KARI ANN HONG, DDS

Fillings on a six year old

2011-10-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

When children get cavities they are quicker to appear and faster in their progression than cavities on an adult. Mostly this has to do with the anatomy of a baby tooth versus a permanent tooth. I recommend that children start seeing the dentist at age one and then every six months thereafter. It is much easier to fill a small cavity then to deal with a large hole on a tooth.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing a six year old girl that had a hole in-between two of her baby teeth. I had seen her last week to attempt to fix the hole, but it was a no go. Yesterday I was successful in filling the cavity and it brought to mind some important points on treating children: parent selection, timing, patience, and choices.

Parent selection is a key factor. As parents we bring our own anxieties with us to the dental office and we are experts at transferring these anxieties to our children. In the case of my six year old patient, it was her father that had brought her the week prior. The dad has a severe gag reflex and previous traumatic dental experiences. While he was being supportive of getting the cavity fixed, there was an aura of "is this going to hurt my daughter?" in the room. The mom was much more relaxed and matter of fact. From the onset of the appointment yesterday the mom's attitude was that we were going to get the cavity filled.

Timing when treating children makes a huge difference. If your kid is cranky or tired at certain times of day, then that is a bad time to be doing dentistry. For instance, my four year old is exhausted by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. He is much harder to reason with at that time of day. Early in the morning my son has boundless energy and he has a hard time sitting still. The best time to treat most kids is mid morning or after lunch. Also, it is important to keep in mind that when you are numb it is hard to eat and kids are more likely to bite their cheeks when numb. Thus, is important that your child is well fed before having a cavity filled.

Patience is the answer to finishing all types of dental treatment. It is important to take the time to walk a child through the steps of the procedure. In addition it is necessary to wait for them to overcome the crying that comes with anxiety of not knowing what is going to happen next. At the beginning of the appointment, my six year old patient was crying and refused to open her mouth. Once she realized that her tooth was going to get filled no matter what and I fully explained each step, she stopped crying and opened her mouth.

Choices are a funny thing when it comes to kids. The appointment with the six year old went something like this, "we can use this white and pink Mr. Thirsty or this clear Mr. Thirsty.". The point being that one way or another I needed suction while cleaning out the sugar bugs. Then I used a blue liquid, followed by a glue that was hardened by a blue light saver light and topped off with a white liquid that filled the hole. Success!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS1000 Newbury Rd. #190Thousand Oaks, CA 91320www.thousandoaksfamilydentistry.com

Sleep Apnea and Dentistry

2011-09-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

Did you know that if you have sleep apnea that it can shorten your lifespan by 7 to 8 years? Did you know that having sleep apnea puts you at greater risk for stroke or heart attack?

Obstructive sleep apnea is defined as someone that stops breathing while sleeping. Sometimes this can be accompanied by loud snoring. The cessation of breathing is caused by muscles in the throat area relaxing and the tongue falling back in the throat, blocking the airway. The severity of sleep apnea is defined by the number of times per hour someone stops breathing in their sleep. Someone with severe sleep apnea stops breathing more than 25 times per hour while they are sleeping. The body subconsciously wakes up when it realizes it isn't breathing, leaving the person to wake up the next morning feeling unrefreshed.

My dad has sleep apnea. In his quest to treat his own condition he took a continuing education class on treating sleep apnea with dental appliances. After taking the class, he decided to invest in an airway evaluation device as well some take home sleep monitors. In the past couple of months he has successfully treated a number of mild to moderate sleep apnea patients with dental appliances. (If someone is found to have severe sleep apnea, then a continuous positive airway pressure machine is recommended.)

As a part of our sleep apnea screening we ask the following questions:

1. Are you likely to fall asleep or doze off if you are:
a. Sitting and reading
b. Sitting in a public place
c. Driving a car stopped for a few minutes in traffic
d. Sitting down quietly after lunch without alcohol
e. Watching TV
f. As a passenger in a car for one hour
g. Sitting and talking to someone
h. Lying down to rest in the afternoon
2. Have you gained 15 pounds or more in the last six months?
3. Have you ever been told that you snore?
4. Does your snoring occur almost every night?
5. Would you or someone hearing you sleep consider your snoring louder than a person talking?

If you answer yes to two or more of the above questions, then you could be at risk for sleep apnea and an evaluation of your airway opening would be a good idea.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Rd. #190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.thousandoaksfamilydentistry.com

Cavity prevention with mouthwash

2011-09-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

I pulled this pH scale image from the CariFree website. What is CariFree? CariFree is an entire product line of mouthwashes, toothpastes, gum, and mouth sprays that were developed to have basic pH content, xylitol, and fluoride. The most impressive part of their product line is the mouthwashes. They have a CariFree treatment rinse and a CariFree maintenance rinse. What sets apart the CariFree rinses from others on the market is that they are basic in their pH. The CariFree system of products is a relatively new product line and something that I have only had in my office since May of this year.

I have a patient that has recently been struggling with dry mouth and tooth decay. We set up an appointment so we could further discuss treatment options for prevention of future tooth decay. My patient took it upon himself to bring in some pH strips and the Biotene and ACT brands of mouthwashes to his appointment. I was surprised to find out that the Biotene rinse was a 4.5 pH which is quite acidic. The ACT brand was neutral at 7.0 pH.

It is scary that a rinse like Biotene which is marketed to dentists as a treatment for dry mouth, could actually be causing more harm due to its acidic content. It would be like rinsing your mouth with 7-UP soda. There are many other mouthwashes out there that contain alchohol which apparently is meant to kill bacteria, but it leaves the mouth dry which ultimately encourages bacterial growth.

Since we started distributing the CariFree rinse in May, I have had a number of patients use the rinses. The most common testimonial I hear is that it helps with dry mouth and it makes the teeth feel cleaner.

My recommendation to my patients is that if you are going to use an over the counter rinse, the ACT rinse is your best bet. It has fluoride and it is at least neutral in its pH. If you want a rinse that will help neutralize the mouth and stop de-mineralizing your teeth, then I recommend taking a look at the CariFree product line.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS1000 Newbury Rd. #190Thousand Oaks, CA 91320www.thousandoaksfamilydentistry.com

Another Cavity?

2011-09-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

There are three groups of people that tend to get new cavities on a routine basis. The first group are children under 10, the second group is teenagers, and the last group is mature adults (the 60 and over crowd). My least favorite thing to do in my office is to inform someone that they have another cavity.

On a routine basis now I am asking a couple of key questions as part of my patient health history review. The purpose of the questions is to initiate a dialog as to what causes tooth decay and how to prevent it from happening in the first place.

The risk assessment for cavities includes the following: Acidic beverages, frequent snacking, inadequate salivary flow, appliances present, deep pits and fissures, hyposalivary medications, visible plaque, cavity in the last three years, visible cavitations and radiographic lesions.

Basically in order to get a cavity, something acidic sits next to the tooth structure and eats away at the tooth structure to form a hole in the tooth. What we eat and drink and how often we eat and drink it plays a large role in how much acidity is in our mouth. Anything other than water such as: soda, juice, energy drinks, vitamin waters, and carbonated beverages are acidic. Anything dry, pasty or sugary contributes to the food particles staying in the mouth for a longer period of time. The solution when it comes to tooth decay, is to limit food consumption to meal time and only drink water outside of meal times.

Braces, inadequate salivary flow, deep pits and grooves on the teeth, and lots of plaque on the teeth are all things that contribute to the acidity having an easier time to stay next to the teeth for a longer period of time. I recommend an electric tooth brush for all of my patients, as well as a daily flossing routine in order to maximize the cleanliness of the teeth.

A cavity in the last three years, visible cavitations, and radiographic lesions are important because it means that the cavities are significant enough that they must be removed and filled by the dentist. Even though a tooth has had a filling or a crown, it can still get new tooth decay in the future. Basically any part of exposed tooth structure is susceptible to tooth decay.

