Temple City Tribune » Confessions of a Molar Jockey

Wong, Carwile and Wilson Pre-Trial Set for August 26 – Council Member and Public Want Mayor Wong to Step Down

Temple City Tribune — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:20:14 +0000

Tom Chavez ,a city council colleague of indicted Mayor Judy Wong, has called on the council to consider appointing a new mayor at Tuesday’s council meeting in Temple City. Chavez and at least one member of the public voiced their opinion in no uncertain terms Tuesday evening.
“After much deliberation and soul-searching (I think in response to recent events and hearing from many of the citizens of Temple City) I would like to have the issue of reorganization of the City Council added to our next agenda,” said Tom Chavez after council returned from a closed session matter.

Jerry Jambazian said he thought it would be best for the community if Mayor Wong stepped aside. While admitting that this was hard to say, he felt it best for Temple City especially if the trial continues for a period of time and garners additional media spotlights
Last month a a 21-count indictment returned by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury against Wong was, former Mayor Cathe Wilson and former council candidate Scott Carwile was unsealed. Wong was charged with multiple counts of bribery, of perjury and one count of solicitation of bribery. All three council members pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Allegations by developer Randy Wang that Wong, Wilson and then-Councilman David Capra demanded bribes from him in return for their support of his $75-million Piazza project brought the charges to light and the tri was again in court Thursday morning in Los Angeles and ordered back to court next month on the charges.

Thursday’s court appearance was a pre-trial hearing. Another pre-trial hearing date was set for Aug. 26.

Photos by Terry Miller

Free Speech

Temple City Tribune — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:33:07 +0000

So I guess I’ll lead off by thanking all the little people. But enough already about VP Cheney, the Governator, and lastly but not leastly, our late but not so great TC City Council (Great luck for the recently enshrined bunch and please do not continue to screw things up around here.)
And I could also include the Clippers, the bruins, Kwame Brown, and even Judge 2Fs. Just to throw you off, big props also go out to Haven House, the Junior League of Pasadena, and even OM Dalila and the rest of the TCDC unrivaled team. Did I leave out Coach Pete Carroll, Doc “wrath of” Kahn, and our City Manager/Attorney aka TMx3?
So maybe you’re confused? And now you know how I feel when I scan the TMx3 Report every week in the Tribune. And how can I land someone who perpetrates buckshot violence on his own lawyer on the same page with a shelter for victims of domestic violence? How can the Clips and bruins share space with the Mighty Trojans and Coach Pete? Only in America.
All of the aforementioned can say just about anything they want any time (especially OM Dalila.) And without these assorted exceptional folks with a few goofballs thrown in, I’d have to write about dentistry every week. For better or worse, I’d have run out of material way back when the bruins actually took sports seriously. Thank goodness for free speech.
So here’s the thing, this column will include about as many informative dental tips as the one I received as a student from Doc “wrath of” Kahn. So King Kahn’s one bit of advice was “consider a career change.” My coaching is, “Please show up at the Community Room at City Hall on Tuesday, April 14 at 7PM and watch me exercise my freedom of speech while you experience your freedom from the cost of admission.”
Thanks to the efforts of local Chiropractic big shot Brian Venerable and TC Chamber big shot Linda Payne, Temple City health professionals will take turns speaking and listening and answering questions once a month through the end of the year. The line-up is very diverse and packed with personable, knowledgeable folks who are really anxious to share information and learn a thing or two from the people we are honored to serve.
On April 14, my topic will be “Why Seeing the Dentist Might be the Best Deal in Town.” Of course, it helps my best deal case when half the places of business on Las Tunas are empty.
Dentistry is a preventive discipline and research continues to strengthen the connection between the quality of oral and general health and quality of life. I assure you you’ll be surprised and encouraged by the information to be shared (even on the financial side.) My goal is always to help folks be happy with the health choices they make; we’ll spend some time doing everything we can to help you be your own best health care advocates.
And we’ll play some USC Trojan football trivia. And I’m confident we’ll even have gifts and prizes for everyone.
So be there or be powder puff blue. I’m looking forward to meeting you.
See you on April 14.

