Chicago Dentist Office Goes Green!

July 24, 2009 (CHICAGO, Ill.) (WLS) -- Hosea Sanders and Sylvia Jones

If you were worried about going to the dentist, here's one more reason to get that six-month check-up: it could be good for the environment.

A new dental office is billing itself as the first 'green' dental group in the nation. It's not only designed using eco-friendly materials, but it's also leading the way in practicing green health care.

Rather than tapping and scraping teeth to find cavities, a laser inside a "diagaden" tool uses fluorescent light to detect decay in its earliest stages.

"You're making smaller holes in teeth. You're preventing teeth from turning into toothaches, less chair time for the patient. Some of these types of cavities, you don't need to use anesthetic," said Goran Kralj, DDS of the Ora Dental Studio in Chicago's South Loop.

At the Ora Dental Studio, digital x-rays are the norm. Not only do they give a three-dimensional view, but over time, they can save upwards of 200 liters of toxic developing fluid from re-entering the water stream. There are also patient benefits.

"It's over 90 percent less radiation than traditional films," said the Ora Dental Studio's Steven Koos, DDS, MD.

Other equipment helps eliminate medical waste from being dumped into landfills or incinerated -- releasing toxins into the air.

One machine pulverizes used needles.

"We have a system where we actually generate zero bio-hazardous waste. We're able to dispose of our bio-hazardous waste in such a way that it renders it non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-recognizable, and we can dispose of it in regular garbage," Koos said.

Ora is a mercury-free and metal-free practice. Even its business administration is green. It is a completely paperless office.

"It's part of the tenet of what's good for the planet is good for the patient and vice versa, but it's also equitable health care that's available to everyone," said Koos.

Ora Dental Studio offers both general dentistry and oral surgery. They have two locations, and a third was expected to open soon.

A Random Kid hanging with Bill Gates

written by: Maggie Shiels | 10:24 UK time, Friday, 6 August 2010

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/maggieshiels/2010/08/hanging_with_bill_gates.html

Techonomy, a conference discussing the marriage between technology and economy here in Lake Tahoe in Northern California, has seen a fair number of tech gods in attendance.

There's been Google co-founder Larry Page, its CEO Eric Schmidt, Sun Microsystems co-founder and so-called "Edison of the Internet" Bill Joy, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, inventor Dean Kamen and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes.

A pretty impressive bunch. But when former Microsoft boss Bill Gates arrived, it was like a rock star entering the room. Even Larry Page jostled for some one-on-one and the pair chatted about - what else but technology?

As well as catching up with his peers, Mr Gates spoke to a host of other attendees and to the students who have been helping out here all week.

Among them was 15-year-old Talia Leman, to whom Mr Gates paid particular attention; the day before he had played bridge with her grandparents. The fourth player was the sage of Omaha, Warren Buffet.

Mr Gates had also come with a note from Talia's gran, Evelyn Mintzer. "That is so typical of my mom," said Talia's mother Dana.

But this wasn't Talia's first encounter with Mr Gates. When she was 12, she heard him speak at Harvard where her father graduated. (The same cannot be said of Mr Gates who dropped out to start a small software company.)

His commencement address had an effect on Talia:

"He said the barrier to giving is not too little caring - it's too much complexity. That means when we see suffering in the world and we don't know how to help, we look away."

"It was such a reassuring message that people do care - but it's our job to make it simple for them to find a way to make a difference," said Dana. "Mr Gates is the one that liberated Talia to understand that complexity is her only enemy. It's not apathy. That is a very liberating thing to realise."

Talia used the quote in speeches to stump for her non-profit start-up Random Kid, which aims to use the "power of anyone to solve real problems" - that is, to help children help other children.

The first project was raising money for Hurricane Katrina. Her organisation has gone on to provide funding for water-pumping projects around the world, refurbished schools, provided play centres and anti-malarial nets for Africa and crutches and artificial limbs for those injured in the Haiti earthquake.

Random Kid has raised over $10m and counting. Not bad for a 15-year-old. Talia has also been appointed Unicef's first known National Youth Ambassador and has amassed a slew of national and international awards.

Over her short career to date, she has harnessed the energy of over 4,000 school districts. It sounds like she could give Mr Gates a run for his money in the "over-achieving" stakes.

While Talia clearly regards the software mogul as an inspiration, she said he also comes across as "a real down-to-earth person. He's very real and very legit and I hope to learn some of his wisdom."

Talia said she has been soaking up the conference atmosphere and learning as much as she can:

"Everybody here has something to offer and everybody comes from a phenomenal background with amazing resources we can bounce off.

"I feel everyone is interconnected in some way, which is really cool. I feel like I am listening in on something I am not supposed to - like I am part of this cool new present and like I'm not supposed to be listening because it is all the most intelligent people in the world discussing the biggest issues that we are facing."

Talia is planning a big site relaunch in the next couple of weeks. Her mum Dana is also looking for a mentor for her because "there's only so much a mum can do. She needs someone to help her to the next level."

For the moment, Talia is concentrating on spreading the world about Random Kid:

"You realise that coming from rural Iowa, you can be part of something that is so much bigger - and that's incredible. Also that the small efforts matter most not just that they matter.

"I'm in it for the real deal, for the long term."

And the outcome of that bridge game between Talia's grandparents and Messrs Gates and Buffet? Dana said that Mr Gates told her he couldn't remember.

Dana noted that last year her parents won.