Wonder why the three age groups I mentioned at the beginning tend to get the most new cavities? The under age 10 group is at risk because of drinking milk right before bedtime or other non-water beverages throughout the day, eating sugary snacks and candies like gummies or fruit rolls, and not being able to effectively brush or floss their own teeth. The teenager crowd is at risk because of braces, consuming large amounts of alcohol and not brushing before bedtime, and snacking or drinking awakening beverages while studying. The mature adult is at risk because of the medications that they take that changes their body chemistry and dries out the mouth.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Rd. #190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.thousandoaksfamilydentistry.com

New Website

2010-10-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

We are launching our new website design this week for Thousand Oaks Family Dentistry. The new site will feature patient reviews, commonly asked questions, services we provide, online appointment requests, and a video of our practice. I am excited about our latest improvements to our internet presence. I think the website gives a great snapshot of my office.

My goal in patient care is to provide personalized, individual care to each of my patients. Also, I believe in respecting people's time, so I don't double book and I do my best to run on time all day. I make treatment recommendations based on a comprehensive approach to patient care. I want all of my patients to be able to achieve optimal dental health.

Take a look at my new website and let me know what you think!

drhong@thousandoaksfamilydentistry.com

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Rd. #190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.thousandoaksfamilydentistry.com

Baby Teeth

2010-08-02T20:46:00.001-07:00

With two young kids, I have baby teeth on my mind. Children usually get twenty teeth by the age of two, ten on top and ten on bottom. The first baby teeth a child gets are the lower two central incisors. The first adult teeth a child gets are the lower first molars and they come in behind the baby teeth. The first teeth a child looses are the lower incisors and that usually happens after adult molars erupt.

As a mom I worry that my kids will end up with poor skeletal/tooth/facial development and that they will get cavities. Prevention is always the best medicine in dentistry. It is always easier to stop something from happening then to fix it once it has happened. When it comes to facial development, the biggest problems are bottles, pacifiers, and thumb sucking. Any of these things by themselves can cause a significant overjet of the upper teeth over the lower teeth. I recommend stopping bottle and pacifier use by age one. Thumb sucking is the most difficult thing to prevent because as a parent you can't take that away. If a child hasn't stopped sucking their thumb by age 4 or 5, then there is a dental appliance that can be placed to prevent the thumb from sitting comfortably in the mouth.

The easiest way to prevent cavities in children is to watch what they are eating and drinking. It is important to limit milk and juice consumption to meal times. I recommend never purchasing soda for daily consumption. Foods that are sticky in consistency like gummy fruits or candies should be avoided at snack time, because chances are that sugar will stay adhered to the teeth until they are brushed next.

Kids are difficult and frequently have minds of their own where they don't want to do what we want. Fortunately, I have made it past the bottle/pacifier/thumb sucking stage with my own children. It is a constant struggle to make sure they are well fed and that I am keeping their teeth clean.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Safe Amalgam Removal

2010-04-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

I remove amalgams from teeth on a daily basis as a dentist. The reasons why I remove amalgams vary from new decay around an existing amalgam; a patient doesn't like the way the amalgam looks and would like something tooth colored; the amalgam or the tooth with the amalgam broke and the tooth needs a crown; the tooth has an existing crown with decay and the old buildup in the tooth was amalgam.

Recently I was asked the following questions by a potential new patient and I thought others might be interested in the questions and my responses.

Here are the questions:

How long have you been doing safe amalgam removal? Did you have to have special training in this procedure? Do you do any kind of health assessment on the patient before starting? Do you recommend any supplements before and after removal? Do you check the electrical potential of the fillings to determine where to start? I understand you use a rubber dam. Do you have a special vacuum or vapor control system? Do you use an electric drill or an air turbine drill? How much time do you recommend between extractions?

Here was my answer:

I have been doing safe amalgam removal since completing dental school at UCLA in 2003. I use an electric handpiece with sufficient water spray to minimize the mercury vapors when removing amalgams. I do all amalgam removals with a rubber dam and high speed evacuation. When removing amalgam fillings I do so by quadrants of the mouth and I start in the quadrant that has fillings with underlying decay or breakdown of the existing amalgam. I recommend waiting at least a week between quadrants. Sometimes a tooth can be sensitive after an amalgam is removed and a new tooth colored filling is placed. It is important to make sure the teeth have fully recovered and are feeling good before any further work is done. I leave it up to the patient to decide how they want to spread out the treatment. I recommend to all my patients that they take a multi-vitamin, but nothing in particular for amalgam removal.

I have a patient that is currently being treated for high levels of mercury and lead in her system. She only has three fillings in her adult teeth and none of them are amalgams. The patient doesn't know how she ended up with such high levels of mercury or lead in her system. The patient is seeing an internal medicine doctor that has been placing her on a drug called Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). Also, the doctor recommends taking mineral supplements, specifically Vitamin C. Prior to this treatment, the doctor recommends her patients have any amalgams in the mouths removed so as not to counteract her treatment protocol. The treatment with the DMSA is closely monitored with urine tests to see if the levels of mercury decrease.

I can be reached via the contact page on my website familycaredentists.com with any further questions.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Sleep Training My 11 Month Old

2010-03-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

I know it is wrong to compare your kids, but my two and a half year old started sleeping through the night at 10 months of age. My 11 month old will be 12 months in 20 days and he is still waking up every 3 hours during the night. I decided last night that enough was enough and I was going to sleep train my child.

The problem with my baby is that he throws up when he gets really upset. He does it on 45 minute commutes, he does it when a stranger holds him, and he does it when you try to get him to sleep on his own. I decided last night to let him throw up and I decided to let him sleep in his throw up. I put him to bed at 8pm and by 8:10pm he had thrown up and by 8:30pm he had fallen sleep with his head upright, leaning against the wall of his bed. He then proceeded to wake up at 11:30pm and 3pm. At 11:30pm I tried to feed him and helped him go back to sleep. At 3pm I let him cry himself back to sleep, which took about 10 minutes. This morning he woke up at 6am and he was a perfectly happy child all day. Overall I think the night went quite well. The only problem was that my two and half year old woke up at all the times the baby woke up and he was very concerned that I was letting his brother cry.

So tonight I left the older one with his grandparents and I am on night two of my sleep training. I put the baby to bed at 8:10 and he cried until only 8:20 and he didn't throw up! The sleep training appears to be working.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Mouthguards and the Olympics

2010-02-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

I was watching the Olympics last night and was pleasantly surprised to see the male ski jumpers wearing mouthguards. The sport looks inherently dangerous. The athletes speed down a ramp, jump high in the air, do ariel flips, and then must quickly look for the ground to land on their skis. According to an article in the California Dental Association journal, mouthguards are recommended for the following Olympic events: ice hockey, slalom skiing, aerials, skeleton, basketball, field hockey, boxing, martial arts, volleyball, cylcing, water polo and soccer. The type of mouthguard recommended is a dentist made pressure-laminated mouthguard.

In my dental practice I make the pressure-laminated type mouthguard for high school students participating in football, wrestling, soccer, field hockey, and water polo. It is a shame that mouthguards are not mandated in more sports. Sports like ski jumping and football have noticeable dangers that athletes are trying to protect against. The wearing of mouthguards in such sports is expected and accepted by the athletes. It is the sports like soccer and basketball where athletes don't see the need to wear a mouthguard.

I have seen the damage from two soccer related injuries, inflicted by another player. One was a nineteen year old girl that was playing soccer on the weekend with an adult league team. She had one of her front central teeth knocked out. The other one was my fifteen year old cousin. He had his two front teeth knocked inwards during a high school soccer game. An oral surgeon was able to reposition the bone around the teeth, but the teeth themselves died and had to have root canals. Both of these injuries were totally preventable.

Pressure-laminated mouthguards save teeth, prevent broken jaw bones and reduce the risk of injury to the jaw joint. If you play a sport where there is any physical contact with another person or potential contact with a moving object, then you should be wearing a mouthguard!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Happy New Year Dental Resolutions

2010-01-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

I am back at work today after a week and a half long vacation. So far it has been a slow morning at the office. In the couple of weeks prior to the holidays the phone was ringing constantly and it seemed like everyone had a dental emergency. Today it is quiet, like the calm after the storm.

