wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

As Shakespeare has Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, utter "If music be the food of love, play on" in his play "Twelfth Night" so are we all emotionally and ethos-wise enchanted by music's spell. My dentist has CD and radio options for all his patients in his large office with many rooms and for the other dentists, as well. I choose to have him play one of my own solo performances: "Carnegie Hall "live' on Valhalla Records CDs from one of my four performances in the Isaac Stern Auditorium. The Carnegie Hall audiences' applause also is for me, music to the ears. I have had root canal work and remarked afterward, "Gee, if I knew it would be so mild, I would recommend it to anyone in need of the procedure. The CDs were played on the CD player's speakers, but I can readily acknowledge the increased efficacy of headphones. Kudos to practitioners who employ the solace and composure of music to their dental practice!
Kenneth Bennett Lane, Wagnerian heldentenor
Opera composer: "Shakespeare" & "The Political Shakespeare"
Director, Richard Wagner Music Drama Institute, where actors are trained for the Shakespeare roles and big-voiced singers prepared for the Wagner opera roles.

What was the jazz song or who was playing in the background of the piece?

Just to clarify, my 17 piece big band, Blue Nitrous is not comprised of dentists. It is 16 professional musicians and myself, a professional trumpet player and dentist.

There is no music or TV in my dentist's office and I love him anyway. Rotting teeth are a far worse fate than no music....

i agree, no TV, i'd rather have silence or drill buzz,if no other choice.

I actually left a dentist because his choice of Ozzie Ozbourne was a hge turn off!!!

My dentist, Dr. Latner, would be perfect for this segment. http://www.drlantner.com/index.html He was referred to me by a coworker and one of the selling points was his music choice. Dr. Latner will play contemporary rock/alt music that younger people like myself enjoy. I also love how he uses these tv sets over the chair to distract you. So music doesn't work then watch some tv! :D

of course, i'll never forget dr. broadbridge (no kidding, that was his name) who would play ukulele and sing in his office before coming into the dental suite to apply the drill.

I like my dentist but the music she has in her office comes via a local radio station broadcasting light rock. Boring and irritating so I hypnotize myself.

When I had my wisdom teeth removed, my parents refused to let the oral surgeon give me an I.V. - I had to be awake for the whole procedure and was given a local anesthetic and Nitrous Oxide as alternatives. The good news was that I got to listen to Radiohead while they went at my jowls. Needless to say, experiencing Kid A while on Nitrous Oxide was quite the experience - that is, until I tried to turn the volume up. Instead, I ended up accidentally turning the CD player off. Suddenly the sound of my teeth being sawed in half became horrifyingly audible.

Speaking from experience: music is great - when it's there.

The very thorough dental hygienist who cleaned my teeth recently dialed her Pandora station to Journey and its ilk. Definitely not my cup of tea, but I figured I'd rather the dental hygienist be calm and relaxed, even if it meant suffering through "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Dust in the Wind"....

A couple of years ago I had a root canal, and the dentist was playing classic soul, like Stevie Wonder and Sam Cooke--it really relaxed and calmed me.

My regular dentist has TVs in the rooms, tuned to news channels. Definitely NOT relaxing to see the horrible news going on in the world when you have a pick or drill in your mouth!

My father Dr. Paul Meyer1904-1970 played opera Joan sutherland etc.because he liked it an did no care what th e kids liked! butin 1947 he had a tv in the waiting !! my current dentist Dr R. Santore gives me headphones and tapes and i listen to fred astaire Melissa Meyer

My first dental experience (at 5!!) was with an old-school pain-relief-is-for-cowards doctor. By my teens, a trip to the dentist was white knuckle time, even though my next dentist was much kinder. And then his son, who had been a corp dentist in Nam, joined the practice. The first time I saw him, he looked at me and said, "I'll triple the novacaine," and then put Hendrix on the stereo. Loud. The relief is hard to describe.
BTW, I worked for a "beautiful music" station for a while - I'd rather have ALL my teeth pulled with rusty pliers.

It's always infuriating when people who don't understand hypnosis talk about it.
Mr. Rahn apparently never heard of Dave Ellman, the premier medical/dental hypnotist, who taught thousands of doctors and dentists how to induce hypnosis in ten seconds or less. Ellman is a legend in the hypnosis community, especially because he was accepted and revered by many medical professionals.
Unfortunately the current generation seems completely ignorant of the transformative power of hypnosis.

My dentist has had WQXR piped into his rooms for years. I love classical music, but hearing snippets, short pieces and endless Vivaldi made me tenser than when I walked into his office. Plus the wiring always had a static element to it, that made the "music" into an aural drill!

My dentist sings and hums along to a lite radio station. This is extremely comforting and at the very least it makes me feel like she enjoys her work.

On a recent trip to the dentist I asked the technician to change the music (it was on a computer) to Q2. It was, I think, a celebration of Steve Reich at the time. I was happy--when the dentist came in she said, "what is that?" about the music, to be followed a few minutes later with "I've got to turn this down".

Marion from Montclair

Jessica's husband, Peter Silver, has actully been on WNYC before, Many Lenoard Lopate's show a few years ago.

when I was young my dentist would sit you in his chair and put on the nitrous, then give you those big puffy headphones and play the Wizard Of Oz. It was trippy... I loved going to the dentist.

My dentist has been using music in her practice for the past 2-3 years. I get there, she knows what I like to listen to, and puts on a mix on the iPod. Two (2) days ago while having an MRI at NYU Hospital, I was given the option to listen to Pandora while stuck in that MRI tube for 2 hours ;-) It's here.

My dentist has a TV/VCR and a large collection of tapes--including the PBS Jazz series, which I always like to watch while she's working on me.

I hope I don't wind up associating Jazz with getting my teeth drilled(!)

i was offered music during an MRI. i asked for coltrane. the MRI was so loud, i could barely hear it--with headphones!

obviously, music doesn't work in all circumstances.

perhaps patients--for dentists, MRIs, etc.--should also be offered the option of noise-canceling headphones. i'd be much happier not hearing the drill or MRI, at all!

FYI, Jessica's husband is whom I was talking about.

My dentist, before he retired, used to play all sorts of jazz throughout his office. He'd ask me if I was in the mood (ha!) for big band, bop, just solo piano, or whatever. I miss Dr. Skip Sabbione. The dentist to whom he passed the practice, Dr. Hansen, is pretty good about creating a mood with music, though. The last time I had to be in the chair waiting for a filling to set, he asked me if I liked Coldplay, and since I didn't respond with knee-jerk hate (my mistake), he introduced me to Keane. How appropriate for the dentist's office...

My dentist, Peter Silver, is a trumpet player in an all dentis jazz band called Blue Nitrous. He says say being a dentist is just his day job. He's a big believer in the healing and calming power of music, especially jazz.
Many of his patients of also well known jazz musicians like Wynton Marsellis, and Patience Higgings.
He's great.

thanks for this segment. i never thought i would miss the easy listening stations of yesteryear,but they were generally much better than a lot of the radio piped in to dentists offices today. no lady gaga with mr. drill-drill please! P S this is not a gaga dis'....

Jessica: Which artists does your husband play at his practice?

My husband is one of the pioneers of music in dental offices. His website is www.jazzdentist.com and he has thousands upon thousands of jazz pieces on his ipod which plays throughout the office. He is a trumpet player himself and specializes in helping musicians, while delivering contemporary, pain-free dentistry. I am surprised you don't have him on as a guest since many people in NYC know about him and his work relaxing people so they don't have such anxiety about taking care of themselves.