Dr. Amy Hunt recalls the similarities between her biological family and her Pankey family that make her proud to return to Key Biscayne every year.

Dr. Hunt’s Take on the Pankey Family

Every summer, our extended family gathers in the coastal town of Morehead City, NC for a reunion. Our “special home base” is a relatively small cabin built by relatives in the early 1950’s. It’s perched on a large oyster bed on Calico Creek where the tides rise and fall under the house. Over the years, babies have grown up, cousins have married, some relatives have died, but we all carry our favorite memories of special times shared together on the shoals of Calico Creek.

The weekend culminates with a traditional NC barbecue feast and promises to return again next year. As is true with many meaningful events, the work is shouldered by a few of the most committed organizers in the family. We have cousins Helen, Kevin, and Richard to thank for making this tradition a reality.

As I think of these reunions I am reminded of another “family reunion” that I look forward to each year … the annual meeting of the Pankey Institute. Like my biological family, we have grown up and are now growing older together. This special group includes many of the friends and mentors who have helped shape me into the mother, wife, and dentist I am today. I love to “return home” every September. I have an opportunity to reconnect and renew friendships as well as create new ones with like-minded people.

We learn, laugh, and even dance together. The veterans pass on their wisdom to the next generation while they in turn share their unique perspective and insights. Like the reunions on Calico Creek, the safety of being with family allows us to be our most genuine selves. Please mark your calendars to “come home” to Pankey this September.

What do you love about being a part of the Pankey family? Please leave your thoughts in the comments!

How Studying and Treating TMD Transformed One Dentist’s Practice for the Better

When Dr. Michelle Lee embarked on her dental career, she felt like there was a missing piece in how she approached dentistry. Discovering the power of TMD ultimately made her work more fulfilling and effective.

Dr. Lee relates her journey of achieving professional balance while attending the Pankey Institute, how treating TMD has transformed her practice, and why she believes career fulfillment is crucial to success.

Dr. Michelle Lee on the Power of TMD and Pankey Learning

Very quickly in my dental career after purchasing my dental practice, I knew I needed to expand my dental learning. I was seeing changes and problems within my patient’s dental health where I didn’t know WHY? Though I could easily tell the patient what we needed to do to fix their problem, I couldn’t necessarily explain the reasoning behind it: why a tooth broke, why wear occurred on one tooth but not the others, why the patient was having pain in their face, why pain was in a tooth for no apparent reason.

Not having these answers wasn’t good enough. I knew I needed to know the WHY. I believed if I figured this out I could partner with my patients and help them before problems like failing restorative dentistry, TMD issues, and myofascial pain started to arise. I decided to go down to the Pankey Institute within the same year I purchased my dental practice.

Dr. L.D. Pankey said, “A tooth never walked in the door.”

Attending the Pankey Institute changed my life both professionally and personally. I received a top notch dental education on comprehensive dentistry that included concepts like occlusion and TMD. The learning was presented from a technical, behavioral, and financial perspective. The Pankey Institute also guided me in creating my own personal and professional philosophy to achieve a work-life balance.

I am passionate about learning how the temporomandibular joint, muscles, and dentistry work together. Treating TMD allows me to deliver truly comprehensive dentistry to my patients. It’s like lifting up the hood of a car and examining the engine.

Learning about the TMD joint and the orofacial muscles helped me see dentistry from a new perspective. I am better able to delivery dentistry that is both protective and preventative. I have created a whole new culture within my practice because I show my patients WHY. This has made my work extremely rewarding.

What continuing education has had the most significant impact on your professional life? Please leave your thoughts in the comments!

The percentage of women in dentistry continues to rise, but only a few short decades ago it was much rarer to find a female clinician. It’s easy to forget the degree of struggle women faced in the twentieth century if they wanted to get a degree and then maintain their career (a struggle that – of course – hasn’t been fully remedied).

Dr. Glenda Owen graduated from dental school in the early 80s. In the following story, she relates what it was like to face negativity, criticism, and roadblocks as she strived to be and remain a dentist …

What It Was Like to Be a Woman in Dentistry in the 80s and 90s

In the 1990s, surveys showed that women physicians practiced on average only seven years.  Many said the same statistics probably applied to women dentists. They predicted training women to be dentists could be a waste of time and precious resources.

