the Centrist

We spent the weekend at my nephew Brian’s wedding (Brother Dr. Tim and Sue). Brian married a classmate, Jennifer… they are both dentists, so it was special on several levels for us. We had a great time, and enjoyed getting to know Jen and her family. Well, I wrote an article after our 8 hour trip, and as I was trying to cut and paste, I literally fell asleep at the keyboard. I don’t know if that was due to the trip, or that awful loss to the Saints… being a Bills fan gets harder with age. At any rate it was gone when I awoke, so I decided, in honor of Dr Jen and Dr Brian, I would headline with this important dental article… read on to the Lighter Side… some really funny stuff.

Dr B

Gum Disease and General Health… from WebMD Medical Reference
Reviewed By Michael W. Smith, MDSticky bacterial plaque that builds up on your teeth. Inflamed, bleeding gums. They don’t just threaten your dental health.
A growing body of research finds that bacteria and inflammation in your mouth are also associated with other problems, including heart attack and dementia, and may well jeopardize your overall health.
Scientists have identified several associations between poor oral health and other health problems — although they can’t yet establish cause and effect. This list of health problems has been growing as research continues.
Plaque and Its Effects on Your Dental Health
Sticky plaque is a kind of biofilm. A thin grouping of bacteria, plaque biofilm lives on gum tissue, teeth, and crowns.
Plaque constantly forms on your teeth. When you eat or drink foods or beverages with sugars or starches, the bacteria release acids that attack your tooth enamel.
The plaque is so sticky that it keeps the acids in contact with your teeth, in time breaking down the enamel so that tooth decay occurs.
Plaque buildup can also lead to gum disease — first gingivitis, the tender and swollen gums that sometimes bleed. If it progresses, severe periodontal (gum) disease can develop. Gum tissue pulls away from the teeth, allowing the bacteria to destroy the underlying bone supporting the teeth.
Periodontal and Other Diseases
To date, scientists have found associations between periodontal disease and a number of other problems, including:
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Dementia
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Premature birth

What’s behind the links? Experts can’t say for certain, but they believe that oral bacteria can escape into the bloodstream and injure major organs.
Inflammation is probably a common denominator, experts say. Periodontal disease, marked by inflammation, may increase inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation, in turn, is an underlying problem in diseases including heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Gum Disease and Heart Disease
Over the years, many studies have found an association between periodontal disease and heart disease, with patients who have gum disease more likely also to have poor heart health, including heart attacks.
In 2009, a consensus paper on the relationship between heart disease and gum disease was developed by the American Academy of Periodontology and The American Journal of Cardiology. It was published in the Journal of Periodontology and The American Journal of Cardiology.
The joint recommendations encourage cardiologists to ask their patients about any gum disease problems, and the periodontists to ask their patients about any family history of heart disease and their heart health.
So don’t be surprised if your periodontist or your internist or cardiologist asks you some new questions on your next visit.
Gum Disease and Diabetes
If you have diabetes, you are more likely than people who don’t have diabetes to have gum disease. Why? Again, inflammation may be partly to blame. And, those with diabetes are more likely to contract any infections, including gum disease.
If your diabetes is not under control, you are at even higher risk of gum disease.
Gum Disease and Dementia
Gum disease has also been found to increase the risk of dementia later in life.
Other researchers have found that periodontal problems may also be associated with milder cognitive impairment, such as memory problems that make activities of daily life more difficult. In a recent study, participants who had the worst gum disease scored the worst on memory tests and calculations.
Periodontal Disease and RA
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease marked by inflammation and painful joints. People with RA are more likely to have periodontal disease, and one study found that they had more missing teeth than people who don’t have RA.
Chronic inflammation is common to both conditions. Although scientists haven’t found evidence that one condition causes the other, a 2009 study found that people with a severe form of RA had less pain, swelling, and morning stiffness after their periodontal disease was treated.
Gum Disease and Premature Birth
Studies on the link between periodontal disease and preterm birth have produced conflicting results. Although some show that women with gum disease are more likely to deliver a baby before term — which sets up the baby for health risks — others have not found a link. Studies are ongoing.
Despite those conflicting results, other research has found that treating periodontal disease in pregnant women helps them carry their infants to term. In a recent study, researchers found that women with periodontal disease who completed periodontal treatment before the 35th week were less likely to deliver their babies before term than those with periodontal disease who did not get treatment.
Minimizing the Dangers of Plaque & Gingivitis
To keep plaque under control, brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and floss daily. Use an antimicrobial mouth wash to reduce the bacteria in your mouth.
Get your teeth cleaned professionally on a regular basis, and ask your dentist about the best cleaning schedule for you. Find out if you might benefit from a protective coating or sealant applied to the chewing surfaces of the teeth in the back of your mouth, where tooth decay often begins.

