Is It Your Turn Yet?

2010-10-20T11:39:00.002-07:00

"Is It Your Turn Yet?"
October 2010

How Sweet It Is!

My title has been taken from an old Jackie Gleason saying.

Sweet is a pleasurable taste. Almost everyone loves some “sweetness”, both psychologically and by ingestion. It is when we need to take that nasty word “health” into consideration that we begin to have concerns. I go back to my dental school days, just after Beth and I were married. We were very poor and would do anything for money. I would be a guinea pig for research studies at the University and they would pay me for doing so. One major study that I participated in was for me to take in (through a liquid concoction) only one type of sugar for a three week period (note: no cost of food either) and then they would take blood from me for a full 24 hours. They tested 5 sugars so it lasted 6 months.

The bottom line is that the study found that Sucrose (regular sugar) increased Triglycerides in the blood and caused other metabolic symptoms bad for health (not to mention dental cavities). Other sugars, like Fructose and Maltose were much less bad for the system.

Combine this with what I wrote about recently that it is thought that cancer cells love sugar – that sweetness, if regular and in volume, can really be detrimental to our health.

I am not a fan of the artificial sugars that had research showing they are also not good for us – like Saccharin and Aspartame.

The good news is there are two “super stars” for your sweet tooth which are on the market now. The first is called Stevia, which is an herb that you can grow in your garden or buy in a store which is sweet. The second is Xylitol which is a very large molecule sugar that actually has very good things written about it. The best for dentistry, is that Xylitol binds the bacteria that causes cavities and doesn’t allow them to metabolize and cause dental cavities. So actually, using Xylitol is almost as good as using Fluoride for dental caries prevention.

As I have always believed, moderation is the key in life and a diet that has mostly vegetables, complex carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, etc.) and proteins is the best, but if that great desire for sugar comes – like for your coffee, Stevia and Xylitol are great alternatives and will not harm your health.

This is the first day of the rest of your life.

2010-10-20T11:39:00.001-07:00

"Is It Your Turn Yet?"
September 2010

Lessons In Frustration

I title this month’s article as such because it is the third time I have tried to dictate it.

The first was in the dark and somehow I must not have pushed the “record” button.
The second was on an electronic device that I found out later, had only a short memory.
So this is the 11½ hour and I do not have the relaxing time that I usually take to do this article. I have learned lessons, though, on how I should react.

As many of you know, horses are our past time and we were at a show this weekend. When going into the competition, I told myself I was relaxed, but I am told those seemingly stupid horses can tell from 15 feet away, through the reins, whether or not I am totally relaxed. If I am totally relaxed then they will be totally relaxed. As you can guess, they were not totally relaxed.

My goal, rather than being frustrated, was to do everything I could to make myself calmer – like Yoga. Success was limited, but I guess life’s lessons are always a work in progress. I am now trying to devise a method that we can all utilize to work on relaxing when we are totally frustrated.

Interactions last week gave me the perfect model that I can send on to you. The next time you feel the need to work on your relaxation techniques in frustrating times, go to the phone book, look up any state agency, dial the number and try to get information.

This is the first day of the rest of your life.

2010-10-20T11:38:00.001-07:00

"Is It Your Turn Yet?"
July 2010

Rocks and Freedom

Rocks and Freedom don’t seem to have much in common, but my thoughts, as I have been working on rocks, turn to our Country’s freedom. My family thinks I am a bit strange, but as I now live on two rock ledges (Sorrento and Dover-Foxcroft), I have become fascinated with vertical rock ledges and the beauty of their intricate geological design.

At both locations, I have taken back the thin soil around the rocks and then power washed them to fully expose their face. Last night I finished the Sorrento ledge which has very deep crevices and sharp out croppings, much different than the ledge in Dover-Foxcroft. I thought, as I was washing, these rocks will be here, pretty much as they are, far longer than me or my children.

