Find out the latest news and topics of interest from Dr. James G. Hood, D.D.S., M.A.!
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Fluoride and Dental Health
Friday, May 20, 2011
- Fluoride is a compound formed by one or more atoms of fluorine, a water-soluble element (the 13th most common element in the earth’s crust).
- Fluoride is a trace mineral found in most water supplies and almost all food.
- Spokane, unlike most major metropolitan communities in the USA, has no fluoride in the water supply.
- Fluoride makes tooth enamel more resistant to decay.
- Fluoride is found naturally in tooth enamel and bone.
- Fluoride may be used in two different ways:
- Systemically: Ingested into the system through food, water, or fluoride tablets.
- Topically: Added directly to teeth as gels, pastes, rinses, or in the diet.
- Both systemic and topical fluoride help maintain strong teeth.
What our office wants is to achieve the optimum level of systemic and/or topical fluoride for the maximum reduction of tooth decay in all our dental patients.
Glossary of Useful Terms
- Demineralization = process occurring in the mouth all the time, which dissolves or removes fluoride from teeth. When occurring more profoundly than remineralization, the result is dental caries.
- Dental Caries = tooth decay. Possible causes of dental caries include:
- Poor oral hygiene
- Active decay in teeth
- Drug and/or alcohol abuse
- Eating disorders (i.e. bulimia, anorexia)
- Lack of professional dental care
- Rough filling or active orthodontics, making cleaning difficult, resulting in poor oral hygiene
- High levels of caries causing bacteria, possibly due to (1) blood dyscrasias – abnormal conditions in the blood, (2) poor diet
- Exposed root surface on teeth, which are more susceptible to dental decay
- Exposure to head and neck radiation
- Decreased salivary flow (dry mouth) due to medications or diseases (such as uncontrolled diabetes, Sjögren’s Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.)
- Plaque = bacteria. Plaque is the sticky film produced (including bacteria) and the acid waste products from its activity.
- Remineralization = process occurring in the mouth all the time, which adds minerals to the teeth. When occurring more profoundly than demineralization, the beneficial result is strong teeth.
Happy Smiles,
Dr. James G. Hood
Dental Care Associates of Spokane Valley, P.S.
Family and Cosmetic Dentistry Welcomes Patients from Age 2 to 102!
James G. Hood, D.D.S., M.A.
507 North Sullivan Road, Suite A-1
Spokane Valley, WA 99037-8576 USA
Phone: (509) 928-9100 | Fax: (509) 928-0414
Email: drhood@drhood.com
Websites: www.drhood.com, www.dentalcareassociatesofspokanevalley.com
Blogs: www.drjamesghoodblog.com, www.dentalhealthandnutritionblog.com, www.dentalcareassociatesofspokanevalleyblog.com
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Pentagon report: China extending military reach, Source: CNN
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Pentagon report: China extending military reach
By Adam Levine, CNN
August 16, 2010 5:40 p.m. EDT
Washington (CNN) — The Chinese military continues to expand its reach and capabilities beyond its immediate geographical area, a new report from the U.S. Department of Defense concludes.
The report, an annual assessment sent to Congress, notes that some of those capabilities have been positive, like humanitarian and anti-piracy efforts, but others are meant to give China “extended-range power projection.”
While China’s continued effort to be able to sustain military operations far from its shore are concerning to the U.S. military, “China’s ability to sustain military power at a distance, today, remains limited,” the report says.
As in the past, the U.S. program to sell military equipment to Taiwan continues to create tension with China and has led to cessation at times of military relations between the two countries.
The assessment notes that China has the most active ballistic and cruise missile program in the world, including developing anti-missile technology. Also of concern are Chinese efforts to develop a long-range anti-ship ballistic missile with a reach of more than 900 miles, which would include areas in which the U.S. Navy is active. Such a measure would give the Chinese military “the capability to attack ships, including aircraft carriers, in the Western Pacific Ocean,” according to the report.
The Chinese could start building their first aircraft carrier this year, and China has started to train pilots to operate off such carriers. It already has a Russian carrier that it is refurbishing.
Its naval muscle is also being flexed with additional nuclear powered submarines, and it has nearly completed a navy base on Hainan Island, “with direct access to vital international sea lanes,” which will allow for “stealthy deployment of submarines,” the report says.
This article is courtesy of CNN News at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/16/us.china.military/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Critics say Obama’s message becoming ‘incoherent’, Source: CNN
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Critics say Obama’s message becoming ‘incoherent’
By Ed Hornick, CNN //
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Washington (CNN) — President Obama’s comments on a plan to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero are not only giving opponents an opportunity to attack him but also reveal a messaging problem from the White House, a communications expert said.
“The danger here is an incoherent presidency,” said David Morey, vice chairman of the Core Strategy Group, who provided communications advice to Obama’s 2008 campaign. “Simpler is better, and rising above these issues and leading by controlling the dialogue is what the presidency is all about. So I think that’s the job they have to do more effectively as they have in the past [in the campaign].”
