Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Bric-a-brac

Yesterday I had another installment in my Adventures in Modern Dentistry, but this time it was kinda cool: LANAP.
After LANAP, most patients experience new root surface coating (cementum) and new connective tissues (periodontal ligament) formation (collagen) on tooth roots, preventing tooth loss. Pocket depth reduction is excellent and comparable to that achieved by conventional resective osseous or pocket reduction surgery, but without the gingival recession normally associated with osseous surgery. Significant post-operative reduction in gingival indices, gingival inflammation, and bleeding on probing are also desirable results of LANAP.
The patient experience is also generally positive. As LANAP is tissue-sparing and contrary to the old fashioned resective paradigm, patients enjoy a smile with minimal post-operative recession and attendant disfigurement or root sensitivity. Minimization of post-therapy gingival recession also reduces the future risk of root caries/dental decay of the tooth root. Through the natural analgesic biostimulatory effects of laser irradiation, patients usually have minimal post-operative discomfort. This discomfort is easily controlled through the use of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (over the counter NSAIDs) such as Ibuprofen.
Laser-assisted new attachment procedure (LANAP) is head and shoulders above the alternative treatment for gum disease… by which I mean the traditional cut 'n' stitch slash approach… most specifically in its after effects. I've had the old slash and burn bit done two or three times and it ain't fun, Gentle Reader. Oh no, not at all. Recovery from that experience is measured in weeks, not hours or days, and there are on-going after-effects (like root sensitivity) that take a year or more to resolve. My biggest issue with LANAP was waiting for the anesthetic to wear off, which took a good four hours. My second biggest issue is the fact we cancelled Happy Hour yesterday and will probably do so again today. I'm thinking cigar smoke probably isn't a good idea after surgery… even laser surgery. And me with a new shipment of Big Dirt Torpedoes, too. (Sigh)
Well, we might have a beer or two this afternoon. We'll just dispense with the cee-gars. It's been done before, albeit not often.
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Speaking of coolness… in both the literal and figurative sense… Here's a short video from the Discovery Channel on how ice is made… at a hockey rink. And I find the process rather fascinating. But I would, ya know.
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Well… there goes the housing market here on The High Plains of New Mexico… (from the usual source of these sorts of items)
Accommodating the Buildup: As Cannon AFB, N.M., continues to grow into the Air Force Special Operations Command's second hub of operations—along with Hurlburt Field, Fla.—the desert base is expected to run out of on-base dorm rooms and housing units by around the end of the year for the new throngs of arriving airmen and their families. So reported KVII TV news of Amarillo, Tex., last week. And, according to the news station, leases for off-base housing will end in 2012 or 2013. Together, these two factors are causing the Air Force to reach out to the city commission of Clovis, N.M., which is near the base, to seek assistance in dealing with the pending housing dearth. The commission is reportedly going to mull options.
This means THPoNM might be one of the very few housing markets in America that could be considered a "sellers market." I may (or may not) have mentioned at some point in the past I've been entertaining buying another house, particularly since Cannon Airplane Patch survived BRAC and looks to live longer than I will. And it certainly looks like I missed my window of opportunity in this space. While housing prices around here won't begin to approach California levels… even in the post-real-estate-collapse market… they will escalate beyond "real" value. In other words, we shall have our own "mini-bubble." It'll happen: supply and demand. Works every time.
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Today's Pics, Self-Indulgent Division: Well, Hell… Virtually ALL my pics are self-indulgent in one form or another. But today I'm posting the full-sized, unedited version of the pic I use on both my Blogger and Twitter profiles, plus an outtake from the same session.
Both pics were taken at an RV park just outside Oklahoma City in the Spring of 2000 (in April, to be exact). Note the old technology… which is to say humongous… cell phone sitting on the picnic table. And speaking of old technology, both pics are first-generation digital pics... taken with my old one-megapixel Kodak point and shoot, with a quality commensurate with the age.
These pics were taken back in the day when the view from the verandah changed on a frequent basis… like every week or so… sometimes more, sometimes less. It all depended on how much fun I was having wherever I happened to be…

16 comments:

  1. Groan.

    I will be visiting my new dentist in a month. I know that they will have to set up cones in my mouth and declare it a construction zone.

    Get well soon!

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  2. Glad to hear - really glad - that you (or, really, your dentist) found a non-painful treatment option. You know how much I identify with your trials and tribulations on the dental front (and back, and upper and lower.)

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  3. I'm glad your dentist trip went well. Those photos make OK look pretty good. Maybe it is just your relaxed look.

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  4. Re: housing, same thing is going on in and around Minot...supposedly right now the base is pretty much tapped out when it comes to housing, as is the surrounding area, and there's supposed to be an increase of 700 or so airmen by the end of this year as the new BUFF (nuke mission only) squadron stands up along with the new (nuke only) munitions squadron.

