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Jan/Feb 2019
WHERE DO SUPERHEROES GO TO THE DENTIST?
Join the Fun at Kids’ Day
Hello, everyone!
dressed like Spider-Man, and I have been known to dress as the Hulk or Bruce Banner, depending on my mood — and whether or not I feel like wearing those purple shorts. We still see adult patients on Kids’ Day, but these days are really geared toward helping kids enjoy coming to the dentist. Even adults can get nervous about dentist appointments and that can cause people to put off
Dr. Stuckey here. It’s been a little while, but we’re back and just in time for the important month of February. This is National Children’s Dental Health Month, an event sponsored by the American Dental Association to raise awareness about the importance of oral health in children. There’s a misconception that kids don’t have to worry about oral health until their permanent teeth come in, but this isn’t true. The state of your oral health during your formative years can have a huge impact on your health as an adult. We don’t plan anything extra special for National Children’s Dental Health Month, because we do a Kids’ Day celebration every month of the year. Once a month, we offer our young patients special prizes and rewards for coming to see us on Kids’ Day. Kids get to go home with new spin brushes, we have special discounts on sealants, and each Kids’ Day is extra special because we choose a theme to go along with the fun. The staff really goes all out by decorating and wearing costumes to match the theme. We kicked off 2019 with a New Year’s party for the kids, which was a lot of fun. In the past, we’ve done Football Day, Dinosaur Day, Pirate Day, Snow Day, and Summer Vacation Day. My favorite Kids’ Day theme last year was Superhero Day. We had some kids come in
visits that are necessary to maintain good health. With Kids’ Day, we want to teach kids important lessons and show them that going to the dentist isn’t something to be afraid of. We talk about oral health and cavity prevention, but we also focus on the overall health of our young patients with nutrition advice and airway screening tests. “ With Kids’ Day, we want to teach kids important lessons and show them that going to the dentist isn’t something to be afraid of. ”
There are so many important things to teach kids about staying healthy that we’re only just starting to learn. Sleep is one area that has been overlooked for a long time. It’s equally important for kids to be getting a restful night’s sleep as it is for adults. Our Healthy Start programs exist to answer the unique risks children face, such as restricted airways, and help them enjoy a healthy childhood that can lead to a healthier life. We have a lot of great Kids’ Days planned for 2019, and I’m proud to play my part in protecting the health and well-being of the next generation. Our next Kids’ Day is Valentine’s Day-themed on Feb. 14. I can’t wait to see everyone there! –Dr. Stuckey
The reason we host Kids’ Days all year long is because I don’t believe children’s health should be designated to just a single month.
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Gaming With Your Kids
Why You Should Pick up That Controller
Video games are present in an increasing number of American households. The Entertainment Software Association found that in 2018, 70 percent of parents reported that games were a positive activity in their children’s lives, and 67 percent even play alongside their child at least once a week. Some of you may already be regularly gaming with your kids, but for the rest of you, here are some things to keep in mind.
inexhaustible list of games to choose from, and some are more child- friendly than others. At the very least, research the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s (ESRB) rating of a game to make sure its content is age-appropriate.
Why Gaming Together Matters
When choosing a game, it’s a good idea to keep your child’s interests in mind. Do they enjoy creating things? Games like “Minecraft,” “Super Mario Maker,” and “Scribblenauts Remix” can act as a great sandbox for you and your child’s imaginations to run wild. Does your child love to solve puzzles? “Snail Bob 2,” “Snipperclips,” and “Portal 2” will have you and your child thinking outside the box for hours. Want to engage in a little friendly competition? “Mario Kart,” “FIFA,” and “Bam Fu” are all excellent choices.
Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and UC Berkeley have shown that video games can have many positive effects on a child, from encouraging critical thinking and social skills to imparting the value of perseverance. Beyond these life skills, video games can also be a way for you to better connect with your child. As game designer and New York Times bestselling author Jane McGonigal, Ph.D., writes, “Games make it easy to build stronger social bonds with our friends and family. Studies show that we like and trust someone better after we play a game with them— even if they beat us.”
