The Periapex » Workland

The Effects of Atmospheric Pressure.

Periapex — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:42:55 +0000

Spring weather is here, and with it comes a very active interplay of high and low pressure systems. All sorts of displaced strangeness occurs such as the sounds of songbirds and wild turkeys in the middle of a blizzard, hot sun and yet the existence of snow banks, and this:

It’s a water jug that I filled at home so that I could water the plants at work. It was filled in the morning and looked entirely normal. By the end of the day the high pressure system that had moved in crushed the bottle.

“Who Is That Cutie?”

Periapex — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:58:42 +0000

That’s what Calculus asked me today.

We’re short-staffed for the week but we have been preparing for the week for a while now, so it’s completely planned out. AssistantGirl is working the front desk during the mornings while Calculus helps in the back. After lunch it’s just AssistantGirl and me.

We have scheduled long appointments with lots of space in between so it’s actually quite a nice slow pace of work for me. Reminds me of the early days of the practice. Except without the stresses of trying to get things up and running.

We’d just finished up with our last patient before lunch when Calculus asked, “Hey, who’s that cutie?”

I followed her gaze out the window:

Being a good dentist, I notice details like the exposed thong.

Anyway, this is one of the favorite times of the month for most of the guys in the building where I work. It’s gardening day!

But I have to take Mr. Meatloaf‘s lead here:

What Happens When The Power Fails During a Root Canal?

Periapex — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:18:34 +0000

It’s that time of the year when storms in Workland can knock power out for seconds to hours. It’s an annual ritual for us to have at least 1 patient per year experience a power failure during a procedure.

I only work during the day and we have lots of windows in the treatment rooms at the office but storm clouds are quite dark and so we usually have to break out the flashlights in order to finish things up. I haven’t needed a power generator…yet. That’s unlike the periodontists next door.

A patient that I saw back in 2005 during a power failure returned yesterday for me to check out an unrelated tooth. Here’s my treatment note from back then:

Here’s my post-op xray of the tooth I worked on (I did the 5 and the 7):

And here’s the tooth as it stands today:

There’s a massive screw post that her dentist has placed almost to the apex. I don’t know how long this tooth will survive before it either splits along the root or bacterial leakage happens alongside the post.

Morale of story? Not really sure, but it has something to do with power failures affecting root canal treatment prognosis less than irresponsible dentistry does.

Aren’t We Supposed to Be Working?

Periapex — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:26:17 +0000

It has been said that the practice of dentistry is stressful. I won’t argue there, but I will say that I’m sure any other means of making a living can be just as stressful. It’s how one manages and copes with the stressors that defines one’s character and also their work environment.

Here is what we’ve been up to lately at work:

Vacations are in season these days and one of my staff wanted to show me what they were packing in their suitcase. They don’t like Pina Colada so they gave me that one to try. I added some Rum but it didn’t taste all that great so I’m not sure I’d want to try the Tingling one…

And this is how my assistant spends her lunch hour. Note the fists…

Inexperienced Shopping.

Periapex — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:03:00 +0000

At Home:

“Costco has a coupon for feminine hygiene products,” she said.

I started to shuffle papers around trying to look busy. “Uh huh?” I said.

“So you’re going there soon. Can you pick some up for me?”

I ran out of papers to shuffle. “Um,” I said.

“You know where they are?” She asked. Before I could say anything, she continued, “They’re over by the pharmacy on the far wall.”

“How will I know which ones to get?”

“Get the ones that I use.”

“But they’re so many different types. I’ll probably get all confused.”

She pointed to the picture on the coupon. “Get the ones that look like this,” she said. Then she pointed to others in the picture and said, “not these ones or those ones, just these ones.”

“Uh Ok.” I said. I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to explore the feminine hygiene section of Costco.

At Costco:

I save this part of the shopping list for last and finally end up in the appropriate section. There’s only one other person there–an older woman at the far end of the aisle looking at perfume gift packages.

I look at the massive array of different products and have no idea where to start. I look at the coupon, then I look at the shelves, and back at the coupon. I’m starting to feel a little hot.

I see a shopping cart poke around the corner at the other end of the aisle. It’s pushed by a cutie. Yup, I am feeling overly warm now, maybe I’m even perspiring now. Can’t be a cold-sweat because I’m warm…

The girl sees me, pauses for a couple of seconds, pretends to look at stuff on the opposite side of the aisle, then turns around and disappears with her shopping cart.

I go back to trying to figure out what I’m supposed to get. Another woman comes around the corner. The same reaction happens from her.

I’m pretty sure I’ve found the right package. It’s a massive double pack with some sort of free gift thing attached to it. I grab it quickly and throw it into my cart. I get the hell out of the aisle (past the older woman) who couldn’t care less what I was doing in the aisle.

I remember that I want to check out muscle rubs (sore muscles from too much dancing), so I go over to that section and stand looking at the various creams and ointments unable to decide. That’s when I realize I’m also standing smack in the middle of the condom and personal lubricant section. I get out of that aisle and decide I’ve had enough. I’m going home.

Standing in the check out line, I notice my heart rate returning to normal. A woman in the other line looks at my cart, looks at me, then looks at my cart again. I follow her gaze and see that the feminine hygiene product in its bulk packaging is sitting like a king on a throne high atop the pile of shopping that I’ve done. It’s like a beacon calling out for all to see.

The cold-sweat returns.

Answers.

Ameloblast — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:49:00 +0000

Here are some answers to recent questions:

I have a digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 990) attached to my microscope. The scope is off to the left of the following picture. There’s also a video cam hooked up to the scope for my assistant to monitor what I’m doing. I’d rather have an intraoral camera than the Nikon hookup though.

I use my Canon SD500 camera for the other photos that I post.

I don’t have digital radiography in the office so I use an Epson scanner that has a transparency adapter to scan in xrays. I used to take pictures of xrays off the viewbox if I wanted them digitized. This worked decently, but requires a good knowledge of the camera’s exposure settings and some image manipulation on the computer. This was useful when I used to teach and didn’t have a scanner handy when some interesting xray came along.

Extreme Parking.

Ameloblast — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 13:42:00 +0000

Here’s how people park their cars in our parking lot.