today ADHA Nashville June 19

commentary Hygiene Tribune U.S. Edition | June 19, 20152 By Patricia Walsh, RDH Editor in Chief E arth Day this year coincided with some of the best walking weather New York City has seen in a very long time. I was lucky enough to have been out of the office and up on an elevated park called The High Line. Once a stretch of railway designed to bring produce and other goods into the city, it is now a diverse landscape of natural beauty. Even on the hottest day, soft breezes flow up from the nearby Hudson River. It took about 10 years from conception to completion. The dream of turning an abandoned railway into a public park, instead of tear- ing the structure down, was spearheaded by the Friends of the High Line (www.the highline.org). Around 2000, a rail system sitting unused for decades had become a natural, messy, free-range sort of park. Never designed to ferry passengers, the rails were practically unreachable by Turning decay into art humans. Birds dropped seeds, and the wind blew in the grasses. Those who wished to renovate want- ed to keep what nature had started but on a tamer, civilized scale. A bit of modern art and comfortable seating was thrown in for good measure. You can’t help but be transfixed by the beauty of old brick warehouses juxta- posed against sleek shimmering mod- ern buildings. Who knew rust could be so beautiful when it shares the sun with a field of yellow wildflowers? What was block upon block of decaying warehouses is now a vibrant revitalized area. My favorite place to pick up a picnic lunch is the Chelsea Market. The site of the old Nabisco factory, it is a corner- stone of this park. The elevated railway was originally designed to keep people safe from the massive traffic jam of de- livery trucks dodging a street level train. So many pedestrians were killed over the years that a street below is called Death Avenue for good reason. On this par- ticular April morning, delicate narcissus flowers elighted elevated walkers and the varied scents of duty-free perfumes had replaced acrid locomotive fumes. Grassroots community effort has turned decay into beauty. Unless you know the history of the park, you might not see the big picture. We as dental pro- fessionals can lose sight of the fact that we do the same thing on a small scale. Day to day we turn decay into min- iature works of art. Sometimes in a half hour restoration, sometimes over a six month implant case. Creating tiny mira- cles on a weekly basis, are we so much in the “now” or the “present” that we forget what our dental team is routinely and actively accomplishing? Once the High Line project started to take shape, the en- tire Western edge of Manhattan enjoyed a rebirth. How many times have we heard of patients who restore one area of their mouth with an implant and then become motivated to continue with more treat- ment? You develop the patients’ trust, and they make up their own mind to do the right thing. They become motivated to start their own “beautification project” and come in for regular recare appoint- ments. Today was a day to pause and reflect on interdependence, interconnectedness on a global scale. I couldn’t help but think of how it applies to my own worklife on a day-to-day basis. The diversity of the languages you hear among New York tourists is always enter- taining. We pretty much all dress alike these days, so it’s the cacophony of for- eign words that adds a bit of zest to one’s walk. The food carts, the artists, the street singers — they’re all up on the High Line too, along with monks in flowing orange robes. The monks seemed to fit in per- fectly with the simple bamboo garden. With an atmosphere designed to bring peace and self awareness to a bus- tling city, the park is perfect for an easy two-mile walk or a seat for quiet con- templation. Just as I was about to leave, a Buddhist monk thanked me for my small donation. He handed me a simple wooden-bead bracelet and a card that reads, “Work smoothly, lifetime peace.” Can’t say I need to wish for much more in life. Publisher & Chairman Torsten Oemus t.oemus@dental-tribune.com President & Chief Executive Officer Eric Seid e.seid@dental-tribune.com Group Editor Kristine Colker k.colker@dental-tribune.com Editor in Chief Dental Tribune Dr. David L. Hoexter feedback@dental-tribune.com Editor in Chief Hygiene Tribune Patricia Walsh, RDH feedback@dental-tribune.com Managing Editor HYGIENE TRIBUNE Robert Selleck r.selleck@dental-tribune.com Managing Editor Fred Michmershuizen f.michmershuizen@dental-tribune.com Managing Editor Sierra Rendon s.rendon@dental-tribune.com Product/Account Manager Humberto Estrada h.estrada@dental-tribune.com Product/Account Manager Will Kenyon w.kenyon@dental-tribune.com Product/Account Manager Maria Kaiser m.kaiser@dental-tribune.com Business Development Manager Travis Gittens t.gittens@dental-tribune.com EDUCATION Director Christiane Ferret c.ferret@dtstudyclub.com Accounting Coordinator Nirmala Singh n.singh@dental-tribune.com Tribune America, LLC 116 West 23rd Street, Suite 500 New York, NY 10011 Phone (212) 244-7181 Published by Tribune America © 2015 Tribune America, LLC All rights reserved. Tribune America strives to maintain the utmost ac- curacy in its news and clinical reports. If you find a factual error or content that requires clarifica- tion, please contact Group Editor Kristine Colker at k.colker@dental-tribune.com. Tribune America cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims or for typographical errors. The publisher also does not assume respon- sibility for product names or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Tribune America. Editorial Board Dr. Joel Berg Dr. L. Stephen Buchanan Dr. Arnaldo Castellucci Dr. Gorden Christensen Dr. Rella Christensen Dr. William Dickerson Hugh Doherty Dr. James Doundoulakis Dr. David Garber Dr. Fay Goldstep Dr. Howard Glazer Dr. Harold Heymann Dr. Karl Leinfelder Dr. Roger Levin Dr. Carl E. Misch Dr. Dan Nathanson Dr. Chester Redhead Dr. Irwin Smigel Dr. Jon Suzuki Dr. Dennis Tartakow Dr. Dan Ward HYGIENE TRIBUNE Tell us what you think! Do you have general comments or criticism you would like to share? Is there a particular topic you would like to see articles about in Hygiene Tribune? Let us know by emailing feedback@dental-tribune.com. We look forward to hearing from you! If you would like to make any change to your subscription (name, address or to opt out) please send us an email at c.maragh@ dental-tribune.com and be sure to include which publication you are referring to. Also, please note that subscription changes can take up to six weeks to process. Ad Patricia Walsh, RDH High above Manhattan’s busy streets, a stretch of New York City’s 1.45-mile-long High Line park inspires thoughts of transforming decay into beauty. Photo/Patricia Walsh, Hygiene Tribune A trip outside becomes a good reminder not to lose sight of what we do on a daily basis

today ADHA Nashville June 19

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