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2036 W. 95th St. Chicago, IL 60643 773-366-8718 www.comfort-familydental.com
SEPTEMBER 2022
5 TACTICS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY — AND ORAL HEALTH!
September is Self-Improvement Month, which is very exciting as a dentist. Many self-improvement techniques actually benefit your oral health and hygiene routine, a crucial player in living an overall healthy life. If you’re curious, here are several I think you or a loved one might be interested to learn about because they are so beneficial. No. 1: Make time for a fresh self-care routine. Reboot your health with a new self-care routine! It can seem difficult because great self-care doesn’t happen based on wishful thinking. However, for any new habit to take hold, making time for it is the hardest first step. If it doesn’t fit into your day, your new self-care routine — no matter how simple — may not work. Depending on your lifestyle, it may mean waking up earlier or rearranging your highest priority tasks. No. 2: Transform your bathroom. Want to spend more time in a room? Then make it inviting! I
life, you and your teeth benefit from keeping celery, carrots, or apples nearby for snacking. Not only are these snacks healthy and help you feel full, but you’ll also have much cleaner teeth at the end of the day!
No. 5: Get better sleep. We hear this tip all the time for self-improvement, but did you know it has implications for your oral health, too? Research shows poor sleep is linked to poor oral health. Sleep is time we spend healing; without it, your mouth has less time to fight off infections and inflammation and keep your immune system running at its best.
recommend starting by making your bathroom into the spa-like oasis you’ve always wanted. It doesn’t take too much money to do this; start with cleaning, then organizing to make everything easy to find, and maybe adding new bath towels, lighting, bath mat, or shower curtain. These simple changes can make a huge difference. No. 3: Do a face mask while brushing your teeth. Your teeth should take about 2–3 minutes to brush and clean. If it’s already going to take that long, why not put on a quick face mask? Whether your skin needs hydration, or you’re fighting off wrinkles, a quick face mask can be your best friend in maintaining a bright, youthful complexion. No. 4: Keep crunchy, fresh snacks nearby.
“Your teeth should take about 2-3
If you struggle brushing before bed, it could be due to forgetfulness or exhaustion. Luckily, there’s an easy workaround to this. Assign time to decompress and brush your teeth! Tell yourself, “Okay, at 10 p.m., no matter what, I’ll stop what I’m doing to relax, take a shower, and brush my teeth.” Even if you’re up for another hour or two, you’ll at least have your teeth brushed long before you succumb to sleep.
minutes to brush and clean. If it’s already going to take that long, why not put on a quick face mask?”
I hope these tactics help you out. If they do, I’d love to know. Give our offices a call if you need any more advice, and thank you so much for reading! Although this will be our last newsletter for now, you’ll be hearing from me more through other channels. Have a fantastic start of your fall season.
We get it — a busy lifestyle will keep you chipping away at work for many hours at a time. You might cave into eating junk food every once in a while. But no matter what kind of stress you have in your
– Dr. Corie Rowe
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FIND YOUR BALANCE 5 EXERCISES TO IMPROVE BALANCE
Though we may not always think about it, balance is essential to just about everything we do in our daily routines. From simply getting out of bed, leaning over to tie our shoes, or even walking to the mailbox, we need good balance to keep ourselves steady while performing normal tasks. Know why balance is important. Balance is the ability to control your body’s position, whether stationary or moving. It is a key component of fitness that many people neglect while developing their fitness regimen. Balance training is a great way to help your body recognize where it is and control movements in a given space. When the body knows where its limbs are in space — known as proprioception — it is able to produce smooth, controlled movements with fewer risks of injuries. Reaction time and agility are also improved with balance training. The body learns how to quickly correct itself but not overcompensate
and has the ability to quickly change direction effectively and efficiently. Though balance training is important for everyone, it is especially important for those who have problems due to illness, weakness, or dizziness. It allows them to overcome stiffness or unsteadiness and to develop an awareness of body segments and how to align them. These exercises help with balance. Balance training involves exercises to strengthen the muscles that help keep you upright and improve stability. These types of exercises can be done as often as you like or even every day. Consider trying the following exercises: • Standing with your weight on one leg and raising the other leg to the side or behind you.
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Standing up and sitting down from a chair without using your hands. Walking while alternating knee lifts with each step. Stretching and gentle movement as part of yoga or tai chi.
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Balance is essential to living a healthy, functional life. It’s important to incorporate balance training into your fitness regimen. That way you can decrease the risk of injuries and help move freely and confidently.
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Putting one heel right in front of the other foot, as if you were walking a tightrope.
IMPLANTS CAN SAVE YOUR JAWLINE — AND YOUR LIFE
Bone Grafts and Implants Many people are wary when it comes to oral treatment — nobody wants to pay for more treatment than they need. We completely agree with that sentiment. At Comfort Family, we value your family, needs, and resources most of all. But when considering a tooth implant, depending on the amount of bone in your jaw, a bone graft may be a necessary component of your treatment. As mentioned, after tooth loss, the affected area and jawbone can be very vulnerable and subject to change. We then assess the condition of your bone, because we want to place the implant where the tooth was removed so healing can occur smoothly. Ideally, we would like to place the implant when the tooth is removed without a graft, for a number of reasons, including reducing bone recession and so implant healing can occur concurrently with the tooth removal healing. However, in the event your jaw is not strong enough to accept the implant, a graft will be created to help stabilize your implant and benefit your lifelong oral health. Want to preserve your jawline and smile carefree? Give our offices a call so we can help make that happen for you!
