At times I feel like telling some of my patients that if they can’t floss, at least to kiss more often.  Why?  Pure and simple, kissing gets the saliva juices going, and that greatly reduces dental decay.  Your saliva does more- it cleans out the mouth, like taking a shower, and removes lots of residual particles of food that stay in between the teeth after eating.  Of course, if your temporary or permanent ‘significant other’ hasn’t been to a dentist in a long while, or you might feel he or she has a ‘boatful of  cavities’, then the positive energy of kissing can stimulate the saliva to transmit their cavity-producing bacteria to you.  Not a good thing!

So, follow the age-old mantra- know who you’re kissing, and if you both have a fairly clean bill of dental health (and of course, don’t stop brushing twice a day, eating right, flossing, and seeing your 2th doc regularly), then – do kiss and tell!

Ed Reifman, DDS  www.encinosmiledr.com  818.990.6659

I’ve been attempting to lose about 10-15 lbs unsuccessfully for years and years, yet with lots of exercise  and mediocre attempts at dieting, I’m always crawling back to the same old weight that my waist and I despise.  So, on a fine Saturday morning, I weighed myself at home after the travails of frequenting those nasty yogurt places.  Like everyone else,  I felt compelled to destroy all semblance of trying to watch one’s weight with yogurt, and happily sprinkled  small amounts of every known piece of sugary junk from those endless bottles of crap lining one wall, adding the sugary mess all over my hitherto virgin, ‘fat-free yogurt’. 

The following morning, my body became the proud owner of an extra pound or 2  (later I calculated that my small mixture of yogurt extras added up to 3000 calories alone. Oink!) 

Yogurt to die for took on an entirely new meaning overnight.

Enough I thought.  So I did an act I never thought I would do.  I googled in ‘weight loss’, and found myself joining Weight Watchers online for the $39.00 monthly special they had running.  Within hours, I frequented a local ww venue, got myself weighted, and within 20 minutes of talking to one of the advisors there, I actually learned more about food, empty calories, etc., than I had ever learned in my metabolism classes in dental school.  Armed with new data, and a lot of positive energy, I attended my first lecture there the following Sunday morning. 

The myriad of epiphanies I got from that 40 minute session truly has changed my life.

As an aside, I found weight-watcher’s a wonderful group – not just for the obese, but for those like me who are fed up with the frustration of messing up our so-called diets every afternoon and evening with way, way too many snacks and dinners.

Some of the things I learnt in my first 40 minute weekly lecture:

Firstly, my 3pm ‘starvation mode’ is pretty darn common. 

With that said, let me initiate a mind-set here before you read on: Snacking is terribly vital- so don’t ever, ever feel bad by snacking. 

1) Instead of my grabbing for any type of bagel to nosh on, which I found out was around 350 calories, I am now grabbing for some double fiber English muffins-  hello Trader Joe’s!   2 of those English muffins are very, very filling, and they are only 120 calories altogether!  Munching on them makes my stomach feel as full as if I had digested my ol’ favorite, the ‘everything bagel’ , and they taste absolutely great!

So I saved 50% or more on caloric intake-  easy peasy!

2) 1 Banana. Yup, thats it!  About 60 calories, and they help mitigate the ‘sugar-and-empty-feeling-blues’.

3) A fistful size of peanuts, almonds, and dried nuts.  No, not necessarily the ‘trail-mix’ I munched on happily years ago at 600 calories a shot, but you can get the peanuts and other nuts- just be sure they have NO cholesterol.  Can you say: 1/3rd  the calories right there, and just the same fullness?

4) Finally, I found all about the ‘world of popcorn’, and not the buttery crap you buy at the movies.  You can microwave the ‘Orville Redenbacher’ gourmet popcorn for about 2  and a half minutes and enjoy the entire large bag- less than 200 calories.  Wow, I’m hooked!

5) And by the time it gets to 4 or 5:00 PM and you just can’t wait until dinner to eat, try some whole wheat pretzel sticks: 10 of them will only set you back by about 110 calories.  Such a deal!

6) Stopping at your favorite coffeeklatch and ordering an expresso, or a regular coffee (yup, its ok to add some splenda) or a thin latte are all less than 100 calories.  They were just as satisfying as some of the drinks I had imbibed before, such as a café mocha, which I found out could instantly double the caloric count.

Now if you want to get really fancy, my wife made a weight watcher’s banana smoothie.  Together we blended ~1/4 cup of pineapple slices (buy ‘em anywhere), lots n lots of crushed ice (the crushed ice actually fools the stomach into thinking its full- and it works!) , 1/2 cup of almond milk (non-fat or soy will equally do), and the coup-de-grace, the weight-watchers vanilla or chocolate smoothie. You can blend in additionally 4 small chocolate cookies.  A pair of TWO full glasses of this sinful beverage sets you back only 160 calories.  Eat your heart out, 700 calorie chocolate shakes!

