puja-shah

So this story, it requires so much imagination. To think outside of the box …

Writing about 2 people in love in present day, meeting in their dreams and portraying it to be true feels different. But at the same time, it’s as if I almost have to believe it to write about it in order to be able to convince my reader of it.

The concept of meeting someone in your dreams is pretty cool. Like having two lives, one when you are awake and one when you are sleeping. Like Avatar, but in this ancient play, it happens naturally, and one character comes from the afterlife world.

It reminds of my writing when I was younger, my first big story I ever wrote that wasn’t the mini ones teachers used to make us write before that, was in 4^th grade. I wrote it on my own. I went home after school and wrote a short story about a family of ants under ground who had magic powers or something and their communication with other natural creatures like crabs and scorpions. It was weird, but ALL imagination. So this is kind of nice, sort of revisiting my inner childhood imagination, but yet still being the contemporary real life-feel fiction writer. It’s like writing a modern day love story with hints of fairytale love magic.

Some info on my upcoming dental overseas mission to Uganda, Africa…

This September 2009, I have the amazing opportunity to be able to go to Africa with the founder of Just Like My Child Foundation, an organization whose goal is to alleviate the suffering of women, children, and families in rural Uganda. They use an approach of deep development, which means empowering communities, village by village, to move towards self-reliance by creating their own long-term solutions to healthcare, education and microenterprise. 

The people of this area are in desperate need of oral health instruction/education and dental treatment, which will be my role to provide, especially to the children of this area, while I am there.

BUT WE NEED SUPPLIES! 

For my fellow dentist friends, we are in need of supplies, which include but are not limited to:

Dental restorative instruments such as spoon excavators and composite
instruments
Disposable explorers and mouth mirrors
Perio scalers and curettes
Glass Ionomer self-curing restorative material
Gauze
Cotton Rolls
Topical anasthetic
local anasthetic cartridges
Local anasthetic syringes and needles
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste samples
Floss
Extraction instruments

ANYTHING WILL HELP! 

Contact me here, on my site, if you are interested in donating supplies.

Monetary donations would also be extremely helpful to purchase the supplies listed above. 
(For anyone wishing to make their donation tax deductable, please contact me for more information).

You can make a monetary donation online at: www.justlikemychild.com.  

On the site, go to:

Get Involved–> Donate Now–>then under Where Would You Like Your Money to Go? 
–>Scroll down to: “Puja’s Kids-dental mission.”

Thank you!!!

 Here they are! The foods for your total antioxidant makeover…

Eat Away Free Radicals

Sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, tomatoes, blueberries and pomegranate are foods that aid in this smile and skin antioxidant therapy. They eat up those free radicals, which are basically what damage the skin with dryness and wrinkles. They reduce inflammation in your gums, which are the foundation to your teeth. And without a healthy foundation, only more damage can occur.

No More Sour Face

Oranges, limes, lemons and grapefruit are also powerful since they are full of vitamin C, which is one of the foundations for collagen. For your skin, collagen is  known as the supportive protein fibers that stop skin from sagging.  The looser the collagen, the more lines and wrinkles on your face. And as we age, collage breakdown increases, so eating these citrus foods can help slow down the aging of your skin. For your teeth, citrus fruits aid in the health of your gums, which are also made up of collagen. But to protect your enamel, the outermost, white layer of your teeth, it is important to implement brushing when eating citrus foods. Helpful tip:  Use a straw if drinking citrus juices and avoid juices with sugars and additives. Freshly squeezed is the way to go!

Eat Your Greens

Your mother was right when she told you to eat all the greens on your plate. Foods such as spinach and broccoli are packed with vitamin A, which supports healthy cell growth and cell turnover, especially for teeth and soft tissue. Without enough vitamin A, skin becomes dry, tough, and scaly.

Big Green Surprise

Green Tea. Surprisingly, green tea is often known to stain teeth, but its properties have been proven to aid in eliminating the bacteria that binds to your teeth that causes cavities. Brushing after consuming green tea helps in prevention of the topical staining, along with regular visits to your dentist. It contains ECGC which actually lowers the concentration of inflammatory chemicals involved in acne and sun-related skin aging, which in turn, helps prevent skin cancer. It also has a huge effect on taming tumor cells. And if that’s not enough, green tea contains L-theanine, an amino acid that reverses tensing, which halts the flow of the stress hormone cortisol, keeping collagen fibers intact- for both your gums and your skin.

So, implement these foods into your diet, visit your dentist, use sunblock and moisturizer and say hello to your new smile and fabulous skin

You are what you eat, is the old saying and many people agree that eating healthy  and eliminating certain foods from the diet can reduce the silent killers that plague America, such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

But along with helping the rest of your body, eating certain healthy foods can not only benefit your heart and systems, since many of these foods are packed with antioxidants, they can yield healthy teeth and gums.

The best part is, the same exact foods that are good for your teeth, are equally good for your skin.

How can this be?

The teeth and gums are made up of collagen, and foods that are high in antioxidants help prevent inflammation.

