Saturday, November 26, 2011

Invisalign-Crystal Lake Dental Associates

Invisalign - Invisible. Comfortable. Removable. 
What is Invisalign and how does it work?

The Invisalign System is a series of clear orthodontic appliances, called aligners that allow you to straighten your teeth without having to wear traditional braces. Each pair of aligners in the series is worn in two-week increments (removing them only to eat, drink, brush and floss) and moves the teeth in gradual steps to the desired final position.

What are the primary benefits of using Invisalign? 
 
·    Undetectable- The clear aligners are virtually invisible to others.
·    Removable- The aligners are removable for eating, brushing and flossing.
·    Comfortable- The aligners are comfortable to wear, since there are no brackets, wires or permanent fixtures.
  
Hundreds of thousands of people have already improved their smile with Invisalign. Maybe it's time you were one of them. For more information please contact our practice.


You comments are welcome.



Friday, November 25, 2011

The Economy and Dentistry-Crystal lake dental associates

What Has Changed:

Employers, and  employees alike are under siege. Housing costs have plummeted. Fuel and food prices are rising rapidly. People who are jobless or hurting are not able to buy more than the basics causing local businesses to struggle. Due to the poor economy, employers are looking for ways to reduce costs. They are dropping coverage and buying cheaper dental plans. Insurance companies are front loading their premiums now to cover future costs (known and unknown) from healthcare reform, and other acts of legislation.

For Patients:
 Patients with falling or no wages are forced to pay more out of pocket for dental care, or change to network plans. Patients are making decisions based on whether they have “insurance coverage”, rather than need. Ultimately many needed procedures are not completed.

The Result:
Small problems become large problems including pain, swelling, infection, and possible loss of teeth. These problems are more expensive, and time consuming  to treat. The treatment options may be too expensive at this point and additional tooth loss is not uncommon.

What I Am Seeing:
More patients call with emergency situations. Stress is causing people to clench and grind their teeth more which leads to many problems. Many patients are coming in with multiple problems and limited finances. I feel for these people and I always try to find a way to meet their needs.

The Net Effect:
Unfortunately, more people are opting for extractions and, temporary fixes. We are taking good care of our patients, while we are holding the line on fees and in many cases lowering them to make care more affordable. I am extremely creative finding solutions for patients that fit in their budget. 


 Your Comments are welcome.


Saturday, November 19, 2011

James Monroe-Crystal Lake Dental Associates

James Monroe



James Monroe
5th President of the United States
(March 4, 1817 to March 3, 1825)
Nicknames: "The Last Cocked Hat"; "Era-of-Good-Feeling President"
Born: April 28, 1758, in Westmoreland County, Virginia
Died: July 4, 1831, in New York, New York


Father: Spence Monroe
Mother: Elizabeth Jones Monroe
Married: Elizabeth "Eliza" Kortright (1768-1830), on February 16, 1786
Children: Eliza Kortright Monroe (1786-1835); James Spence Monroe (1799-1800); Maria Hester Monroe (1803-50)
Religion: Episcopalian
Education: Graduated from College of William and Mary (1776)
Occupation: Lawyer
Political Party: Democratic-Republican



