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Advancements in Minimally Invasive Dentistry: Exploring the Integration of Digital Imaging, Laser Technology, and Ergonomic Design to Revolutionize Modern Dental Equipment and Improve Patient Outcomes and Clinician Workflow

The evolution of Dental Equipment is rapidly moving toward digital integration, vastly enhancing diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficiency, making it a critical discussion topic for modern healthcare. Contemporary dental practices are now defined by their reliance on sophisticated tools like Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) for 3D imaging, advanced dental lasers for precise soft and hard tissue procedures, and intraoral scanners that eliminate messy physical impressions. These technologies not only improve patient comfort but also allow dentists to perform minimally invasive procedures with greater precision, resulting in faster recovery times and better long-term oral health outcomes. The initial investment in this cutting-edge equipment is significant, prompting a debate on the economic feasibility for smaller clinics versus the clinical necessity for delivering superior…

Amanda by H S Cross

I’m just guessing, but I contend that at least half of all works of fiction conform to the Shakespearean premise that the course of true love never did run smooth. The impediments to true love are what keep us watching or reading for at least the duration of a play or a novel. If the obstacles are overcome, then we have a comedy of some sort. If not, well we have Romeo and Juliet. So sad. These hindrances often involve an irrational parent, restrictive social norms, big divides of age, background, race, or class, or collective madness as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. How much fun or angst we encounter depends on the inventiveness of the author. In this novel, Amanda, also called Marion, helps the author out by creating her own complications to a beautiful love.

In Amanda, a novel set in post-World War I England, a…

The Aviator and the Showman by Laurie Shapiro ’81

This intensively researched book puts to rest some of the myths surrounding Amelia Earhart and, by virtue of going into every detail of extant data, shows us that this story is of two intertwined lives. Amelia Earhart is a household name, but many of us know little about George Putnam, her husband. He was the showman, the wizard manipulating the legend from behind the curtain. Though many of his contemporaries found him unpleasant, he knew how to play the game of getting publicity for Amelia, and for making her the central woman in the history of aviation.

Amelia was an early feminist. Terribly ambitious, she worked to make a name for herself and to break new records. She wanted to be the female Lindy and indeed was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Her last trip, of course, is…

A Steinway on the Beach, Wounds and Other Blessings by Roger Rosenblatt ‘58

A Steinway on the Beach is a series of meditations, whimsical musings, free associations, and questions, both answered and unanswered, on the theme expressed in the subtitle, that misfortunes may be fortunate. At the center is the author’s mind as it meanders, fueled by events (such as the piano, which astoundingly washed up on the beach) and remembrances both of lived events and of all the lore – literary, biblical and historical—that this mind (and heart) has absorbed.  Although the form feels free and somewhat random, a closer look confirms that the topic of how the hurtful and the helpful, both always present, are emmeshed in each other.

One insight came from Lewis Thomas, the renowned father of another Friends writer, Abigail Thomas ’59. He called our very existence a “wonderful mistake.” It is a tenet of…

How to Befriend the Moon Goddess by Yobe Qiu and Illustrated by Stephanie Teo (faculty)

In this gorgeously illustrated picture book, two young children long to find a way to make friends with the Moon Goddess. Images from Asian lore merge seamlessly with modern rockets as the children devise ways to approach her, including following the jade rabbit.  It turns out that what the Moon Goddess is looking for in a friend is not so different from what we are all looking for.   Asian American children will enjoy this access to their cultural heritage and non-Asian children will appreciate that all kids long for friends who will make them feel they belong.

Let Me Take You Down, Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever, by Jonathan Cott

Jonathan Cott has a long history with The Beatles, having interviewed them over the years for Rolling Stone. Jonathan interviewed Lennon for nine hours just a few days before he was murdered. This was John Lennon’s last interview.

In this book, Jonathan follows the format which he used in his book about Maurice Sendak. He interviews individuals who will have a particular way of looking at the work in question. In the Sendak book we were looking at Outside Over There. In this book, we are looking at two songs that came out in 1967 and were the two sides of one record. Apparently, there was pressure on the Beatles to get something out before Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was ready to be released. In Spain. John wrote Strawberry Fields Forever, with its…

September 17, a novel by Amanda West Lewis

This book is based on fact. On September 17, 1940, a ship called the City of Benares, carrying among its passengers 90 children went down en route from England to Canada. Only 13 children survived this tragic attack by the Germans. We see this gripping and meticulously researched account through the eyes of three of these children. Like most of the youngsters aboard, Ken and Bess have already undergone the ordeal of separation from their families. The third child, Sonia, is traveling first class with her mother and brother. The great irony of the book is that the parents thought they were sending their children out of harm’s way by sparing them the trauma of bombings at home. In most cases, they were sending them to a terrifying early death.

The book lifts the curtain on what it must have…

Pippin, book by Roger O, Hirson ‘43

I have wanted to read this play for a long time but could only find the music; Roger Hirson wrote the book.  Recently someone posted a PDF of the whole play, and I was happy to have a chance to read the part of the work that was Hirson’s creation.  This alum had a long career writing for TV and movies, but he is best known for Pippin. This successful musical comedy garnered him a Tony nomination. I remember that Friends put on this show in the seventies, and Hirson was nice enough to come to the school to support the production.

Though set in the eighth century AD, the story focuses on the timeless challenge of defining an identity and not on attempting historical accuracy. A commedia del arte style troupe presents the play in a meta theater format.  In the story they…

Still Life at Eighty, The Next Interesting Thing by Abigail Thomas ‘59

When I saw that Abigail Thomas had written a new memoir, I knew what the next interesting thing would be for me.  For a memoir to work, the central character (the “me”), must be likable because this person is going to be your companion for a time.  Abigail pumps this up a step.  Her central character is so quirky, so honest, so poignant that you can’t help loving her. What writer makes you laugh out loud while tears are flowing down your cheeks?  Good God! Stephen King and Elizabeth Gilbert love her!

At eighty plus, Abigail is beginning to wind down, and dread and fear are never far away.   The isolation of the epidemic provoked a wealth of introspection. Her mind roves back in time, conjuring long-ago moments and forward into future perils, but mostly she is in the…