Obama has faced a torrent of criticism for what was called mixed messages on the controversial plan. On Friday, Obama said Muslims “have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country … That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”
The following day, Obama told Ed Henry, CNN’s senior White House correspondent, that he was “not commenting on the wisdom” of the project, just the broader principle that the government should treat “everyone equal, regardless” of religion. Then a White House spokesman clarified those comments.
“There is no question they are having messaging problems at the White House,” Morey said. “They’ve lost control of the dialogue, and they’ve gotten pulled down by the extremes on the left and right. They’ve just not had a coherent set of themes.”
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New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote in a recent column that Obama’s clarity and successful messaging during the campaign are gone. In place is a “incoherent president,” who’s “with the banks, he’s against the banks. He’s leaving Afghanistan, he’s staying in Afghanistan. He strains at being a populist, but his head is in the clouds.”
But Obama has the ability to sharpen his messaging skills by being less of a law professor and more of a communicator in chief, Morey said.
“Communicating as a law professor does not work as president. It’s not worked,” he said. “You’re drawing fine distinctions and speaking in long enough paragraphs that they can be misconstrued and taken out of context and frankly, handed to your opposition to exploit. And that’s clearly what’s going on here [with the Islamic center/mosque comments].”
While many poked fun at former President George W. Bush for mispronouncing words and stumbling through sentences, observers note that he rarely had to backtrack on his answers because he employed a simple and direct messaging approach.
But it’s not just Obama who is seemingly off-message. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ recent criticism of the “professional left” in a newspaper article highlighted, some noted, a growing rift between the administration and the Democratic Party base.
The candid remarks show a frustration coming from not only the White House’s top spokesman, but the president himself, said Julie Mason, White House correspondent for The Washington Examiner newspaper.
“It was rare for Robert [Gibbs] to go on the record about this, but part of the reason why this electrified the White House press corps so much is because Robert and Obama are so close, that when Robert does speak out of school, it’s like you’re getting the unvarnished opinion of the president,” she said Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” “So that’s why we were all geeked up about it last week.”
Gibbs’ criticism of the left wing and Obama’s recent comments on the mosque may have the potential for harming Democrats as the midterm election approaches.
“Whenever you have an explosive issue like this come to the forefront, it really spreads out wide and far,” said Mark Preston, CNN senior political editor. “House Democrats are very frustrated by this. … They are saying to themselves, ‘Why did the president bring this up? All that he is doing to us right now is forcing us to have to weigh in on this very thorny issue.’ ”
Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose the mosque plan, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released last week. In terms of party affiliation, 54 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of independents oppose the plan.
Preston said that at a time when Democrats are trying to localize the midterm election by talking about the things they’ve done back home, Republicans are trying to nationalize the recent religious debate.
“They are trying to bring the president into the debate. … It only helps Republicans to continue to talk about this issue,” he said.
Grad Rates Put Harvard in a League of Its Own; School Regains Top Spot on U.S. News College List Source: Fox News
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Grad Rates Put Harvard in a League of Its Own; School Regains Top Spot on U.S. News College List
Published August 17, 2010
| Associated Press
Harvard pulled ahead of Ivy League rival Princeton in the latest edition of the influential U.S. News & World Report university rankings, while a stronger emphasis on graduation rates drove other changes in the Top 10.
The nation’s oldest university and traditionally one of its most selective, Harvard has topped the list two of the past three years. Last year, the two elite schools shared the top ranking.
Yale was the No. 3-ranked university this year, followed by Columbia, and Stanford and Penn tied at No. 5.
Williams College in Massachusetts was ranked the nation’s top liberal arts school, repeating its feat of last year.
The most closely watched of a growing number of college rankings, the U.S. News & World Report list is both credited for helping students and families sort through a dizzying college selection process and criticized by those who say it’s too arbitrary and pressures colleges to boost scores at the expense of improving teaching.
A change in how rankings are determined led to some shifts in the magazine’s “Best Colleges” rankings, which were released online Tuesday and examine more than 1,400 accredited four-year schools based on 16 factors.
How did Harvard edge Princeton by 1 point on an 100-point scale? Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, credited Harvard’s higher scores on graduation rates, and financial and faculty resources.
The rankings take into account factors such as SAT scores, selectivity, graduation and retention rates, alumni giving and peer reputation. This year, high-school guidance counselors’ opinions were added to the mix.
Most notably, graduation rate performance was given greater weight, accounting for 7.5 percent of the final score for national universities and liberal arts colleges, up from 5 percent last year. The variable is the difference between a school’s actual graduation rate and one predicted by U.S. News based on test scores and schools’ resources.
Morse said the shift helped Columbia University rise from eighth to fourth this year and contributed to Cal Tech and MIT falling from a tie for fourth to a tie for seventh.
Nationally, graduation rates are getting more policy attention as higher-education leaders and advocates focus increasingly not just on getting students in the door but also out with a degree or certificate. One of the Obama administration’s signature education goals is for the U.S. to regain the world lead in college graduation rates by 2020.
