16 minute read

All Smiles

from Savannah magazine May/June 2021

by Savannah Magazine

from Savannah magazine May/June 2021, page 80

Article from: Savannah magazine May/June 2021

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TASTE BE WELL SAVANNAH

All Smiles

How dentists are making patients more comfortable in the chair

Written by ANDREA GOTO

IF YOU’D JUST as soon sit in an electric chair as you would a dentist chair, you aren’t alone. In fact, a 2018 study from DentaVox revealed that more than 61 percent of people worldwide suffer from dental fear. It makes sense; there’s the worry of pain, the sense of entrapment, the anticipation of what’s to come. The bad news is, dentophobia is anything but healthy if it prevents you from regular checkups, and it actually ends up hurting you more in the long run, both in the mouth and the wallet.

“A lot of dental problems are very easy and inexpensive to fix when it’s early in the process,” explains Gladden Dental’s Dr. Eric Gladden. So, here’s the rub: if you really don’t like being in the dentist chair, the key to avoiding lengthy and expensive procedures, is to — you guessed it — get back in the dentist chair for regular checkups. Luckily, many dentists have adopted technologies, techniques and practices to help address and ease your fears.

Fear of pain is the leading reason people cite for avoiding the dentist. No one wants a scrape or a shot, but it’s important to keep in mind that dentistry has moved far beyond the days of pulling teeth with pliers as patients grimace and bear it. You aren’t supposed to feel pain during a dental procedure.

Assuming you have an adept dentist who can take torturous pain off the dental tray with local anesthetic, there’s still the fact that they use needles to administer it — oftentimes an intimidating, silver syringe of cartoonish proportions. Dr. Scott Cohen of Cohen Dental uses what’s called “The Wand” to replace the conventional syringe as often as possible. The Wand, which looks more like an IV than a syringe, is a computer-assisted system

that controls the rate and flow of anesthesia, which can, surprisingly, be a source of pain in itself. “When liquid is plunged into your gums, it stretches the tissues out,” Cohen explains. By slowing down and controlling the drip, the anesthesia diffuses better, numbing the tissues and easing discomfort.

There’s still the matter of the initial needle prick, which Cohen mitigates with another piece of technology called DentalVibe. The device looks like a very small tuning fork and delivers a gentle vibration to the tissues at the injection site. When the vibration and injection occur simultaneously, the brain registers the vibration first, essentially blocking the feeling of the injection. Afterward, many of Cohen’s patients are incredulous, asking, “Was that the shot?!” The Wand is disposable, so it does cost more than a conventional syringe that can be sterilized and reused. “But the benefits outweigh the cost,” Cohen assures.

Dr. Stephanie Sweeney at Savannah Dental takes a slightly different approach to injections by placing an additive in the anesthetic. “The stinging sensation as it’s being injected is caused by the pH level of the anesthetic, which is different than that of your body tissue,” Sweeney says. “A sodium bicarbonate additive changes the pH of the anesthetic to make it the same as your body. That way, we can make the shot as painless as possible.”

Additionally, Sweeney’s practice provides IV-sedation dentistry administered by an anesthesiologist for her most fearful patients. “There are dentists who administer it as well, but we figure the safer way to do it is to let the dentist worry about the dentistry and have a second doctor in the room who’s focused on your anesthesia,” she says.

Nearly every dentist office still offers patients nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas”

“A sodium bicarbonate additive changes the pH of the anesthetic to make it the same as your body. That way, we can make the shot as painless

as possible.” —Dr. Stephanie Sweeney, Savannah Dental

HIGH-TECH TEETH

When it comes to dental scans, most dental practices have gone digital, moving away from film X-rays where the patient bites down on an oversized piece of plastic that has been crammed into their mouth. The digital X-ray still requires holding an uncomfortable device in your mouth under the weight of a lead apron, but the resulting image can be sent directly to the computer, where it can be enhanced and enlarged to see the tiniest of changes to the health of a tooth. Dr. Stephanie Sweeney’s office was the first in Savannah to pony up for the iTero 5D, a digital scanner that uses non-ionizing radiation (i.e. not dangerous) to create a 3D, digital model of a patient’s teeth.

