THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

As I near the end of the online course that gave me the most angst as a student in the PIDP program at the VCC School of Instructor Education, I realize that many obstacles are self-imposed (a wise person's recent comment).

My mindset going into the course was that it would bring me as close to being keel-hauled as I would ever experience.  What a relief that, despite some challenges and a few salt-stung scrapes along the way, I came out on the other side of a falsely perceived barnacled barge under blue skies and with fresh air to spare!

At the end of the day, the amount of learning and growth was measurable in freighter-length scale (it's also a wonderful assurance that the sea monster under the boat is only in your mind).  We often blow things out of proportion and end up with only a wee tempest in a teapot.   I don't want to minimize that while in the teapot, there were moments I felt like a whaler in nor-easterly blow, but happily there was always a fellow classmate or instructor not far away to throw me a life ring.

With this experience now behind me, and a boost of confidence that I can tackle yet more, things are definately looking up!  A final big thank you to my 3240 learning community for all the support and guidance through it all.

Doing things that matter ...

I am only one, but I am one.

I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

What I can do,

I ought to do,

And by the grace of God, I shall do.

Edward Everett Hale

Volunteer for a medical or dental charity group. Seven years ago, I volunteered with Kindness In Action for a week long commitment in Urubamba, Peru.  I went with an open mind and came back truly blessed .....

Below are several charity groups that regulary go overseas.  You can offer your services or simply donate to one of them.  These are "grass roots" organizations that do not have large administrative overhead so your donations are optimized for the need of the citizens.

http://www.globaldentalrelief.org/index.php

http://www.kindnessinaction.ca/ 

http://mountainchild.org/ 

Online Dental Hygiene Instrumentation Videos

Am I ever glad to see this!  Since I have recently started instructing clinical dental hygiene, I have been looking for high quality instructional videos on instrumentation. 

The videos offered by Pattison Institute are exceptional and I am confident that adding this educational resource will be valued by both student and instructor.
 
I listened to Anna M. Pattison speak at a Dental Hygiene Course in Banff, Alberta several years ago and she was an engaging and highly reputable speaker (internationally recognized speaker on Advanced Periodontal Instrumentation).  She is a dental hygiene educator at University of North Carolina, has co-authored the textbook Periodontal Instrumentation: A Clinical Manual and has also contributed to Glickman's and Carranza's Clinical Periodontology.  You can visit the Pattison Institute website at: https://www.pattisoninstitute.com/

Storms

I love storms (but not as much as peonies)

Watching a storm is thrilling and freaky at the same time

pressure

agitation, murmuring, grumbling

IT SHOUTS AT YOU

there is power, flashes of light, shock, trepidation

shrieking, howling, objects hurled

it terrifies without harm, supercharges the senses

it is intense, raw (I love raw)

rain slackens

wind quietens

thunder muffles

blue sky hints

ground glistens

can't wait for the next one . . .

Written by Loni Spletzer June 27, 2006

changes .....

changes ....

the seasons
moods
mindsets
sheets
the color of our eyes after we cry
my son's shoe size
my daughter's best friend at school

changes stretch us 


written by Loni Spletzer, June 2006

Praise for the Peony

  

Things that Make Me GRIN!

A very kind gentleman bought me "thank-you flowers" not long ago and I enjoyed the bright summer colors as a welcome contrast to the grey skies and snow still hanging on outside.

In thinking about flowers, I definately have a penchant for any type of plant that is a prolific bloomer and boasts colossal blossoms - more is more in this category!

A friend introduced me to the writings of Anais Nin. As nature often provides metaphors in life, here is a piece that I can connect with on so many levels:

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

For this reason, I cannot resist peonies.   In late spring, I am in blooming heaven when they broadcast their behomothic, blousy blossoms that can get as big as your face.  Can you look at these exhibitionists and not smile?!

Schwäbish Smile

My Oma was a great cook.  Never overly fancy, but always LARGE portions of rustic fare with plenty of schmeck (great taste)!