Freedom, I have always felt, is not like the rock. It is very tenuous and requires constant vigilance. History tells us, like the Roman and Greek Empires, that when a society feels they are “entitled” to the benefits of freedom, without the work involved, the society crumbles. We are now being told by our Government that we are no longer the best and we must get used to being like the others.

For the sake of my grandchildren, I sincerely hope that we, collectively, can remember our constitution and that we were only given the right to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. If we lose sight of the tremendous hard work that binds our heritage and country, future generations will look at us in history books like Rome and Greece.

Personally, I am not ready to accept that change and I am hoping a critical mass of citizens think the same.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

2010-10-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

"Is It Your Turn Yet?
June 2010

Child Sedation In Dentistry

The good news about children growing up today is that with good snacks, nutrition, fluoride supplementation and good home care, almost all of the children in our practice, are growing up without cavities. The bad news is that it does not include everyone. Sometimes, a young child needs to have dental fillings or extractions.

It is the philosophy of our office that all dental experiences need to be positive. The necessary shots, drilling, pressure, etc. for a child who, hopefully, will never need much dental care afterwards, can make it a negative experience. We find that approximately 50% of adults report a fear of going to the dentist. This highlights the critical importance to having these first experiences be positive ones.

In our office, both Dr. Steinke and Dr. Caruso are trained and certified in providing sedation dentistry for children. This is extremely safe and is accomplished utilizing oral medications given just prior to the dental visit and using N2O (laughing gas) during the procedure. For safety reasons, it is imperative to use the smallest amount of medication necessary to accomplish the treatment. The doctors judge the patient and give an appropriate amount of medication within the safety zone. With an expanded team of trained assistants, much can be accomplished in a short period of time – usually 30-40 minutes.

The child lies comfortably on the chair. Sometimes he/she is wrapped in a Velcro vest for safety so that the child’s motion is minimized. The child is in a semi sleepy state, has music in their ears, and is usually very cooperative which allows the dental team to quickly and efficiently accomplish the necessary treatment.

As this is a very light sedation, there are times when a child may cry, but the treatment can be accomplished and the child rarely remembers the experience. Our mentors, teaching the advanced course on sedation, always remind us that a crying child is an alive child. Sedating children is safe and effective when done properly, but one can go on the internet and find cases that were done improperly and turned out with very bad circumstances. Our office has been doing sedation dentistry on children for 30 years without one incident categorized as a dangerous or emergency situation.

Our hope is that your child or grandchild has a similar experience like the over 90% of kids growing up in our practice over the past 25 years and never need to have a filling. However, if a child does require dental care more than simply a cleaning or sealant, their experience should be comfortable and safe, leaving them with a positive feeling about their future dental experiences.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

2010-10-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Is It Your Turn Yet?
May 2010

“The Stress of Moving”

As many of you know, my wife and I have raised our family on a small, gentleman’s farm on the Milo Road. It has been a wonderful place to raise our children, but we realized a long time ago, that it was too big for two people to live out their lives in. My daughter and partner, Hillary Caruso, is now raising her family and the farm is the perfect place to do so.

Recently, we built a smaller house in the woods on property that backs up to the farm, and Hillary and Joe have now moved into the farm. Building our new house was very enjoyable. Many people will tell you how stressful building a house is, but we had a terrific experience with a great general contractor, Gary Killam, and all of the sub contractors we selected, we have known and dealt with successfully over the past 23 years, and that has been a pleasure working with them, as well.

