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Taking care of one’s oral health
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Posted on Jun 16 2008
Tan Holdings Corp.’s launching of its “I Love My Smoke-Free Workplace” campaign on Saturday at the Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan featured one of the foremost dental experts on the islands, Dr. Alan S. Markoff, president of Toothworks Dental Clinic.
In his presentation, Dr. Markoff highlighted the oral impact of smoking and betel nut chewing and the high health cost that chewers and smokers pay. In slide after slide, Dr. Markoff showed the effects that chewing and smoking have on the mouth, the gums, and teeth, particularly the debilitating effects of oral cancer.
He said that Saipan has the highest rate of oral cancer in the world and is directly related to tobacco and/or betel nut chewing.
“Once oral cancer is diagnosed in a person, there is usually six to 96 months to live. There is no cure [and] it spreads rapidly,” he said.
To help combat this scourge, Dr. Markoff said that Toothworks makes it a practice to refer smokers and chewers who visit his clinic to the Community Guidance Center, where they can obtain help on quitting the habit.
Dr. Markoff obtained his dentistry degree from the New York University and a Physician’s Executive MBA from the Auburn University. Before this, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the Duke University.
Dr. Markoff is licensed to practice dentistry not just in the CNMI but also in Texas (active), New York (inactive) and Connecticut (inactive). He is also on rotating dental residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, Texas.
He has a fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry, a masters in the Academy of General Dentistry, a fellow in the American College of Dentists, and a fellow in the Academy of Dentistry International.
Dr. Markoff is a member of, among others, the Greater Houston Dental Society, Texas Dental Association, and American Dental Association.
