Association holds a dental vendor show at the Anaheim Convention center. This year the convention is this first weekend in May. The dental association offers discounted Disneyland tickets as part of the convention. I took Friday off so that I could take my family to Disneyland and California Adventure. We then stayed at the Disneyland California Grand Hotel so I could go to the convention today.
Both the amusement park and the hotel offer quite a lesson in consumerism. First of all, I was suprised at the large number of families with young children that visit the park and stay at the hotel. Even with my convention discount for the Disneyland tickets and hotel, it was a costly two days. In addition to the tickets and hotel cost, there is the eating out and Disneyland merchandise expense. For a family of four it probably costs nearly $1000 to spend one weekend at Disneyland and California Adventure.
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
Both the amusement park and the hotel offer quite a lesson in consumerism. First of all, I was suprised at the large number of families with young children that visit the park and stay at the hotel. Even with my convention discount for the Disneyland tickets and hotel, it was a costly two days. In addition to the tickets and hotel cost, there is the eating out and Disneyland merchandise expense. For a family of four it probably costs nearly $1000 to spend one weekend at Disneyland and California Adventure.
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Feeling sorry for THINGS
Before my husband moved to California for law school he was living in Portland, Oregon. He owned his very first house there and remodeled much of it while living in it. Up until a couple of months ago he had the house rented. When the renters moved out it became apparent that the house was in desperate need of TLC. For starters it is a very modern house with a flat roof (See picture of Rummer homes). A flat roof in Oregon where it rains much of the winter. The roof has been leaking for years. In addition, the heating metal ductwork was on top of the roof and that was leaking. Also, the same renters had been in the house for three years and had not taken the best care of things on the inside.
So my husband and I were faced with a choice. We could either try and patch the problems to make the house ready for sale or we could truly fix the problems and keep the house long term. Financially, the most fiscally responsible decision would have been to patch and sell. However, we felt sorry for the house and knew if we patched it then the house would never be quite right.
We made the decision to fix the house the right way. This has led us to a complete remodel and has left both of us wondering how we could feel sorry for a THING, such as a house. The architect we hired says we have lots of scope creep. Meaning we have went from fixing just the roof and HVAC, to fixing every imaginable problem with the house.
According to my personality profile I am a feeler, so I guess it should come as no surprise that I would feel sorry for the house. However, my husband is a thinking type and is usually totally rational in his decision making. In this instance though he seems to have a strong emotional attachment to the house. One of the contractors we met with told me that an emotional attachment means the project will cost an additional 30%.
It will be interesting to see how the house turns out when we are finally done with the remodel. Due to the extreme weather conditions in Portland over the past few months, it has taken a while for the new roof to be framed. I think we are about two months away from completion now. After we finish the remodel we are going to try and rent it as a seasonal rental over the internet. Hopefully other people can appreciate the house we felt sorry for as well!
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
So my husband and I were faced with a choice. We could either try and patch the problems to make the house ready for sale or we could truly fix the problems and keep the house long term. Financially, the most fiscally responsible decision would have been to patch and sell. However, we felt sorry for the house and knew if we patched it then the house would never be quite right.
We made the decision to fix the house the right way. This has led us to a complete remodel and has left both of us wondering how we could feel sorry for a THING, such as a house. The architect we hired says we have lots of scope creep. Meaning we have went from fixing just the roof and HVAC, to fixing every imaginable problem with the house.
According to my personality profile I am a feeler, so I guess it should come as no surprise that I would feel sorry for the house. However, my husband is a thinking type and is usually totally rational in his decision making. In this instance though he seems to have a strong emotional attachment to the house. One of the contractors we met with told me that an emotional attachment means the project will cost an additional 30%.
It will be interesting to see how the house turns out when we are finally done with the remodel. Due to the extreme weather conditions in Portland over the past few months, it has taken a while for the new roof to be framed. I think we are about two months away from completion now. After we finish the remodel we are going to try and rent it as a seasonal rental over the internet. Hopefully other people can appreciate the house we felt sorry for as well!
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com
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