New Years is all about resolutions. I have some dental new year resolution suggestions for 2010.

1. Buy an electric tooth brush. Electric tooth brushes are the best at removing plaque and keeping gums healthy. They prevent tartar build up and give teeth a smooth polished feeling. Patients that I see six months after they have started using an electric tooth brush always have cleaner mouths. Costco has the best deals on electric brushes- they sell the Oral B and the Sonicare brands.

2. Floss once a day. I am sure you have heard the old saying that you only need to floss the ones you want to keep. Flossing helps removed plaque between the teeth and around the gum line. Daily flossing prevents cavities between the teeth and makes the gums and bone that hold the teeth in the mouth much healthier.

3. Bleach your teeth. There are so many affordable ways to have a whiter brighter smile. My favorite is ZOOM! Whitening. After about an hour of in office ZOOM! Whitening you will have whiter teeth. Current price for this procedure is $200!

4. Stop bad habits. Smoking and drinking soda are the two biggest culprits of dental problems. Smoking can lead to severe gum disease, as well as cancers of the mouth and throat. Drinking soda throughout the day can cause lots of cavities. By the way, diet soda is just as bad as regular soda. The carbonation is just as big of a problem as the sugar in the beverage.

5. Visit the dentist twice a year. It is important to have your teeth professional cleaned and evaluated. Gum surgery, root canals, and crowns can be prevented if your teeth are consistently maintained and checked for disease.

Happy New Year!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

What my mother didn't tell me

2009-10-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

My mom has worked for city government for nearly twenty years now. She went back to work after staying home with me for the first eight years of my life. I was mad at my mom for a long time for going back to work. Mainly I was mad at her for leaving me with my great grandmother after school and sending me away to summer camp during the summer. Also, I missed having her around. By the time I was in high school I was the usual moody teenager, but it seemed like my dad was around more than my mom was and I resented her absence.

I went into college thinking there was no way I would ever choose to be an accountant like my mom. I thought I wanted a career in the health care profession. Ultimately I chose dentistry because my dad was a dentist and I thought he had good job flexibility. My mom applauded my decision and told me I would be able to have kids and a career.

What my mom didn't tell me is that there is so much more to the having the kids part. It is true that my career offers me the flexibility to set my own schedule and it can be very 8-5. The problem is that the kids have needs from 8-5 and then from 5pm to 8am. At there current ages of 7 months and 2 yrs, they need constant care. When I am at work I have to make sure there is someone to watch them and when I am at home I have to make sure they are getting fed and being stimulated. After eight hours of work, I don't quite have the energy to manage all of their needs. Especially when my 7 month old wakes up every 2-3 hrs at night still.

I definitely appreciate what my mom went through as a working mother so much more now that I have children of my own.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Internal Tooth Bleaching of Root Canal Treated Tooth

2009-10-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately tooth trauma to the front of the mouth is a relatively common occurence. I have seen patients with trauma from going over the handle bar bike accidents, getting hit by an elbow on the soccer field, bar fights, and falling while running around a swimming pool. In some cases the teeth are completely avulsed during these accidents, but most of time the teeth are forcibly pushed into the bone or they are chipped. The teeth that are forcibly moved often die from the trauma, which means that the nerve of the tooth dies and the tooth ends up needing a root canal. In conjuction with nerve death the tooth takes on a darkened hue since the tooth no longer has a vital blood and nerve supply.

In the last month I have treated four teeth on three separate patients that had previous trauma, root can therapy, and a darkened hue. I have done an internal tooth bleaching therapy called "walking bleach." To do this treatment a combination of sodium perborate and superoxyl is placed inside of the tooth where the rooth can therapy was performed and it is kept in the tooth for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks the darkened color bleaches out and the tooth looks normal again!
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Traveling with kids on the Oregon Cost

2009-09-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

It is 9am on a Sunday morning and I am sitting in a rental car in the parking lot of the hotel I stayed at last night in Lincoln City, Oregon. My 2 year old is fast asleep in the backseat and my 6 month old is sitting in my lap as I am writing this blog post on my blackberry.

We had a long night last night. My two year old is a terrible sleeper to begin with, but add in co-sleeping with daddy, on vacation, and you get a totally horrible I think it's playtime non-sleeper. Unfortunately, I am not sure how to fix our sleeping dilemna on this five day, four night trip unless we get my two year old his own separate room. However, since we have already paid for the hotel room I think we are going to have to make do with the situation.

Yesterday was a good day. We flew through Burbank, California to Portland, Oregon. The kids were good on the plane and there wasn't any crying. We did have a minor applesauce incident when daddy was trying to nap and my two year old dumped his applesauce all over his mini-DVD player and the floor of the airplane. Fortunately, the attendants on Horizon Air were very understanding and they gave us towels to clean up the mess.

Once we made it to Portland we rented a car using my Hertz gold club membership. It is so convenient because the Hertz cars are housed right outside baggage claim at the Portland airport and with the Gold Club the car is waiting for you when you arrive. We drove straight to Lincoln City which took about two and a half hours. Both kids napped the entire way and we checked into our hotel room at the Beachfront Manor upon arrival.

The front desk recommended a nearby pizzeria for lunch. My two year old loved the breadsticks with marinera sauce, while my husband and I shared a vegetarian pizza. After lunch we walked down to the beach. It is very windy on the beach here. Apparently it is always possible to fly a kite and it has something to do with the fact that Lincoln City is geographically at the 44th parallel. The highlight for my two year old was picking up rocks from the sand. When we returned to the hotel room all he wanted to say was "rocks."

For dinner we weren't sure where to go so we drove south down the coast a little ways and happened upon this quaint restaurant called the Bay House. My husband and I ordered the wild Oregon salmon and halibut. Also. They had an extensive wine menu. The wine selection took up an entire 3 inch binder. While the restaurant didn't have a kids menu, they were very accomodating and brought my son pasta and baby broccoli. The view from the restaurant was astounding. It sits on a bay inlet where the birds like to hang out because the water is shallow and is intermixed with higher sandy areas that the birds can rest inbetween fishing for food.

It is almost 10am now and my six month old is getting restless. I think we will drive to Tillamook today and check out the cheese.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Little filling can cause lots of pain

2009-09-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

I had a patient in the office this morning that was convinced a filling I placed about a month ago had come out. The reason she felt it had come out was that the tooth was sensitive to cold and biting and she had been completely avoiding chewing on that side of her mouth. I had my assistant take an xray of the tooth which showed a very small and shallow filling on an upper second molar. The filling was completely intact and no where near the nerve of the tooth.

I had a similar experience with a filling placed in a tooth in my mouth. Sometimes the small fillings give patients the biggest trouble. The reason is that the composite materials we use today are bonded to the tooth. The composite experiences a certain amount of shrinkage after it is light cured and bonded in place. The shrinkage of material is what causes the discomfort. Since the filling is so small and completely contained by walls of tooth structure, there is lots of tooth structure to pull against.

The solution is to place a temporary sedative filling that has eugenol in it. The eugenol is very soothing for the tooth and once the nerve endings calm down, a permanent filling can be placed again. When it happened to my tooth, the tooth felt better immediately after the sedative filling was placed and I had a permanent filling placed about a month later.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Dental Digital Impressions

2009-09-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

Do you remember having ortho as a kid and having impressions taken? Or perhaps you have had a crown done recently and had some goopy material placed in your mouth that took five minutes to set? Well there is a new wave in dentistry called chairside digital imaging that is eliminating the need for a standard dental material impression.

According to Gordon Christensen, a leading dental clinical researcher, the top effective chairside systems are:
Cerec AC by Sirona Dental Systems, www.sirona.com
E4D byD4D Technologies, www.d4dtech.com
i-Tero by Cadent,Inc., www.cadentitero.com
Lava COS by 3M ESPE, www.3mespe.com

I have had the Lava COS digital impression machine in my office since February of this year and I have been quite impressed with the results. The most impressive thing about the machine is the accuracy and fit of the crowns. I have little to no adjustment with a crown that was fabricated from a Lava COS impression. Also, the marginal fit (where the crown meets the tooth) is almost impossible to discern.