The problem was when the final day came to move… all the “stuff” accumulated over 35 years into what we now wanted to be a very organized, smaller house. That is where the stress started. It is amazing how much “stuff” we all accumulate over the years. I filled four large boxes with pictures of the family growing up that we never got around to putting in albums, or even cataloguing. The stress starts when memories of the good times meet up with the reality of not wanting or having the room to move the accumulated "stuff". My tendency was to bring it all over and find a corner in the basement and stack it all, but the kids vetoed that plan as they said they never want to have to deal with all of it when we are old. So, hopefully one of you wants a very sentimental lobster trap table (being sold in the Kiwanis Auction/Church Fair) from our early years in Iowa where we would think about Maine while watching television in our mobile home. There is also a lamp that I made Beth when I was in high school from the base of an old oil lantern, and other such “treasures” from our past…

The memories of one’s life have many physical reminders which are hard to let go of. We all deal with the practicality at some time in our life, of allowing the memories to be in our mind and not in our attic. I’m hopeful that each of you can more easily determine which items are best let go of, and which items must be kept for someone else, at a later time, to dispose of…

This is the first day of the rest of your life.

2010-10-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

“Is It Your Turn Yet?”
April 2010

Dental Emergencies

I hope for this month’s topic that it is never “Your Turn Yet” as this month we want to speak about dental emergencies. Most people have stories in the family about breaking a tooth while growing up or a vacation that was ruined by a terrible toothache. The most common emergencies we have besides a toothache (caused many times from neglect of preventive care) is trauma to the teeth of children while they are playing sports or playing with friends. As always, the best way to treat a broken tooth is to prevent the accident in the first place. The Maine Principals Association has just initiated mandatory mouth guard wear for some sports. This is very welcomed as most of the traumatic injuries we see during sports is from soccer or basketball. It is rare to have a football, field/ice hockey injury because of the mandatory mouth guard wear. A concern for athletes in soccer is that their ability to breathe may be restricted.

There are two types of mouth guards available. The first is the traditional boil and fit mouth guard that is most commonly used in football and hockey. Two advantages of the boiled mouth guard are the very low expense and the ability to easily make another if the mouth guard is lost or deformed. The second option is called a lab processed mouth guard. This mouth guard fits more exactly and is slightly smaller, but must be made by a dental office. An impression is made and the dental laboratory then makes an appliance constructed from the mold of that impression. Ask your dentist if you feel the boiled mouth guard does not fit your need.

Parents always ask the question of what age a child should start wearing a mouth guard. There is a limit to the protection you can have for your child. It reminds me of the little boy in the movie, “Little Giants”. The little boy enters practice completely mummified in thick foam padding to the point that he couldn’t even walk. Although there is some danger, I personally have never had my children wear mouth guards playing baseball or riding a bike. It is a personal decision because those two activities have been the highest incidents of dental trauma in this practice.

So, what if you or your child is unprotected and has an accident which breaks or knocks out a tooth? If a portion of tooth is broken, amazingly enough, you should find that portion of tooth and bring it to the dentist. Modern methods of bonding now allow us to sometimes rebond the piece of tooth back into place. If the tooth is completely knocked out, most of us know that if treated quickly, the tooth may be placed back in the mouth and kept. If a tooth is avulsed (knocked out), a couple of basic points will help the tooth’s chances. If the tooth is dirty, rinse the tooth off, but do not scrub. The live cells that reattach are on the outside of the root and must not be removed. If possible, put the tooth back in the mouth. If that is not possible, place it in milk and find the dentist as soon as possible. The critical time is two hours to replant the tooth. After that, up to approximately six hours, the tooth can still be replanted but its chances for survival diminish.

Finally, a tip on dealing with a toothache (usually on vacation or out of town). The most important determination is whether the tooth aching is dead or alive. An “abscess” is an infection around a dead tooth. With an abscess comes swelling, pressure and constant aching that is not sensitive to hot or cold. Immediate treatment can be given by the dentist or antibiotics. If the tooth is sensitive to hot or cold and aches after being stimulated, the nerve is alive and antibiotics will not help. Temporarily, you can sedate the tooth by placing a cotton plug with oil of cloves on it. This can be obtained from most grocery stores. The worst pain, dentally, is a nerve in the process of dying. The classic symptom is an extremely severe aching that is stimulated by hot and relieved with ice. If you ever have that condition, drink a cold glass of ice water and locate a dentist as soon as possible.

