Mr. Edison, it's really a pleasure to welcome you to Good Day LA.
I say it's a pleasure to welcome you to Good Day LA.
Thomas Alva Edison, our special guest on this Saturday morning.
And you know, this gentleman is responsible for a great deal of inventions.
As a matter of fact, we probably would be watching television by candlelight were it not for him.
You see, he invented the light bulb, he invented motion pictures, he invented the phonograph, among many other things.
We're going to talk about that right here on Good Day LA.
Also this morning, we're going to have with us Marilyn Miller.
She's a dentist. She's going to discuss the care of our teeth.
And Paula Hakimian will be here. She's director of youth response units.
She's going to join us to describe her agency's work with youth crisis.
We promise you a most informative and entertaining half hour.
So welcome, I say, welcome to Good Day LA!
Thank you.
Hi everybody. We really are pleased to share with you what Southern California Edison Company is enabling a lot of our young people in the schools of our area to share.
And that is to get an inside look at a great man in our history, Thomas Alva Edison.
He is here with us this morning courtesy of the Southern California Edison Company.
Mr. Edison, you do go to our schools and speak to our young people.
Yes, I do. Yes, I do.
Do you feel that they have a good appreciation for the things that you have accomplished like the light bulbs, the phonograph?
Well, some of them don't when I start. I hope they do when I finish. That's my job to do.
To give them an idea of what it took to invent these things.
That's right.
While you were a young man growing up, you were not the best of boys, were you?
Not nearly the best of boys.
You burned your father's barn down.
That was one, yes. It was an accident. It was an experiment. You know, I did a lot of experiments.
It didn't all work.
We tease you about not being able to hear this morning, and I don't want to offend people who have that problem.
I want to point it out. Your hearing loss was caused by some of the corrections that people did to you when you were old.
It didn't help, I'll say that.
Thomas, why are you doing that?
That was one of them.
Exactly. Well, I'm sure there are a lot of people who hear better though because of your electronic wizardry,
because they have the hearing aids now, which are electronic, which probably all ties together with some of the things you've done.
Could you share with our viewers some of the things that you share with our young people?
I'd love to do that.
All right. On stage, Thomas Alva Edison.
Thank you. Thank you very much. And I'm very glad to be here today.
Matter of fact, I guess at the age of 140, I should be glad to be anywhere today.
You know, being an inventor is not just for old people.
I tell people I got started when I was four years old.
See, my parents gave me a little chore to do every morning before breakfast.
They sent me out the back door of our house with a little basket.
I went out to our chicken coop and collected enough eggs for breakfast.
One morning I remember there was an old hen that, well, she didn't want to cooperate.
And so the only thing I could think to do was to push her off her nest.
And then it was that I discovered what her problem was.
She'd been sitting on those eggs for such a long time that they'd hatched into little chickens.
That gave me an idea.
So my mother standing back there in the kitchen waiting for me,
and finally she came out to see what had happened.
And when she got there, this is what she saw right here.
That was the beginning of Thomas Edison the inventor.
Now, that idea didn't work, but I will say that many years later
we did come up with the electric incubator, which did hatch millions and millions of chickens.
I think the most popular of my inventions would have to be the light bulb.
I will say it wasn't one of the easiest, though.
I tried and tried on that thing.
As a matter of fact, I just want to share with you the number of times that I tried and failed.
I like to do this a little slowly because it took a lot of time for it to happen.
That's right. 8,999 failures before I finally got the light bulb right.
I'm not getting this right either, as a matter of fact.
But you know something? The big secret to my success,
matter of fact, I think it's the big secret to any success, is not giving up.
That's right. I wasn't the smartest, but I never gave up.
I'll tell you something. I think that we've got a lot of inventors today.
And when I go around to the schools, I offer them one of these things here.
I say, if you come up with something really creative,
I'll see that you get one of these with your name right in here.
I've gotten quite a few youngsters trying out for it.
Here's a few ideas right here that were submitted.