By Dr. Jack Von Bulow

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Changes Anti-Bias Training in Racial Profiling Settlement

Temple City Tribune — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:17:25 +0000

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has condemned the practice of racial profiling and agreed to promptly revise its anti-bias instruction to officers, expand diversity training and develop community outreach programs as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. The settlement resolves a claim brought against the department for stopping and searching dozens of African-American community college students based on their race during an incident on the campus of Los Angeles Trade Technical College in October 2007. Under the settlement, the Sheriff’s Department will implement sorely needed changes, including examining current anti-racial-bias procedures. Additionally, the department will revise its policy to state that department officials will do everything within their power “to guarantee racial profiling and bias-policing are not practiced.” “Our constitution and laws protect the community against law-enforcement harassment based on skin color, and this settlement is one step towards ensuring that the Sheriff’s Department never allows that to happen again,” said Catherine Lhamon, racial justice director at the ACLU/SC. “This agreement brings the department into the 21st century and provides the community with important protections against racial profiling.” Added Jeffrey H. Dasteel, a partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP: “Skadden is very proud of its tradition of commitment to pro bono service, and particularly of its work with the ACLU on matters of racial justice. With this agreement, the Sheriff’s Department acknowledges that racial profiling cannot and will not be tolerated.” The claim was brought against the department after 14 sheriff’s deputies walked onto the campus of L.A. Trade-Tech on Oct. 17, 2007, allegedly looking for drug dealers, and detained 33 black students and one Latino student who attempted to take pictures of the incident. Deputies searched the male students and forced the entire group, including four women, to sit on the ground in the middle of campus with their hands behind their heads, some for more than an hour. Deputies harassed and humiliated these students, treating them like criminals in front of the faculty, administrators and fellow students. Yet the students were never told why.

“We were all so upset about what happened. Knowing the department will make changes to the way they go about treating people is something I am proud of,” said Rev. Darrin Simington, a youth minister at the Alpha and Omega Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, who was among the dozens of people detained by deputies in the incident. “We look forward to seeing the new changes in the department, especially because these changes will be written in stone.”

Officials from the Sheriff’s Department have defended their actions, saying they were part of an investigation into illegal drug dealing on campus. But a report by the Los Angeles Community College District, which oversees the school, concluded that the roundup constituted racial profiling.

As part of the settlement, the Sheriff’s Department will widely distribute the revised policy within its ranks and post it at L.A. Trade-Tech. The supervising deputy at the community college will also meet with the students harassed to explain the changes the department will make.

“With the ACLU behind us, we were able to get something real accomplished,” Rev. Simington said.

Video of the incident can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G6LJc9yiXw&NR=1

“Cosmetic” Dentistry

Temple City Tribune — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:42:13 +0000

I’ve always been kind of amused by ads that emphasize “cosmetic” restorative dentistry. Restorative dentistry does what it says it does; it restores what’s been broken down or lost. The parameters range from a filling to an entire dentition. But shucks, unless we have way more vision than we really need, most molar jockeys use nature as our guide and work at mimicking what looks right.
So hopefully, we all do cosmetic dentistry. The alternative would be dentistry that looks like the bruins on offense. I don’t think so.
What’s really exciting about the way we do things these days is the distinction between getting a flat tire on your new ride and tooling around town on one of those funny little donut spares, as opposed to matching the three surviving tires and having the car detailed.
Dentistry today is more about the big picture; it’s comprehensive and built on long-term relationships. It isn’t about fixing a flat; it’s more like keeping the car looking good and running well for 200,000 miles
When I was a student, a patient would walk in with tooth decay visible only on an x-ray and walk out with a silver filling that could look like a black hole within months if it wasn’t polished like Mr. T’s ear rings. The filling would create risk for tooth fracture because it wasn’t temperature stable and was packed into a hole that undermined the structural integrity of the tooth.
These days, we can detect early tooth decay using a laser and be only invasive enough to get access to and remove the decay. Often, we restore the tooth with an adhesive agent and flowable resin that looks like tooth-colored liquid paper. The result is something that’s cosmetic/strong/natural looking because the care has been so conservative and the newer materials are so cool.
My dental materials guru who happens to have a PhD in Engineering to go with his DDS and a Masters in Materials calls the conservative approach “Tooth Bank Dentistry.” The less invasive we are in restoring mouths, the more we leave in the bank for the future as things wear down over time.
So today I’d root for the powder puff blue bruins before I’d do a crown on lower incisors or the upper laterals that flank the two front teeth; I’d restore ‘em with veneers. Why reduce small teeth to little stubs and cover ‘em up when sometimes a totally non-invasive 0.5 millimeter thick Durathin veneer can preserve strength and beautifully restore a natural appearance.
Posterior teeth that are fractured or are restored with big silver fillings and are at risk for fracture most often do not need crowns that cover the whole tooth. A better option is an onlay (covering only the top two millimeters.) If your head was a tooth, crowns fit like a bag; an onlay fits like a baseball cap. Tooth-colored onlays are beautiful, do not disturb the delicate environment at the gum line, and leave plenty of tooth structure in the Tooth Bank.
Restoring missing teeth with natural-looking implants means not having invasive procedures on neighboring teeth as is the case in a traditional fixed bridge.
Moving teeth into position with Invisalign can eliminate or diminish the need for veneers or crowns to create a beautiful smile…while creating an environment that is more conducive to sustained gum tissue health.
In dentistry, just doing the right thing produces the most cosmetic dentistry. Listening to the patient and understanding their vision, being conservative, and going for results that lean toward the norm and look right produces truly cosmetic dentistry. And hopefully, we’re all cosmetic dentists.

