Dear Dental Family,

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable.

The great news is that we have been a biological dental office for many years, so many of these safety protocols that the American Dental Association has recommended, we already have had in place for years.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agency’s’ recommendations.

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

• ·         Our office will communicate with you before your appointment to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
• ·         A Sneeze guard has been installed at the Reception desk area for your protection.
• ·         You temperature will be taken while in the Reception room. If it is higher than 99.2, you will not be seen and will be asked to reschedule your appointment.
• ·         A Pulse Oximeter reading will be taken while in the Reception Room. If your blood oxygen levels are low, you will not be seen and will be advised to see your physician for follow-up. Low blood oxygen level is a symptom of asymptomatic Covid infection.
• ·         We have hand sanitizer at the reception area. Please use when you enter the office.
• ·         You may see that our Reception room will no longer offer reading material since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect. Please enjoy the ambiance of the waterfall and relaxing music.

·         Once you are in the treatment room, we give you an ozone mouth rinse to reduce the microbes in your mouth.

·         We use ozone water in our dental units. Not only does that give us zero colony of bacteria and viruses in our units, it keeps ALL of our waterlines sterile.

·         During any treatment we use a dentairvac.com aerosol control system that sucks up all of the aerosols that your mouth or the dental equipment may put out.

·         We have a surgicallycleanair.com air sanitizing unit centrally located in the office with individual air purifier units in each treatment room. You may notice that our air feels and smells exceptionally clean.

• ·       Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• ·         We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
• ·         We have also updated our personal protection gear, so we may look a little unusual when you see us.

We have done a great deal to create a safe environment for our patients and team members. It will feel a bit...different. But it's all for YOUR benefit as a patient. You don't have to feel anxious that you will catch some disease from our office.

Many other dental offices are scared to go back to work, because they still don't have the PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) they need.

But OUR office has had the right PPE for years, because we are a biological dental office. We have already been doing it for a long time.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at 212 947-0073, email us at successddds@gmail.com or contact us through our website TheBrandWellnessCenter.com 

As per the New York State mandate, we expect to reopen on Monday, May 18.   Please call the office to set up your appointments, as time slots may be limited

Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming you back and seeing your beautiful smiles again!

Sincerely,

Dr. Brand and Team

COVID 19: The Health Crisis of 2020

While our country is in the middle of an unprecedented healthcare challenge, we here at The Brand Wellness Center wanted to reach out to you in hopes that you, your family, and loved ones are all well during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than ever, we want to reaffirm our commitment to provide you with information and support to help you maintain and even improve your well-being. For almost 40 years, our focus has always been on your overall health as it relates to your oral health. We wanted to share with you what we are doing to keep our immune system strong to resist all infections inclusive of the Coronavirus. 1. Strengthen the immune system • Vitamin D (2000 -5000 IU), C (2-10 grams in divided doses) and A (5000 mg) daily • 50 mg Zinc • Colloidal silver liquid (sublingual for 60 sec and then swallow) • Mushroom extracts • Melatonin (1 -5 mg) take 2 hours before bedtime (counteracts the cytokine storm) 2. Detox daily • Body brushing (improve lymph flow) • Daily green juice • Sweat (sauna, exercise, etc.) • Salt baths (Epsom salt will work) • Oil pulling (sesame is best for fever/infections) 3. Avoid all processed food, especially those with sugar added. A teaspoon of sugar will lower your immune system for 5 hours. 4. If you have an active infection (Coronavirus or not), we highly recommend that you see your primary care physician for a proper diagnosis and treatment. Aside from that, I would continue with the basic protocol listed above and add in the user of a nebulizer with hydrogen peroxide. This paper explains the technique and why it is helpful. Even though our office is closed, we are still picking up messages and responding to calls and emails. If you are in need of a referral for dental or medical, please contact the office and we will advise as necessary. We look forward to seeing each of you soon. Stay healthy. Stay safe. Dr. Brand and Team

Facial Rejuvenation with Acupuncture

I just got the nicest compliment. I was returning from the airport recently, taking the Express bus back to the city, and got carded when requesting the senior citizens discount. The guy just couldn’t believe that I was over that certain age.

And just last week, I was at a dental meeting, and a classmate (from 40 years ago) of mine, approached me to see if it were really me. He said that he walked by a few times to be sure, because I looked too young to be me now.

As the years go by and the wrinkles creep in, the skin sags and the posture weakens. It takes focus and dedication to stay healthy. Looking younger than your years, is just a side effect of that dedication. I have always tried to have a healthy lifestyle, and it has been challenging. There are so many toxins to deal with on a daily basis. Toxic people, toxic food supply, toxic air (I live and work in the city), toxic electrical (EMF and Wi-Fi) and most of all working in toxic dentistry (high mercury).

I do a lot to detox daily and apparently it has paid off. You can look through my many blogs to get the gist, or you can purchase my book My Secrets to Regaining Health to get a better understanding of this philosophy.

Conventionally, surgery, Botox and dermal fillers are the most common choices to eradicate wrinkles and sagging. And these procedures are becoming more common in many dental offices. For those with sensitivities, side effects can be chancy and sometimes deadly. So if you are looking for natural ways to age gracefully, these choices are not on the list. There are other options.

Facial Acupuncture

Which brings me to Facial Acupuncture for Facial Rejuvenation. A simple non –toxic way to create a “facelift” without the surgery. As far as I know, we are the only dental office offering this, and honestly, I believe we have it handled really well. Since we take into account your many other health concerns that can be addressed with an integrative approach.

This would be a basic list that we can review to enhance the outcomes from facial acupuncture

• Exercise, including Face exercise

• Increase antioxidants

• Face massage

• Exfoliation

• Using healthy skin creams with no toxic chemicals

• Detoxification

• Drinking appropriate amounts of water

• Get enough sleep so that the body can actually heal

Facial acupuncture has been around for centuries. It will open the meridians to your face and other parts of your head, creating a clarity of mind that will never be possible with conventional methods. Surgery, Botox and fillers will create blockages in the meridians, and may ultimately create future health problems. 

Actually according to this article in Psychology Today based on a recent PubMed study, Botox will change your brain activity, and not in a good way.

Ongoing research, however, has revealed an unintentional and rather alarming consequence: Botox injections in the forehead and face rearrange the brain’s sensory map of the hands. What's concerning is that clients typically come back for regular injections, because the limited paralysis the toxin induces lasts only two to three months. The ongoing question is whether repeated treatments over a period of years result in permanent changes to one’s brain.

As an integrative health practitioner, I always look for the healthiest and simplest ways to heal and stay well. If we can physiologically stay young while chronologically aging, so be it. Facial Acupuncture is one part of the solution.

For further information please check out our webpages on Acupuncture and Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture