Philly brainiacs are busy cooking up cool new gadgets to make your next trip to the dentist a lot more pleasant. Here, four ouch-inducing practices that are going out of fashion (buh-bye, anesthetic needle) thanks to innovations worth smiling about.
>> We’re previewing content from our Top Dentists 2012 issue all week long. Want to see it in print? Check out the February issue of Philly Mag on newsstands Friday!
 Out: Heavy Scalpels and Scrapers
In: Lasers
The horrible scraping administered by your hygienist could soon be made much less cringe-worthy. Joseph Roberts, a dentist in Rittenhouse, says lasers can zap bacteria with more precision and are especially promising for patients with periodontitis, an infection that can break down bone and a tooth’s connective tissue; left untreated, it destroys the tooth.
“Instead of having to peel the gum off the tooth, the laser allows for just the slightest opening,” says Roberts. “Then it goes back at the end and creates a thick blood clot, to allow bone to regrow with fewer complications.” Other benefits: less pain immediately following the procedure, and a speedier recovery. Only a few area specialists are using the technique now, but Roberts is hopeful it will become standard practice in a few years.
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She did it! Annie finished her first marathon on Sunday. Here's what she learned.
 Annie after the race—absolutely glowing. Her time? 3:33:53! When you register for a marathon on your own, you start to seek out advice. You beg for insight from previous finishers, prowl online Runner’s World forums, and pester the cashier at the running store for sure-fire shoe advice. Marathons training tips are a lot of handed-down wisdom, some of it solid and professional (“Don’t do anything too rigorous before mile 10”), and some of it superstitious lore (“A sausage McMuffin with a smear of Nutella and a sheet line knot in your left shoelace will make the day!”).
While these wisdom nuggets work better for some than for others, I found out Sunday that at least one kernel of what everyone says about marathons is true: the first 20 miles will feel fine, and then you’ll wish you’d never been born. Then you’ll finish, and be convinced you must have undergone a body transplant: there’s no way you just did that.
Because I wouldn’t have made it to the start line (let alone the finish) without advice and wisdom from predecessors, I tried to divert some of Sunday’s agony by compiling a list of my own marathon tips. Here’s what I learned:
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Annie gets advice from Abby Dean, an Olympic Trials runner and six-time Philly finisher.
 Photo from Abby Dean I’m writing this at about 11 a.m., and in approximately 72 hours, I will (God willing) be over halfway done with the Philadelphia Marathon. Since the theme of my week so far has been bagels and mortal terror, I thought it smart to chat with a Philly marathon veteran—someone’s who lived to tell the tale, and might be able to give me some pointers for race day.
Abby Dean, who came in 29th at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials (2:41, WHAT?!), has finished six Philadelphia Marathons and is planning to run again this year. Yesterday, she imparted her wisdom about how to chill this week and how to get past the infamous Wall, and she gave me the nitty gritty on the Port-A-Potty situation.
So, did you hit your Trials qualifying time at the Philly Marathon?
I did. I think it’s a great course to hit qualifying times on. I originally tried to make the time in Chicago, which is renowned for being such a fast course, but the year I ran was the year where it was such ungodly hot weather. They called off the race a few hours after the first start. I finished, but I didn’t get my qualifying time, so I decided to try again at the Philly Marathon. There were six weeks between them, or something like that. Philly’s great, because it’s a fast course, but it’s challenging enough that you don’t fall asleep while running it.
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After completing a recent 10K race, Annie thinks things are looking up for the marathon.
I’ve been doing a lot of bellyaching about racing lately. Someone skimming the headlines of my posts would think I was an unathletic middle schooler, suffering through shuttle runs: “Why are these runs so long?” “But I want to eat pie now.” “Why do we have to do this so early?” “Are we done, yet?”
I’ve detailed ad nauseum the obvious reasons racing is burdensome. Training is time-consuming. It’s expensive. It’s physically exhausting. I’ve spent the past few weeks telling myself that after November 20th, I will remain horizontal until New Year’s.
This past weekend, however, I ran the Run the Bridge race with a friend. For this annual jaunt, runners gather on the Camden side of the Ben Franklin Bridge, run over it toward Philly, then turn around and go up the other way, finishing the 10K through the streets of Camden.
It was a much-needed reminder as to why, exactly, runners put themselves through these shenanigans month after month: they’re fun.
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Annie's starting to panic: She'll sleep through her alarm, get hurt, or flat-out won't finish. T-minus 16 days till race day.
 Last night, I woke up at around 3:45 a.m. in a cold sweat. I was still in the throes of a nightmare: It’s November 20th. My alarm goes off at 5 a.m, just a couple hours before the marathon start gun goes off. I turn the alarm off, take a deep breath and shut my eyes a moment. I open them. It’s 7:15 a.m.
At that point, dream anxiety woke me up.
(The scariest part of this scenario is that aside from the November 20th part, it basically describes my daily morning routine.)
Fear of missing race day has been floating around my subconscious since I saw this article in the Wall Street Journal, about how 15,000 of the 60,000 NYC Marathon registrants—a full fourth of the field—probably won’t show up for race day this weekend. Many get injured, while others just don’t feel ready. They haven’t trained as much as they thought they would, and worry they won’t finish or won’t finish fast enough.
I get it. A registration fee does not equal a finisher’s certificate. The last time I signed up for one of these shindigs, I wound up sitting out three weeks of running just a month before the marathon. Needless to say, I slept through that race.
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With one month to go until race day, Annie says, "This will take a miracle." Can she get over the hump?
