Navigating Healthcare: A Guide to Modern Medicine and Wellness

Monthly Archives: June 2016

Do I Need Braces?

Benefits of BracesChances are slim to none that your teeth are 100% perfect.  If you made it through the childhood years and  sports activities and managed not to chip, otherwise damage or lose a tooth or two along the way, please consider yourself lucky.  The teeth you offered the Tooth Fairy in exchange for loose change do not count – we are talking about your permanent teeth.

Regular visits to the dentist help to maintain good dental hygiene and regular check-ups by the dentist and visits to your dental hygienist will keep your teeth healthy and strong and plaque free.  You might have been lucky enough to have a stellar smile without the need of braces, but, did you know that once your pesky wisdom teeth decide to put in an appearance, that their emergence can wreak havoc with that beautiful smile?  Well more about wisdom teeth later.

The Structure of The Tooth

Healthy TeethYou may gaze into the mirror and simply see a set of pearly whites grinning back at you, but those teeth are a little more complex in their composition – more than you probably have ever thought about.

When you think of it, your teeth are challenged every day to withstand icy cold or steaming hot drinks, or to crunch down and pulverize every piece of food that you put into your mouth.  We’ve had our current teeth since we outgrew our baby teeth and got the permanent set, and, for some, old cavities or dental issues forced us to get crowns so that our old metal fillings were not so unsightly.

How to Keep The Tongue Healthy

Healthy Tongue
If you see a dentist or dental hygienist on a routine basis, they no doubt give you an oral cancer check.  This is commonplace now since over 40,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral and throat cancers yearly.  Sadly, the five-year survival rate of those diagnosed is only slightly more than 64 percent.  By being proactive, you and your dentist can detect cancer and treat it so that major health problems are alleviated later.  So thank your dentist next time when the oral cancer test is complete as he or she might just save your life!

Health Risks of Processed Foods

Risks of Processed FoodsEvery time you turn around the headlines are screaming about another food recall.  E-coli, listeria, e-coli and avian flu issues have us rethinking where we dine or what we put into our grocery carts and into our mouths.  The Chipotle e-coli issues leave us less likely to be craving Mexican food at that establishment, even though they are cleared of contamination issues and back in business again.  We may want to eat healthy by eating more produce, but then we worry about listeria-contaminated lettuce or consuming supposedly “pre-washed produce” like bagged coleslaw or lettuce, only to find a large manufacturer like Dole is sweeping them off the shelves in a massive recall.  Even a treat like ice cream was contaminated with listeria causing Blue Bell, a manufacturer established way back in 1907, to halt production of this frozen treat while they determined the source of contamination.  The avian flu has us scrambling to find organic eggs or just doing without eggs altogether.

Healthy Eating Habits for College Students

Healthy Eating for College StudentsCollege life is a dramatic change from the comfy convenience of living at home.  Even if you were involved in athletics or had a part-time job, chances are you had three nourishing meals, a clean bed and your laundry done on a regular basis.  You got your homework done before the weekend so you had free time.  Unless you continue to live at home while attending college, you are in for a rude awakening.

Big adjustments

The biggest adjustment might be living away from home for the first time, and, in general, dormitory life and sharing a room with strangers.  Even if you shared a room with a sibling, it’s just not the same.  Strangers coming and going all the time, and their friends as well, and so on.  Sometimes you need to get away from it all and the library may become your sanctuary – that’s a good place to go to catch up on your studies and chill out a bit.

Healthy Habits for Elementary School Kids

Healthy Habits for Elementary School KidsNothing saps your energy and keeps you from feeling your best like a head cold, no matter what the time of year.  Colds can come at any time, and flu season typically runs from October through May, peaking in February.  You must be proactive to help your kids understand how to develop healthy habits.

As soon as your child is old enough to understand that “germs are not our friend”, you should encourage your child to do the following: