SUMMER 2024
FROM THE CENTER FOR ORAL SURGERY & DENTAL IMPLANTS 1
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Meet Our Two New Oral Surgeons!
Oral Lichen Planus: a COVID-19 Connection?
Help Patients Find Online Information They Can Trust
The Toothpaste Ingredient That Can Cause Xerostomia
COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE Welcome to the new issue of our clinical update newsletter! We hope you find it helpful and invite you to suggest any topics you’d like to see covered (just give us a call to request). We welcome referrals from colleagues and invite you to speak to any of our surgeons to discuss the needs of your patients. We look forward to hearing from you! Warm regards, Emily J. Van Heukelom, DDS Roseanna P. Noordhoek, DDS, FACS Chris Bulcher, DMD, MD Dillon Feigenbaum, DDS, MD
Contact one of our surgeons at 616-361-7327 OUR OFFICES
4349 Sawkaw Drive NE Grand Rapids, MI 49525 158 Marcell Drive, Suite B Rockford, MI 49341
Welcoming New COSDI Doctors:
CHRIS BULCHER, DILLON FEIGENBAUM WHAT DO south-central Idaho and New York’s Long Island have in common? Each was the original home of an oral surgeon who will bring his talents to the Center for Oral Surgery and Dental Implants (COSDI) in the summer of 2024. That’s when Long Islander Dillon Feigenbaum, DDS, MD, and Idahoan Christopher Bulcher, DMD, MD, will join the practice. Actually, they have more
in common than that. They share a zeal not just for the technical art of surgery, but also for their profession’s human aspect: being sensitive to individual patients, making them comfortable and relieving their pain. Meeting the standard of care isn’t the end for Drs. Bulcher and Feigenbaum; it’s the beginning. “Algorithms exist, but there’s a reason we don’t just have
robots following a flow chart,” says Dr. Feigenbaum, noting that patients are often fearful when they arrive at the oral surgeon’s chair—or even the dentist’s. “You need to have the emotional component, to be able to interpret and use your experience to know the best thing to do.” From the patient’s point of view, he says, “you want a person who can talk to you, make you feel better and put you at ease. Because any kind of surgery is scary.” “It’s unique in oral surgery that a lot of our work can be done with the patient awake,” says Dr. Bulcher. “But we also have the ability to sedate patients, and that’s great for people who are anxious about their treatment. So regardless of the treatment, whether it’s wisdom teeth, implants or major surgery, my goal is to create as safe and pleasant an experience as possible.”
Third year’s the charm
For both of COSDI’s new oral surgeons, the third year of dental school was a critical decision point on the path to becoming oral and maxillofacial surgeons. During Dr. Bulcher’s third-year rotation in oral CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
Center for Oral Surgery & Dental Implants | grandrapidsoralsurgery.com
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