In regards to your skin, the nutrients in these foods work in the same way by removing free radicals that can build up on the skin’s surface and cause redness and inflammation, thus giving you that natural, healthy, wrinkle free glow.

Surprisingly, it’s foods that we often overlook that are the heroes of  healthy skin and a radiant smile.

So what do we eat?

Check in next week for these super-foods that can impede the signs of aging teeth and skin for a total antioxidant makeover! 

In regards to a perfect smile, most people are in search for ways to achieve the whitest and brightest. Although there are a number of methods, such as professional whitening services by your dentist and at home whitening products, it is important to know what the causes of teeth staining are, and although coffee and cigarettes are top on the list, you will be surprised at some of the other not so evident culprits.

• Tobacco contains dark compounds that can be absorbed by the enamel on teeth, the outer layer of your teeth that attributes and protects the whiteness of your smile. Obviously, the best way to avoid this would be to quit smoking. Otherwise, at least brushing after smoking or using tobacco products would be advised.
• Coffee and black tea are well-known teeth stainers. The darker your coffee and tea, the more staining properties it has. Also the hotter the temperature of it, the more susceptible your enamel pores are to acquiring this stain. So keep your coffee or tea warm and light.
• Other dark liquids, like fruit juice, red wine, cranberry juice and soda can turn teeth yellow, as well. Even beer and other alcoholic beverages, which have acidic properties, can damage your smile. Swishing some water around your mouth after drinking dark liquids and sipping your drinks through a straw can help protect your teeth.
• Any heavily pigmented foods can stain your teeth. And that includes blueberries, cranberries, dark red cherries, mustard and soy sauce! Rinse your mouth out with water or brush your teeth as soon as you can after eating staining foods. Beets, although full of minerals that benefit the health of your teeth, can cause staining, so make sure to brush after eating them. Foods that are staining that can be paired with other foods to reduce their effect include: 1. balsamic vinegar: pair with lettuce 2. tomato sauce: pair with spinach 3. curry: pair with spinach.
• Popsicles. As refreshing as they are on a hot summer day, the dyes in popsicles can stain your teeth. Further more, the ice property can lead to opening the pores of your enamel.
• Acid! Foods that have high acidic properties can wear your enamel over time. This not only makes your teeth more susceptible to staining, but it makes your enamel thinner, allowing the inner layer, the dentin, of your teeth to shine through. Dentin is generally more yellow in color and thus gives your teeth a yellow hue.

So, what can you eat? Foods that actually natural tooth whiteners include: apples, broccoli, spinach, celery, strawberries and surprisingly, orange peels. Some use a natural remedy by simply rubbing the inside of the peels on their teeth or by making a paste of dried orange peel and bay leaves to brush on.

What else? There are a number of factors that can also cause staining that are not only extrinsic, do not only effect the outer layer of your teeth, that actually effect the inner layers, intrinsic, resulting in changes to your smile. Often, these changes require special treatment that your dentist can provide for you or can discuss the treatment options with you.

• Flourosis: This is a disorder that is a result of too much fluoride. This disorder appears as chalky white spots and in more severe cases, brown spots to appear on your teeth. It is rare and generally a bigger concern for children than adults but you can get too much fluoride from drinking water with very high concentrations of fluoride, or from excessive use of fluoride-containing toothpastes. If you use fluoridated toothpaste, be sure to use a sensible pea-sized amount each time you brush.
• Medicines you take: There are some antibiotics such as tetracycline that can turn teeth yellow in small children and also minocycline which can cause a permanent grayish staining in adults. There are also certain antihistamines that can also discolor teeth. Discuss all the medications you take, (prescription and otherwise), with your dentist to find out the impact on your teeth and if severe or in some cases, to discuss with your physician on if there are other options.
• Aging: Generally as we age, our enamel layer wears thin, and as discussed before, that allows our dentin layer to show through. In some cases, due to genetics, for some, their enamel is very thick and does not seem to be affected by the process of aging. For others, it may be the opposite.
• Dead tooth: When you have a large cavity in your tooth and a root canal is needed, once it is done, the nerve of the tooth is removed, so it is considered to be non-vital. Once this happens, the tooth is more susceptible to intrinsic staining. Also, if you have had trauma such as a fall, on a tooth, and it has ‘died’, this can also discolor the tooth.
• Silver fillings: Over time, amalgam, silver colored, tooth restorations, fillings, can produce blue-gray stains on the tooth involved.
• Diseases: Certain diseases that occur during your tooth development can cause staining such as hepatitis, biliary disease, erythroblastosis fetalis and porphyria. Anorexia/Bulimia can also cause staining due the ph changes in the mouth. After seeking proper treatment for these diseases, and once controlled, you can discuss with your dentist the effects and treatment for your teeth.

Proper Brushing and Flossing: Even in taking all the precautions to keep your smile healthy and white, is important to implement proper oral hygiene. The bacteria that can build up in forms of plaque, calculus and tarter can cause a yellow and green tint on your teeth. It is also important to visit your dentist regularly for check ups and cleanings and discuss your home care routine with them for the best instruction. ©

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