Lighter Side

Pam:
FIREARMS REFRESHER COURSE om the Blog:

1. “Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.” ~Thomas Jefferson
2. “Those who trade liberty for security have neither.” ~ John Adams
3. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
4. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject
5. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
6. Gun control is not about guns; it’s about control.
7. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
8. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
9. You don’t shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
10. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
11. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
12. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved.
13. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
14. What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ do you NOT understand?
15. Guns have only two enemies; rust and politicians.
16. When you remove the people’s right to bear arms, you create slaves.
17. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

Val sends weird 911 calls:
Dispatcher : 9-1-1 What is your emergency?
Caller: I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the brown house on the corner.
Dispatcher: Do you have an address?
Caller: No, I have on a blouse and slacks, why?
Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is your emergency?
Caller : Someone broke into my house and took a bite out of my ham and cheese sandwich .
Dispatcher : Excuse me?
Caller : I made a ham and cheese sandwich and left it on the kitchen table and when I came back from the bathroom, someone had taken a bite out of it.
Dispatcher : Was anything else taken?
Caller : No, but this has happened to me before and I’m sick and tired of it!
Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is the nature of your emergency?
Caller: I’ m trying to reach nine eleven but my phone doesn’t have an eleven on it.
Dispatcher: This is nine eleven.
Caller: I thought you just said it was nine-one-one
Dispatcher: Yes, ma’am nine-one-one and nine-eleven are the same thing..
Caller: Honey, I may be old, but I’m not stupid.
My Personal Favorite!!!
Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What’s the nature of your emergency?
Caller: My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart
Dispatcher: Is this her first child?
Caller: No, you idiot! This is her husband!
And the winner is………..
Dispatcher: 9-1-1
Caller: Yeah, I’m having trouble breathing I’m all out of breath. Darn……I think I’m going to pass out.
Dispatcher: Sir, where are you calling from?
Caller: I’m at a pay phone. North and Foster.
Dispatcher: ! Sir, an ambulance is on the way. Are you an asthmatic?
Caller: N o
Dispatcher: What were you doing before you started having trouble breathing?
Caller: Running from the Police.SEPTEMBER 10, 2009, 9:35 A.M. ET

Pam sends us the message why not to mess around with kids:

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, ‘When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah’.
The teacher asked, ‘What if Jonah went to hell?’
The little girl replied, ‘Then you ask him’.
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, ‘I’m drawing God.’ The teacher paused and said, ‘But no one knows what God looks like.’ Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, ‘They will in a minute.’
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the commandment to ‘honor’ thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, ‘Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?’
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, ‘Thou shall not kill.’
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, ‘Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?’
Her mother replied, ‘Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.’
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, ‘Mommy, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?’
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
‘Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s Susan, she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael, He’s a doctor.’
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, ‘And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.’
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, ‘Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would ruinto it, and I would turn red in the face.’
‘Yes,’ the class said..
‘Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn’t run into my feet?’
A little fellow shouted, ‘Cause your feet isnt empty.’
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
‘Take only ONE . God is watching.’
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
A child had written a note, ‘Take all you want, God is watching the apples.”