I  love to prepare Swabian dishes that come from the south western part of Germany.  Here, I made Linsen, Kartoffeln und Saiten (lentils, potatoes and sausages).  Normally, this is served with Spätzle, a home-made German noodle, but this time I just boiled up some potatoes in their jackets and then peeled and coarsely mashed them.


The European wieners are fun to eat because the skin cracks as you bite into them. This kind of comfort food is easy to make with simple cheap ingredients and HUGE on flavour.

 






I served this with a cucumber salad made with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and dill weed.

The Unabashed Birch

Things That Make me GRIN!

My daughter and I took a glorious  hike in the spring sun today in an area near UNBC called Forests for the World.  We came across a birch tree that flaunted itself as an impressive peeler!  This  paper birch seemed less bashful about shedding some layers than many of the others in the area.

I have noticed throughout my life, that there are reoccurring "themes" that present themselves in a series of clusters over a relatively short period of time. They are connected to each other, but not in any way that means anything to me.  I sometimes wonder if I am being taught or shown something for a reason, but often can't figure it out.   Perhaps you have had this happen also? The present reoccuring theme for me of late relates to "birch trees".

For example: I want to repaint my living room.  A color on my shortlist: Whispering Birch.

My step-father mentioned just recently that he had attended a workshop on how to tap birch trees for syrup - he's started tapping trees in his backyard.

Recently, I was cleaning up some old papers and came across a poem I wrote a few years back about the demise of one of the birch trees in the backyard of a house where I used to live - a tongue-and-cheek ode called An Obirchuary ....

It it mere coincidence that I am currently experiencing a repetition of many-things-birch? Anyone with a birch-eye view of the situation can drop me a comment....

No matter what I do .....

 
It's been six months - maybe longer, since you've been to the dentist.  You get a postcard in the mail and perhaps a follow-up phonecall "It's check-up and cleaning time!"

You spend a few days leading up to your dental appointment flossing and brushing like a maniac playing catch up for the days you slacked off without flossing before bed and all chugging pop and junk food.

At your appointment, you're dental hygienist takes some xrays, asks you to stick out your tongue, looks down your throat, and measures the bone and gums.  Just when you think you're golden, the hygienist says "you've got quite a bit of tartar in your mouth and it is especially heavy on the back side of your lower front teeth" ..... and then out comes the highspeed equipment and sharp tools.

"Geez," you say, "No matter what I do, I always get that buildup right there!"

Most patients are not aware of what dental hygienist sees when a small mouth mirror reflects the image of the back side of your lower front teeth.  Many are astounded when they are given a hand mirror to see the reflected image of this area for themselves.  Responses are typically something like "How did that get there?  I brush my teeth twice a day!"

Simply stated tartar is mineralized plaque. It hardens on the teeth from your spit.  The back side of the lower front teeth is very prone to tartar buildup due to the promity of this area to the sublingual salivary duct that jets saliva out from under your tongue.  Saliva washes over the teeth in this area constantly - it's always under water!  Unless you are hyper-vigilant with brushing and flossing in this region specifically, you are likely to get tartar buildup.

Some easy ways to minimize tartar buildup is to brush your teeth using a pattern rather than a random haphazard approach.  Sequencing is almost more important than how long you brush.  Studies show that most people brush the outsides of the teeth much longer and more thoroughly than the insides.  This is often due to awkward angles, a gag reflex, and an uncomfortable hand/wrist position when brushing these areas.

I encourage you to analyze your own brushing pattern.  Do you sequence logically from one side of the mouth to the other?  Do you spend as much time on the backside of the teeth as you do on the front sides?  Are the toothbrush bristles purposefully guided to clean awkward, hard to reach areas like the backside of the front teeth and the back corners of your mouth (ex. wisdom teeth)?

Just by making a few corrections to your brushing habits, you can greatly improve your oral health.





And flossing....well that's a whole other discussion.....