Now I don’t expect you to have all of the above options at one mere sitting:  the double-fiber english muffins AND the banana AND the pretzels AND the popcorn AND the fistful size of dried nuts and peanuts AND that cool new smoothie shake.  That’s a tad too much even for me, a voracious eater at heart.  Most of you can easily choose a few of the above, to edge out easily under 400 calories.  If you had ALL of the above, you’d probably imbalance the scale at just under 700 calories, which is probably still equivalent to 1/2 a slice of your favorite pie slice (where you’d still feel hungry, and weigh a lot more.)

I’ve now been doing this for a few days and notice that I’ve already dumped a few hundred calories a day off my daily ‘diet’, and shed a few pounds, and still feel just as full, and probably a bit more alert. And I haven’t even begun talking about breakfasts or dinners, which I feel are going to be doable, and fun!

Hm, how many more pounds to go?

Ed Reifman, DDS    818.990.6659   www.encinosmiledr.com

At a recent nanotech conference , I was talking to a friend, and one of the most prolific writers and designers of future man-made nanotech products – Robert Freitas.  Dr. Freitas has written volumes on Nanomedicine, and how tiny nanobots will change medicine forever, hopefully within the next 10-15 years.  For example, one of the things he is known for is the design of a ‘respirocyte’.  A respirocyte  is a smaller-than-blood-cell-sized machine that produces oxygen.    Being able to theoretically hold far more oxygen than a red blood cell ever could, respirocytes will supersede the need for lungs to deliver oxygen to the brain and to all the other tissues of the body.

Although it has been computationally designed, the technology is not yet there to actually fabricate a respirocyte.  However, that day is not too far off.  With that in mind, imagine the year is 2022 AD.  A person presents with severe sleep apnea (lack of oxygen to the brain during sleep, resulting in snoring, insomnia,  following day fatigue, and more seriously, high blood pressure, stroke and death).  During this routine medical or dental appointment, the patient can be injected intraveneously with a tiny vial containing literally trillions of molecular-sized respirocytes.  Within an hour of injection, the respirocytes get busy and supplement the oxygen to the patient’s body.   Depending on the quantity of these tiny nano-machines, the patient’s  lungs have become secondary and simply not necessary for the biology of human life.

Why?  Because the respirocytes will produce all the oxygen their body will ever need.

Welcome to the 3rd decade of this incredible century!

The implications are staggering.  It simply will not matter if the patient gets inadequate amounts of air during nightly sleep apnea episodes due to lack of healthy breaths.  With the body’s lungs becoming an unnecessary and obsolete organ, the patient’s lack of nightly oxygen by breathing is simply not important anymore.

The uncomfortable, nightly CPAP oxygen mask- gone forever.  Even the mouth appliances I currently make for patients who have sleep apnea and who can’t tolerate the CPAP oxygen machines could become obsolete!  The scourge of 120 million Americans who currently suffer from sleep apnea, and their significant others who suffer from their snoring, have a new lease on life!

This aspect of nanomedicine needn’t stop there.  Imagine being able to hold your breath underwater for an hour or more (are you listening, designers of scuba diving equipment?).  A terrible drowning where one becomes submerged by a car accidentally smashing  into a river during a thunderstorm, will now survive even if trapped underwater for hours.  Of course, it is hoped that the accident won’t occur in the depths of a freezing winter.

With as much oxygen as desired,  the Olympic sprinter of the early 2020′s will easily break track records overnight, with a 500% increase in endurance.   That is, unless respirocytes are deemed as taboo as steroids or male hormone augmentation.

What about lung cancer?  Pneumonia?  Other respiratory illnesses? Simply surgically remove the lungs!  After all, they are now unnecessary.

The Respirocyte.  Science fiction now, but within a little more than a decade, it could change the lives of us mere humans forever.
Ed Reifman, DDS    (818) 990-6659    www.encinosmiledr.com

Instead of letting the Tooth Fairy save a baby tooth that just came out of your child’s mouth, within the next few years your dentist will save the  stem cells found inside those baby incisors.  Stem cells are called the master cells of the body.  And a great place to find these incredible cells is within the pulp tissue of a child’s baby teeth.  There, one can find literally millions and millions of these stem cells  inside even one incisor!  These  cells produce the blood vessels, nerve tissue and even the enamel forming the tooth. However, it has now been shown that stem cells found in the dental pulp can produce cartilage and bone necessary throughout the body!  They will fully cure diseases by producing regeneration of these tissues needed.  Since there are 220 types of tissue found in the human body, the versatility of these stem cells cannot be overstated.   These stem cells could even regenerate the pulp, or nerve tissue inside an abscessed tooth- possibly resulting in no more root canals!