I particularly like the Lava COS technology because the impression is a real time video image that lets you know right away whether or not you have an accurate and complete impression. All of the other digital systems more of a still shoot camera technology where the images are combined to give the 3D information.

My patients like the technology because they don't have to suffer through having impression material in their mouths. In addition, on the day we cement the crown, they don't have to wait for adjustments to their new crown. I highly recommend the Lava COS machine!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Going to work is easier than staying home.

2009-09-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

Lately I feel like I am in survival mode. Watching an infant and a toddler, working part time, and spending time with one's hubby are all time consuming activities. The days that I am at work feel like a respite.

The kids are nonstop activity that need tons of attention. Plus my baby is still exclusively breast fed which adds an additional dimension of complexity to my day. I feel like I am attached to the baby since he eats every three hours, which means he is feeding eight times a day. Even when I am at work, I have to pump milk to make sure that he has a constant supply of milk. My toddler is difficult because he constantly wants mommy's attention, he wants to be entertained, and he doesn't want to nap, eat, or go to bed at night. He is truly in the terrible two's.

Until you have kids and you are their primary caregiver, it is impossible to fully comprehend the difficulties of raising children. It's not like a job where you can leave the work at work, or where you can have downtime during the day. With kids there is no such thing as downtime and their needs follow you all day and then throughout the night.

My dad is my main child care giver when I am at work. When I was a kid he was the one that went to work and it was my mom that stayed home. My mom is particularly enjoying this time in her life as she is now working full time and it is my dad that is staying at home with the grand kids. She misses not getting to see her grandchildren during the day. However, she is getting a certain amount of enjoyment watching my father deal with the needs of two kids all day.

Apparently, feeling overwhelmed and being in wonder of where your day went is a common feeling among the person that cares for my two kids all day. The nice thing about going to work is that at least you can say you accomplished something at the end of day. Caring for children isn't quite so tangible.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Best of LA

2009-09-22T21:51:00.001-07:00

I was contacted last week by a new television show called Best of LA. It is supposed to start airing in November and will feature the "best" restaurants, spas, and dentists. The person that contacted me claimed that my dental practice with my father was nominated as the best general dentists in Thousand Oaks. The show will feature a one minute segment of each best of as part of a larger thirty minute show. A similar show has been airing in Northern California for the past two years.

It all sounds great on the surface, but there is a catch. To offset production costs, the show expects payment of $1000 per month for 14 months and guarantees that your segment will air once a month for the 14 months. Basically it would cost $14000 to be on the Best of LA show.

Sounds like a money making proposition for the television production company. I found a job posting on the internet for the show being produced in northern california. Basically the job description was asking for a self motivated marketing background individual that could sell spots for the show. It kind of makes me wonder how they found their nominations in the first place. When I told the individual that had contacted me today that I wasn't interested due to the cost, she asked if I would like to be contacted in the future if I was nominated again. She said that the nominations are done about every 6 months.

I think network television must be looking for new ways to make money. I had my staff call some of the dental offices in northern california that were chosen as Best of the Bay. From what we could gather, they all felt it was good exposure, but the one minute kind of flashes by on the screen. The most important question we asked was how many new patients did the practices get from the show. The answer, not enough to make the $1000 a month worth the investment.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Driving around at 10pm for my terrible sleeper

2009-09-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

It is 10:45 on a Monday night and I should be asleep by now. However, my two year old had different ideas this evening. It all started when I returned home from work around 5pm to find my two year old in a bad mood after being awoken from his nap by my crying six month old. The six month old breast fed and was happy thereafter. The two year old never snapped out of his bad mood. He had a burrito for dinner, brushed his teeth, pooped, changed his diaper, read a story, manipulated daddy for two hours, acted like he was hungry again, drank water, and by 10 pm he was still banging on the door in his bedroom. I couldn't handle daddy being annoyed by the crying or the thought of being up all night with this kid, so I resorted to driving around the city for 30 minutes until he fell asleep.

This lack of sleeping thing is starting to drive me insane. Last Sunday night my son decided to wake up at 2am and promptly claimed he was hungry. I fed him a banana and put him back to bed. Then he woke up again at 2:45 and woke up his daddy. He told his daddy he was hungry again, so daddy fed him half a burrito, cantaloupe, and a chocolate ice cream sandwich. Then my son couldn't fall back asleep, so daddy left a mini-DVD player on in my son's bed.

The next morning I woke up my son at 6:45 to commute to his grandparent's house. He slept the entire way. His grandparents took him to preschool that morning at 8:45. At 10am I received a call from the preschool principal at my office saying that my son wasn't acting like himself and that someone needed to come pick him up. When the principal called, I had no idea that my son hadn't slept through the early morning hours. Once I spoke with my husband it became totally clear why my son wasn't acting like himself.

I told the principal the next day what had happened and she said to me that one shouldn't send their child to preschool if they haven't slept all morning. Yeah, I knew that.

This past week I have been trying to get my son into bed by 8pm so that he will be well rested for the next day. I have only been successful 5 out of 7 days so far.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

30 minute medical appointment vs. 4 minute medical appointment

2009-05-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

I took my 2 year old to see an orthopedic doctor that specializes in pediatrics last Friday. The doctor spent nearly a half hour with us, confirming the pediatrician's diagnosis of radial subluxation or Nursemaid's elbow and casting my son's arm. Prior to seeing that particular orthopedic doctor, I called two other doctor's offices to inquire for an appointment. One of the other doctors didn't have any appointments available until Monday. Apparently the doctor was only working between 2:30 and 4:30 on Friday and he already had thirty patients scheduled in that time period.

I feel fortunate that I was able to get a same day appointment with an orthopedic M.D. that was able to spend a significant amount of time looking at my son's arm. The other doctor that was so booked Friday afternoon could only spend 4 minutes on average per patient. Four minutes isn't enough time to hardly say hello, let alone diagnose and treat an injury.

Both of the doctors are contracted with my insurance company, which means that they have agreed to certain discounted fees. I am sure if you asked either doctor why they decided to go into the profession that they would say they want to help people. However, being a doctor is more than just helping people. Being a doctor is a business and there is a certain overhead to having an office, staff, and treating people. When an insurance company discounts a doctor's fees, then the doctor is forced to see a larger volume of patients to keep the business running.
The quality of patient care is what suffers when a doctor only has 4-5 minutes to spend with a patient.

As a dentist I have made a choice not to contract with any specific PPO dental insurance. I employ a hygienist that sees only 8 patients a day, or one an hour. I myself only have about 8 patients on my own schedule on any given day. If I were an in network provider for PPO insurances I would be discounting my usual and customary fees anywhere from 30 to 50% percent. At that rate, I would be unable to afford to employ a hygienist, unless that hygienist saw twice as many patients. Since doing dentistry like fillings, crowns, extractions, and root canals takes a fixed amount of time, I would be unable to increase the volume of patients on my schedule. It would be difficult to have a viable dental practice if all of our patients were PPO or HMO patients. Also, patient care would suffer if my hygienist only had 30 minutes to clean someone's teeth, take appropriate x-rays, set up the room, and have time for me to do an exam.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

The Terrible Two's

2009-05-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today was my second week back from maternity leave for baby #2. My elder son is about to turn two and he is already acting like a two year old.

I had the baby at my office this morning. He is pretty calm and easy going, except for when he is hungry. I had to take one break in the middle of crown preparation appointment to feed him. The best part of the morning though was when I called my dad to say I would be home a little early for lunch. He was having quite an experience with my two year old.

While out shopping together, my dad was holding my son's hand and my son being two and having a mind of his own, tried to walk away from grandpa while they were in a parking lot. Somehow in the process my son now likely has a subluxated radius in his left forearm. I had to cancel two hours of patient appointments this afternoon in order to take my son to see the pediatrician.

Sometimes it is hard being mom and dentist at the same time.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Little Brothers

2009-03-03T15:07:00.000-08:00

My son is going to be 21 months old this week. In about one more month he is going to have a life changing event with the birth of his little brother.

