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Ms. Sandy Gordon of Pinecrest, Florida says: My dentist Dr. Becker [Chairman of the Department of Education of The Pankey Institute] is the whole package: he has integrity, kindness, is a good listener and an absolute perfectionist. He won’t rest until the job is done right. He is the benchmark for all other dentists. My situation is unusual and I needed a lot of precise dental work done, including implants, bone grafting and the surgical removal of a tumor in my jaw. Dr. Becker has been there for all of it. He is a brilliant, gifted human being and I have been fortunate to have him put my dental treatment together. I’ve been to the best dentists and am the daughter of a dentist, but you have to find the best dentist for you personally. Dr. Becker is that for me. He’s in a class by himself and the ultimate credit to his profession. Ms. Carla Pina of Miami, Florida says: You could say that, as a child, my dentist and I had a love/hate relationship: He loved to torture me and I hated him with a passion! It did not help that I’ve always had a propensity for cavities and a natural aversion to flossing and so was a frequent “visitor.” As I grew older, the only way to get me to sit in the chair was to bribe me (payment in advance, thank you very much) and things did not improve by around age 14 when I had my wisdom teeth removed in one of the most painful experiences of my life (let’s just say that I spent one month that summer eating through a straw and leave it at that). As a young adult the extent of my dental health experience was to make sure and get two cleanings a year with the odd cavity to be filled but, towards my late twenties I developed a peculiar problem. I was working in a high-stress industry and have always manifested stress with very tight shoulders and a stiff neck. Suddenly the pain in my shoulders, neck and jaw had increased tenfold! I felt like someone’s hand was squeezing my jaw and it hurt all the way down to the middle of my back. I discussed my problem with a doctor friend of mine and he suggested that I see my dentist. “Dentist?” I asked. “What does this have to do with my teeth? I’m just stressed and tense!” He said that I could be clenching my teeth together at night as a result of the stress. So I went to see my dentist and told him of my woes. Not being the best conversationalist, he asked a few terse questions, grabbed my bottom jaw and moved it up and down. He had me bite on some green and red paper and said, “Well, I need to file some of your teeth down.” My response was “What!” After I calmed down, he explained that it wasn’t really “grinding,” but more of a re-shaping so that my teeth would fit together better and that it would help with the pain in my jaw. It wasn’t until I came to work at The Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education as a Registration Associate that I realized this had been my first introduction to “equilibration.” Equilibration is the process of making tiny changes on the top surfaces of the upper and lower teeth so when they come together they fit without stress. This is called a “good bite.” When the teeth come in contact unevenly, the jaw muscles tense and often we grind our teeth together in automatic response to this tension. Since beginning work at The Pankey Institute, I have been treated by two dentists on the Institute’s faculty, (first by Dr. Erik Zudans and then by Dr. Steve Ratcliff when Dr. Zudans moved on to a new practice). My experience with these dentists has been unlike any other medical experience I have ever had. Although I have been to doctors who had a friendly manner, these were the first to take time to get to know me as more than just a chart and medical history. I have had bite splint therapy and equilibration to improve my bite, and my jaw is now very comfortable. I have been involved in every aspect of my treatment and when the time came for me to make decisions I was able to ask questions and get the answers necessary to make the right decisions. I now know more about my dental health than I ever have in my life and have taken the lessons learned from my relationship with my Pankey dentist and applied them to my other interactions with medical professionals: I ask questions, research and gain as much knowledge as I can to make the right decisions concerning my health. I find that I now enjoy my visits to the dentist, and I know my rewarding experience with Pankey Institute-trained dentists is one millions of patients share worldwide. Those dentists, who come to the Institute, have chosen to practice dentistry in a relationship-based fashion, caring about each patient as an individual and taking time to make sure each patient fully understands the condition of her or his mouth and what is possible with appropriate treatment. Here's what other patients have said about their Pankey Institute-trained dentists.
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