By Dr. Jack Von Bulow

"Happy" Valley

Temple City Tribune — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:35:08 +0000

Okay, so you probably knew there was no way I was going to let the traditional Trojan humbling of the Big Ten Rose Bowl rep just pass by without comment.

This year the Tournament white suits offered up the Nittany Lions of Penn State, coming all the way out here from Happy Valley. Don’t know about you guys but when someone starts telling me how “happy” their valley is, I just start wondering.

To me, Happy Valley sounds like a pet cemetery or a retirement home for ‘60s burnouts or an enclosure where folks go to recover and find themselves. These places are part of life and they remind me of my dog Spot, my own burnout eligibility, and my likely destination if I go to five-day work weeks with OM Dalila. Not necessarily happy stuff. But dentistry can be fun and we strive to make the experience a happy one.

All things considered, on January 1, I think the Penn State faithful would have been better off…and happier…going to Temple City Dental Care.

Shucks, I’ve never seen so many bitter folks on a bright sunny day. Makes me wonder how many applications UCLA accepts from Pennsylvania.

I wound up going to the game only after buying tickets to go out of town, figuring I’d just see the Rose Bowl on TV this time around. When one of my spin class buddies at the gym (who happens to be a USC Trustee) found out I wasn’t going, he really seemed so disappointed in me. I was haunted by, “You can’t do that; it’s the Rose Bowl.”

So a few days before the game, I visited StubHub and got a great deal on a couple of tickets.

Like I’ve shared before, my neurotic USC football fan tendencies have kind of progressed beyond my building a shrine in the office, hanging a little stuffed bruin upside-down from the ceiling, and buying the cardinal and gold scrubs we wear every Thursday during the season. And I’m not so sure that me believing my game-day behavior has an impact on the outcome of the game represents a mental health improvement. Hey, but at least I’m happy!!!

I went to the game with my friend and orthodontics Nobel Prize nominee and Invisalign mentor, Doc Fong. Now all that stuff I mentioned is totally true and the Fong family could easily outshine the Huxtables but more importantly, Doc is now 3-0 in the Rose Bowl with an overall Trojan game record of 5-0.

We wound up on the 50-yard line and right in the middle of contingent from “Happy” Valley. President-elect Obama once observed folks from small towns in Pennsylvania being “…bitter and clinging to their guns…or antipathy to people who aren’t like them…” And I’m glad they check-in the guns at the Rose Bowl.

As we walked in through Tunnel 18, some of the N-Lions were already needlessly complaining about probably being stuck sitting in the sun (an environment apparently rarely experienced in “Happy” Valley this time of year.)

Once seated, the PSUers started trash-talking the band, the horse, and even soCal community colleges; when they started in on the song girls and Keyshawn Johnson they’d crossed the line. I began to wonder what dental experiences must be like in “Happy” Valley.

“So my ghostly white friends from Penn State, we’ve got John Wayne, Herb Alpert, Stevie Spielburg, George Lucas and most of the guys from Watergate and I see more beautiful women here in ten minutes than you’ll see in four years in “Happy” Valley. If you leave out Rocky Balboa and the Amish, who’ve you guys got?”

“So Trojan fan, you must work out. What’s a Watergate?

“Wow, it’s halftime already and you guys are down 31-7; bet you can’t wait to get back to “Happy” Valley.”

“SC dude, do you really know where Herb Alpert lives? Is that really the sun?” When does the horse get to rest?