I have a younger brother. He is three years younger and I distinctly remember the day he was born. My grandmother was at my house that morning and I no longer had my mother's full and undivided attention. Apparently within the first week I asked my mom if we could take my little brother back to the hospital.

Growing up we would play together. Although I remember most of our play times ending in arguments. According to my mother I liked to boss my little brother around and he in turn like to do things to irritate me. It wasn't until I was a senior in high school and my brother was a freshman that we started to get along and enjoy each other's company.

My son right now can become very clingy during certain parts of the day. It seems to get worse around dinner time when he wakes up from a nap. I can only imagine how I am going to manage dealing with a cling-on toddler and an infant at the same time. On the plus side, my son is a little helper. He enjoys throwing away trash and vacuuming all on his own initiation. So perhaps he will throw away his little brother's dirty diapers.

I feel like I am in the calm before a storm. I know that our entire family dynamic will change when this new one is born. I can't wait to meet him!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

My 17 month old son, the little messer

2008-11-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

My son is now 17 months old. We have many names for him, such as "the little messer" and "trouble." Basically, he finds any drawer, cabinet, item on the counter, clothing on the floor, or trashcan and tries to disassemble it, move it, flip it over, examine it, or place it somewhere that only he can find. Currently, his favorite vices are the spice drawer at my parents' house, spatulas, pots and lids, brooms, vacuums, and trashcans. He has become quite adept at operating electronic equipment and knows how to turn on the vacuum, the TV, the stereo system, the phone, and other electronic gadgets.

The hard part about watching my son is keeping him out of trouble. He has boundless energy and a mind of his own. For example, when we went to Disneyland yesterday, he insisted on walking himself, but didn't necessarily want to follow us. Further, even though we were right next door to a really cool ride, he wanted to climb up and down the same stairs. Mark is easily distracted, as he sometimes stops at the local planter box to pull leaves off the stems. He loves slides. At Toon Town, he went down the slide over a half dozen times. At lunch at the Blue Bayou, he insisted on playing with the salt and pepper shakers and, with a shaker in each hand, banged them on the table. When Daddy took the shakers away from him, Mark then began banging on the table with his spoon. Our neighbors were not too happy with the noise, so Daddy showed Mark how to pick up grapes with his spoon. Thereafter, Mark tried to pick up the grapes as Daddy showed him, but became frustrated when the grapes fell off onto his lap.

Mark tried his best to hold off napping. As soon as we got back to the car, he fell asleep, and we finally had a short reprieve from his rambunctiousness.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

It's a Boy!

2008-11-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

We had an 18 week ultrasound this past Tuesday, election day, and found out we are having a boy! I can't believe I am soon going to have two little boys running the house.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

New Dental Technology

2008-10-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

I spent the last two days attending Esthetic Professionals 10th Annual Update course. This is the third or fourth Esthetic Professionals update course I have attended. It was highly informative on the latest and greatest in dental technology and materials. Also, I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Bill Dorfman speak as well as a dental materials educater from Loma Linda School of Dentistry, Dr. Brian Novy.

The most exciting new technology presented at the meeting is 3M ESPE's new digital scanner called the LAVA COS. The scanner can image a tooth in the mouth that has been prepared for a crown. The scanner is a mix between a video camera and a still picture camera. It moves around like a video while at the same time plotting 20,000 picture points. These picture points are so accurate that the image can be used to fabricate a model that can be used to make the final crown restoration.

Dr. Bill Dorfman spoke about an electronic oral cancer detection system call VELscope. Apparently, the light emitted from the Velscope shows any cancerous or precancerous lesions as black tissue. Twenty-five percent of oral cancers occur in people that have no obvious risk factors such as a history of smoking or excessive alcohol consumption.

Dr. Brian Novy presented some convincing clinical work he has done to remove decalcified white spots caused by braces. The treatment for the white spots involves wearing custom plastic trays that are similar to bleaching trays, along with a calcium-phosphate-fluoride paste called MI paste. These trays are worn for about a month and the white spots nearly disappear.

It is always fun to learn about new technologies and procedures. The hard part is deciding which technologies to bring back to your office.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Conquering the two year old patient

2008-09-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

In the past two weeks I have seen three patients in the two year old age range. The biggest challenge with patients in this age group is getting them to open their mouths and to stay open while you look in their mouth. I asked my son's pediatrician the other day why it is that one and two year olds don't like to open their mouths. His response was that the mouth is the one thing a child that age can control. Apparently you can put your fingers in the child's ears and eventually they will open their mouth to get you to remove your fingers. While this trick might work for the pediatrician that is just trying to take a quick look in the back of the throat, it doesn't work so well for the dentist that needs to evaluate 20 individual teeth.

Back to my story... I saw three such patients recently. The first one was a girl that was turning two in a couple of weeks. She didn't want to have anything to do with me and refused to even open her mouth. The second child I saw was a girl that had just turned two. I tried a different approach with her. First, my assistant found a cartoon on television for the girl to watch. Then I had the mom hold the daughter in her lap while we counted the mom's teeth. After we counted the mom's teeth, the little girl wanted her teeth counted as well. While counting the teeth I am able to evaluate each individual tooth for cavities. By two years of age nearly all twenty of the baby teeth have erupted. If cavities are present at this age, then they are either visually evident or are apparent when touching the tooth with a dental explorer (an instrument with a pin like end).

The third patient I saw was a three year old boy. In his case both the cartoon trick and counting daddy's teeth worked. As a three year old there was a little bit more comprehension of what was going on and I was able to polish his teeth as well.

Fortunately, in all three cases the children's parents were doing a good job assisting with the brushing and none of the children had any cavities. When kids this age do get cavities the only way to treat them is to either wait until the child is older (like age four or five) or to treat them while the child is under anesthesia. The best thing for the two and three year old patient is cavity prevention!
Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Grandma- The Obiturary

2008-09-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

Mildred Bernice Carnot was born on August 24, 1928 in Hemingford, Nebraska to Louise and Emil Nekuda. For the first twelve years of her life Mildred lived on a farm with her parents that was owned by Mildred's maternal grandparents. When Mildred started kindergarten she didn't speak a work of English as the Czech language was the only thing spoken at home. Mildred spent a lot of time on the farm with her maternal grandmother, Marie (Stumf) Vorovka, and her uncle George Vorovka who was only six years older than her. Mildred's one sibling, Arline, was born when Mildred was seven years old.

At the age of twelve, Mildred and her family moved from Hemingford, Nebraska to Santa Monica, California where her father had the opportunity to work as an electrician. Mildred attended Santa Monica High School and graduated in 1946. After high school Mildred worked in the Santa Monica High School office. World War II ended in December of 1946. Soon after the war ended Mildred met her future husband- a World War II veteran, Jerry John Carnot, at a Czech dance function in La Crescenta. They were married in March 21, 1948 in Santa Monica California.

Mildred and Jerry lived near the USC campus after they were married while Jerry completed his accounting degree. While Mildred was pregnant with their first child, they built a house together in Sherman Oaks, California where they ended up living for the next 42 years. Mildred was on bed rest for the latter part of her pregnancy and was unable to be apart of the daily decisions being made at the house. On one occasion when she was able to make it over to see the house, she found out that her father-in-law had vetoed her decision to have a sunken living room. Apparently, Jerry, his father, and brothers did much of the work on the the house themselves and made some executive decisions without consulting Mildred, which made her quite upset. Mildred and Jerry's first born, Candis, was born on September 7, 1951. They went on to have two more children- Karen on August 6, 1953 and Robert on May 20, 1958.

Over the years Mildred held a number of jobs to bring in extra income for the family. Her next door neighbors the Shroeder's had a dime store that she worked at when her kids were little. When her daughters entered high school Mildred worked at a local elementary school, Dixie Canyon Elementary, so she would have extra money to send her girls to college. In her 50's Mildred worked for Sol Saks, the writer for the television show Bewitched, managing his checkbook and taking notes for him in long hand. She also volunteered at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Mildred traveled all over the world with Jerry, but her favorite place to vacation was in Yosemite where her parents owned a cabin in Wawona. Mildred used to say that when on vacation in Yosemite that time would stand still for her. She loved the peacefulness of the pine tree cover in the forest and the sound of the river flowing near the cabin.