Going Beyond Screen Time
Whether you pick up a controller yourself or just watch your children play games, the most supportive thing you can do as a parent is reinforce the skills they are learning. Understanding that the same creativity and determination that gets them to the end of a level can be applied in the real world is be a powerful thing for a child’s development.
Find the Right Game
Finding the right game to play with your child can be a challenge. Regardless of what platform your child plays on, there’s a nearly
HealthyStart Today, 9 out of 10 children suffer from one or more symptoms related to sleep disordered breathing. Surprisingly, tooth correction is an essential part of maintaining an open airway for life. If your child suffers from snoring, restless sleep, mouth breathing, delayed growth, world breathe better and get deeper rest at night. HealthyStart’s appliances are BPA-, silicone-, and latex-free,
and it’s FDA approved. The best part about HealthyStart is that it’s pain-free, safe, and noninvasive.
allergies, daytime sleepiness, dark circles under the eyes, bed wetting, inability to concentrate, hyperactivity, or difficulty in school, you may want to consider the HealthyStart system. HealthyStart helps your child avoid problems that come with poor sleep through a series of oral appliances. In addition to promoting proper nasal breathing, HealthyStart also helps the growth and alignment of the lower jaw and ensures that permanent teeth have enough room to come in straight.
and expands your child’s arches to prepare for incoming adult teeth. This phase of treatment is extremely important because, as your child’s permanent teeth come in, HealthyStart works to ensure that the teeth erupt into proper alignment, often times eliminating or reducing the time needed for orthodontics. If you have noticed that your child has problems sleeping or has tooth alignment issues and are looking for a noninvasive and safe treatment, ask us about HealthyStart today by calling 419- 866-6985 ! We’ll get your child sleeping soundly again in no time!
Depending on the age of your child, we use a series of appliances. The first appliance, if needed, is a habit-corrector that eliminates current oral habits like thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, and speech problems. Your child wears the habit-corrector at night for one to five months during sleep. During the next phase, your child receives a series of appliances that are customized to their mouth. The appliances help the incoming teeth find their proper places, corrects jaw relations,
HealthyStart is based on 50 years of research and has helped 3 million children all over the
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The ‘Smart’ Way to Brush Your Teeth
Connecting Your Dental Hygiene to Your Phone
The history of the toothbrush includes some of the most fascinating inventions in dentistry. Starting in 3,000 B.C., the ancient Egyptians constructed brushes from twigs and leaves and inventively used the foliage to clean their chompers. By the 17th century, Europeans brandished a slightly more controversial toothbrush assembled from a sheep’s tibia and bristles of boar hair. Because of the off-putting nature of using sticks and bones as tools for oral hygiene, modern inventors have created a toothbrush that overshadows our ancestors’ devices by a long shot. In 2018, Philips, Oral-B, and Prophix released smart toothbrushes to give tech-savvy brushers an entirely different cleaning experience. Today’s smart toothbrushes use Bluetooth wireless technology to transmit your brushing behavior to your phone’s app. Each brand
comes with different bells and whistles, but if you are looking for a fun, more efficient way to manage your dental hygiene, there are several innovative brushes to choose from. The ones geared toward adults send updates to your phone in real time and give you feedback on your brushing habits. This means you can evaluate the data and actually improve your technique over time. Some new releases even include a
The camera also takes still images of your teeth so you can check for cavities and gum issues in those hard-to-see places. There are also smart toothbrushes made specifically to motivate kids to care about their oral health. By gamifying the cleaning experience and giving young brushers levels or badges they can win through brushing, the process becomes more interactive and fun!
With amazing options for people of all ages, it’s easy to see that dental tools have come a long way since the era of using foliage and livestock. With so many smart options available on the market, which one will you try first?
camera to record the inside of your mouth as you brush.