Dogs Don't Get Colds or Cavities

This is my mostly-good dog Eddy.  He is my best bud and a wonderful companion despite some mischievious antics (he hates me cleaning his teeth!).  Dogs are enviable creatures for many reasons. Their lives are simple...

1) watch master
2) wait for master to do something .....anything!
3) eat anything master gives me
4) pee all over the world!
5) bark at everything
6) love you no matter what ....

My son has just gotten over a cold. At the beginning of it he  was a mess; snotty, sniffing, sneezing, plugged, raw, achey and ....well you get the picture. During one low and self-piteous moment, he exclaimed, "I can't even play with the dog or he'll catch my cold".

Good news! Dogs don't get colds and they don't get cavities.  How lucky is that?

Dogs do not seem to harbour cavity-causing  bacteria nor are they susceptible to catching a human common cold.

Interestingly enough, they are prone to periodontal or gum disease because they form tartar - lots of it! Dogs usually have to be sedated to have their teeth cleaned - for obvious reasons! Oh, and guess what? The cost of getting your own teeth cleaned at your local dental office is WAY cheaper than the vet bill for your pooch ...... seriously!

Take home message: some people take better care of their dogs then they do themselves. You need to keep your teeth and gums healthy for many more years than your pet.

You Sharp Little Thing ......

Every tried to cut a piece of meat or vegetable with a dull knife?  What happens? You are not efficient. You work way too hard at it and it is not safe ... a dull blade slips.

A high-end chef's knife and a dental hygiene instrument share common characteristics - they have a handle, they are balanced and weighted, are made with high-grade stainless steel, and have multiple cutting edges.  The blades are sharpened from heel to toe, but generally the toe is the business end of the tool.

There are many sharpening gadgets for dental hygiene instruments, some electronic and some manual.  Electric gadgets that have been invented can produce amazingly sharp instruments in a short amount of time, but they are designed to sharpen clean, sterile instruments.  If you have been extensively hand scaling tenacious tartar, however, you will need to stop and touch up your instruments with a manual stone that can be sterilized after use.  

This post is about free-hand sharpening of dental hygiene instruments.



 Dental hygiene students are still taught how to sharpen dental scalers using a moving stone-stationary instrument technique.  The only advantage to this technique is that it allows the operator to clearly see the face of the blade against the stone.   Recent studies have shown how this is NOT the best method and results in multiple bevels and angles created along the length of the blade. It is also a dangerous method to teach students who are yet developing fine motor skills and good instrument control because the stone is held without a fulcrum in midair while trying to maintain the correct angle during the sharpening strokes.


To see a commentary on this study, please visit: http://www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-30/issue-10/features/manual-instrument-sharpening.html

Think of how a chef's knife is sharpened - what culinary instructor in the world would teach students to use a moving stone in the non-dominant hand against a rigidly-held knife blade ?  I think there would be plenty of gouged chefs in the kitchens ....

The preferred method for free-hand manual sharpening is moving instrument-stationary stone.

The instrument is held in the dominant hand to allow for the most natural eye-hand coordination and movement.  This method affords the most control and is therefore the safest technique.    The blade is pressed lightly against a lubricated stone and careful attention is paid to moving the instrument at the correct angle on the stone with consistent pressure down the length of the blade.




A helpful student exercise is to "paint out" the blade with a black marker, practice moving the instrument along the stone, and then observe how the markings are removed.

Sharpening is a skill that takes time to learn and master. Like many things, this gets easier with practice!

3240 Journal #1 - before I saw the rubric

 Objective:  

 The purpose of this journal entry is to reflect on Chapters 1-3 of Teaching Naked by Jose Antonio Bowen.  

 Reflective:  

Bowen summed up the future of education for me in two sentences -  the opening sentence in Chapter 1 “The new classroom is a flat screen” (Bowen, pg. 3) and in the closing paragraph of Chapter 3, “If teaching is all about student-faculty interaction, then we must realize that human interaction is changing” (Bowen, pg. 49).

I cringed when I read the first sentence and ruminated on the second one for at least an hour.   