Mildred and Jerry had a large social network of friends which included people they met in the Czech community, neighbors in Sherman Oaks, and parents of their children's friends. They played golf, had bridge parties, saw performances at the Hollywood Bowl, traveled, and had holiday parties with their friends.

In 1993 Mildred and Jerry sold their house in Sherman Oaks and moved to Newbury Park, California to be closer to Mildred's mother. Mildred started to show signs of memory loss as early as 1996. She couldn't remember how to make foods she had always made with ease, she would re-tell the exact same story within a five minute time frame, and her personality started to change. By her 50 year wedding anniversary with Jerry in 1998, Mildred was no longer the same person. Alzheimer's Disease was diagnosed in 2001. In all the years that Mildred had her illness, she did maintain a very sweet and loving personality. She was never angry or cross, despite her frustrations to communicate and make sense of what was happening to her.

Mildred was a soft and kind hearted soul. She was fond of classical music, playing the piano, Scrabble, card games, golf, tennis, cooking gourmet meals, decorating for the Christmas and Easter holidays, keeping her house super clean, and spending time with her family and friends. She was the parent her kids would go to when they wanted something. She would find a way to help them get what they wanted. As a grandparent, Mildred was a wonderful caregiver, generous, fun-loving, and always up for an adventure. As a daughter, Mildred looked after her mother and even after her illness she had some trustworthy helpers in her husband and daughter Candy to carry out her wishes.

Mildred is survived by her mother, three children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. After Mildred's husband Jerry passed away in July 2005, Mildred attended the Methodist Church in Thousand Oaks with her daughter and son-in-law most Sundays. Despite the fact she had limited verbal communication and memory these past three years, she was still able to say the Lord's Prayer during Sundays services. We pray that she is in a better place now and that she will rest in peace.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Grandma

2008-09-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

My grandma, Mildred Carnot, passed away last night after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She was eighty years old. She is survived by her mother, sister, three children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

When I was growing up my grandparents lived in Sherman Oaks in a two bedroom house they built themselves in the early 1950's. Their home always felt like a second home to me. I could probably build a cardboard replica of their house I knew it so well. Down to the magnolia tree in the front yard, the sycamore tree in the backyard, the rose bushes the bordered the front windows, the hydrangea plant that screened the neighbor's door, the banana bushes on the side of the house, the tomato plants and zucchini bushes in the garden in the summer, the lime tree, the brick patio that defined the back courtyard, the real stone fireplace that covered an entire 12 foot wall in the den, the green 50's tile that covered the kitchen counters, the bathtub in the "kid's bath," and the dual sided furnace heater that heated the entire house.

I have so many fond memories of spending time with my grandparents. My parents would drop my brother and I off for weekend visits quite often. Also, we would spend one week every summer with my grandparents at their vacation home in Yosemite.

My grandmother was an amazing cook. My two favorite dishes were her buttermilk pancakes and her chicken matzo ball soup. However, she made much more elaborate meals for family gatherings. Basically there wasn't ever anything she made that I didn't want to eat.

My grandma taught me many things. She loved card games- pinochle, war, bridge, hearts, and gin rummy. She was an avid golfer and tennis player. She had an extreme fondness for animals. She sewed and knitted. Best of all, my grandma was fun loving and innovative in her approach to entertaining us grandkids. I remember one summer when my grandparents had purchased a new Maytag washer and dryer. Grandma let us decorate the boxes the machines came in and we slept in them one night out on her back patio. When we were in Yosemite she was constantly coming up with art projects that used either fallen tree wood or stones from the river. It was in Yosemite that she taught me how to knit and where I had started to knit a baby blanket for my cousin that is now 16 years old. I never finished the blanket, but I still have the squares I started then, and I still remember how to knit.

I last saw my grandma at her assisted living home about a week ago. It was so sad to see her at the end of her life, totally unable to move or think. I visited her that day with my mom, my great-grandma (her mom) and my 15 month old son. My mom was calm and collected, my great-grandma wanted to sit by the bed and hold her hand, my son walked around the room wanting to touch all of the electronics, and I sat in a chair and cried uncontrollably. I couldn't even say goodbye. It has been a long, difficult journey to see my grandmother deteriorate the way she has over the last 10 years.

My son has been an amazing life force during this difficult time. He is so full of life and love and joy. He seems so unaffected by the sadness that surrounds him. Perhaps the most precious moments though are to see my mom with him and to know that my son will get to know his grandma the way I got to know mine.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Baby #2 is on the way!

2008-08-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly two months since I last blogged. Life has been busy. I went on a two week vacation to Florida in July, I found out I am pregnant, my husband and I put our house in Studio City on the market, and my husband has been looking for a new job for a month and a half. I have been so busy dealing with life one day at a time that I haven't had time to do the things I should be doing like writing my blog or sifting through that pile of mail on my desk.

I am eight weeks pregnant as of today. And due to my pregnancy, I am going to be better about things like writing my blog. After having my son it took me a year before I felt like I had me back. When I say me, I mean my body, my sanity, my life. The breastfeeding for an entire year and my son's inability to sleep through the night for his first ten months were both contributing factors to my insanity.

Looking into the future with this pregnancy, there are a couple of things I am going to try and do differently. For starters, I am going to try and do some things that are important to me before the new baby arrives. My main goal is to complete some continuing education courses I have been meaning to take. I also want a better plan in place for when the new baby is born. I think I need to do some research on baby nurses. I absolutely hated my life the first couple of weeks after my son was born. It would be nice to be able to have someone on hand that could assist with getting the baby on a schedule. The one thing I have learned from baby #1 is the limitations my husband and I have with waking up throughout the night.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Restaurants and my son don't mix

2008-07-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be one of those parents that let their children run wild in a restaurant. Until I had a child of my own.

I had the bright idea of having lunch out at a restaurant with another mom and her 14 month old son yesterday. We decided to go to Claim Jumper at noon. I figured lunch would go smoothly as it fit into my son's usual nap time and eating schedule. I thought Claim Jumper would be a good choice since it supplies a baby plate of food and seems to be a child appropriate place.

Lunch started out well. We were seated soon after we arrived to the restaurant. My son sat in his high chair and seemed to enjoy being out. He even ate the Trader Joe's O's I had brought for him for about five minutes. Then he lost interest in eating anything more and decided to squirm his way out of the high chair into a standing position. Since he was posing a danger to himself and started crying when I tried to make him sit back down in the high chair, I decided to let him sit in my lap. Unfortunately, my son did not want to sit still. At this point my food had not yet arrived and I was faced with a choice. Leave then and miss lunch and seeing my friend, or let my son sit on the floor and crawl/walk around the table. I choose to do the latter, but the more I think about it now, the more I think I should have left the restaurant at that point.

My son is 13 months old and cannot communicate past a very good "MOMMMMMY" when he wants milk or attention. I have no way of disciplining him because he doesn't even understand the word "no" at this point. When I am at home with Mark and he becomes difficult in his high chair and starts throwing food I promptly stop feeding him and let him down. For now I think the best solution is to stay away from sit down restaraunts for a while.

Of course my friends 14 month old son was a perfect angel through lunch and didn't complain one bit.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Moving

2008-06-26T11:38:00.001-07:00

After living with my parents for this past year, my husband and I recently decided to move back to our house in Studio City. We had been storing most of our belongings in two 10x15 storage units. This past Wednesday we hired two movers from emove and two 26 foot U-Haul trucks. It took 10 hours to move everything from the storage units to the house. We have a lot of stuff.

Since we have been without our stuff for an entire year, I wonder what we will find once we start going through the boxes and unpacking. My husband and I have been married for two years and we have never really unpacked. During the time before living with my parents we were living at the house in Studio City, but we were in the remodeling phase the entire time we lived there. Thus, we never really had the opportunity to live in the house like civilized people with furniture and kitchen utensils. In some respects it seems as if we have lived out of a suitcase the past two years.

