As the use of social networking grows in the business world I am amazed! How do people find the time? Taking great care of our patients has been the most important thing to this practice and will always remain so. Over a year ago I decided to add blogging to my list of responsibilities and if you check this section of our website you know I am having a hard time. I don’t consider myself a slacker by any means but I have such a difficulty finding the time to post what has been going on here. The thing is, we do so much more than just dentistry and there is so much to share. Some of it you would really enjoy knowing about or seeing the pictures. Our holiday décor is really special and last years’ did not disappoint (even if I do say so myself)! Yet, writing about it and getting some photos up is a long forgotten task. Actually, I never forget, I just couldn’t get to it….

So, now as we are officially in spring, I would be really remiss if I did not share details of our most recent event. On Friday March 25th we once again opened our office for a day of free dental care. This was our second annual Dentistry from the Heart day and it was even more successful than the first.

This is a huge undertaking for our office. It literally takes a village to produce this thing. This years’ goal was to see 120 patients throughout a 12 hour day, offering each patient their choice of a hygiene visit, a filling or an extraction all at no charge. In addition to our own staff, we had a dozen other dentists volunteer, another 12 assistants, 6 hygienists and 30 or so volunteers doing everything from registration, blood pressure readings and clean up, to lunch set up, health history review and photographing the action. Dr. Hanapole and I send out a giant THANK YOU to each and every one of you.

Patients started arriving as early as 4pm the day before and when we got here at 6am the following morning at least 75 were already waiting. By 7:15 all numbers were given out and we had to start the painful task of turning people away. I am sure if we had the space and more time we could have treated at least 400 as the need is definitely there.

What a whirlwind it was. The time flew by and patients were seen and gratefully left the office with bright shiny smiles or a newly filled tooth, or having had an extraction. Some had a tooth that had been bothering them for months and just didn’t have the means to have it filled or removed. Thankfully, we were able get them out of pain. Can you imagine having a toothache and not being able to take care of it for weeks or months? I couldn’t do it for 10 minutes!

We would also like to thank the local restaurants that supplied the wonderful lunch and snacks for all of the volunteers and coffee, spring water and pastries for the patients. Mr. Shrimp, Freedman’s, Caruso’s and Federico’s all in Belmar, the Scone Pony, and Who’s on Third in Spring Lake and Kepwel Spring Water in Wayside all generously helped out.

And last but not least we would like to thank our vendors. Every one of them stepped up and made a donation of some of the dental supplies needed. Kim of Ultradent and Art from Pearl Paterson Lab not only donated but actually came and volunteered for the day.

To say the day was successful is really an understatement. Anytime a group of people get together and are able to donate over $26,000 in free dental services to their community is a blessing, something we should all celebrate!

Next year’s event is Friday March 23, 2012!

nice job!

Hi There,
I wanted to share the handiwork of our local St. Rose art students. Under the tutelage of Mrs. Jane McGovern their art teacher, our windows have once again been painted in the spirit of the season. I was away the day they got painted but have been told by the rest of the team that they had a blast. If the end result is any reflection, they must have. The windows are so cute and well done, we are really proud.

You know the whole idea of having painted windows started when my brother and I were reminiscing about our childhood in Bradley Beach. Growing up there was the best, idyllic actually. When fall arrived the entire town looked forward to seeing the Main Street shop windows done up.  As little ones, just checking them out was really exciting, THEN when you were old enough to actually paint them, that was the bomb!  Truth is, they were enjoyed by children of all ages.  We wondered what had happened to the wonderful tradition….    It turns out that except for the fact that kids can no longer be sent on their own to paint even in our charming small towns, no one really knew why the tradition had ended.  So I wrote a few letters and almost immediately heard back from Jane McGovern.  She shared our memories and our frustration that the painting was no longer being done.   She was up for making it happen and now we have done this for 2 years in a row. 

Try to come by and take a peek.  They are guaranteed to make your day! 

Now, I am off to work on this year’s gingerbread house…. let me tell you it won’t disappoint!

Keep smiling, 

Beverly

If you asked me what question I get asked the most without hesitation I would say “Why did you leave hospitality?”  For those of you that have just met me, I’ll fill you in on my background.  About 25 or so years ago I traveled to Europe for the first time and was so inspired by the reverence for food and beverage and the lifestyle surrounding it that I decided to change careers.  I attended the Culinary Institute of America, did a post grad fellowship and then got a job with the then famous chef, Larry Forgione.  I worked with Larry for 9 years during which time I made my way to the top of the company, got to meet and work with dozens of high powered world renown foodies and many young food professionals some of which have grown to become household names.  Though I worked incredibly hard, it was a fun, wonderful and invaluable training ground. 

