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THE ROOT ISSUE
970-515-6332 | GREELEYENDO.COM
APRIL 2019
FEW RELATIONSHIPS IN LIFE ARE BETTER ... Than the One Shared With a Dog
Famous author Milan Kundera once wrote, “Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil, jealousy, or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace.” Many of the past newsletters I’ve written highlight the most important experiences of my life. To that end, I know I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you the story of how I met one of the biggest loves of my life: my dog, Kita. But before I introduce you to her and all the joy she brings to my life, I need to take the story back to a time long before she was born. When I was growing up, I would often visit my cousins, who lived in Utah. They had this huge, brown, curly-haired dog named Prince. As a kid, I didn’t know what type of breed Prince was, but I knew that my cousins had trained him to be a great hunting dog. Every time I visited, my favorite pastime was throwing a Frisbee as far as I could. While Prince chased it, my cousins and I hid in the barn and various other spots around the farm. Prince always returned with the Frisbee and searched until he found us. We played this doggy version of hide-and-seek for hours! In the years that followed, I held on to the idyllic dream that one day, I’d be driving a Jeep Wrangler with my own brown dog sitting in the front seat sporting a red bandanna and a goofy tongue- out smile. When my wife, kids, and I moved from Arvada to Firestone, I noticed that my new neighbors had a dog that looked just like Prince! I found
out the breed was a Chesapeake Bay retriever, and Liz and I started a search to find our own dog so that our boys could enjoy the same fun I had as a kid. Our first dog, Jessy, was a Chesapeake Bay like Prince, but her personality was the total opposite. She never really enjoyed playing fetch,
adventuring, or swimming with us. But even though she had her own distinct personality, we loved her dearly for 12 years, after which she passed away. After Jessy passed to doggy heaven, we decided it was time to add another pup to the family. Enter Kita — or Kita Marita Shenita, as we sometimes call her! We drove to Kansas to pick up our sweet little puppy, and before our trek back, we had set up a comfortable kennel in the back seat because we thought she’d be happier in it. But after an hour of her whining, I took her to the front seat with me, and she sat on my lap while Liz took us home. I think that first car experience really stuck with her because now (three years later), she’ll race us to the passenger seat — she thinks it’s her spot and no one else’s! In fact, if we load her up in the back seat, she’ll place her head on the armrest between the two front seats and inch her way forward, one paw at a time. It’s almost as if she was in on my secret dream of her sitting in the front seat with that signature red bandanna from the moment I met her.
When she’s not battling for the front seat, Kita spends hours playing fetch and swimming with us at the lake. She starts by sitting on the paddleboard with us as we meander out to the middle of the lake, then she jumps off and races us back to shore. We realized early on that we needed to put a life jacket on her because that dog will swim until she drops! Once we coax her out of the water, she comes home and sits back on her hind legs with her front paws propped up to shake hands and beg for attention. She is truly a light in my family’s life, and we are so thankful that she picked us to love. – Dr. Scott Lowry
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IS IT OKAY TO SKIP BREAKFAST?
Sometimes you skip breakfast simply because you don’t have time to eat. Other times, you skip breakfast because nothing really appeals to you. This is a common occurrence for many people across the country. But when you skip breakfast, you may find that you feel just fine. It begs the question: Is breakfast really that important? Do you need to eat breakfast? It depends. Most people can skip breakfast and be totally fine. They’ll make it to lunch without skipping a beat. It all comes down to how you feel. Some people need breakfast or they’ll have to deal with mood swings — often referred to as being “hangry” — caused by low blood sugar. A healthy breakfast can stabilize your mood, helping you feel more positive, energized, and focused throughout the morning. We can, however, bust the notion that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day.” This phrase was used to market breakfast cereal in the last century. In reality, it doesn’t mean anything. The most important meal of the day is whichever meal you get the most out of, whether it’s nutritional value, enjoyment, or both. Having a healthy, protein-rich breakfast does come with benefits, though. It gives you energy for the day and helps you avoid scrambling to find something to eat a couple hours later when IN HONOR OF THE 49TH ANNUAL EARTH DAY Participate in the Poudre River Trail-Athlon
hunger sets in. All too often, skipping breakfast (or having a carb- heavy breakfast) leads people to raid the vending machine or make unhealthy food choices they wouldn’t ordinarily make. Along these same lines, skipping breakfast may encourage you to eat more later in the day at lunch or dinner. You may think you’re saving calories, but over the course of a day, you can end up consuming more calories than if you had simply eaten breakfast. With so much research on the subject of breakfast, one thing is clear: You should eat when you feel hungry. You don’t have to live by the conventional wisdom of “three squares a day.” When you listen to your body, you’ll feel better for it!
When Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1952, it caused $1.5 million in damage to the city of Cleveland. Due to the city’s industrial revolution, oil and debris clogged the river, which caused it to ignite eight times! When the river went up in flames yet again in 1968, the situation gained national attention. The Cuyahoga became a poster child for early environmentalists. One of the early trailblazers, Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, had a plan to turn the then-grassroots campaign to save the environment into a mainstream movement. In 1969, he announced what would become the kickoff for the movement, an event he called “Earth Day.” Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated every single year, and nearly 40 years later, its purpose remains the same: to educate and raise awareness about the accelerating rate of extinction
of millions of species, achieve major policy victories that protect broad groups of species and their habitats, and build and activate a global movement that embraces nature and its values. While there are several ways you can help preserve our planet in your own life, the city of Greeley, along with several generous sponsors, is hosting the Poudre River Trail- Athlon, a FREE fun-filled, nature-inspired event to help you honor Earth in the best locations throughout Greeley. The Trail-Athlon will take place on Saturday, April 20, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and will start at the Poudre Learning Center. There will be 10 outdoor activities for you to choose from, including a fun run, biking, wall climbing, bird-watching, archery, fishing, and several others! There will also
be prizes, booths, music, and refreshments. Go to PoudreTrail.org/news-events/ to register yourself and the kids for this amazing event — those who sign up by April 15 will receive a free T-shirt. When it comes to preserving our great planet and celebrating Earth Day, there is perhaps no better way to spend your day than participating in the Trail-Athlon and enjoying the great outdoors. Hope to see you there!
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IS YOUR MOUTH GETTING YOU INTO TROUBLE?
The Link Between Your Mouth and the Rest of Your Body
It might surprise you to know that a world of bodily problems originate in the mouth. In fact, in the dental world, countless studies have been published demonstrating that a person’s oral health has a significant impact on their health overall. In many cases, it seems that the mouth steers the ship for the whole body! One of the most common (and dangerous) connections between your oral health and the rest of your body is known throughout the dental community as the oral-systemic link. While there’s a lot of scientific jargon to describe this systemic link, simply put, it refers to the laundry list of diseases and conditions that can stem from untreated periodontal disease. Studies have shown that the inflammation from bacterial disease in your gums and mouth can cause inflammation in other parts of your body, which can lead to conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, and a multitude of other ailments. While we are doing our best to spread awareness regarding this link, there is another connection between your mouth and the rest of your body that often goes ignored. But rather than stemming from periodontal disease, this connection stems from your sleeping habits. If you’re struggling with snoring or sleeplessness, there’s a good possibility that you might suffer from obstructive sleep apnea — and your oral health might be to blame!
Here at Greeley Endodontics, if we notice any signs of sleep apnea, such as teeth grinding, ample cavities, a small jaw frame, or redness in the throat, we’ll have a fairly good indication that our patient suffers from sleep apnea. Fortunately, we now also have innovative new technology here in the office to scan patients’ airways for volume size as well! While your mouth might seem small in proportion to the rest of your body, it can certainly cause its fair share of troubling issues. If you have any questions, concerns, or just want some advice, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We understand that it might seem strange talking to your dentist about your sleep habits, but trust us, it’s worth it in the long run! CHECK OUT OUR OFFICE’S NEW MACHINERY!
WORD SEARCH
All of us here at Greeley Endodontics are happy to announce that we’ve now added a Carestream Dental CBCT Scanner to our practice! This remarkably innovative machine will allow us to take detailed scans of a patient’s head and neck, which will allow us to prevent and treat conditions like sleep apnea. We will use the comprehensive and intricate images from the scan to assess patients’ airway volume in their neck/ throat area. It’s an excellent tool, and from a diagnostic standpoint, it allows us to see so much more than we could have before! If you have any questions or want to see about getting a scan for yourself, don’t hesitate to give us a call!
Rainbow Easter Prank Passover
Fool Showers Taurus Hoax
Spring Butterfly Dandelion Mischief
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Phone: 970-515-6332 www.greeleyendo.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE An Introduction to My Giant, Playful Pup, Kita! PAGE 1 Should You Skip Breakfast? Have You Signed Up for the Poudre River Trail-Athlon? PAGE 2 Is Your Mouth Getting You Into Trouble? Check Out Our Office’s New Machinery! PAGE 3 The Importance of Rain to the Survival of Cultures PAGE 4
The History and Cultural Significance of Native American Rain Dances DANCING TO BRING THE RAIN
While traditions and dances vary between Native American tribes, many of them feature rain dances. Because water is essential to life, and because many tribes lived in agrarian societies, these dances were important rituals, pleas for the survival of the tribe for another season. These dances have existed for hundreds of years, and many tribes still perform them today. Rain dances are notably common in the Southwestern U.S., where the dry climate means water is scarce and every bit of rainfall is essential for survival. Generally, rain dances are performed to ask the spirits or gods to send rain for the crops. Tribes such as the Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, and Mojave perform rain dances often. An old Cherokee legend says that the rain is filled with the spirits of past chiefs, and the rain is an indication of their battle with evil spirits beyond the natural world. One interesting fact about rain dances is that both men and women — not just men — participate in the ceremony. Dancers wear special regalia, sometimes including headdresses, masks, body paints, and jewelry. What is worn varies from tribe to tribe, but turquoise is very important in rain dances for many tribes and is often incorporated into the jewelry. The rain dance regalia is not worn at any other point or for any other purpose during the year,
and participants dance in a zigzag pattern, unlike all other dances, which feature a circular motion. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the U.S. government was relocating Native Americans all over the country, they banned the practice of many ceremonial dances on reservations, sometimes including rain dances. However, rain dances continued undercover: Native Americans simply performed the ritual
as a different, unbanned ceremony. The dances and the traditions continued, and today many tribes still perform rain dances, even if only in reverence for their heritage.
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