There are some things I know we are going to want to sell or give a way once we fully unpack. Already there are certain furniture items we have decided to sell or list for free on craigslist. Does anyone have any suggestions for easy ways to sell items such as dishware, furniture, old baby clothes? Please leave comments with things that have worked or not worked!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

More Kids?

2008-06-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

I currently work three days a week as a dentist and two days a week watching my son. It has been difficult this first year of my son's life to find a balance between working and caring for him. In retrospect I feel like much of this past year I have been in survival mode due to my sleep deprivation. My son turned one about two weeks ago and he has become much easier to care for now since he is sleeping through the night.

Lately people have been asking me when I am going to have more children. That is a good question. I know I want my son to have at least one sibling. My husband was joking recently that we need to have another child to ensure a constant built in playmate for our son. I think it is beneficial for kids to have siblings so that they learn to play and share with others.

The tough thing is the idea of having another baby in the house and of all of those sleepless nights. I know of another female dentist that actually hired a night nurse/nanny the first six weeks of her son's life, to get the baby on a schedule. Hiring help sounds great in theory, but I wonder what it would be like to have another person around in those early days and weeks of a child's life. Babies need so much care and a hired nanny might not necessarily do things exactly the way I would. Although, perhaps it would be possible to find someone that took direction really well.

So the short answer to the question is yes I want more children. It's the when factor I have to work out.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

Wedding Season

2008-06-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

My husband was the best man for one of his dear friends in Scottdale, Arizona this past Saturday. A wedding is always cause for pictures and I took quite a few of the wedding party. Since I am in the teeth business I have a tendency to study smiles. One of the first things I notice in a picture is whether or not the subjects in the picture are showing their teeth. Many times when people are embarrassed about their appearance of their teeth, they purposefully smile with their lips closed. The next thing I notice in a picture is the color of the teeth and the last thing I notice is alignment of the teeth.

I was pleasantly suprised that for the most part the wedding party all smiled with their teeth showing. The one thing that would have really enhanced the pictures is whiter teeth. There are so many different whitening products on the market it is tough to know what to do for whiter teeth.

My recommendation is a new procedure called Deep Bleaching. It is lifetime bleaching with definite whiter and brighter results. What makes it different than other types of bleaching is that the bleach product is kept refrigerated from the manufacturer and it is a combination of in office and take home bleaching trays. The entire process takes two weeks from start to finish and only requires one night of touch up once a month thereafter. Deep bleaching is more costly than other forms of bleaching, but it has definite measurable and lasting results!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
http://www.familycaredentists.com/

Community College

2008-05-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

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

Baby Dental Care

2008-05-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

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

5 Reasons to Join a Networking Group

2008-05-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

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

Disneyland and the California Dental Association

2008-05-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

Feeling sorry for THINGS

2008-05-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

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

Care to Share?

2008-04-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

I am always looking for ways to grow my practice. A while ago I had a practice consultant tell me that internal marketing is always the most effective way to get new patients. Internal marketing has many facets, but is primarily based on treating the patients you have so well that they can't help but talk about you to their friends and family.

Thus, we do our best to treat our patients the way we would want to be treated. In my office, that means scheduling individual appointment times for each patient so that patients are never made to wait. I diagnosis based on the patient's wants and I assist the patient in making informed decisions on their proposed treatments. I have surrounded myself with friendly staff that have a similar mindset and go out of their way to assist our patients with everything from pain management to financing options.

To reward our patients that do refer their friends and family we have started a program called "Care to Share." Each month we have a drawing for two $50 gift baskets. For the month of April we are giving away Dodger tickets. Both the person that referred the new patient and the new patient are entered into the drawing. It is our way of saying thanks for thinking of us. Also, we give every referral source two mann movie tickets, each time they refer a new patient.

We implemented the Care to Share program this past November and so far so good. We have seen an increase in our word of mouth referrals from our patients.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com

Balancing career and family

2008-04-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

My husband and I work fifty miles apart, which on Los Angeles freeways means we are an hour to an hour and a half apart. Add a baby to that mix and life starts to become really confusing. The best place to live, given both of our careers, is also quite muddled.

Originally when we were first married we decided to live somewhere in between. Then the baby came along and we decided we should live closer to my office so that I could manage the child care easier. So my husband has been driving two to three hours a day, five days a week, while also trying to be a good father and to get in his billable hours at his law firm.

This week we have arrived at a juxtaposition of sorts where we are both stressed by his commute and the effects it is having on our family. It is so tough when we both have demanding careers that require much attention and energy to do well. Also, we want to be there for our child and to spend time with him while he is young and still wants to spend time with us.

We are in the process of exploring housing options closer to my husband's office. Hopefully, since I can cut my schedule to three solid days a week, it will mean less overall commuting for our family.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com

Sleep and Babies

2008-04-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

Time Magazine online published an article today on "How Not to Get Babies to Sleep." My husband lovingly emailed me the link to the article this morning. This article is particularly poignant to me right now since I haven't slept much lately. My son is ten months old today and he has slept through the night only once in ten months.

According to the article, "Every new parent knows how difficult it can be to get a fussy baby to sleep, but new research suggests that a parent's best efforts may only be exacerbating the problem — and that inadequate sleep in childhood can have long-lasting health effects. "It is very hard to let your child cry it out when they are toddlers," says Dr. Elsie Taveras of Harvard Medical School, referring to parents' tendency to pick up their children or bring them into the family bed to help them sleep. "But if you approach it differently — 'I am not even going to start my child making these sleep associations' — it's much easier to prevent [future problems]."

It is wonderful to know that in addition to the fact I am struggling with making my son sleep in his own bed, through the entire night, I now need to worry about the long-lasting health effects of his poor sleep habits. Before my son was born I swore I would encourage good sleep habits and that he would be sleeping through the night in no time. I read Baby Wise and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. In line with the thinking in those books I have tried to be consistent with a bedtime, nap times, and feeding times. I have tried a bedtime routine of bath time, reading, and feeding. I have let him cry himself to sleep since he was three months old.

The problem seems to be when he wakes up at 1, 2, 3 or 4 in the morning and I am totally exhausted. My first inclination is to feed him. Although at this age I don't think he is really hungry in the middle of the night. Sometimes I let him sleep with me in an effort to get some sleep myself. I feel like I am doing everything wrong when it comes to getting him to sleep through the night. At this point in time I think I am almost encouraging the night time waking because I am SO attentive to his needs.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com

How to choose a dentist

2008-03-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

My husband and I recently had to find a contractor in Portland, Oregon, while we live in southern California. Since we didn’t have the benefit of having a word of mouth referral, we turned to the internet to search for one. I happened upon a web based company that acts as a referral source for contractors. The referral company gave me the contact information for three supposedly “pre-screened” and “excellent” contractors. In the process of speaking with one of those contractors I asked how he became part of that company’s referral network. He said that he had to pay 50 dollars for each referral that was sent his way. So, if a contractor pays to be part of a referral network, then are they truly prescreened and excellent at what they do?

After my experience of looking for a contractor, I started thinking about how I would choose a dentist if I was new to an area and had no idea where to go.

There are a couple of ways I would not look for a dentist. For instance, I would not even bother to contact a dental referral service such as 1-800-DENTIST. To be a prescreened member of that service, the dentist pays nearly $2000 per month. Also, I don’t think I would look in the phone book due to the limited amount of information in a print ad.

The first thing I would do is an online search for local dentists in my area, using a search engine such as Yahoo local pages, google, or superpages. Then I would look over the websites of the various dentists that came up in my area. Most websites provide a pretty good look and feel of the dentist, the practice scope, hours office is open, emergency patient information, insurance plans accepted, and payment plans.

All 50 U.S. states individually license their dentists. In California you can do a search on the dental board’s website for a dentist’s license. The website will tell you how long a dentist has been licensed, the status of the license, and if there are any outstanding complaints against them.

Another avenue I might consider in finding a dentist is calling an oral surgery office and asking for a referral. There are usually a limited number of such offices and they will have contact with a large number of the general dentists in town.

Finally, I would call any potential dentists I was interested in seeing, to ascertain the availability of appointments and whether or not the dentist makes patients wait. I want to know that if I ever were to have a dental emergency that the dentist would be able to see me relatively soon.