When I left Larry’s group I started my own company consulting to restaurants that needed pre-opening support or help getting on the success track.  The restaurant business is incredibly hard, and tricky, so right from the beginning my services were in demand.  I traveled alot!  I worked on both coasts, many places in between and in Europe.  I was also asked to teach the dining room service classes in the continuing education division of the Culinary Institute of America.  I was busy.

About a year after starting my consulting business I moved to the Napa Valley of California which I have come to refer to as Disneyland for food and beverage professionals.  Every source of inspiration someone in my field would want is right there.  Living there was amazing! 

So this is where the question comes in….  Why move back east?  Why a dental office?  Why Hanapole Dental Care? 

For those of you that know our family, part of the answer is a bit obvious.  Yes, Dr. Hanapole is my brother.  But is this enough of a reason to leave an interesting and lucrative hospitality career to a take over the management of a dental practice?  Probably not.   How is it that I can take a simple question and turn it into the longest answer ever?   I am not sure but I’ll prepare you, there is another story to tell that makes my reason really clear.  Here goes….

About a month ago, a young woman walked into the office with tears in her eyes and her body shaking.  She was clutching a notebook that was filled with thoughts and questions.  It had been years since she had been in a dentists chair and just entering the office was traumatizing.  She began to tell me her story and I reassured her that she was in the right place.  After over an hour of chatting she made an appointment.  A few days later, that same woman again walked through the door again exhibiting the fear and trepidation she showed a few days before.  This day she was going to have to sit in the chair and have someone actually examine her.  More fear!  But I know she felt like she was in a special caring place.  After the exam, Dr. Hanapole spent quite a bit of time letting this patient know the extent of her dental challenges and what options she had to correct them.  Because the patient had such a bad experience at her last dentist, it had been years since her last visit, and the necessary work was pretty vast.  She took some time to think about her options and decided to move forward.  Her first appointment involved a surgical procedure which she went through like a trooper.  Amazed that she was able to have that kind of work done without any pain and by a team that is continually supportive was astonishing to her.  She was so transformed that the next time she came in for her appointment she was actually smiling.  We have now been treating this patient for a few months and not only has her dental health improved but she has become the “poster child” for any patients that might have had fear and are want to get over it.  She may be our biggest turnaround ever.  The point is – this is what makes me want to work here.  Not only do I get to work with a great team, and support my brother, I get to help patients take care of their health and feel better about themselves. 

And that, my friends, is an even more satisfying than making any restaurant guest happy, any day!

On July 17th 2010, about half of the volunteers and supporters of our Dentistry from the Heart event that we had last March came to Dr. Hanapole’s house for an evening  barbeque.  Though the weather was warm (so what else is new) his shady and very beautiful yard created a lovely respite from the scorching heat.  A long time friend of mine, Michael Lee along with another talented musician and a singer supplied soft sultry summer sounds that made for an island feel in the middle of Wayside.

We served a simple meal of seasonal appetizers and salads along with the requisite grilled burgers, dogs and some delicious chicken sausage.  For dessert I made a fruit crisp from locally grown peaches and blueberrys that was really delicious.  For those of you that collect my recipes, I think that was the second or third that we shared with you.  I also made homemade ice cream sandwiches that seemed to be a real crowd pleaser.  I am trying to perfect this recipe and each effort makes for a better product.

It as great to be able to acknowledge everyone’s hard work and the overall success of our first Dentistry from the Heart event.  We believe that a good time was had by all.  

I was hoping to attach a  few photos and will do so shortly.

 Enjoy -  and keep smiling!

Hi All,
I promise! It really is my goal is to post at least once a week. Hopefully, we will have a few new administrative team members to help out soon. Then watch out, you may get tired of me….

So exactly what is new and exciting? Let’s start with staff. We have added a wonderful new assistant, Lorna.  She is a  really lovely, high energy, skilled addition to our team and we are thrilled to have her aboard.   Grace has also joined us as a part-time hygenist.  What a kind and patient woman she is.  You will love her!  Next, and this is a big one, is Dr. Tina Panchal.  Dr. Panchal is an associate dentist who has started working in the practice part-time. We expect by the winter months she will be with us full time.  We are thrilled to have Dr. Panchal with us.  She is so calm and really upbeat.  We love working with her as do all of her patients. 