Don’t Miss Kids’ Day
Dr. Stuckey’s Playlist
Have you heard about Kids’ Day? Once a month, Briarfield Dental Care throws a special celebration focused exclusively on our youngest patients. The office is transformed with fun decorations, the whole team gets dressed up, and there are lots of prizes for kids who come in to join the fun. Plus, we have special spin brushes and offers on sealants and mouthguards only available during our Kids’ Days.
Calling All Crumbs I try to have a diverse selection of music on my playlist. The world is full of great songs, and I want to sample all of them. That said, there are some genres I just don’t care for, like country. But even though I don’t seek out country songs, there are some bands and songs with clear country influences that I really like. The band Cracker, with their fusion of 80s rock and country, is one of these bands. Since forming in 1990, Cracker has never been the biggest band in the world, but they’ve had a few big hits. “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now),” from their first album, reached No. 1 on Modern Rock Tracks and remains one of my favorite songs from the group. Most people know Cracker from their 1994 hit song “Low,” from their platinum album, “Kerosene Hat.”
Feb. 14 - Valentine’s Day
States and Europe, and fans of the band call themselves “crumbs.” I guess you could call me a crumb too. I tend to be drawn to artists and groups with unique voices. David Lowery, the lead singer, has that kind of voice. When paired with their distinct musical style, I know when a song by Cracker starts playing, even if it’s a song I haven’t heard before. If you only know Cracker from hearing “Low” played over and over again in the 90s, I highly recommend checking out some of their other songs. “Sunday Train” and “Turn On Tune In Drop Out” are worth a listen.
March 28 - Spring Break Day
April 11 - Pirate Day
May 16 - Disney Day
June 20 - Summer Fun Day
July 25 - Cowboy Day
The band is still touring and writing music. Cracker has a strong fanbase in the United
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Dinosaurs at the Dentist
Why Parents Should Play Video Games HealthyStart The ‘Smart’ Way to Brush Your Teeth Dr. Stuckey’s Playlist 3 Myths About Our Favorite Furry Meteorologist
3 Myths About Our Favorite Furry Meteorologist What Do You Really Know About Groundhog Day?
Despite the fact that most, if not all, meteorologists place little value on a furry marmot’s ability to predict an early spring, the annual tradition of Groundhog Day is still one that millions of people love to celebrate. Because it is based more on folkloric legend than scientific evidence, Groundhog Day is associated with shams and spoofs of varying degrees. There are many myths regarding the tradition as well as the famous Punxsutawney Phil himself. Many event-goers put a lot of faith in Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions. Unfortunately, he is more likely to be wrong than right. According to studies based on Phil’s predictions and the weather patterns that follow, it seems Phil’s predictions receive an accuracy rate of only 39 percent. Myth 1: The predictions are accurate.
Myth 2: Groundhog Day is harmless.
care of the New York territory, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has three groundhogs of its own, which is probably due to its rich Pennsylvania Dutch history. Canada has even started a Groundhog Day tradition with Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia and Balzac Billy in Alberta.
Much like humans, most groundhogs don’t like being suddenly jostled out of their sleep. Their frustration often leads to them biting their handlers. For this reason, the handlers usually wear heavy gloves to protect themselves. However, that isn’t always enough of a precaution to ensure everyone’s safety. In 2009, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg was bitten through his glove, and subsequent mayor Bill de Blasio dropped his groundhog in 2014.
Even though Groundhog Day is a holiday based on many myths, it still provides a
great time for event- goers all across the world. You might not be able to fully trust Phil’s predictions, but the superstition and mystique associated with this unique and festive day make it one you shouldn’t skip out on.
Myth 3: Phil is the only famous rodent .
While Phil is probably the most well-known ground-dwelling meteorologist, he is not the only groundhog with weather predicting abilities. For example, General Beauregard Lee is the weather predictor for the city of Lilburn, Georgia. Staten Island Chuck takes
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