    By the way, speaking of new nuke units, I assume you saw that GSC (aka SAC without the tankers and only some of the planners) stood up the other day.

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  5. Buck,
    Yeah, I am not a big fan of the Dentist. I won't tell how long it has been, good on you for going and I hope you suffer no prolonged discomfort.

    On the Hockey Rink ice thing, that was very interesting. All three of my kids played Ice Hockey, the youngest played the longest (12 years) and played on Rinks all over the place, not just here in SE PA but in NY, OH, NJ, DE, MD and up in the Great White home of Ice Hockey, Montreal.

    The one place he played where the Ice was the best, according to him was an outdoor rink here not far from where we lived. It is the rink for the famed "Hill School" where a lot of snotty nosed rich kids went to High School, very exclusive place but they let us normal folks to use their Hockey Rink. It was only available from Thanksgiving to early March but the kids loved playing there. It was awful for us parents; imagine standing outside in the wind or snow fall, sometimes it was blowing snow, fog and ice, with no heat source except the cups of hot coco or coffee they sold, they had metal stand to sit on which no one sat on for fear of needing pry bars to get free of. It was an awful place to watch a game but the Boy's love skating there.

    They had some ole geezer that made the ice with a garden hose and a Zamboni, he was magician and the Boy's always liked practice and games there.

    I always went but bundled up like snow man.

    BT: Jimmy T sends.

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  6. Dentistry is the realm of sadists.

    I hate going to the dentist more than I dislike visiting my gynecologist. They're vicious bastards who cause serious amounts of pain and seem to enjoy it.

    I love those pics, nice toys, Buck.

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  7. So glad this trip to the torture-chamber was better than previous ones.

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  8. So glad there are alternative treatments available for you now, Buck. I'm glad you won't be in so much pain. Take care of yourself!


    W/V: youtb
    youtube follows you everywhere!

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  9. Darryl: If your dentist starts to go on about surgery and periodontal disease... remember this phrase: LANAP. Seriously. I wish to hell this option had been available 20 years ago when I was first put through this particular mill.

    Jim: I know you know!

    Lou: That RV park in OKC was but a few miles from where I used to live, in Choctaw. I remember my OK years quite favorably... it was one of the better periods in life!

    Jimmy: Going to the dentist ain't on par with any given amusement park as an "experience," but it's one of those things that have to be done (in my case).

    I'm glad you liked the ice-making vid... and that you took the time to comment. I can't imagine being a spectator at an outdoor rink for very danged long... but I DO understand the "duty and obligation" thing. I think I would have been making repeated trips to the car!

    Daphne: It sounds like you need a new dentist! I've never experienced a sadistic dentist EVER (other than Steve Martin in "Little Shop of Horrors"); my guy is VERY careful and VERY sensitive to his patients' discomfort. A dentist appointment isn't my idea of fun by any means... but I've had more experience than most folks in this space, as I've noted elsewhere. One thing you might consider: I have a friend who has a female dentist and he swears she is much better than any male he ever went to. He's been seeing her for over 20 years... but then again, he's one of those guys who's never even had a filling, so what does he know, really? :D

    Kris: This visit was but a shadow of other "adventures." I liked that!

    Christina: Thank ya!

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  10. I'm one of those dental-phobes. I need nitrous just to walk through the office door! I had LOTS of work done as a child, so it must be something deeply-seated that will require years of drug and alcohol therapy to overcome.

    Here's wishing you a speedy recovery -- maybe being able to chew will help with the skinny thing!

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  11. Mike: I DID see the GSC stand-up thing and thought ever-so-briefly about posting on it. And I had no idea Minot was in the same boat we here at Cannon are in. Thanks for that.

    Moogie: I used to be a dental-phobe, too. But after freakin' years and years of "experience" I'd rather have NOT had... I guess I'm used to this stuff now. As for the "skinny" thing... I think I'm beyond hope. I've always been thin... it's in the genes.

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  12. Goodmorning Buck,

    I am in no way Republican ( ^-^ ) but I saw this comic, and thought you might like it:

    http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2009/08/13/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=gadget&utm_campaign=gadget_clickthrough

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  13. Wilco.

    Lanap.

    w/v: billin (That be what the dentist do.)

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  14. Crysti: You make it sound like being a Republican is a bad thing! :D

    But I did enjoy the Doonesbury... thanks.

    Darryl: Roger that on the billin. THAT'S the part that hurts the most.

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  15. My father, along with Senator Domenici, helped get that area of leased housing in Portales built. Interesting that the leases are running out soon. I'd bet the government figures out a way to extend them.

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  16. I'm thinking you're right about the lease extensions, Gordon. Interesting fact about your Dad, too!

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