We hope it is never “Your Turn Yet” for these injuries, but in the active days of summer, there are always potential accidents lurking around every corner. We hope the remainder of your spring and the upcoming summer is safe and enjoyable.

2010-03-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

“Is It Your Turn Yet?”
March 2010
A Nutrition Based Life

As those in our practice know, we identify ourselves as a “Nutrition Based” Dental Practice. Nutrition and Biochemistry has always been my passion, primarily because my dad contracted and had an early death from diabetes. Dentistry is obvious because dental caries is a disease of refined sugar. With very few exceptions, if one has a diet very low in refined sugar, one does not have cavities.

Two very inspirational people have driven home to me how it is not just the teeth and diabetes that is negatively effected by excess consumption of sugar. These two individuals, one a staff person and the other a patient, were each diagnosed with cancer. Both are alive now, many years later, and leading (to most outside observers), a very normal life and have an expectancy to live a long life. The patient, a middle aged man, decided he did not want to go through all the chemo, etc. so he researched for himself and worked with a health food store in Greenville to establish a protocol that might starve cancer cells and reduce or eliminate them from his organ.

I have always been intrigued with this amazingly daring and self assured man on how he lives his life to keep the cancer at bay. He was very kind to summarize his regimen for me. The basics are, as we expect, healthy living including daily exercise, recognition of stress, organic eating, and limited splurging. The one dramatic comment he made in his summary was, “I eat almost no refined sugar because cancer cells love sugar.”

My employee, after undergoing therapy, came to the same conclusion independently, reading the research and has very little refined sugar in her diet.

Cancer in Central Maine seems all too prevalent and early research that I did in dental school revealed that everyone has cancer going on in their body everyday of their life, but it is the body’s ability to shut off the cancer cells that is critical.

These two unique individuals are alive today and hopefully, with diligence, will beat the ravages of cancer. The burning question is whether they are just plain lucky, as many physicians may respond, or is it their lifestyle and regulation of refined sugar that is keeping them with us today?

It is an individually answered question and if one of us is stricken with the disease, it is an immediate decision as to what route to take and whether a nearly optimum diet would be part of our decision. But, as part of my dental research pointed out - everyday we have active cancer in our bodies. Maybe it’s just not cavities that we are preventing by avoiding the sugared soda aisle.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Written by: Dr. Daniel L. Steinke

2010-02-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

“Is It Your Turn Yet?”
February 2010
Your YMCA – A Group Effort

This summer, it will be two years since a group of volunteers decided to work together to make some necessary changes to allow our very critically important YMCA to overcome many hurdles and a center of health, both physically and mentally, for our region.

I am astounded at the number of people who are committed toward having a healthy YMCA, financially, physically and emotionally. It is through volunteers, a developed, outstanding staff, and support from the regional and national YMCA, that the ‘Y’ has a happy face.

Programming has more than tripled and has many volunteers that are doing an outstanding job teaching the principals of healthy living. My four-year-old grandson is now beginning to participate in the ‘Y’ football, basketball, and other programs offered to young children. When I go to watch, I see volunteer coaches that are teaching skills, building self esteem, and guiding these kids to grow up in our community with a philosophy of exercise for life.

There are so many kids participating in the “itty bitty basketball” that they need to divide the group in half and still, there are an amazing number of kids in each group. I have been playing on an adult racket ball league which was started a few years ago by a volunteer. It has grown to over 20 men and women playing regularly in an organized fashion. These are just a couple examples in my small microcosm of activity, but if you haven’t been to the ‘Y’, please come in and enjoy the positive energy that the organization now exudes.

We are the smallest YMCA, by population support standards, so it takes many people with like philosophies, working together, to allow our ‘Y’ to flourish in the future. We are now seeing that success formula beginning to take hold.