When I was a second year dental student, my academic advisor (an oral surgeon) gave me some stern advice. Since I was a divorcee (his word), he warned me about spending too much time on my social life:

“Remember, you are taking up a spot in the class that could be used by a man who will use his training to support his family. More than likely, you will graduate, remarry, and just stay home with kids and clean toilets.”

He really said that.

My response was to ask, “Do you have any idea what it took for me to get here?”  

Then I explained my path – 56 hours of post-baccalaureate math and science courses taken at night while working full-time supporting my soon-to-be ex-husband as he was going through dental school. It took me three years to do that. “Do you really believe,” I asked, “that after all of that, I am going to stay home to raise kids and clean toilets?”

That was in 1978. I graduated in 1981. The dentistry landscape has changed radically for all of us since then. There is little I do now that I did in dental school except for gold crowns and onlays and the very occasional amalgam. Technology has allowed our materials and procedures to change at seemingly warp speed. Keeping up requires intention and tenacity.

To be continued …

What changes have you seen in the experience of being a female dentist? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Click here for Paving the Way: Part Two

Patients tend to want to spend as little time as possible in their retainers after orthodontic treatment. It’s common in my practice for patients to ask me how long they have to wear them, with the implicit understanding that an extended time period is undesirable.

As dentists, we don’t want to give the patient bad news, but we also want to ensure they receive the best healthcare possible. In this case, we can benefit most from looking at the question with an orthodontist’s perspective.

Though there isn’t a ‘right’ answer, we can find one that will serve our purposes best.

Why You Need a Strategy for Dealing With Questions About Retainers

I dislike questions about retainers because there isn’t a simple answer. It makes me uncomfortable when patients ask. For one thing, practicing dentistry has shown me the evidence that relapse occurs after ortho.

Patients will ask about retainers immediately at the end of their Invisalign trays or even years later when they still have a lingual wire. Instead of speculating about how to respond, I’d like to consult with an expert.

The short answer to orthodontic retention is that it’s never OK for patients to stop wearing retainers. But clearly this is not going to be satisfactory for many patients.

The long answer requires us to ask orthodontists:

1. What with regard to retention is the orthodontist responsible for?
2. When does their responsibility end?
3. What do I do if I have a patient whose orthodontist cannot or will not see them for retention?
4. Should I be responsible for a patient’s retention?
5. If so, what should I know about retainers?

It’s likely we will have to deal with patients curious about their retainers. This means we should have a strategy in place to answer their questions.

Look for the next blog with answers to these questions soon … How do you respond to patients in this tricky situation? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Why Focusing on the Lower Anterior Teeth in Restorations is Important for Esthetics and Function

If you ignore the lower anterior teeth in a restoration, you may be sacrificing a significant amount of potential case benefits.

The process of improving dental techniques is one of constant refinement throughout our careers. We build upon techniques and begin to see our blind spots with each new case.

This blog is about specificity and detail-oriented technique. Excellent clinical dentistry balances the patient’s desire to improve their smile esthetics with effectively conveying the overall importance of planned changes to their health.

Incorporate the approach I discuss below into your restorative work and you’ll see the benefits extend widely to both final case esthetics and patient satisfaction. After all, those twin goals entwine throughout everything we do in the dental practice.

Restore Lower Anterior Teeth for Esthetics and Function

Have you ever noticed cases in various dental publications where nice restorative work has been completed on the upper anterior teeth, but the lower incisors were completely ignored? Oftentimes the lower anterior teeth (the little guys) are crowded, uneven, worn, and/or damaged.

This discordant aspect is visually jarring and detracts from the perceived beauty of the final result. The pristine nature of the upper anterior teeth throws the correspondingly less appealing look of the lower anterior teeth into greater relief.

The little guys are important for esthetics and function. They show considerably more on speech as we age, something very few patients realize. They are also critical for distribution of forces as we move into protrusive and excursions. The Pankey Institute recognizes the importance of lower anterior teeth as a vital aspect of complete dental care.

This is a periodontal case where a simple equilibration substantially improved esthetics and force distribution. Patients really appreciate an enhanced smile. They immediately feel better function and stability.

What commonly overlooked areas or techniques do you use to improve restoration esthetics and function? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!