Life Overview
James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States (1817–1825). Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation.[1] His presidency was marked both by an "Era of Good Feelings" – a period of relatively little partisan strife – and later by the Panic of 1819 and a fierce national debate over the admission of the Missouri Territory. Monroe is most noted for his proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, which stated that the United States would not tolerate further European intervention in the Americas.
Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe fought in the American Revolutionary War. He was injured in the Battle of Trenton with a musket ball to his shoulder. After studying law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As an anti-federalist delegate to the Virginia convention that considered ratification of the United States Constitution, Monroe opposed ratification, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. Nonetheless, Monroe took an active part in the new government and in 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first United States Congress, where he joined the Jeffersonians. He gained experience as an executive as the Governor of Virginia and rose to national prominence when as a diplomat in France he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Monroe was of French and Scottish descent.
During the War of 1812, Monroe held the critical roles of Secretary of State and the Secretary of War under President James Madison. [2] Facing little opposition from the fractured Federalist Party, Monroe was easily elected president in 1816, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote and becoming the last president during the First Party System era of American politics. As president, he sought to ease partisan tensions and embarked on a tour of the country and was well received everywhere.[citation needed] As nationalism surged, partisan fury subsided and the "Era of Good Feelings" ensued until the Panic of 1819 struck and dispute over the admission of Missouri embroiled the country in 1820. Nonetheless, Monroe won near-unanimous reelection. In 1823, he announced the Monroe Doctrine, which became a landmark in American foreign policy. His presidency concluded the first period of American presidential history before the beginning of Jacksonian democracy and the Second Party System era. Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties. He died in New York City on July 4, 1831.

Notable Events:
  • 1818
    • Congress fixed the number of stripes on the U.S. flag at 13 to honor the original colonies, April 4.
      Anglo-American Conventionset the 49th parallel as the border with Canada.
  • 1819
    • Florida ceded by Spain to the United States on February 22. In exchange the U.S. cancelled $5 million in Spanish debts.
  • 1820
    • The Missouri Compromise, forbade slavery above 36 degrees 30 minutes latitude.
      Monroe reelected.
  • 1823
Points of Interest:
  • Monroe was the first president to ride on a steamboat.
  • At sixteen years old, Monroe attended the college of William and Mary.
  • He was the first president to have been a U.S. senator.
  • In the election of 1820 Monroe received every electoral vote except one. A New Hampshire delegate wanted tiny U.S. flag Washington to be the only president elected unanimously.
  • Monroe's inauguration in 1817 was the first to be held outdoors.
  • The bride in the first White House wedding was Monroe's daughter.
  • The U.S. Marine Band played at Monroe's 1821 inauguration and at every inauguration since.
Notable Quotes:

"Our great resources therefore remain untouched for any purpose which may affect the vital interest of the nation. For all such purposes they are inexhaustible. They are more especially to be found in the virtue, patriotism and intelligence of our fellow-citizens, and in the devotion with which they would yield up by any just measure of taxation all their property in support of the rights and honor of their country. "

"From a just responsibility I will never shrink, calculating with confidence that in my best efforts to promote the public welfare my motives will always be duly appreciated and my conduct be viewed with that candor and indulgence which I have experienced in other stations."

"In this great nation there is but one order, that of the people, whose power, by a peculiarly happy improvement of the representative principle, is transferred from them, without impairing in the slightest degree their sovereignty, in the full extent necessary for the purposes of free, enlightened, and efficient government. "

"The American continents . . . by the free and independent condition, which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power."

"A complete remedy to a political disease is seldom found until something like a crisis occurs, and this is promoted by the abuse of those who have rendered the most important services, and whose characters will bear the test of inquiry."

"In contemplating what we still have to perform, [the] heart of every citizen must expand with joy when he reflects how near our Government has approached to perfection."

"Preparation for war is constant stimulus to suspicion and ill will."

"The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals."

"Such, then, being the highly favored condition of our country, it is in the interest of every citizen to maintain it. What are the dangers which menace us? If any exist, they ought to be ascertained and guarded against."

"Had the people of the United States been educated in different principles, had they been less intelligent, less independent, or less virtuous, can it be believed that we should have maintained the same steady and consistent career or been blessed with the same success?"

"Let us by all wise and constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties."

"We must support our rights or lose our character, and with it, perhaps, our liberties. A people who fail to do it can scarcely be said to hold a place among independent nations. National honor is national property of the highest value. The sentiment in the mind of every citizen is national strength. It ought therefore to be cherished."

"The earth was given to mankind to support the greatest number of which it is capable, and no tribe or people have a right to withhold from the wants of others more than is necessary for their own support and comfort."