Sweeney can scan her patients’ teeth at every cleaning to catch issues early — when they’re smaller and less expensive to fix. This technology also allows Sweeney to see how a patient’s teeth fit together, determine where the pressure points are that can lead to wear and predict the future of their bite based on different courses of treatment.

“Some people have so much crowding that I can’t really tell if there’s room to straighten the teeth,” Sweeney explains. “In the past, that was something measured by hand. With this scan, we’re a lot more scientific and precise.” In the case of crowding, the computer can simulate the “after” image based on which tooth, if any, is extracted. It can also use an algorithm to provide an accurate image of how a patient’s teeth would look after orthodontics.

“There’s sometimes more than one way to fix a problem, but [a different approach] can create a different aesthetic,” says Sweeney. She appreciates how this technology puts the choice in the patient’s hands, adding, “I can’t imagine practicing without it.”

Mama knows BEST! Happy Mother’s Day!

Dr. Cohen with his mom, Carole

Mama knows BEST!

Dr. Cohen with his mom, Carole

“If we don’t treat you right, just call my mom!”“If we don’t treat you right, just call my mom!”

912.353.9533 912.353.9533 310 Eisenhower Drive, Building 2 310 Eisenhower Drive, Building 2 www.savannahdentalcentre.com www.savannahdentalcentre.com

as it’s commonly known, but Gladden isn’t a fan. Inhalation sedation requires a mask, which can be diffi cult to work around. It can also cause debilitating headaches in some patients. Gladden, who worked as a pharmacist prior to dental school, prefers to medicate fearful and anxious patients with Halcion. He explains that the oral medication, a benzodiazepine in the same family as Xanax and Valium, gets in and out of the system quickly so patients don’t burn up an entire day feeling “foggy.” It also has what is called a neuroleptic eff ect, where time seems to pass quickly, turning a 90-minute appointment into something that feels more like 15 minutes.

But beyond medication and technology, Gladden notes how important it is to build a rapport with a fearful or anxious patient. His initial visits with these patients are pretty much a hands-off experience. “I get them in for a 15- or 20-minute appointment, and I’ll try to get an understanding of where the fear lies,” he says. “Some things about dentistry you can’t change, but some things you can. And if you can avoid a patient’s trigger, you can provide a better experience.”

Gladden points out that most dentistry-related fears stem from a childhood visit when the dentist gave the patient few details about a procedure — a practice he’ll never engage in. He recalls having patients who wouldn’t even let him lie them back in the dental chair. “But when you tell them you are going to work on them and not hurt them, and it goes the way you say it’s going to go, the fear tends to get stripped away a little bit at a time,” he says. “That’s one of the most rewarding experiences.”

Sweeney takes the patient experience a step further than most offi ces, off ering a more boutique atmosphere with a “comfort menu.” At each visit, patients can request pillows and warm blankets. Each room is also outfi tted with televisions that can access streaming services like Netfl ix and Hulu. “Today, we had notes that a patient’s child’s favorite movie was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, so we had that playing as soon as they walked into the room,” she says.

Whatever excuse you’ve been using to justify avoiding the dentist hasn’t served your long-term health or well-being. And with better technology and a more patient-centered experience, the whole ordeal won’t be as bad as you think or remember. Finding a dentist with whom you can form a plan and build a rapport might also mean avoiding big bills and unnecessary discomfort — the likely source of your fear in the fi rst place.

James Bazemore, M.D.

SAVANNAH

BRUNSWICK

3025 Shrine Road Suite 450 Brunswick, GA 31520 912-264-6133

ST. MARYS

2040 Dan Proctor Drive Suite 230 St. Marys, GA 31558 912-264-6133

A Heavy Toll

Disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, working women share their story

Written by JESSICA LYNN CURTIS

IN FEBRUARY 2020, Monique Silen was excited to return to work and to “regain some normalcy” after 10 weeks at home on maternity leave.