Walking the 2009 Talk

Temple City Tribune — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:08:56 +0000

So just a couple of days earlier I was busy doing something totally new and enjoying the experience. But somewhere back in that tangled web between my ears that probably looks something like the City Manager’s Weekly Report, trouble was brewing.
Wednesday evening, before, during, and after cocktails, steak, and dessert, I was living large. Thanks to my TCDC All-stars and a good friend/patient/arguably the best athlete TC High ever produced, I was sitting ringside at the USC Trojan Football Awards Banquet. And by the time I’d made myself right at home I was rubbing elbows with the Senior Associate Athletic Director-Development, the son of the first Trojan to ever record a touchdown at the Coliseum, and an All-Pac10 safety and his family. Almost forgot about Coach Pete and Marcus Allen; could’ve hit ‘em both with friendly lettuce wedge fire if I wasn’t so dang focused. Hope I can make that NFL draft day party too.
And shortly after I’d accomplished the Mark Sanchez autograph for the future Mrs. Sanchez, my Godchild Ashley, and just after finally figuring out where I’d parked my car, some serious anxiety started to surface. Tomorrow was going to signal the kick-off of another new experience but it wasn’t gonna resemble the kind of tailgating to which I’d become accustomed.
Not long after the loss of my friend and colleague, Publisher/Citizen Baskin, I made a point of finally being responsible and getting a medical check-up (I sort of figured that if I didn’t, OM Dalila might access some introductory urgent-care.) True, I really do work at taking care of myself; I watch what I eat and work out practically every day (done it since I was old enough to go out and play with the other neighborhood kids.)
But after helping my mom with her difficult journey through the health care system, I’d become way more phobic about seeing Medical Docs than I was willing to admit. So when I finally made it to my overdue primary care appointment a nurse greeted me by asking how long I’d had high blood pressure (My answer was, “Never: until I saw you.”) Well, the hypertension was all anxiety-related; the BP went back to about 105/65 when I measured it at home over the next two weeks. I gave up chicken Milanese/3 days per week and passed a treadmill echocardiogram with style.
When I met up with my Doc to discuss the various test results I seriously thought a Trojan “V” and a high five weren’t totally out of the question. Instead, all I got was, “Have you scheduled your colonoscopy yet?”
So yesterday was the Big Day. OM Dalila chauffeured me to and from; I knew I could depend on her because she had recited the colonoscopy countdown on a daily basis since about mid-October. Everything went fine. I’m here to tell you that even for a total MD phobic like me, the experience was way less painful than watching the bruins on offense. And the benefits go to life and death.
I learned two major things. I’ve always thought I was sympathetic to the needs of scared patients. I know I’ll be better now. And I’ve always thought of myself as an effective advocate for oral cancer awareness. With my filter of hypocrisy a little less formidable, I expect to be a more convincing voice.
Declaring to walking the talk is a great step forward but facing some fears can be the next step toward some possibilities we can’t even imagine.
Have a great, healthy 2009!

Louisville Recovery Time

Temple City Tribune — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:19:40 +0000

So I don’t know about you guys but I sure do appreciate my recovery time. In fact, for me, the Holidays provide the perfect opportunity to recover big time.
And world-class recovery isn’t necessarily all about taking a Louisville Slugger to the alarm clock or going Kobayashi with chili-cheese whatever all day or letting the dishes stack up or wearing the same old Trojan National Championship FB jersey all week (Shucks, that would mean bruin fans could never recover properly and they need it more than most. Maybe in their case we could opt for “We held BYU to 59 points” tees.
In any case, research shows that in order to grow, we need to experience stress and recovery in fairly equal portions. Dr. Jim Loehr believes we most effectively develop physically and emotionally when our day-to-day routine consists of a series of stress/recovery intervals. Loehr is a world-renowned performance psychologist and CEO of Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Florida. Jim has worked with Fortune 100 executives, FBI hostage rescue teams, Pete Sampras, Dan Jansen and numerous other elite athletes…and me (twice.)
Compromising the recovery component of our oscillation through life can have some fairly dire consequences. Now that I think of it, I’m sending a copy of this column to spin instructor Pearl who doesn’t believe in recovery but is a UCLA grad and doesn’t follow football and that’s probably her recovery angle right there and there I go talking to myself…again.
Back to the troublesome health implications; there are many just within the scope of what we see in dentistry every day. When little kids suffer allergies, parents will often report some seriously loud nighttime teeth grinding. The grinding is the body’s adaptive effort to open up the ear canal and relieve congestion produced by big tonsils and adenoids that are part of a stressed immune system. If the allergies go untreated and recovery time is significantly impacted, the result can be altered oral and facial development as well as slowed growth. In the adult airway version, obstructive sleep apnea puts folks at risk for stroke and heart attack. We definitely need effective recovery time; without it, our quality of life and length of life can take a Louisville slugging.
And as long as I’m going Louisville, why shouldn’t I complain about baseball crimping my recovery time.
Like most American males my age (somewhere between 32 and 55.32) playing catch with my dad was my intro to sports. And at risk of my dad coming back and haunting Doc (wrath of) Kahn until he goes over my final Mock Board exam results just one more time, I’m here to say I’ve had it with baseball.
I’ve already gone from being a kid who played over-the-line everyday all summer and knew every Big League batting average to seeing the National Pastime as I do now. Today, attending a ballgame is a chance to eat junk food, wash it down with a cold, frosty beverage, read a book, BS, get some sun, defeat insomnia and seize 3-5 hours of recovery time. Simple as that.
And now, a billionaire billboard jockey won’t pay an extra $20 million over eight years to some punk in cleats because $160 million just isn’t enough for a 29 year-old guy who’s already set for life playing a kid’s game in front of a bunch of folks who’re wondering whatever happened to their 201Ks (I think I just threw up in my mouth.)
So, thanks for the memories. Shucks, now I’m probably gonna have to start watching ice hockey or…gulp…soccer. But I won’t be losing any sleep over baseball…zzzzzz.

