Thank you Dr. Rabi

Dr. Rob Rabi, our former Endodontist, recently left us for the West Coast, but we are so grateful for everything he’s done for the practice over the last few years. We’re especially proud that he was on the front-line providing much-needed care during the height of the pandemic. Patients with infections or severe pain were able to get the expert care they required from the comfort of our office. We asked him to discuss what that was like:

1) What made you decide to keep seeing patients for emergencies even after a lot of other practices closed their doors entirely?

Because as a health care worker I feel that’s my job and responsibility. If we don’t take care of these emergencies, then patients will have no choice but to go to an emergency room and that’s the last place they should be. All of the doctors at CPW wanted to keep working but treating emergencies falls pretty squarely in my wheelhouse.

2) What kinds of emergencies did you see a lot of?

Lots of tooth aches, swellings and broken teeth. I’ve also saw an uptick in stress related facial pain that can mimic toothaches.

3) What were you doing to treat people’s symptoms?

Most of the time when a patient has a toothache or swelling, they’re going to either require an extraction or root canal treatment. Sometimes if the tooth is broken but the patient isn’t having any pain, we can do a filling or a temporary crown to get them by until things re-open

4) What steps did you take to ensure people were seen in a safe environment?

We were being a lot more strict about universal precautions. Before we would just wear scrubs and a level one surgical mask, but now it’s full gowns, hair coverings, and n95 or k95 masks.

5) What do you want people to know if they have a dental issue in the near future?

That the doctors at CPW understand how stressful tooth problems can be are always here to help you out.

6) What were you up to at home during “Pause” NY?

Cooking, spring cleaning, playing guitar, packing and trying to stay active.

7) You’ve just moved to the west coast, what will you miss about NYC?

I will definitely miss walking to work everyday, the food, and of course my work family at CPW. I’m bummed that I didn’t get to see everyone for a last hurrah before I left but I’m sure we’ll be back to visit and will have to make it up then. New York is a great city.

Thank you Dr. Rabi!