DocTreva's Blog

Wacky Wednesday: What Not to Do Your Teeth

doctreva — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:18:27 +0000

So you think your teeth are strong. They can handle anything, right? Wrong. While you may be tempted to use your teeth as a household tool or stress relief aid, think again. You could be damaging your teeth beyond repair. A recent poll of local dentists to find out some of the worst (and wackiest) dental habits they have seen in patients.

Warning: do not try these at home!

Cleaning teeth with Comet, bleach or other household cleaners. Household cleaners are abrasive and will wear down the enamel of your teeth. Some cleaners are poisonous.
Chewing toenails. Your teeth are for chewing food and speaking. Use a nail file or clippers to keep your mouth…and your feet…safe from bacteria.
Using “crazy glue”for loose dental work. Super-strong glue will still dissolve over time. See your dentist for long-term solution for loose dental work.
Opening beer bottles with teeth. This can break the tooth; get that bottle opener out for the drawer!
Sucking on lemons. This is sometimes done with the misguided goal to whiten teeth or freshen breath. But, the citric acid will break down the enamel on your teeth and cause sensitivity and decay.
Filing teeth(real & fake) with a nail file. You can risk taking too much of the tooth and damaging the tooth. See your dentist if the shape of the tooth doesn’t seem right.
Flossing with household items. Dentists have seen people floss with objects including hair, needles, credit cards, paper, and rubber bands. These things can break in your mouth and put you at risk for injury and infection. Hard items like paperclips will wear away enamel when used repeatedly and can even chip your tooth.
Rinsing with acidic liquids. Just like sucking on lemons, sloshing liquids like vinegar, orange juice or soda in your mouth will wear away teeth and cause decay. Your best bet is a mouthwash containing fluoride or xylitol.
Removing teeth with pliers/power tools. Yep, leave this to the professional! Doing it yourself risks infection, broken teeth, and bone damage to your jaw.
Chewing pens. This can fracture teeth, leading to otherwise unnecessary dental treatment, besides maybe swallowing some ink. There are safer ways to relieve stress and fight boredom. Preserve your teeth for their real jobs: talking and chewing food.

If you would like your smile to be attractive and healthy, Dr Treva Diane Lee can be reached at 559-921-4693 or visit her website www.TrevaLeeDDS.com for free reports!

Coming Soon: Halloween Candy Buyback!

doctreva — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 01:14:24 +0000

Dear Moms and Dads,

Halloween is coming, and normally it’s hard for your dentist to get excited about that day because of all the candy your kids will eat. However, this year will be different. Don’t you just wish that on the day after Halloween that your kids’ sacks full of candy would just disappear? Well we can help, and this is something we are very excited about! This year we’ll buy the candy back from your kids. We’re not kidding! Sure, they can have a few treats on Halloween night and maybe even keep a couple more for later in the week. But we’ll take the rest of it and pay them for it! The candy will be shipped overseas to our courageous troops (who could sure use a treat or two!) serving our country abroad . In return, we’ll give your kids $1 per pound of donated candy and a goody bag! If they create a card or letter to send to our troops, they’ll be entered in a special contest for an I-tunes gift card. Also if you “Guess the Total Candy Weight” correctly, you could win an I-Pod Shuffle!

Global sugar consumption for kids increases by about 2% annually and currently sits at 50 million tons per year, which means parents need to be very watchful now more than ever before. Too much candy can lead to hyperactivity and weight gain, as well as cavities or worse. In some cases, the wrong types of candy can also lead to broken teeth and damaged braces.

Kids should still dress up, go out, have fun, and yes, even eat some candy. But after picking out the best of their stash, they will probably have about 10 pounds left, and nobody needs that much candy!

Bring your kids and your candy to 2630 N. Fresno St. #101, Fresno CA 93703 on November 1^st between 4 pm and 6pm (559-226-3010) and please spread the word!

Sincerely,

Treva D. Lee, DDS,

Master of the Academy of General Dentistry

P.S., If you’d like to donate any promotional items to include in the kid’s goody bags, or help defray the shipping costs to Operation Gratitude, that would be terrific!!

Alzheimer’s Awareness Walk

doctreva — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:17:19 +0000

It’s coming soon. Senior Living Network, to which yours truly belongs to, is organizing the annual Alzheimer’s Awareness Walk on March 20th, 2010 at Woodward Park. The Facebook link should also have a registration form available for your to print out and get registered! Teams of 4 are just $50. T-shirts and goody bag for every entrant!

5K race, 2k run/walk, kids race. Benefits three LOCAL organizations: Alzheimer’s foundation, Valley Caregiver Resource Center – Oasis, UCSF Alzheimer’s & Memory Research. This is not affiliated with the “memory” walk that takes place in the Fall and takes donation money out of the Valley. Should be great weather, so come on out and join us. C’mon, you know you need to “move your body”…!

Honoring Those Who Really Serve Our Country-Giving Thanks!

doctreva — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:29:07 +0000

For this little story, the author is unknown. A belated Veteran’s Day thought:

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. ‘I’m glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,’ I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. ‘Where are you headed?’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. ‘Petawawa. We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan.’