 The proverbial brick wall Last week, my editor pointed out, marked my tenth “First-Time Finisher” column. “Just one month ’til the marathon!” she said. As if any second now, I’d find myself across the finish line, triumphant.
A headline flashed across my eyes: “I have another month left of training.”
I looked at the calendar I keep my training plan on. So. Many. Miles. To go. I’ve hit my Red Sea: There’s no going back. This will take a miracle.
Last week was troubling. For three straight days, there was just no time to run. I told myself that a few days off would do me some good. The rest would reenergize me, and I’d jump into this week with the go-getter mentality I had 10 weeks ago.
Nope. Still exhausted. I am struggling with runner’s block, a motivational wall. I’m running, but I’m undoubtedly half-assing it: My attention to mileage, times, terrain and cross-training is nil. I sat down at my computer clueless as to what to write about. At the rate I’m going, November is going to be a long month.
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Especially this fall, given how Andy Reid's squad has been performing
 Betcha can't name these pro runners, who won the Chicago Marathon on October 9th. Images courtesy of Bank of America Chicago Marathon I woke up a couple Sunday mornings ago, and, before conjuring myself out of bed, started scrolling through Twitter on my phone. @RunnersWorld had tweeted a half-marathon split for Moses Mosop, the 2011 winner and course record-setter for the 2011 Chicago Marathon.
Oh, that’s right! I thought. Today’s Chicago Marathon day. The Chicago, New York and Boston Marathons are sort of the playoffs of marathon season (though, for those of you who had to suffer through the Phillies travesty a couple weeks ago, they’re less painful to watch). I figured if Mosop was already done with the first half of the marathon, he’d have, say, another 13 minutes before crossing the finish line.
Like a kid on Christmas morning, I darted out of bed, slid down the bannister in my flannel, poured a bowl of cereal, and hopped on the couch to watch the final stretch on TV.
I turned to NBC. Football and weather reports. I turned to a few other major channels. Everybody Love Raymond reruns and news segments. I flipped to ESPN. More football.
You’re kidding, I thought. There wasn’t a TV station in Philadelphia where I could watch the Chicago Marathon? There were 45,000 athletes, for chrissakes! Eyes all over the world were waiting to see what the winning time would be! I could watch Arizona face off against Minneapolis, but not the Chicago marathon?
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To rise and shine for an a.m. run, or to sleep in and put it off 'til later? That is the question
 Can someone please hit the snooze button? Photograph by Burke/Triolo Productions I am writing this blog entry very early in the morning, very slowly. I keep waiting for my grande to kick in, but based on my energy level, I think Starbucks forgot to put caffeine in its coffee this week.
To explain the zombie-typing, I should let you know now that I’ve spent the week playing around with my running schedule. It usually looks something like this:
Monday morning: An ambitious Annie sets her alarm for 5:30 a.m.. This is enough time time to do some intervals, lift weights, beat her roommates to the shower, eat Kashi, and get to work on time.
Tuesday morning: A well-intentioned Annie wakes up at 5:30 a.m., shuts her eyes, and opens them again at 6:30 a.m. Confused, but not be beaten, she does an abbreviated run, skips all stretching, and buys a muffin on the way into the office. Arrival time at work: 9:05 a.m.
Wednesday morning: A stiff, weary Annie sleeps in, feels guilty, and eats another muffin. Begrudgingly, she runs after work.
Thursday morning: Zonked from the run the night before, Annie ignores the alarm again. Happy hour beckons. Thursday seems like as good a day as any to not run at all.
Friday morning: Refreshed, Annie wakes up for an ultra-short jog, allowing for post-work fun. She can have it all, dammit!
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Annie talks nutrition—you know, in between bites of cherry pie and Krispy Kreme doughnuts
 Yes, please. Be Well Philly’s Q&A with running superstar (and Philly native) Phil Clark left me with an uneasy feeling in my gut.
Or wait—that might just be gnawing hunger.
“When you called, I was just finishing a lunch that will probably be my biggest meal of the day: a salad of spinach, carrots and tomatoes with pumpernickel bread and quinoa,” he said, cavalier, in the interview. “It’s about eating less of everything, no matter what it is. Every pound of you that there is not, is three pounds of pounding you don’t have to endure. So as a runner, it’s in your best interest to be lean.”
So … it’s not in my best interest, then, to keep my peanut butter intake at a steady 1.5 jars per week? Not a good idea, in fact, to inhale bags of Trader Joe’s trail mix like an industrial-strength Air Vac? Not necessary to report to coworkers that while the raspberry tart and cherry pie on the conference room table are a bit dry, the cupcakes and Krispy Kremes are as decadent as ever?
Is it just me, or did running just get way less fun?
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Annie hates running in groups—but loves the competition
 This is Annie's idea of Zen. For eight years during high school and college, I ran on a team. Year after year, season after season, I laced up with pods of five or six other girls and hit the streets, jogging two abreast on sidewalks, and single-file on the side of the road. I was, at one time or another, a designated reflective vest-wearer during late winter workouts, a pace-keeper on tempo runs, and a happy participant in mind-bending, high-brow games like “Would You Rather…?” or “Marry, Kill, Boff.”
I’ll spare you the sentiment, but as any current or former athlete knows, the time you spend with a team is formative. It makes you stronger and faster, forces you to navigate group dynamics, teaches you about goals, about work ethic, and about (gulp) failure. Memories, life lessons, BFFs—you get the drift.
It’s only after a lot of consideration for all these factors (and a safe distance of two years since getting hugs and flowers from teammates at graduation), that I can admit to myself and the public that I have zero desire to run with a group. Ever. Again.
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