“A month later,” she shares, “I was back at home with my two young children as Savannah shut down, and we were glued to the latest terrifying news reports. I rolled out of postpartum and into pandemic.”

Silen owns Kayak Kafé, the restaurant beloved by Savannahians for its fresh salads and vegan options, with her husband, Brendan Pappas, and their partner, Mallie Clark. They immediately closed their downtown location and began offering takeout and delivery only from their midtown outpost. “I was working from home and taking care of our children, as daycare and babysitters were no longer an option,” Silen recalls. “My management team and I would spend our evenings mapping out the next steps Kayak needed to take to survive.”

This has been a common thread among women during the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools shut down and childcare options dwindled, many women were on double duty, working from home while caring for and homeschooling their kids. Many others left the workforce entirely.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women ended 2020 with 5.4 million fewer jobs than they had in February. Men lost 4.4 million jobs — a whopping 1 million less — in the same time period. A National Women’s Law Center analysis of these numbers showed that among these unemployed women, almost 40 percent

had been out of work for six months or longer: not only had they lost their jobs, but they also couldn’t find new ones. And since the beginning of the pandemic, 2.1 million women have completely left the labor market, meaning they weren’t even looking for work.

The reasons for this go beyond the suddenly homebound children needing someone to care for them (mothers have become that someone more often than not). There are also the childcare workers who lost these same charges. The BLS report shows that of the million people who care for children ages 5 and younger in this country, one in six lost their employment during the pandemic — and 95 percent of childcare workers are women. The industries hit hardest during COVID — restaurants, retail and hospitality — are also more heavily comprised of women at 53.1 percent. The disparity is even greater among women of color. While the unemployment rate for women overall was 6.3 percent at the end of 2020, it was 8.4 percent for Black women and 9.1 percent for Latinas.

For Silen, she simply had to find a way to get back into her restaurants as they lost more and more employees, supply chains teetered on the verge of collapse, and each day brought new challenges. In June, a close family friend agreed to watch her little ones.

“The fear of getting sick was overwhelming,” she says. “There is no such thing as keeping six feet apart in a commercial kitchen. You mask up, wash hands and sanitize as if your life depends on it. I’d come home consumed by anxiety and stress. But when the business that feeds your children is in jeopardy, there is no option but to keep pushing, keep trying, keep problem solving. Sacrifice was and is a part of my daily life. But I’ve learned to look at the bright side and be thankful for our amazing staff and the wonderful customers who continue to support us.”

Stephanie Wilson-Evans founded her real estate company, Three Oaks Realty, in 2013. As 2020 began, she was in talks with Austin Hill Realty about merging their like-minded businesses. “Our whole teams are highly involved in the community, we’re all very philanthropic. There were so many things that aligned. Then, just about the time that we decided to take the leap, the country went on lockdown.” Wilson-Evans says they shut down both locations and everybody decided to work remotely.

They were trying to figure out things like new safety protocols for agents, along with several more general concerns: how it would all work now that people were working from home and kids were home from school? How could they help people who still wanted to sell their houses but were nervous about showing them? There were occasions when an agent or property manager would go into somebody’s home and find the occupant was not wearing a mask — and then find out an occupant tested positive for COVID. The agents and property manager then had to quarantine because they’d been exposed.

Wilson-Evans acknowledges the general danger of life during COVID across industries, “but when you’re talking about going in and out of people’s homes, that’s such an intimate spot. That’s where we all confined ourselves to feel safe, right?”

She watched as real estate as a whole changed dramatically. There were people buying houses through virtual tours, and agents who’d previously been reluctant to use things like FaceTime were learning quickly.