Reading that the new classroom will be a flat screen was out-and-out alarming.  Bowen's prophetical statement that human interaction is not what it used to be and will continue to change had me grinding my teeth.  I will be honest and state that the material in the 48 pages between these bookend remarks did little to provoke a response as compared to these opening and closing comments.

Interpretive:   

 It is now a rare day that I do not see people all around me using electronic media: cell phones, MP3 players/iPods, pagers, checking social media sites, Google, YouTube, Skype and much more.  I even have at least one patient a day at the dental office where I work asking me if it is ok to text while they have their teeth cleaned!   

 (Not recommended, by the way ….).

It never occurred to me that these people may actually be in the process of learning.  I found myself analyzing my opinion about how knowledge should be acquired and how learners should access knowledge.  I mused, “I guess I am just old school.”  My reaction made me realize how much I was resisting alternative methods of learning and especially any kind of learning that illicited the help of electronic media.

Admittedly, I have dipped my toes into the “techcom” world rather grudgingly – my daughter recently encouraged updating my ancient (is 3 years old really ancient?) cell phone to a fancier “smart” phone, but I have not fully accepted or been open-minded to the way that technology is changing the way people communicate or actually learn.  

Not long ago, I stopped to pick up pizza on the way home from work and while waiting I pulled out my cell phone, sent out a few texts, searched an address and looked through a few free apps that I could download into my phone.  A question popped into my mind – before cell phones what would I have done while I was waiting 15-20 minutes for a pizza?  I likely would have sat and simply gazed out the window or straightened out the contents of my handbag and then flipped through a three day old newspaper.  My original value judgement of anyone seen texting was as someone who was “killing time.”  Then I thought about my own recent texts and searches and asked myself “is this a waste of time?”  

Decisional:  

Learning from non-traditional sources should not be viewed as trite.  Rather than resisting the current trend to use media for human interaction and to gain knowledge, I have decided to embrace the idea of using media as a tool for learning, not as toys that kill time.  I realize as I write this that it does not matter what I am texting about or what I am looking up on the Internet – the fact is I am engaged with others and/or I am assimilating new information.  

There could be an endless argument about whether the information anyone reads from any source constitutes “a waste of time,” but it dawned on me that using our time in this way is not the critical piece.  It is enough to know that the information acquired from these sources can be a form of learning and will have an impact in some way, shape or form.  And besides …… it beats just sitting there listening to my stomach growling for a chipotle chicken pizza …….

Reference:

Bowen, J.A. (2012). Teaching naked:  How moving technology out of your college classroom will improve student learning (1^st ed.). San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass

The Intimacy of the Mouth

"The mouth is a sacred and intimate portal." We take our food and drink through the mouth, we communicate through the mouth, we share intimacy through the mouth. The mouth is the most intimate part of the face.  It is also the most intimate part of our bodies that we don't cover up. Through it and with it, we allow others to see into ourselves.

As dental health professionals, we are permitted into that intimate place - sometimes that privilege is granted easily, many times not. In order to better understand why patients may be apprehensive and sometimes hostile to oral care, it is worth exploring the intimacy aspect of our mouths.  In thinking about this and doing some reading, I realized that while there is consensus and acknowledgement among dental health professionals that oral care intrudes in no small way on personal intimacy, there is little written about it. I did find a fascinating theological article entitled Kisses of the Mouth, however, which captures the intimacy of the mouth brilliantly. I have partly quoted and partly paraphrased, and reposted here:

Traditionally, the eyes are the window to the soul, but you can’t see into me in any real sense when I open my eyes. You might try to peer up my nostrils, or into my ear, but pretty quickly it gets too gloomy and dark to see much. When I open my mouth, though, there’s a yawning chasm in the middle of my head, and without too much trouble you can see well into my interior.......

