Cold wind and sensitive teeth.

We need Spring really bad, in Flushing, NY.  April is just around the corner, yet, the wind in the street feels still very, very cold.  When I feel the chill in the wind, I think about some patients who would feel the chill in their teeth.  I am a dentist and I feel empathy toward people who has big fillings, abrasions, weakened enamel, or caries, on their teeth.  Patients who have all of these will feel different degrees of sensitivity in their teeth.  I wish spring comes soon.  For people who have sensitivity, I recommend Sensodyne toothpaste.  Sometimes I would prescribe toothpaste with higher level fluoride to help them to strengthen their teeth. The stronger and healthier their teeth are, the less sensitivity.  If the patient with sensitivity has defective restorations or leaking white fillings, I would recommend doing the fillings over as well.  On the other hand, having warmer wind would help all these people standing and waiting for bus at the bus station stops.

Big value Chinese breakfast buffet

Red Bowl Noodle Shop at the corner of Main St and 41^st ST at the heart of Flushing offers a great menu on their breakfast buffet.  This is a place for non-Chinese background Americans to start to get a taste of authentic Chinese food.  It is not a big restaurant but they manage to put out a lot of dishes on their buffet line.  They have dim sum like shumai, fried dumplings, rice cakes, like small tapas in a sense.  Chinese porridge, soups and different kinds of soybean milk.  I can go on and on.  But the selection is great for brunch menu and it only costs about 8 dollars.  It is great location to look out the busiest street on Flushing.  I do think they can do better with their coffee and orange juice.  I need to go back and see if they improved the taste of their drinks.  They have 6 drink options: coffee, orange juice, apple juice, Chinese cold sweet tea and hot tea, and don’t forget the blessing of plain water.  Yup, you can tell I have tasted all 6.  They also have fruit and salad section. 

 

I am pretty sure most of people will feel like they ate a good meal.  The restaurant offers a lot of Chinese dish that you don’t see in Chinese fast food restaurant yet you can find fried eggs, fried rice, Chinese chicken and beef dish that we all are very familiar from a Chinese restaurant in any state of U.S.A.  Yet, because this is Flushing with so many Chinese immigrants, you are bound to find more authentic Chinese dish, not Americanized Chinese dish.

 The beauty of this restaurant for me is that I don’t have to speak or read a single Chinese word.  You walk in, you tell them it is for buffet.  They show you where to sit.  You can start to enjoy food.  Simple and easy.  The servers take away the plates pretty quick.  Your table stays neat most of the time.  If you drop a chopstick, you can easily access their utensil section to start eating again.  It is all self-serve, except getting a bill.  The server will bring you out a bill to your table.   I am sure that most Americans and tourist who are adventurous will enjoy this inexpensive Chinese buffet in Flushing, NY. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flushing Community Mural Project

Tomorrow will be an exciting day for Flushing LIRR station.  Please come out and help us to paint a new mural on the 40th Road entrance way to Flushing LIRR station between 12-5 on Saturday and Sunday (September 21 and September 22, 2013).

Flushing China town, Main Street

Main Street, Flushing, the final stop on Subway 7 line looks, feels and smells like a small city in Asia.  I am familiar with Asian countries since I grew up in Korea and finished my junior high school there.  When I was an Army dentist, I traveled to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan.  The cultures of Asia feel familiar to me.  The moment I set foot on Main Street, I am in China even if my phone GPS service shows me that I am in New York, USA. There are so many Asian faces, signs with Chinese character on buildings And chatter in various dialects fills the air.

Flushing, NY has a lot of Asian charms.  Maybe that is why I opened up an office in Flushing, Queens. Outside of dentistry, my hobby is dancing and a sporadic visits to gym.  My fiancé and I have tight work schedules and we spend our free time together finding hidden gems to visit in New York.

Over the next few weeks, I'll post my favorite places in Flushing for dim sum and cheap breakfast,  which jewelry stores I go to look at beautiful jades, recommendations on beauty salons and spas, and where to find custom-made clothing-All the things that I find make Flushing unique. I hope people make their way to Flushing and find their own favorites.

Referred pain after dental treatments

I sometimes make phone calls to patients after I work on them.  Once in a while, I would hear "I had a headache on the day of treatment and got better next day."  I am not an expert on oral facial pain.  However, I experience referred pain through my patients.  As I listen, I experience, sinus pain and ear pain can feel like tooth pain.  Some patient feel a pain on an upper tooth, yet the pain might come from the lower tooth.  Some wisdom tooth pain might spread to lower jaw and below jaw.  Some told me that "I have headache", yet, they had bad gum inflammation.  Some has headache that comes from bad jaw/teeth alignment (TMJ problem).    I also experience lowering of threshold for pain as patients often tell me: "this tooth started to ache and all the other teeth and gum aches, I can not tell you where I have pain, they all hurt!"  When I hear that, I say to myself, "oh, Lord help me figure this one out."  Pain is real entity and everyone feels differently.  Yet, I see how much fear of pain cause unnecessary anxiety and loss of energy.  Dentist do construction work in mouth.   The mouth has to be reconstructed to get better just like an old house has to be torn down to make a better house.  Some soreness in the mouth is expected but one cannot expect to be better without any transition period like fixing a house. 

Reduced sensitivity with Zoom Whitespeed

My office received new whitening machine, Zoom Whitespeed, from Philips Zoom.  I had to try this upgrade since the company told me that it greatly reduces sensitivity during Zoom whitening.  I had two 15 minutes of Zoom sessions and I didn’t feel much sensitivity.  When I received Zoom treatment with my old Zoom machine, I did have more sensitivity.  With this new upgrade, the zings were so minimal; I could almost say it was no sensitivity at all.  I was just watching my favorite shows on YouTube while I was getting whitening.  My assistant is well trained to cover up the gums to prevent sensitivity.  My assistant was happy that she got a compliment from me.  After my treatment, we tried the new Zoom on one of patients who has cold sensitivity due to gum recessions.  The whitening result on her was very good.  She was even happier that the Zoom treatment didn’t give her any pain.  For a long time, she was afraid to get the treatment due to sensitivity issues.  She really liked her whiter smile after the zoom whitening.  I could say Philips Zoom Company did improve their machine to better service patients who wish to brighten their smiles.  Kudos to Philips Zoom!

Upcoming wedding show at NYC

A wedding day is a special day for brides and groom.  You are here to greet all your friends and family and announce your commitment to this special person.  It is an exciting date!  My wedding date is coming up and I would be going to the bridal show in New York City on July 17^th, 2013.  I know that the Philips Zoom company will be there to promote their whitening treatment.   This is a good opportunity to find more about whitening if any wedding party member is interested in brightening his or her smile. Check out the website below for wedding shows.

https://www.weddingsalon.com/luxury-wedding-and-bridal-events-and-shows