Top Ten Santa Wish List

Temple City Tribune — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:41:31 +0000

So the first part of this article might read a lot like the Santa column I wrote a couple of years ago. If it seems familiar, maybe you really liked it or have a copy of my book…but it’s probably more likely our great minds just think alike
It really doesn’t seem that long ago when Christmas held so much wonder for me I almost couldn’t handle it. In the weeks leading up to December 25 I was so caught up with anticipation I could barely fall asleep and then couldn’t wait to wake up. I’d get up really early and tip-toe into the living room where I could have the Silver Tip, the ornaments, and the lights all to myself. I think those early AM experiences may have even produced a few “little kid” endorphins (and that’s way more than I can say about my Spin Class endorphin count.)

I can still visualize the shiny blue Schwinn Corvette (with speedometer) and I couldn’t come close to telling you how many USC football games I logged on the transistor radio (with ear piece and leather case) that Santa dropped off the Christmas I was a twelve year-old doing play-by-play. But the all-time biggest and best gifts remain the ones that are timeless gift-wrapped memories including my parents and my brother and aunts and uncles and too many cousins to count.

When I was a kid it just seemed like anything and everything was possible, especially this time of year. Seems like this year, a wide-eyed child-like sense of possibility could come in really handy.

I usually get into the Christmas spirit when I join Dental Assistant Extraordinaire Dani for a trip over to the Haven House Children’ Christmas party. The truth is, seeing joy of any kind on the faces of moms and children, away from home for Christmas and looking for a chance at life without generational fear, can be a powerful experience. And if you can provide even a glimmer of hope you’re more likely to see some more.

So without any trace of the usual sarcastic stuff I reserve for the Bruins, Bolton, Judge 2Fs, VP Cheney, and Doc (wrath of) Kahn, I give you my 2008 Top Ten Santa Wish List:

Wish #10: Quiet dental drills, local anesthetic that tastes just like pancakes, and 700 billion hours of community service for DDSs who ask way too many open-ended questions patients can’t answer.

Wish #9: Dental insurance programs realize it’s not 1970 anymore when they figure out annual maximum benefits.

Wish #8: The U.S. joins the rest of the civilized world and makes health insurance available for all of its citizens.

Wish #7: CC Sabathia takes the extra $60 million the Yankees didn’t need to offer him and invests some of it to help give poor kids a second or first chance. The Yankees match it.

Wish #6: The fenced-in shifting pile of dirt, AKA the Piazza (coming soon), becomes a rolling field of green…at least until the development job gets done.

Wish #5: Random acts of kindness replace random acts of violence.

Wish #4: Folks start quoting JFK again. Here’s a start: “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.”

Wish #3: Fewer families celebrate Christmas in shelters like Haven House.

Wish #2: (Okay, so you knew this was coming) USC Trojans win a third consecutive Rose Bowl game.

And Finally,

Wish #1: Everyone within six degrees of separation and beyond has a happy, healthy Holiday and feels like the kid I was again.

Merry Christmas!