If you haven’t experienced the ‘Y’, please stop by and meet Erika, our Executive Director, and the rest of the staff who will be happy to show you how the ‘Y’ can be a positive influence in your life. We deny no one in true need and give out $150,000 for 300 scholarships per year to allow everyone access to ‘Y’ programming.

To all of the many, many people that volunteer, on behalf of the Board and the staff of the ‘Y’, we greatly appreciate your time and truly hope that you know, by helping others, you are a positive part of this greater community.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Written by: Dr. Daniel L. Steinke

2010-01-14T06:43:00.001-08:00

“Is It Your Turn Yet?”
January 2010

Tooth Whitening Revisited

In our aesthetics oriented society, we have noticed that patient’s demands for aesthetic dentistry continue to rise. With today’s advancements we can now mimic nature with porcelain and resin to create lifelike smiles. Today’s restorations are so remarkable that even a dentist may think they are natural.

Tooth whitening has finally come of age, thanks to new innovative, technological advances. Tooth whitening (sometimes called vital bleaching) is by far the most conservative step that any patient can take in the direction of smile enhancement and these procedures are now routinely accomplished.

When the dental profession first embarked on in-office bleaching, the materials tended to be irritating and difficult to apply. The gums became temporarily irritated and there was occasional tooth sensitivity. That has all changed! Finally, rapid, safe, effective and easy “Power Whitening” is available.

Tooth Bleaching In General:

Most tooth bleaching techniques utilize a form of hydrogen peroxide to whiten teeth internally through the oxidation of chemical compounds within the tooth that cause discoloration.

Home Bleaching:

Home Bleaching procedures utilize 10% to 22% carbonized peroxide or 6% to 10% hydrogen peroxide, used in a night guard (or bleaching tray). These relatively low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide are safe for home use, although the tooth lightening results are considerably slower than in-office bleaching techniques and usually require two to eight weeks of treatment time for most teeth. (Tetracycline stained teeth can sometimes be successfully treated with home bleaching; however, significant improvement in aesthetics may require four to six months of daily treatment in these special instances).

Maintenance:

All tooth whitening systems require some amount of re-treatment to preserve the brightness level of the smile. Home maintenance kits are similar to the original at home whitening kits, however, the user needs only to perform the recommended treatment for two to three hours every few months to touch up the teeth and return them to their post bleaching brilliance.

Written by Dr. Daniel L. Steinke

2009-12-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

“Is It Your Turn Yet?”
December 2009

A Wondrous Time

What an amazing range of emotions one experiences during the Christmas season.

The overall Hope is for everyone to have the Love, Joy, and Peace (as the different candles on the Advent Wreath represent) during this blessed season.

As I reflect on our family having come through a very apprehensive and unsure time last season, with Beth’s medical problems, I think how it must have been for Joseph and Mary. We say this is the time of great joy, for, as we know, it turned out to be great joy for them. However, I’m certain there are other fathers out there who have traveled and not been able to find a hotel with an available room, and perhaps, felt the apprehension and fear that Joseph must have felt in not being able to provide for his betrothed, as she was probably experiencing labor contractions at the very moment he was being denied a room.

At the time when our family almost feels guilty for the joy that we are feeling this holiday season, we received a card from an old friend, our same age, that we had lost track of. She had the sad task of informing us that she lost her husband, our friend, this past November, to cancer.

The emotions of the season, positively and negatively, are so high, that it shows why the adjectives “Wondrous” and “Hopeful” are used so often.

I dictate this as I snowshoe through the quiet and beautiful woods. Whether it be positive joy or fearful, sad emotions you are feeling, hopefully by getting out into the amazing beauty and serenity of snow covered fields or snow covered woods which God has created, each of us can put perspective on the wondrous world He presents to us.

Our family sincerely wishes everyone love at all times during the year and hopefully, each one of us will find Peace, Joy and Hope someplace, somehow.

As for wonderment, isn’t it amazing that we already are on “double digits” for this century?

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Written by: Dr. Daniel L. Steinke