The mouth is, of course, the entry for food into our digestive tract, and thus the gateway for bringing nourishment to the whole body. We drink water through the mouth, and we take in air. The mouth is thus the main way we take the world into ourselves from outside-it is the main delivery system through which the world outside keeps us alive. The mouth is guarded by the lips, but the lips are backed up by teeth.Saliva, mucous, vomit, carbon dioxide and other "essences" can escape through the mouth, but it is not limited to palpable physical material.   Ideas, aspirations, compliments, songs, prayers, laments, screams and shrieks, and many other expressions of our interior life move to the outside world through our mouth. 

The mouth is the most expressive part of the face. Without the mouth, our interior life would be much less precisely expressible. 


You can gesture and dance, but, for all their expressiveness, these modes of communication cannot express our desires or thoughts as articulately as the mouth. 

  

 



The mouth is particularly sensitive - not only to touch, but inextricably linked to the nose to perceive taste,texture and aroma. A kiss is a synaesthetic symphony. The taste and the smell of two breaths mingle into one. It is touch, lips against other lips, and it is touch on a highly sensitive part of the skin. 

My take-home thought for the day: 

Whether you realize it or are in tune with it or not, our inner world steps through the doorway of the mouth and presents itself to those around us in a rather intimate way ..... all the more reason to take care of it.

I only noticed her braces ....you?

This post was sparked by a recent ultra-brief conversation about PASSION.  Not the hot, steamy kinks and hijinx of sex  (although it could be about that), but in the context of  just being a passionate individual.  I hear the word "passion" tritely bandied about so often that it caused me to wonder how people see true passion.  I get the impression that it is just an attempt at a quasi-intellectual way to express "what we really dig".   

Since I always need some history, my fingers assailed the keyboard and  I began with the dictionary term.  Coming originally from the Latin, passio: to bear, endure, suffer,  it seems the meaning of passion has morphed into more of an emotion that is inseparable from an activity that really supercharges us.  With this backgrounder, I suspect that the term "passion" is often unwittingly substituted for the activity that is associated with tremendous drive, zeal, fervor - that locomotive-like energy that propels us toward a particular destination or goal.  

I was intriqued, so a natural progression was to ask how passion is connected to happiness and why an effusive and unconcealed "joie de vive" is frequently not projected by those who claim "I am a really passionate person".

In my hunt for more info on passion, I discovered not only the incredible picture at the top of this post, but explored some thought-provoking sites that ruminate on the subject of passion, inner peace and happiness - I was lost for several hours! I recommend the following sites as starting points:

http://emergentbydesign.com/2012/02/24/when-passion-isnt-enough/#comment-61447

http://philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/when-too-much-passion-is-not-enough/

To finish, I found a quote - the take-home message that made me GRIN ....

"Happiness comes from the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, and what the world needs. We've been told time and again to keep finding the first. Our schools helped developed the second. It's time we put more thought on the third."

What's Living In Your Mouth?

There's a couple of bad bacteria in town .... and they're causing trouble.......

Streptococcus mutans and Lactobaccilli are destructive cavity-causing bacteria .  Teeth are basically mineralized objects that will either dissolve or recrystallize depending on what they are exposed to: acids, enzymes in saliva, and minerals.   

After eating a meal with any almost any simple carbohydrate, S. mutans produces acids for up to three hours. Most people eat about five to seven times a day (including snacks and sweetened drinks); therefore, most people unfortunately allow their teeth to soak in a pool of acid for about 15 to 21 hours per day. The resulting acidic environment chips away at mineralized tooth enamel and makes teeth vulnerable to cavities and tooth decay.

Since decay begins as a series of chemical reactions going in one direction in an acidic oral environment, you must reverse the direction and favor remineralizaton and repair of decayed teeth by maintaining a neutral (or alkaline) oral environment.  This is known as the caries balance:

Brush at least twice a day to remove biofilm (plaque bacteria) and food. If you can only brush/floss once a day, do it at night -> always go to bed with a clean mouth. Salivary flow which dilutes acids is reduced at night so you will not have the buffering effect and teeth are more vulnerable to decay. If you cannot brush after meals, rinse your mouth with water or chew sugarless gum to stimulate saliva (xylotol in sugarless gum also inhibits S. mutans). 