The cost of a tooth implant can seem intimidating at first. “Is it really worth it?” you may wonder. “So, what if I can’t chew as well?” However, a tooth implant does a lot more than help you chew. It strengthens your overall oral health, and studies show it can actually help you live longer! Additionally, it’ll prevent bone loss and preserve your youthful jawline for many more years to come. Here’s how. The Real Cost of Tooth Loss As an adult, after losing a tooth or extracting it from the mouth, the bone of the jaw where the tooth was located can recede. For example, if you imagine a forest, all of the trees are fairly immovable. However, once removed, the hole where the tree roots used to be can be soft, vulnerable, and even cause lasting problems in the landscape such as erosion. A similar effect can apply to your jawbone. In effect, your bone loss accelerates without all your teeth in place. To compensate, we can install a bone graft to be placed into the area where your tooth was removed. It strengthens the infrastructure, helps with healing, and preserves the volume and density of your bone so the implant can be placed. We often recommend considering an implant early in your treatment plan as soon as we assess a risk of tooth loss.
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DENTISTS SAY ‘NO’ SHOULD YOU TRY THE TIKTOK BALSAMIC VINEGAR SODA?
If you’re on TikTok or have teens who use the platform, you might have heard about a new, trendy way to quit soda. According to one viral video, it’s easy to go cold turkey: All you have to do is swap out your daily Coke for a blend of flavored sparkling water and balsamic vinegar. Tasty, right? Even if that combination does sound delicious to you, you should think twice before giving it a try. Apparently, the concoction can wreak havoc on teeth, to the point that it got the attention of the American Dental Association! They even put out a press release. It’s pretty rare for this official body to comment on TikTok fads. But in this case, they had to sound the alarm. According to the press release, drinking a combination of acidic balsamic vinegar and similarly acidic flavored sparkling water is a perfect way to wear down the enamel that protects your teeth.
“Tooth erosion is permanent and may open the door for bacteria to cause cavities or infection,” the press release explains. “It can also make teeth appear discolored, as white enamel is worn away to expose the yellow layer below called dentin.” The ADA even quoted a dentist on the topic. “I love balsamic vinegar, but I enjoy it more on my salad than in my drinking glass. It’s much kinder to the teeth than bathing them in a beverage blend of two acids,” said Dr. Edmond Hewlett. Yikes! Of course, soda is acidic, too — so what should you drink? The ADA recommends water or milk as more tooth-healthy alternatives. If you really want to have a soda or jump on the TikTok bandwagon, make sure you use a straw, rinse your mouth out with water, and snack on a dairy product like cheese afterward to neutralize the acid.
If you’re already dealing with worn-down enamel from years of drinking acidic beverages, talk to your dentist about fillings for potential cavities and/or veneers to whiten up your smile. It’s not too late to get your confidence back.
“SUCCESS SEEMS TO BE CONNECTED WITH ACTION. SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE KEEP MOVING. THEY MAKE MISTAKES, BUT THEY DON’T QUIT.” –CONRAD HILTON
Take a Break
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2036 W. 95th St., Chicago, IL 60643 773-366-8718 www.comfort-familydental.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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Self-Improvement Tactics for Life
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Balance Training Key to Quality Movement
Tooth Implants Save Face
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Dentists Bust a TikTok Trend
Take a Break
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The Insane Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon
THE CRAZIEST OLYMPIC MARATHON OF 1904 IT’S UNBELIEVABLY TRUE!
course anyone was ever asked to undertake. Thomas Hicks, the American who actually came in first, received the slowest time of all of the Olympic marathons since 1896. But why was this one so tough? With temperatures of roughly 104 degrees F and 90% humidity, a rigorous 24.85-mile course with seven hills was a bit much for competitors. Not to mention, support cars were churning up dust, leaving it behind for the runners to inhale, and they only had two water stations available before the halfway mark — and none in the second half! Even seasoned runners were not up to this crazy course! Three hours and 13 minutes after the marathon began, Fred Lorz, who had ridden a third of the course in a car, crossed the finish line. He was about to be adorned with a floral
wreath when he confessed he had gotten so tired that he accepted a ride from one of the cars along the way, so he was disqualified. Thomas Hicks, the true winner, was struggling with just 7 more miles to go. His fans on the sidelines provided him with a secret energy booster mix — a concoction containing strychnine (rat poison), brandy, and egg whites. By the time he crossed the finish line, he was hallucinating. And the fourth-place winner from Cuba wore dress pants and shoes for the entire race (because he lost his money gambling in New Orleans on his way to St. Louis and arrived after hitchhiking with nothing but the clothes on his back!). This 1904 Olympic marathon went down in history as the most bizarre and wildly entertaining race. Luckily, but surprisingly, nobody died!
In 1904, the year of America’s first Olympics, the men’s marathon was a bizarre spectacle to behold. In fact, it was likely the most jaw-dropping event ever in the history of the Olympic Games. On that hot, sweltering summer day in St. Louis, MO, only 14 of the 32 Olympic competitors crossed the finish line on what was deemed the most difficult
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