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time…

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. ‘No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks. I’ll wait till we get to base.’ His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. ‘Take a lunch to all those soldiers.’ She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. ‘My son was a soldier in Iraq; it’s almost like you are doing it for him.’

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or chicken?’ ‘Chicken,’ I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. ‘This is your thanks…’

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. ‘I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.’ He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, ‘I want to shake your hand.’

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand. With a booming voice he said, ‘I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.’ I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. ‘It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.’

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little…

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America’ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

Oral Health Care for Seniors & the Aging Mouth

doctreva — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:49:06 +0000

Central San Joaquin Valley-centric videos on YouTube

doctreva — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:55:59 +0000

Ok, last Christmas I got one of those Flip video cameras as a gift. Kind of like the “point & shoot” equivalent between SLR cameras and auto-everything cameras. Easy to use and not too many bells & whistles to confuse someone else that you’d hand the camera to for an impromptu photo or video. For a newbie like me to upload/download stuff to different websites, their very direct and simple instructions makes it very easy to share stuff with everyone. So my YouTube “channel” is Yayvalley. That means go to www.Youtube.com/yayvalley and you’ll be able to view what I’ve got posted up on there. Pretty mundane things like my kids’ concerts and activities and of course, since I’m a dentist, I’ve included in some of my pleased patients (hey, do you think I’d put “Ms Grumpy-grouchy” in there?). So I hope you like my slice of life. Please feel free to comment on here, or on the video itself on the website.

Cell phones & your children, Yes or No?

doctreva — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:11:06 +0000

Ok, this essay has been prompted by the fact that my 11 yr old daughter just recently lost the cell phone she was supposed to “share” with her 14 year old brother. The phone is supposed to be mainly for communication with us, her parents, regarding schedule changes for after-school rehearsals, pickup needed school project items, etc. You know, “important” relevant stuff. We are on a family plan that currently only shares voice minutes…but wait! The kids are all into texting now a days, and that can really run up a phone bill fast! And given that you are usually locked into your current plan for at least a year to two years, those extra data minutes can add alot of zeroes onto your bill.

So what’s a parent to do? Well for starters, the phone is not for recreational use. At least, not when it’s in the kid’s possession:
1. Just Say NO! No texting to friends via cell phone, especially when they’re just hanging out in the same room or playground, or have just finished talking on the phone.
2. Set a number to limit the # of text messages sent/received and voice minutes. Check the account on-line and have your child graph it…good practical application of math.
3. Use parental controls to set time limits, time of day usage, or block certain numbers. One cellular service provider, www.kajeet.com makes it very easy to do this. Check to see if your wireless company gives you access to the same features.
4. Your child cannot give out their phone number to their friends without your approval. Only relatives or recognized extended family members will make the cut. This will help to keep teasing/harassing/bullying opportunities to a minimum. If someone calls or texts them, and it was not prearranged, your child will lose cell phone privileges accordingly. Your child, however, may initiate calls
5. Give them the oldest cell phone in the family. They should not have the latest, most expensive phone with all the bells & whistles. They don’t deserve it! You deserve the souped-up version. Good for us parents is that an older phone simply won’t do as much, and kids are less likely to be tempted to do the latest and greatest thing on the Web with it.
6. Use a pre-paid phone or phone cards, or have your child pay a small fee to help defray the cost of the cellular service…once some of their money is involved, your child will quickly learn ways to “save”.

What do you think is the best way to moderate cell phone usage by your children?

SOS:Save@ Seal&Save Our Smiles, Free Dental Care Clinic For KIds

doctreva — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:07:55 +0000

SOS-Save & Seal Our Smiles, Kids Free Dental Care Clinic
On Saturday morning only
Event Info Host: Fresno Madera Dental Society/DrTreva Diane Lee-office
Type: Clinic at FCC Dental Hygiene School & off-campus dental office

Time and Place Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Fresno City College Dental Hygiene Clinic ,corner Weldon & Glenn
Street: 1101 E. University Ave
City/Town: Fresno, CA

Contact Info Phone: 5594387284
Email: fmdds@cvip.net

DescriptionFor students in K-6th grade who attend Fresno, Central & Clovis Unified School Districts.

Dental Exams, sealants, cleanings, fluoride treatment & screening for restorative care at FCC Dental hygiene Clinic

Crowns, white&silver fillings ,extractions at off-campus dental office(transportation available)

All provided by local Fresno-Madera Dental Society members & their staffs, dental assisting& hygiene students.

AB1433 law requires all children must have a dental exam before their first year in public school

1st come, 1st served basis for dental care

See my blog for info in Spanish and Hmong http://www.drtrevalee-tastybites.blogspot.com

Gender discrimination in Calif. medical insurance premiums

doctreva — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:13:27 +0000

Ohh, definitely a future blog topic: Health insurers justify higher premiums for females in California based on ER visits and their propensity to be “accident-prone”. This is so wrong. Definitely will be addressed in future blog entry!!!

Pulling aside the curtain…

doctreva — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:31:19 +0000

Here’s link to see photos of members of my dental family in 2008

http://ping.fm/Bo5l6