To see how the bacteria in our mouths has changed from ancient times, read this interesting article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130217134140.htm

Wow, your teeth are so ......WHITE!

"How do I whiten my teeth?" This is probably the single most common question I get in any given day at work. Regardless of age (in fact the older people get), everyone wants a whiter smile.

Whitening products are widely available and come in the form of mouthrinses, toothpastes and whitening gels. The active ingredient in all of the products is a form of hydrogen peroxide (carbomide peroxide) which breaks down to water and oxygen.  It is the oxygenating activity that whitens the teeth.  Mouthrinses and toothpastes have a low concentration of whitening agents and will help whiten the teeth gradually over time.  Gels and strips are stronger products designed to whiten within a few days to a week depending on the concentration.

Please note that if you have dentures, white composite fillings or porcelain crowns/veneers, whitening products will not change the color of the teeth.  Whitening treatments are effective on enamel only. More information on whitening available at: http://www.dentistry.net/cosmetic-dentistry/cosmetic-teeth-whitening-basics/

Oral Piercings

WHATEVER!  

How popular are oral piercings?  Tongue piercings come in second right after ear piercing.

I urge anyone who is considering or already has an oral piercing to do your research (The Association of Professional Piercers, www.safepiercing.org) and be hypervigilant about care and safety.  Don't forget the mouth is highly vascularized ....that means a huge blood supply so a piercing will bleed easily and cause swelling (especially the tongue).

Tongue jewelry that is placed right after a piercing has a long shaft because of the swelling.  Once the tongue returns to a normal size, this jewelry should be changed to something with a shorter shaft so that the movements of the tongue don't cause the jewlery to smash into and crack your teeth. Plastic barbells are especially easier on teeth, but are more porous than metal and under a microscopic and have been shown to harbour more bacteria.

Oral piercings can cause tooth and gum damage and can become infected.  The mouth is full of bacteria that can enter the bloodstream and since oral piercings may bleed a fair bit it is important to monitor the tissue around the puncture point - look for swelling, redness, pain, burning, discoloration,bleeding, or oozing. Oral infection from piercings can lead to serious health problems if not treated.

If you are a Dental Health professional I recommend Betsy Reynold's presentation on The Pierced Patient.  Besty is on a lecture circuit for a variety of subjects and she a wonderful, humorous and entertaining speaker - look for her at dental conventions or dental CE events in your area. You can read her article on The Pierced Patient here:    http://digital.turn-page.com/i/50155/26


More information on oral piercings can be found here: www.mouthhealthy.org

The Social Six

C'mon .... flash me! With your "social six" that is .....

When someone flashes you their social six, that is their six front teeth, what do you notice? Color?  The position of the teeth? Or the health of the teeth and gums?

Chime in with your comments and I will keep track of your responses ..... then we can look at each characteristic and discuss what has the most impact on your smile!

Do You Need Antibiotics Before Dental Treatment?

If you have a history of heart problems or have had a joint replacement, you may need to be premedicated with antibiotics before dental procedures.  It is recommended that you check with your family physician or surgeon to confirm if this is necessary.

The American Heart Association has recently updated the Guidelines for Premedication and can be viewed at:

 http://www.dimensionsofdentalhygiene.com/ddhright.aspx?id=1124#.URnJY2ddCjY

Who Can Resist a Beautiful Smile?

Almost everyone is attracted to a beautiful smile, but that starts with a healthy mouth.  We know that a healthy mouth contributes to the overall health and well-being of the whole body. 

Good oral hygiene helps you feel good about yourself; you feel confident to open your mouth and laugh and smile. Laughter is good for the soul!


The presence of oral infection (cavities, gum disease) can greatly affect your immune system and is linked to heart disease and other inflammatory diseases.  Pain, infection, and bad breath are nothing to smile about so .........take care of your teeth! 

Much to my chaGRIN .....

This is my first post and as with anything new, it will take some time to tweak this site. For now, let's all "grin and bear it ...."

Best,

Loni