Ostwald: One vote for dentists

The Record, Troy
Date: March 6, 2005

JOHN OSTWALD

Dr. Lanzillo was gigantic. Maybe he was 6-foot, 5-inches and weighed about 250. I don't really know if this is accurate because a child's eyes sometimes see things bigger than they are. He also seemed to have hands that matched his size. Big hands!

How could a man with such hands be a dentist? Yet there he was in a second floor office on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Grand Street, helping a lot of kids to deal with one of their worst fears - the fear of going to the dentist. The devil was scary, as we learned in Catholic school, but the dentist was a close second.

The screeching sound of the drill while you were in the waiting room was enough to make you run out into the street. What if he had to pull your tooth? We never saw it, but we all thought that he attached a string to the infected tooth and then to a door knob. Wham! The door is slammed and the tooth came out.

The needles used to deliver the Novocain looked longer than our arms. How could we think that this device could deliver anything but extreme pain.

In reality, Dr. Lanzillo was a kind, gentle man who had the softest voice for a man his size. He was able to minimize the trauma that was more in our young minds than in reality.

Now dentistry and dentists seem very different. They now have special dentists for kids who are helped to overcome their fears with toys, TV, games and sometimes small gifts that reward their bravery after they complete their visit. All this stuff is in the office that I have brought my kids to for about six years. My friend Greg said that when he was a kid, they gave him lollipops after the treatment. Now they give him an appointment for a cleaning with the hygienist.

For 15 years I have been seeing Dr. Gerald Benjamin who is regarded as the premier cosmetic/restorative dentists in the area. Fortunately, he only does routine work on me. He has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on over 1,800 hours of advanced training in different parts of the country. He has won national competitions for his work. If you see him in his weird magnifying goggles, white coat, white hair and mustache, he might appear to be a deranged scientist. When I asked about his hobbies outside of work, I expected something cerebral like chess or odd like taxidermy but he said, "My work is my hobby." What a great spot to be in. Loving your work so much that you look at it like a hobby.

The office doesn't look anything like Dr.Lanzillo's. It is very large and pictures of patients, certificates, and diplomas cover the walls. It has more high tech equipment than an RPI computer lab that flash and beep as you walk past the exam rooms. They have lasers and digital radiography (X rays with no film) and lots of other stuff that I don't understand. It is amazing to me that the size of the needles for the anesthetic didn't change. They are still enormous!

Dr. Benjamin is located in what he calls "cow country." It is rural Tamarac. He probably doesn't get the attention that he deserves for all his fantastic skill because of the location. He probably knows that I am not impressed with all his dental ability, but a few years ago, he did something that I consider very impressive. A friend of ours, Warren Berkowitz, a private investigator from Troy, had a terminal illness. Dr. Benjamin provided dental treatment for him during his remaining days and his gestures of kindness and generosity transcended his professional responsibilities.

That is why he is my dentist.

Ostwald: One vote for dentists, The Record, Troy, 2005.