"A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue."

"Peace and good will have been, and will hereafter be, cultivated with all, and by the most faithful regard to justice. They have been dictated by a love of peace, of economy, and an earnest desire to save the lives of our fellow-citizens from that destruction and our country from that devastation which are inseparable from war when it finds us unprepared for it. "

"I have never dreaded, nor have I ever shunned, in any situation in which I have been placed, making appeals to the virtue and patriotism of my fellow-citizens, well knowing that they could never be made in vain, especially in times of great emergency or for purposes of high national importance."


"The talents and virtues which were displayed in that great struggle were a sure presage of all that has since followed. A people who were able to surmount in their infant state such great perils would be more competent as they rose into manhood to repel any which they might meet in their progress. "


Resources

 Retrieved 11/19/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Monroe
1996-2008 Summers, Robert.( 1996-2008). John Adams. In ipl2: Information You Can Trust: POTUS. Retrieved 11/21/2011, from 2011http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/jmonroe.html Great Presidential Quotes. James Monroe. Retrieved 11/21/2011, from  http://www.greatpresidentialquotes.com/index.php?set=details&id=5&page=0



 Your Comments are welcome.



    Saturday, November 12, 2011

    Steve Jobs and Apple-Just a thought-Crystal Lake Dental Associates

    Steve Jobs



    Steve and Apple

    Apple products will  probably never run my office network, however I could envision a tablet device like the iPad being used as portable workstations. 


    I have watched with interest however Steve and his unusual style of creating and managing a business. Steve claimed to be a Zen Buddhist. I understand that Steve's Buddhist background helped shape his thinking about the products that he designed. He had a way of treating many people in terms of extremes. Steve often took credit for ideas that someone else came up with.. He could be brutal to the point of cruelty even to those very close to him. Steve was quick to complain about others who he felt were stealing people, jobs, and ideas. Steve he did not seem to mind doing the same when convenient. A a ruthless businessman, Steve was directly or indirectly responsible for hundreds of patents for himself, Apple ,  and other companies he was involved with. Steve was visionary, and yes a genius. He has created a world  class business in Apple and over the years has had a hand in transforming several industries. In some ways geniuses seem to get a pass on bad behavior.

    If Steve had been a Christian instead of Buddhist, could he and Apple Corp have been as successful?


    How would they have been different? Apple did get involved in and donated funds to (product) RED an organization promoted by Bono for fighting diseases in Africa. According to Bono, Apple is the largest contributor to this organization through the sale of special  red U2 iPods. Had he been a Christian, Steve  would have devoted time to church, bible reading, and with his extensive wealth money to his church and possibly other faith related organizations. He may have gotten caught up in missions work or serving the poor.  I disregard the idea that he could not have discovered similar computer related concepts as a Christian.

    It is business, but it is also personal...It's about people, and relationships and how you treat them.


    A business must remain profitable in order to survive and flourish. Its leadership has to make tough decisions in order to navigate the unknown and create the future. The treatment of coworkers,  competitors, and business partners would certainly have been different for a Christian business leader. You can make tough decisions and be kind in the process. You can suggest changes and be considerate at the same time. You can get your point across without swearing or belittling people. You can have great core values and live them out. You can be inspiring without being a dictator. You can listen to opposition views without treating the other like dirt. You should be compassionate about people who can no longer stay in the company. People are not objects to be used and discarded like the trash. If you lose out to a competitor, you should salute them for their skill rather that badmouth them at every turn. 

    I think Steve Jobs and Apple could have been just as successful run as a Christian organization. I never met Steve, but would have liked to have met him in heaven.


    You comments are welcome.




    About Me

    My photo
    Born in the Midwest. Married with 6 children and 3 grandchildren. Attended Maine West High School, Harper Jr College, Northern Illinois University, the University of Illinois College of Dentistry. Practice in Crystal Lake, Illinois.