“Fortunately, we didn’t have to lay off or do any cuts in pay for any of our staff, which was a godsend. That was

very stressful when we were losing closings pretty rapidly, because that was our source of income. And you just kind of work through it. What I found is that everybody we came into contact with — from our owners who had tenants struggling with their rent to buyers and sellers — everybody became really thoughtful and very kind and patient. That was pretty heartwarming to see.”

Women working in the health-care field have faced hurdles, too. Beth Adkisson Fleming is a speech pathologist and the owner and CEO of Chatterbox Pediatric

Monique Silen

“When the business that feeds your children is in jeopardy, there is no option but to keep pushing, keep trying, keep problem solving.”

— MONIQUE SILEN, CO-OWNER, KAYAK KAFÉ

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Dale Parker, Beth Adkisson Fleming, Stephanie Wilson-Evans Therapy, an outpatient clinic with offi ces located in Pooler and Richmond Hill that provides speech, occupational and physical therapy services to children in the greater Savannah area.

“The services we off er are essential for the children we serve to gain critical developmental skills. They might come to our clinic anywhere from one to four times a week depending on the severity of their delay or disorder,” explains Fleming. At the start of the pandemic, Fleming realized she’d need to quickly pivot Chatterbox’s service

delivery method. “I had the challenging task of fi guring out how to educate myself and my staff on this remote therapy model. It was totally new for most of our therapists, who had never completed a therapy session or evaluation without being face-to-face with the child and their family.”

The unknowns were overwhelming. What would they do if insurance wouldn’t cover teletherapy? What platform was the best, and how would they aff ord this additional expense as a small business facing a pandemicrelated downturn? How were staff with children going to handle work and homeschooling? And how would Fleming keep her staff employed and her business from going under if this didn’t all work?

“As a business owner and parent, I had never been so worried and stressed about the current situation and what the future held. But with a strong faith in God and great online support from other private-practice owners across the state and country, we found the answers.”

Fleming became a recipient of the Sara Blakely Red Backpack Grant, which was given to 1,000 women-owned businesses to aid in their recovery during the pandemic. Some therapists began working from home. Others staggered their hours so as not to have too many in the offi ce at the same time.

“And the parents!” she says. “They had to be our ‘hands’ as we guided them on the skills we were teaching the children and how they could teach them. It was amazing to see how parents really rose to the challenge and how quickly their children progressed with their help.”

Dale Parker coached high school basketball for 30 years before taking over J. Parker Ltd., the clothing store founded in 1972 by her husband, Jimmy Parker. Although she had been involved in the stores for many years, with this new leadership role, she says, “It’s been a whole new career for me, and it’s been great.”

What Parker was not expecting was a deadly virus that would not only throw a wrench into her existing business but also the opening of J. Parker’s newest store in Plant Riverside District.

“There was the stress of already having two stores and managing those day-to-day functions and keeping those employees employed, and the stress of opening a third location on top of all of that,” shares Christine Fournier at Joselove-Filson Advertising, the agency that represents J. Parker Ltd.

“We had already completely paid for that location and were ready to open before St. Patrick’s Day, which was going to be a huge boost,” Parker chimes in. “Instead, we had three stores full of inventory shut down. But we tried to stay relevant. My stepson, Kieff er, stayed at the Broughton Street location, and I stayed at the Abercorn Street store,” she recalls. “We did appointments and curbside pickup, online sales and a lot of extra social media letting people know we were still here.”

Today, all three locations are open and operating within the guidelines of the Savannah Safe Pledge, and Parker’s take on the ordeal recalls the experience of Silen, Wilson-Evans and Fleming, too.

“We have a loyal group of employees who have really bent over backward,” Parker says. “It’s like a big family, and we’re going to make it through.”

“We were ready to open before St. Patrick’s Day, which was going to be a huge boost. Instead, we had three stores full of inventory shut down. But we tried to stay relevant.”

— DALE PARKER, CO-OWNER, J. PARKER LTD.

This article is from:

Savannah magazine May/June 2021

by Savannah Magazine