Now this is a hat with a little electric fan up in the top to keep your head cool in the summertime.
I thought that was pretty good.
Here, incidentally, is an idea coming up that would surely take care of absenteeism in schools.
It's a pencil with a little TV set up top.
And for those of you who remember the days, I know I do, when being little was a problem,
you know, like your mother's always saying, hang up your clothes, but you're always too short to do it.
Well, look at this invention here.
Coat hanger for short people.
Now I think those are pretty good, but you know something?
I don't just say to the kids, invent on your own.
What I do is to feature at each one of them and get one of these things here.
This folder was printed up by the Edison Company in sufficient numbers so that each of the youngsters I talk to gets one.
Inside we talk about how a young fella turned his cold ears into an invention that made him a millionaire.
We also talk about how to get started on inventing and how to keep yourself going.
I've had a lot of fun, I want you to know, and I've had a lot of young people take me up on that offer.
I'll bet you have, and I wish we had time for your entire program because you do this so well at all the schools.
And incidentally, Drew Wilson portrays Thomas Edison. He's a very fine actor.
For information, you can call 818-302-1212.
Southern California Edison provides him the schools, and you get information on where he's going to be,
or if perhaps you'd like to book him for your school on Tom Edison Conservation or any other service,
you can give them a call at 818-302-1212.
Bottom line of the whole thing, Mr. Edison, I think is the fact that you said you tried 800, 8000, 8999 times.
Finally got it right. The whole point is, young people, don't give up,
because somebody watching, Thomas Edison and me right now, could be the next Thomas Edison to come up with an idea
that would create something to make our lives more enjoyable.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you very much.
Really a pleasure to meet you.
Don't forget to give them a call.
Well, Dr. Marilyn Miller is coming up. She's a dentist, and she's going to join us next on Good Day LA
to tell you it's not so bad going to the dentist, but you need to go.
KTTV, Fox Television, serving Southern California, and we'll continue with Good Day LA after this.
I hope yours worked that well. This was a big person.
We're going to talk about this in just a moment, because joining me on Good Day LA is Dennis Marilyn Miller,
who has her own practice and is Public Relations Director of the San Fernando Valley Dental Society.
Dr., welcome to Good Day LA.
Nice to be here.
This is rather exaggerated, but it gets the message across, right?
Certainly does.
You use this in your practice in showing our people how to brush their teeth, or what?
Yes, we do. We show them the technique, because a lot of people have misconceptions on how to brush their teeth,
and so we do show them, although it sounds basic, it's really very important.
Good. Now, we'll talk loud. You run, get your toothbrush, and then come back and join the doctor in need,
because we're going to talk about that in just a moment.
Dr., I'd like to ask you about the practice of dentistry today.
Your today is more preventive than it is reconstructed, isn't it?
Yes, it is. With the advent of fluoride, we're seeing a lot of less decay in our dental practices,
and so we're looking to keep that and looking into other things like periodontal disease,
where there hasn't been a decrease.
A lot of people feel that since the new toothpastes are out that have the anti-plaque ingredients in them,
that that takes care of that, and they don't worry about it as much, but they should, shouldn't they?
They should, because it's really the actual mechanical brushing and flossing that does the trick.
Even with the proper toothpaste, that is a good help, and has proven to work,
but you still need to go see the dentist. How often?
For everyone, it's different. The twice a year is really what most people say,
but different people have different problems, and sometimes they need to go see it more often.
I have to have, not that you're tuned in to hear about me, but I have to have my teeth cleaned every three months
because I am prone to plaque.
Some people are, and it's very important to get that plaque removed.
The new toothpaste has helped somewhat, but I still get a certain amount of it, but not as bad as the new toothpaste.
You brought along some pictures that tell the plaque's history. Would you explain these to us, please?
Sure.
The first one has to do with the plaque chain right here.
Well, plaque is responsible for both forming tooth decay and for gum disease.
The plaque consists of bacteria, and the bacteria metabolizes the food that we eat,
and that produces an acid which attacks the teeth and causes decay.
