Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Earth Day 2014



Did you know that if you leave the water running when brushing your teeth you are wasting approximately 5 gallons of water? Sounds small but consider this: If you are brushing twice a day as recommended by your dentist, you are wasting 10 gallons of drinking water in one day; 280 gallons over one month; 3360 gallons over one year! A family of four would use the equivalent of a 24' round above ground swimming pool: 13440 gallons of water just brushing their teeth! (1)

So what are some ways we can conserve energy and water and recycle???

We can start by shutting our water off when we brush our teeth!! This will save (as seen in the above paragraph) an astonishing amount of water!!!

How about those old mouthwash bottles?? We can keep those and take them to the recycling bins in our areas! If you are not sure where your local recycle bins are, ALL Whole Foods Markets have them outside their doors!! You can drop them off there! They even take your old yogurt containers!!

Do you have an electric toothbrush?? Once you see that the toothbrush is fully charged, unplug it to save energy!

Regular toothbrushes? KEEP them!! Parents, you can use these to clean those tiny spaces around your house! such as the grout in your bathroom, the tile in the shower and even your jewelry!!!

Switch to canvas totes for groceries instead of plastic/paper bags! Keep your old yogurt containers as leftover containers (That's what I do :))

These are just a few helpful tips that we found when searching the internet! Do you have any other helpful ideas for us?? Leave your tips in the comment section below!!

Want to celebrate Earth Day?? There is an Earth Day Festival in Downtown Baton Rouge going on Sunday April 27th from 12-5:30 and then live music until 8:30!!!











(1) http://dentistry.about.com/b/2009/04/22/earth-day-dental-care-how-much-water-do-you-waste.htm



Monday, April 7, 2014

April is National Facial Protection Month

Can anyone else believe that it is April already?????
 
 Spring is upon us and April is National Facial Protection Month! Research has shown that about 2% of all children who play sports will eventually suffer a severe enough facial injury to require medical attention.(1)
 
The Academy for Sports Dentistry (ASD), American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), American Association of Orthodontists (AAO)and the American Dental Association (ADA) are all working together to promotoe National Facial Protection Month. They are trying to raise awareness and remind parents, coaches and athletes to protect your mouth and play safe while playing sports. (2)
 
We as Pediatric Dentists see so many mouth injuries. Whether it is from kids pushing other kids, kids falling down while playing, or kids getting hit in the face during sports, we have seen it all. And while we cannot prevent kids from being pushed down or make sure they never fall, we can help prevent facial injuries due to sports. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's Policy on Prevention of sports related orafacial injuries, sports accidents reportedly account for 10 to 39 percent of all dental injuries in children and are most often caused by direct hits with a hard object, such as a puck or ball, and player-to-player contact[3].
 
Ways to prevent facial injuires are:
1. Wear a mouth guard when playing contact sports. You can buy them at any drug or sports store and you can even special order them. They do tend to get pretty pricey if you are looking into custom made ones. Whatever the price, you will definitely not regret having a mouth guard during sports.
2. Wear a helmet. They act as a shock absorber and will take the brunt of the hit.
3. Wear protective eyewear. As much as we care about teeth, we also care about your eyes and we especially do not want there to be any damage to them. Eyes are very vulnerable to damage during sports.
 4. Wear a face shield. they will help to avoid scratched/bruised skin.
 5. Make protective gear mandatory for ALL sports. Mouth guards are only REQUIRED in football hockey and boxing, but how many times have you seen a child be hit in the face with a baseball and suffer an injury? Too mnay to name. If you are a coach or a parent, make your child wear a mouthguard. Your players/children will thank you in the future when they have beautiful teeth.
 
Now that we have gone over ways to prevent facial injuries we want to help you and fill you in on what to do if there is a facial injury.
Fractured/broken or knocked out tooth:
If the tooth is fractured or broken, find the pieces and place them in a cup of milk. Call your dentist (hopefully us) within 24 hrs and we may be able to reattach the tooth. If not we will certainly do all we can to save it.
If the tooth is knocked out, you must immediately do two things. Place the tooth in a cup of milk and call your dentist!!! Time is ESSENTIAL in this case. If you can get to us within an hr of it happening we may be able to replant the tooth. Facial cuts or cuts inside the mouth:
Rinse with cold water
Apply pressure to the wound.
 If it is inside the mouth have your child bite down on cotton.
Apply an ice pack
Call your dentist (again hopefully us) and we can figure out if child needs stitches or if it is ok without.
 
 If we are your dentist, our office number is (225) 769-1969 and both Dr's numbers are on the answering machine. If your child suffers a facial/oral injury after hours or on weekends etc., feel free to call the office then contact them by their cell numbers and we will do all we can to help you and your child.
 
 
(3)SOURCE: Newsome P, Tran D, Cooke M. The role of the mouth-guard in the prevention of sports-related dental injuries: A review. Int J Paediatr Dent 2001;11(6):396-404