In the last year we have noticed a huge need for more appointment availability both before and after work.  Dr. Panchal’s arrival is going to help make this happen.  If you have been putting off any dental work because of this, you should note that starting September 13, 2010, we will be open from 7am until 8pm on Mondays.  Shortly thereafter, we will be opening on Wednesdays, offering our services on all 5 weekdays.  In our effort to make Hanapole Dental Care even more convenient, we have added a second Saturday to the calendar and lengthened the hours we will be here on Saturdays.  By next summer we expect to expand hours on Tuesdays and Thursday as well. 

So busy, busy, busy as we all may be we are doing our best to make it easy to take care of your dental health.

So for now, stay cool and keep smiling!

hi all,
i’m back. please accept my apologies for the long gap between posts… after we finally got the blog, we were having trouble accessing it.  i felt like it was so near, yet so far.

hopefully, that is now a thing of the past and i can keep to my commitment of a weekly post.  so much is going on here that i will need to share at least that often to keep everyone up to date.

however, before i start posting about current events, i need to share about our “dentistry from the heart” event that we did on friday, march 26, 2010.   “dentistry from the heart” is a national iniative started by dr. vincent monteciollo in florida, to provide free dental services to the community.  it is set up for local dentists to organize a day of their choice at their location.  we selected late march and began preparing months before.  dr. hanapole recruited 5 of his friends/dentists to volunteer and we had over 35 others who did all of the other support jobs that helped the day be so successful.  our brother that lives in massachusetts joined us, as did the doc’s wife hanna. 

we are very proud to report that we did over $12,500 worth of free dentistry for our community.  we saw almost 100 patients who were all so lovely and appreciative.  it was a spectacular success.  all of the volunteers asked to come back and help next year.  we have selected friday, march 25, 2011 to be our next event.

i would be remiss if in additon to thanking the doctors and volunteers, i didn’t mention all of the local businesses that jumped in to help.  almost all of our dental vendors stepped up and gave most all of the supplies we used for the day.  federico’s, caruso’s, vivas, mr. shrimp and freedman’s donated most of the food used to serve lunch to the staff.  kepwel springs lent us an extra water cooler and donated gallons of spring water so the patients could stay hydrated while they waited to be seen.  central jersey bank gave us the use of their conference room to set up the food so the volunteers could take a nice leisurely break.  it was really lovely. 

all in all, things went really well.  i am proud to be part of a team that does things like this for belmar.  i guess the town thought it was pretty special too.  they acknowledged us as business of the year for 2010.  i am attaching a few links to some articles and a video about the event. 

http://belmar.com/starnewsgroup/2010/03/%E2%80%98dentistry-from-the-heart%E2%80%99-event-helps-100/

APP.com/section/VideoNetwork?bctid=74176430001

thanks for reading!

and keep smiling

beverly

hi all,
i know i have been promising to do this for a very long time…..  finally!  

we have been sooooo busy with events, exciting new improvements and the actual day to day needs of the office that it has been hard to actually sit down and do this.  i’m glad i am finally here.

here are a couple of updates:

our first dentistry from the heart event was super successful.  i will do a whole post with photos soon.  it was such a rich experience, both the volunteers and the patients had a wonderful day

dr. hanapole was recently certified in LANAP surgery.  lanap is an acronym for “laser assisted new attachment procedure”.  for us non dental types, this is a service that helps patients with periodontal disease by using a laser to remove the bacteria from the area around the tooth.  this allows the gums to get tighten up around the teeth and in some cases even the bone that holds the tooth in will grows back.  i know how complicated it sounds, but to patients with periodontal disease having an alternative (and a more successful one at that) to painful, unattractive gum surgery is a huge step forward.  check out the video that is attached to this link:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd846LBK9GQ.    this can be life changing for patients with the need.

we are now using smile reminder, to confirm our patients appointments. smile reminder allows patients to choose what works best for them. we can now send either a text message or an email to confirm and you can just hit respond to let us know that you will be here. of course, if the phone is still what works best for you, we offer that too!

look for our tooth fairy to be making stops at the local schools in the coming year.  she is petite, adorable and wears the most beautiful fairy princess like dress.  our programs tells the story of the tooth fairy and shares a bit about basic dental care.  there are some fun jokes and games and little prizes for all of the children in attendance.  if your child’s class would like to schedule a visit, just give me a call and i will contact the school to set something up.

so, i did it.  my first leap into blogdom.  i hope you enjoy it here.  my intention is to inform, maybe educate a little and mostly to share and have fun.  i promise, food and recipes will be involved very soon!

until next time, remember to keep smiling! 

beverly