The University of California, Berkeley is the highest-ranked public university, at No. 22 overall in the U.S. News report. Despite a severe budget crisis, five schools in the UC system were among the top 10 public universities.
More schools were ranked this year, a reflection of both increased consumer demand and improved data collection, Morse said. The survey now displays the rank of the top 75 percent of schools in each category, up from 50 percent. The schools in the bottom tier are displayed alphabetically and not given numeric rankings.
The magazine also publishes a list of “Up and Comers,” based on a survey of college administrators who were asked to nominate schools they think are making promising and innovative changes. The University of Maryland-Baltimore County was No. 1 among national universities in that category — and ranked No. 159 overall.
Earlier this month, Forbes magazine ranked Williams College No. 1 in its third “America’s Best Colleges” rankings — and Harvard No. 8. The business magazine weighs student satisfaction, graduation rates, student debt and other factors.
This article is courtesy of Fox News at http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/17/harvard-regains-spot-atop-news-college-rankings-focus-grad-rates-spurs-movement/
From beer-fueled brainstorm to life’s work of helping others Source: CNN
Friday, August 13, 2010
From beer-fueled brainstorm to life’s work of helping others
August 13, 2010 8:16 a.m. EDT
Argyll, Scotland (CNN) — Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow was enjoying a pint at his local pub in the Scottish Highlands when he got an idea that would change his life — and the lives of thousands of others.
It was 1992, and MacFarlane-Barrow and his brother Fergus had just seen a news report about refugee camps in Bosnia. The images of people suffering in the war-torn country shocked the two salmon farmers, who’d visited there as teenagers and remembered the warmth of the Bosnian people.
“We began saying ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just do one small thing to help?’ ” MacFarlane-Barrow says.
After talking it over, the two men took a week off work and collected food, clothing, medicine and blankets. They loaded everything into an old Land Rover, drove to Bosnia to deliver it and returned to Scotland.
“I came back here thinking that I did my one good deed and it would be back to work, but it [didn't work] out like that, ” he says.
When they arrived home, the brothers found an avalanche of goods that people had continued to donate while they were away.
“I was touched by the overwhelming generosity of others,” MacFarlane-Barrow remembers. “I saw all of those donations in our family home and thought, ‘Wow, people really are good,’ and it inspired me to be good too.”
After much thought and prayer, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow quit his job, sold his home and dedicated himself to helping people in need.
He returned to Bosnia with aid 22 more times during the Bosnian War, and over the next 18 years his work expanded and evolved. Today, his program — Mary’s Meals, named after the Virgin Mary — provides free daily meals to more than 400,000 children around the world.
MacFarlane-Barrow found his current focus in 2002 while working in Malawi — a country ravaged by famine and AIDS — when he met a local teenager who just wanted a decent meal and an education.
“The mother of the family was dying of AIDS. She was lying on her bare mud floor, and she had her six children around her, ” he says. “I started talking to her oldest child, Edward. And Edward said, ‘I’d like to have enough food to eat. I’d like to go to school one day.’ ”
In response, he launched Mary’s Meals, which strives to break the cycle of poverty by feeding children a daily meal at school. The food — in most places a mug of maize-based porridge — gives students an incentive to continue their schooling and helps them focus better on their studies. It’s a formula that MacFarlane-Barrow says is working.
“Pass rates go up dramatically in the schools where we start providing Mary’s Meals,” he says. “We’ve seen huge improvements in attendance rates and academic performance.”
Mary’s Meals partners with local residents, who handle the daily work of cooking and serving the food. In Malawi — the group’s largest effort — more than 10,000 volunteers donate their time on a regular basis.
The program operates in more than 500 schools and child-care facilities in 15 countries, a global effort that MacFarlane-Barrow coordinates from a tin shed on his parents’ property in Scotland. While the married father of six lives on the property, he spends most of his time abroad, overseeing the project and visiting the schools where meals are served.
“I see the children’s faces as they eat their meal, ” he says. “Knowing I can transform their lives keeps me motivated.”
But there are always new challenges to overcome, most recently in Haiti, where Mary’s Meals has operated since 2006. Working in partnership with a local Catholic priest, the group was feeding about 12,000 children a day when the earthquake hit in January.
Much of the infrastructure the program relied on in the slums of Cite Soleil was destroyed, so the group’s mission expanded. They helped create temporary classrooms and are rebuilding eight schools in the area. In addition to their school-based feeding program, the group now feeds about 2,000 elderly Haitians and is providing additional food and medicine to the community.
MacFarlane-Barrow is driven by his Christian faith, but there is no ministry aspect to his work. “We are very careful to never link feeding and faith,” he says. “We serve those who are in need … period.
“When I think of Mary’s Meals I think of it as a series of lots and lots of little acts of love, ” he says. “I’ve learned … that every small act of kindness does make a difference.”
Article Courtesy of: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/12/cnnheroes.marysmeals/index.html?hpt=C1
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