It also causes gum disease. The plaque builds up, it hangs around your gums,
and the gums pull away from the teeth, and we start forming pockets, and we lose bone support for the teeth.
So that old joke that Bob Hope once told that his teeth were fine, but his gums had to come out, really is kind of true.
It actually is.
You're going to have healthy teeth, and your gums could still ruin your teeth.
Right. This is a picture here of a little bit of what happens when you get a decay tooth.
This is just the acid attacking the tooth, and you're losing some tooth structure.
Acid, is that formed in your mouth or is it from acidic foods?
It's actually the bacteria that metabolizes the food you eat and produces the acid in the metabolism,
sits around the teeth, and destroys the enamel.
Now, this is when you're getting along with pretty well-progressed diseases.
With gum disease. This is the initial stage of the gum disease.
These are the plaque particles that are sitting between the teeth and the gums that haven't been removed,
and it starts to show how the inflammation of the gum teeth is occurring.
And then your gums recede. Like they say, old people get long of tooth.
Your gums do naturally recede, but if you get diseased gums, they recede more quickly?
Yes, they definitely do. With the irritants in the gums, if they're not removed, it does recede.
And what we're seeing now is that half the people over the age of 18 do have some form of gum disease.
This is progress as we see it move along with periodontal disease, advanced periodontitis, they call it,
and the cleansing of the teeth and gums. Now, this is what we're getting to, as we mentioned before.
I hope everybody has their toothbrush, her toothbrush, ready, because we're going to give you an idea of how this works.
Now, this is a rather exaggerated mouth, but it'll get the message.
I'll hold it, and Dr., you show us how you're supposed to brush.
Okay. This is an average toothbrush, and what you want is a soft, bristle toothbrush. Any type will do.
And you place the toothbrush at a 45-degree angle between the tooth and the gum, and you just rotate the bristles.
No moving forward and back, no scrubbing like this, no up and down.
Just a simple rotation, and then you flip the dirt away from the gums.
Do you suggest a mouthwash when you're finished?
Not a mouthwash, but floss. Mouthwash is for cosmetics. If you feel like you need a mouthwash, that's fine.
But actually, the mouthwash doesn't do anything.
I'm sure the people who make mouthwashes will be thrilled to hear that.
No, but it does freshen your breath, but it will not remove the particles between the teeth.
So water would suffice for doing that as well, after you've used the floss and you've used the brush.
Is it a good idea to rinse your mouth?
Yes, it is nice to rinse your mouth.
Now, when you use the floss, you wrap it around your middle finger, and you get some tension,
and you use your index finger to push, and you place it between the teeth.
And between every two teeth, there's two times that you have to go in.
So what you do is you wrap the floss, first around front and back, move it up and down, and then pull it out.
Get a clean piece of floss.
And what if it bleeds? Is that a sign?
It's a sign that there's some disease going on. But it's good to stimulate the gums.
You shouldn't be afraid of bleeding, because eventually, as the gums get healthier, the bleeding will stop.
So now you put it back between those same two teeth.
And you wrap it again now the other way, because you have two sides between every two teeth.
Move it up and down, and pull it out.
So what's another instrument you have with the rubber on the end of it, saying that?
Well, some people aren't able to floss, because they either have some kind of handicap, or an older person has arthritis.
So there are other floss aids that we use. This is just a rubber-tip stimulator.
You place it between the two teeth in the area of the gum, and you just rotate it.
It also helps stimulate the blood supply, and this helps with the teeth getting healthier faster.
It also removes some of the particles.
You're not too heavy on wooden toothpicks either, are you?
No, actually toothpicks are very good stimulators.
Are they?
Yeah, and they will remove tooth particles. They're not as good as floss, but they will do the trick.
And you recommend people go to the dentist still twice a year?
Definitely at least twice a year, unless the dentist recommends more.
Good. One thing I'd like to give is your phone number for the San Fernando Valley Dental Society.
The doctor is in private practice, but you can call the Dental Society at 818-884-7777.