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Dec. 4, 2008

Michael Freund: France vs. the Jewish right to reproduce

Frida Ghitis: Heed the security lessons of deadly siege

Dec. 3, 2008

Steven Emerson: Yes, the terrorists are winning

Don Terry: Lifetime, no see

Dec. 2, 2008

Melanie Phillips: The Mumbai atrocity is a wake-up call for a frighteningly unprepared world

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Strategic Motivations for the Mumbai Attack

Dec. 1, 2008

Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings

Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?

Nov. 28, 2008

Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be

Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?

Nov. 26, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership

Andrea Simantov: Shades of life

Nov. 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!

Nov. 24, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'

Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends

Nov. 21, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?

Caroline B. Glick: Civilization walks the plank

Nov. 20, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto

Nov, 19, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality

Elliot B. Gertel: 'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?

Nov, 18, 2008

Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason

Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?

Nov, 17, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason

Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?

Nov, 14, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia

Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead

Nov, 13, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic

The Kosher Gourmet by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla

Nov, 12, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers

Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks

Nov, 11, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?

Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate

Nov, 10, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?

Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist

Nov, 7, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality

Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy

Nov, 6, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism

The Kosher Gourmet By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes

Nov, 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors

Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie

Nov, 4, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law

Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review August 19, 2005 / 14 Av, 5765

That Perfect Smile — Vanity and cosmetic industry save dentistry

By Drs. Michael A. Glueck & Robert J. Cihak

The Medicine Men
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Not so long, dentistry was a dying industry. Lots of guys with hairy arms and wristwatches with little to do but drill and fill cavities.

And these holes decreased in number as we added fluoride to the water and every conceivable type of toothpaste to the medicine cabinet. Moreover, insurance companies were clamping down on dentists as they were every other doc.

But then someone realized that a bright smile was as remarkable as a straightened nose or any other surgically corrected-or-enhanced piece of anatomy.

All of a sudden, dentistry became the new vanity industry. Everyone had to have Chicklets teeth—perfectly aligned, well designed, whiter and brighter.

General dentists metamorphosed into cosmetic dentists.

And thus dentistry solved all of its problems at once. There was instantly lots to do, prices rose dramatically, and people paid for it themselves, thus allowing the dentists to avoid the insurance hassle. (Sadly, it's a fact of life that the American patient will pay far more and complain less for cosmetic treatment than for life-saving medical or surgical treatment.)

Dental ads with before-and-after mugs appeared everywhere in medical mags and in local throwaways for bonding, veneers, crowns, two-hour "power" whitening and invisalign orthodontia.

You, too, can look like a star! No matter how bad your smile or teeth, the tooth-fairy docs, as promoted by TV shows such as "Extreme Makeover" and "The Swan," can make you shine!

Have you noticed in the society pictures that everyone has the same open-mouth, upper-teeth smile?

That's because a favorite cosmetic procedure is the snapping on of six to eight upper veneers at $2,000 a pop. The socialites want to show off those upper beauties and thus have trained themselves to lift that upper lip and hold it.

If you lack megabucks, you can practically do it yourself with over-the-counter products. Have you been to the drugstore lately? The dental aisle used to be toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss.

Now those come in dozens of brands, sizes, shapes, colors and stripes. And now there are also pastes, ultrasonic cleaners, electronic brushes, curved and rounded tongue scrapers, mouthwashes, brightners, anti-plaque solutions, cool mint power pack oral care strips, enamel restorers, age defyers, gum stimulators, whitening strips and peroxide gels. Whiteners come in 15-minute, one-hour, two-hour, 24-hour and two-week varieties.

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It confuses us, and now it even frightens us. On the latest trip down the aisle one of us saw metal picks, probes, scalers and resins for fixing your own cavities and materials to seal your own crowns.

We haven't spotted any dental drills, lasers or home X-ray machines, but we're keeping an eye out. We expect some entrepreneur will eventually sell a dental bit that fits in a home drill. For x-rays you can have your cat walk around you three times for a home CAT scan!

Take good care of yourself. In this era of expensive out-of-pocket cosmetic care and stingy managed care, you have no other choice.

Besides, even if spending $10,000 to $20,000 on new teeth leaves you feeling unhappy, you'll always want to smile!

Editor's Note: Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., drilled out this week's commentary.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., is a multiple award winning writer who comments on medical-legal issues. Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Both JWR contributors are Harvard trained diagnostic radiologists. Comment by clicking here.

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