Hi and welcome, or welcome back. You are listening to the Perio Hygienist Podcast, a podcast for my professional colleagues and anyone else who cares to listen. My name is Dr. Ben Young and I am a periodontist in private practice in San Antonio, Texas. This is episode 60 and the title is A Banquet Invitation.
First, I hope all is well with you and yours. Normally that’s just a nice way to greet people, but in today’s world, it’s a true hope because these are such challenging times for so many and on all levels of life – from the economy and business-related concerns to infection control issues involving COVID and whatever else might be coming down the pike, as well as basic security concerns. It’s a long list.
But that makes this a great time to talk once again about the importance of our communities – especially those in the immediate vicinity.
I ran across a quote from Reinhold Niebuhr – he was the 20th century theologian probably best known for the Serenity Prayer.
Here’s the quote, “Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love.”
I agree. It goes along with the line from the Beatles’ Sargent Peppers song “I get by With a Little Help from My Friends.”
Love – at least the healthy kind – involves more than one. It’s relationship glue. It involves everything from friendships to marriages, and personally, I don’t think we human beings make it any more than we make energy. Like the law of thermodynamics, I think there is a law of love-dynamics as well. We absorb and release it, but we don’t make it.
So what’s my point? Simply this, and especially in challenging and uncertain times, it is a good thing to be proactive in relationships.
You might say, this is what I am doing in this podcast.
If you would like to obtain periodontal support but also are very comfortable managing periodontal patients and their supportive care needs in your office, I hope you will consider working with me, if you do not, and perhaps involving me more in the care of patients who present with significant signs of periodontitis. I believe you will find your office systems will run smoother as you refer out those who need a great deal of time upfront instructions and explanations. By sending these to a periodontist, it elevates the importance of the problem in the patient’s mind. By referring them to me, the turn-around should be remarkably shortened to what you might be used to. Most of my treatment is accomplished in a single visit with a follow-up visit or two, and then they are back to your office to either begin their restorative care, or at the three-month mark to accomplish their first Supportive Periodontal Therapy visit (SPT).
Thank you to all the new dental offices who are beginning to test the waters. If you are not finding it as easy as I am explaining here, please let me know. This is all about improving patient care through strengthening professional relationships in practical and efficient ways. Like podcasts and possibly enjoying a banquet together.
So here is my offer: If you live in the San Antonio area, and are one of the first ten to respond, I would love to have you and your date, join me at the Annual San Antonio Christian Medical & Dental Associations Fall Banquet. It will be on Tuesday, October 18th
from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm (Doors open at 5:45 pm). Dress nicely, but formal is not necessary. Our banquets are open to medical, dental, and allied health students, as well as the professional community.
This year’s banquet will be on the UIW campus in the Rosenberg Skyroom atop the McCombs Center.
So what is the banquet all about?
I, along with many local dentists and physicians support the ministry of the San Antonio Chapter of Christian Medical and Dental Associations.
It sounds odd to call it Christian Medical and Dental Associations, with an S, rather than Association, but this is because at times, especially when experts are testifying before Congress, for example, They may call themselves the Christian Medical Association. Or if they are in a completely dental environment they may call themselves the Christian Dental Association.
Here in San Antonio, we are more than physicians and dentists. We have pharmacists, nurses, physical therapists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, occupational therapists, laboratory technologists, physician assistant, along with any non-medical spouses or fiancés. And for every healthcare discipline, we also have their students in training. Our purpose is to equip future professionals with a healthy spiritual foundation because we believe it improves the quality, not only of their lives, but the lives of their patients. CMDA is weekly on the campuses at UTHSCSA and UIW. And on top of that, we have many who come to our nightly bible studies who are in military residencies at Brook Army Medical Center.
And beyond, social gatherings like banquets, and bible studies, we are involved in medical and dental support to needy populations both here in San Antonio, like our refugee clinics and our homeless clinics, as well as in other countries. Come to the banquet and learn more.
If you and/or your spouse are seeking more involvement with like-minded professionals, please consider my invitation. And if you look at your calendar and see you can’t make this event, contact me and let me know how I might provide you whatever information you need about CMDA. An easy way for you to learn more is to check out the CMDA Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/cmdasatx
This year’s guest speaker will be San Antonio’s own Ingrid Skop, M.D., F.O.C.O.G.
The title of her presentation is: “Medical Considerations of Abortion Post-Dobbs”
Dr. Skop is Senior Fellow and Director of Medical Affairs for Charlotte Lozier Institute, leveraging more than 25 years’ experience as a practicing OB/GYN here in San Antonio to support research and policies that respect the dignity of every human life. She has provided expert testimony at both the state and federal levels on legislation related to abortion. Dr. Skop is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and is a lifetime member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
That’s it for today, except to remind you and me that we are very fortunate to have the opportunities we do to serve and treat patients. We dreamed about being able to do this for years, and now we can. How cool is that?
You have been listening to the Perio Hygienist Podcast and I am still Dr. Ben Young.
Bye for now.