Dental stem cells are also showing great potential in treating diabetes, parkinsons, arthritis,  muscular dystrophy, and repair a myocardial infarct (heart attack).

The song,  ‘How do you mend a broken heart?’ could take on a whole new meaning.

So, instead of placing your child’s precious baby canines under the pillow in hopes of them receiving 50 cents from the good ol’ tooth fairy, their baby teeth will now become incredibly useful.  When removed, the dentist will store them in a cryobank.  If and when they are needed years down the line, these frozen cells could be easily harvested and used to completely cure diseases!

But don’t despair if your childhood days are long gone.  If you are a teenager, your developing wisdom teeth are a great place to find viable stem cells.  And for us baby-boomers, even the gum tissue surrounding the teeth are showing signs of being able to harvest healthy stem cells.

Who would have thought the Tooth Fairy would become a casualty of technology?

Edward M. Reifman, DDS          818.990.6659          www.encinosmiledr.com

In a word, YES!  Professors from Italy have actually taken stem cells from the inside of  recently extracted wisdom teeth.  They injected these cells in areas of the jaw that had bone loss due to gum disease, earlier tooth loss, or simply jaw bone thinning due to old age.   One year after the procedure, there was complete regeneration of bone and soft tissue in the area the stem cells were placed.

What a breakthrough!

If we extrapolate, within a few years, Dr. Reifman could soon be  replacing bone loss from jaw cancer or from severe gum disease, with the stem cells from the patient’s own teeth and re-grow new, healthy, disease-free bone.

And what about other bones of the body that are weak, cancerous, or infected?  Stay tuned- the next few years of tooth stem cell experimentation could bring up incredible advances- all for a healthier you!

Edward M. Reifman, DDS   (818) 990-6659   www.encinosmiledr.com

As we get older, we start to get concerned about increasing ‘senior moments’.  Now, a new study shows that good dental care, proper daily flossing, and excellent cleanings by your hygienist can help keep your thinking capabilities at an optimum level. That’s because if your oral care is neglected, cavities, and especially gum disease can lower your cognitive skills by virtue of those nasty gum disease bacteria residing in your mouth. New research has shown that the most common culprit in gum disease, Porphyromonas gingivalis, were found to be at far higher levels in those with memory loss, cognitive skills, and Alzheimer’s.

So how does this nasty bacteria cause memory-loss and other related mind diminishing skills?  Quite simply, it accelerates inflammation throughout the body. That directly or indirectly affects the neurons in our brain in a bad way.

So many people I know who are great at keeping their body fat minimized, and cardio-vascular system optimized by daily workouts at the gym, unfortunately may neglect the health of their oral cavity. Remember, its not just seeing the dentist when things hurt, but maintaining a constant vigilance against teeth problems and gum disease- on a daily basis.

So be preventative.  Make sure you follow through on those 2-4 times a year oral exams by the dentist, and those dental cleanings and gum disease checks by your hygienist.  They are just as important as having those religious gym workouts for the rest of your body!

Your mind will thank you.

Edward M. Reifman, DDS
www.encinosmiledr.com
818.990.6659

I think most of us are guilty of drinking coffee, tea, some occasional imbibing of wine (hopefully not during the work week), and coke (regular OR diet).  Besides tasting great,  unfortunately they all have one thing in common-  they are very acidic.  This acidity accelerates the demineralization of your teeth, resulting in future sensitivity, wear, stain, and overall breakdown of the teeth, and bite.

No, I’m not telling you (or myself) to stop imbibing these beverages.  To mitigate these bad events from occurring, do something simple- Rinse with a mouthful of fresh water afterwards.  This will have the immediate effect of helping to neutralize the acids these drinks produced in your mouth, and on your teeth.  You can also drink milk right after for the same reason, but I think a glass of your favorite Pinot Grigio followed by a glass of milk is definitely not my idea of ending a romantic evening.

Just this simple act of drinking good ol’ H2O right after these acid-containing beverages can help reduce acid wear. Its a good habit to get into, something that will make your teeth stronger and more stain-resistant for years to come.  And speaking of toughness, you might want to check some of the new toothpastes coming out that not only clean your pearly whites, but additionally toughen them. I personally like the new Pronamel, as it also contains some desensitizers for those of us who have occasional bouts of teeth sensitivity, but there’s a lot of other brands out there, too.

So, take advantage of these tidbits, and get your present and future self  healthier!