In my office, we try and see all new patients within two weeks of their initial phone call. We almost always run on time, because I can’t stand to make people wait. And when someone has an emergency I see them the same day. If a patient has an emergency over a weekend then I am available via my pager. Lately, I have been receiving quite a number of new patients over the internet that have seen my website or seen a review of my practice. The internet definitely has a wealth of information!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com

living with my parents

2008-03-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

I am almost 30 years old, married, have a baby, and a profession and am living with my parents. My husband and I were living about 30 miles away from my office and our daycare (my parents) when our son was born last June. It became readily apparent that commuting with a baby was out of the question, so we decided to rent out our house and move in with my parents. Also, I wanted to take some time off from work and wouldn't be making a paycheck during that time. I hadn't lived with my parents since high school and I was skeptical how it was all going to work out.

It is now 10 months later and I couldn't be happier with my current living situation. The best thing about it is the built in child care. My son has two loving grandparents that are willing to watch him at any time. I think it really does take a village to raise a child. In a couple of months my husband and I will have the means to move out on our own, but we are contemplating waiting another year until our son is a little older.

Unfortunately in our society it is expected that once kids finish school they are expected to live on their own. According to a CBS article posted in October 2006, "Half of this year's graduates have moved back home and 44 percent of last year's graduates are still there, while 34 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds get cash from mom and dad — an average of $3,410 a year." So, perhaps my situation of living with my parents isn't totally odd. I feel so fortunate to have my parents support! My husband and I look at each other daily and wonder how we would manage without them. Personally, I don't know how I would continue to work without their constant love and babysitting assistance.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com

hiring an employee that will fit with your team

2008-03-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

I ask all potential employees to fill out a Keirsey/Myers Briggs personality profile. As an ISFJ myself, I have found that I work better with some personality types compared to others. Also, I have noticed that my personality profile relates to certain strengths and weaknesses that I bring to the work place. Currently I have three ESFJs on staff and one ENFJ. We all get along great and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are all Feeling and Judging types.

I was first introduced to David Keirsey's book Please Understand Me and his personality profiling by a dental practice consultant. At the time I had a mixture of staff that was not getting along and was making my life miserable. Since reading the book I have given much credence to the personality profiles of potential staff.

According to my practice consultant, a majority of female dental staff are ESFJs. An individual with this personality type is described as a people person, caregiver, warm, and energetic. These are all great traits for dental assistants that need to make people feel at ease in the dental chair, as well as be able to run around and manage the office for the doctor. My staff member that is an ENFJ is of a type that supposedly has the best people skills of any other personality type. I would agree with that analysis of her personality. In addition to her communication skills, she is also bright and highly organized.

I am an ISFJ which is described as "Quiet, kind, and conscientious. Can be depended on to follow through. Usually puts the needs of others above their own needs. Stable and practical, they value security and traditions. Well-developed sense of space and function. Rich inner world of observations about people. Extremely perceptive of other's feelings. Interested in serving others." I think my strengths in respect to my personality type are that I am a good listener regarding patient needs and am responsible and loyal to my staff. However, my weaknesses are that I avoid confrontation with staff and have difficulty telling patients they need to have work done.

So, if you want a people person, loyal, caring employee hire an ESFJ or ENFJ. And if want a dentist that will feel just as bad as you do that you need dental work, hire an ISFJ.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
http://www.dentist4smiles.com/

three teeth and counting...

2008-03-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

It has been a week since my nine month son slept through the night and he hasn't done it since. Part of the problem is he has only three teeth. Teeth erupt in pairs and so far his teeth have followed a normal pattern of tooth eruption (ie. lower centrals first, upper centrals second). However, only one of his upper centrals has erupted so far and it was visible about two weeks ago. The other central is taking its time and is pushing on his gums. My son's teething issues became painfully apparent last night when he had a crying fit at one o'clock in the morning and he refused to breastfeed. Unfortunately, I can't surgically move the gum out of they way so I must wait until it happens on its own.

Baby or primary teeth are always left to erupt on their own time table. Permanent teeth are a slightly different story. For instance, the permanent first molars are supposed to erupt between 5 and 6 years of age. Most parents don't even realize that these teeth have erupted because no baby teeth are lost before these teeth arrive. First molars come in behind all of the baby teeth. If a child is 8 or 9 years old and these teeth haven't erupted, then they might need surgical or orthodontic intervention.

My father works with me (he is a general dentist too) and he frequently helps people in need through our local Lutheran Social Services. He recently saw an eighteen year old girl in the office that was having persistent pain on the upper right and left sides of her mouth. The girl and her mom both thought that the teeth giving her trouble were her baby teeth. She hadn't seen a dentist in eight years due to a lack of money and no insurance. In fact the actual teeth that were causing so much pain were her permanent first molars. On a side note, all baby teeth are usually lost by about twelve years of age. The teeth were so badly broken down and decayed that they were unrestorable and had to be extracted.

The moral to this sad story is that it is important to know when teeth are supposed to erupt and to seek professional dental guidance when they don't appear on schedule or when pain is present. Also, we should demand better access to care for dental problems in children. Last year an uninsured 12 year old in Maryland, Deamonte Driver, died from complications that arose after an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain. A bill named the Deamonte Driver Dental Care Access Improvement Act of 2008 has been introduced by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD). Let's hope that this bill will become law and that it will make a difference. In the meantime, my father and I are committed to helping get children out of pain, even when funds are limited. No child should have to die in this country due to a tooth infection.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com

bonding versus veneers

2008-03-15T22:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in dentistry there are a couple of ways of achieving a similar aesthetic result. Bonding with tooth colored composites or cementing on porcelain veneers are two such techniques that can be used to fix the size and shape of teeth. Deciding which method to use can be confusing because there are advantages and disadvantages to each.

Bonding with tooth colored composites is a relatively inexpensive, reversible procedure that can be used to fix chipped teeth or to close gaps between teeth. In order to bond composite to the tooth surface, the tooth is micro-etched, a bonding agent is light cured to the surface, and then the composite material to light cured over the bonding agent. This is usually a completely additive process and it is done directly in the office. The general cost for this procedure is between $150 and $500 per tooth, depending on the size of the restoration required.

Porcelain veneers are a more costly procedure involving two appointments about two weeks apart. Teeth are slightly prepared to accommodate the size of a porcelain shell, an impression of the prepared teeth is taken, and a dental laboratory makes a thin layers of porcelain for each tooth. The veneers are permanently cemented to the teeth. The cost for a porcelain veneer ranges anywhere from $1000 to $2000 per tooth, depending on the dental office.

Basically, if teeth have small chips or gaps, but no other issues, then bonding with composites makes good economic and long term sense for the health of the tooth. However, if the teeth have color, rotation, or crowding issues, then porcelain veneers allow for more flexibility and better aesthetic results. Porcelain veneers can be used in nearly any instance that bonding would be appropriate. Bonding cannot fix all the things that veneers can transform. To know which would work best for you, collaborate with your dentist!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com

the most exciting thing happened last night

2008-03-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

When choosing a career I was heavily influenced by the concept of having a flexible schedule so I could have family and work balance. My father is a dentist and he always seemed to have more time for family than my mother who is an accountant. While in my second year of college I decided to apply to dental school and within a few months I was accepted at UCLA's School of Dentistry.

It has been ten years since deciding I wanted to become a dentist and much has changed in my life since then. I now have a husband, a baby, and a career. Since having the baby my thoughts on the career part have changed. The baby is a full time, all night job, in itself. Dentistry does allow for a flexible schedule. Since having my son this past June I was able to take two months off and I am now working 3.5 days a week. What I didn't account for was the sleepless nights and the need for support outside sources to be able to make it to work each morning.

My parents and husband have been incredibly supportive throughout this new transition of having a baby. Both of my parents help watch my son while I am at work. My husband agreed to do a long commute to his job so we could be closer to my office and our child care. So today like every Thursday I was able to spend a full day at the dental office. Today though was an extra special day and it was because for the first night in nine months my son slept through the night.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320