Ed Reifman, DDS    Encino   818.990.6659

So many of my patients are asking about Lumineers.  “How do they differ from porcelain veneers?” First of all, they ARE porcelain veneers, but a newer and more high-tech kind of veneer.  Lumineers are about half the thickness of a typical porcelain Veneer, or ‘finger-nail thin’, yet just as strong and durable.  Because of their tiny thickness, there is usually no need to remove any sensitive tooth structure when applying Lumineers to your teeth.

Lumineers usually  take two appointments to be placed on your teeth.   The first visit involves preparing any teeth that may be misaligned or slightly rotated, and to take impressions of all the teeth that the lumineers will be designed for.  Do I have to be ‘numbed up’  for the procedure?” It is rare to resort to using any anesthetic, as the process to prepare the teeth for the Lumineers is usually entirely painless.

“Must I leave the dental office with tooth-colored temporaries as I would for porcelain veneers?” NO!  Although some of your teeth might look a tad different in shape due to smoothing or recontouring,  the teeth look just fine after this first appointment- without the need for temps.   In fact, many of my patients say that the slight tooth recontouring I perform actually makes the teeth look even better than when they came in!  When I make Lumineers, I am concerned not only with making your smile appear many shades whiter, but making the shape of the tooth more natural-looking, and more eye-pleasing!

A specialized lab fabricates the lumineers, and when you visit our dental office about 2 weeks after that first appointment, the Lumineers will be bonded to your teeth.  As in the first appointment, NO anesthetic is needed during this final, and exciting appointment.

LUMINEERS are one of the more popular aesthetic smile make-overs I do.  Since no one wants to have a phony-looking, ‘white chicklet smile’, be sure your own dentist  has had lots of experience in designing the natural light translucency and reflectance that one finds in teeth- into the lumineers. You want your family and friends to look at your smile and instantly say, “Wow!  What’d you do to your smile?  It look fantastic!”

To see before and after pictures of Dr. Reifman’s Lumineers patients, Click Here!

Edward M. Reifman, DDS

818.990.6659

Welcome to the new world of dental materials, where Nanotechnology (the science of manipulating materials at the atomic level) will forever alter the durability of those attractive, white bonded fillings your dentist gave you. Ordinarily, those old, dingy-looking amalgam mercury fillings you may have in your mouth will still actually last longer than the newer tooth-colored bonded fillings. That’s because the nice-looking white fillings contain an adhesive layer that attaches the bonded material to the tooth structure, and this layer is now being shown to be not as strong as they were once thought to be. Couple that with the increasing stress people have that contributes to nightly teeth clenching, and you have even more problems of maintaining tooth bond strengths.

What to do? Nanotechnology to the rescue.

There’s a lot of brilliant research going on using what’s known as ‘guided tissue remineralization’. It is a means of producing special, tiny nano-sized crystals and sending them into the unmineralized spaces where the adhesion between tooth and bonded material is steadily lost. The result of this new remineralization? Your new tooth-colored fillings will last a great deal longer. And that’s great news!

One of the final goals of all this research will eventually be to finally replace the white bonded fillings you have in your mouth, and mix the filling matrial with a remineralized crystalline layer that will hopefully within a few short years make your filling last the lifetime of the tooth. And wouldn’t that be wonderful?

21^st century dental care… it just keeps on getting better and better!

Edward M. Reifman, DDS

Note: For more information on how nanotechnology will impact dental care, read Dr. Reifman’s famous published chapter: ‘A Visit to the Dentist in the Year 2025’.

Many of my patients have enjoyed the use of my new,  laser-thin micro drills that can remove tooth decay without the need for an injection of novocaine.  Best of all, using these drills means decay removal simply doesn’t hurt, and you don’t leave the dental office with half your face feeling numb for hours!

How is this possible?

First of all, the drill is so thin and tiny that when the decay is removed, the  nerves in the tooth remain largely untouched.  Also consider the fact that with regular dental drilling, large chunks of healthy tooth structure are removed alongside  the diseased, decayed tooth.  (Much like in cancer therapy, where both the bad AND good cells are removed by radiation treatment.)  However with the use of these micro drills, healthy tooth material is barely touched.  And that is great news, because it reduces the chance of future crown work on the tooth!

In summary, the new micro-dentistry removes dental cavities without the need for shots, is comfortable to you, the patient, and reduces the need for unnecessary removal of healthy tooth structure.  When done, Dr. Reifman flows in a durable, white bonded material that matches the shade of y0ur tooth.  The entire appointment?  About 30 minutes from start to finish.

21st century dental care- its awesome!

Edward M. Reifman, DDS

818.990.6659

www.encinosmiledr.com/drill-free-needle-free-dentist-los-angeles.html

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