More than 100 million Americans don’t have dental insurance, and according to a new study by the WK Kellogg Foundation, more than 4 in 10 households have at least one person who has delayed receiving dental care due to cost. With these statistics, it’s not hard to predict a wave of dental decay. Fortunately there are some bad habits you can eliminate to help protect your teeth, whether or not you have access to regular dental care.

Quit Smoking

It’s easy to say and hard to do, but if you’re one of the nearly 50 million American adults who smoke, dental damage provides yet another reason to consider putting the cigarettes down for good. Smoking can cause permanent discoloration of your teeth and can lead to gum disease. Aside from increasing the plaque and tartar buildup on your teeth, smoking can cause inflammation in your salivary glands, delayed healing, an increased risk of tooth loss and dental implant failure, and an increased risk of developing potentially precancerous conditions like leukoplakia and oral cancer.

By leaving the cigarettes behind, you’ll not only reduce your need to spend a lot of time with the dental assisting professionals at the dentist’s office, and improve the appearance of your teeth and gums, but you’ll also decrease your chances of developing other forms of cancer associated with smoking.

Avoid Illicit Drugs

Illicit drug use, especially methamphetamine, has given rise to a relatively new phenomenon known as “meth mouth.” Methamphetamine use is associated with rapid, significant tooth decay. Although the cause of this kind of dental decay is unclear, the American Dental Association says that the problem most likely stems from long periods of “dry mouth”, combined with poor oral hygiene, increased consumption of sugary foods and drinks, and increased grinding and clenching of the teeth, which damages tooth enamel. Contrary to popular belief, meth mouth isn’t caused by using poor-grade methamphetamine. Persons who abuse pharmaceutical-grade methamphetamine also suffer from meth mouth.

Saliva plays an important role in the long-term health of teeth and gums. Reduced salivation occurs when a person uses methamphetamine. This long-term drought causes gum tissues to shrink, which opens the door to some serious tooth decay, periodontal disease and oral infections. Despite the colloquial name of this condition, methamphetamine isn’t the only bad actor here. The same symptoms can occur with the abuse of other stimulants like cocaine, amphetamines and Ritalin (methylphenidate).

If you use methamphetamine, it’s important to get help as soon as possible. Medical intervention will include help managing the physical after-effects of methamphetamine abuse, including the dental damage that may have occurred. If you don’t use drugs but know someone who has experienced rapid tooth decay, it might be a sign that significant medical intervention is in order.

Grinding

Grinding your teeth, known as bruxism, is actually classified as a sleep disorder. Most humans grind their teeth at one time or another in their lifetimes, but the repeated grinding of the teeth and clenching of the jaws that characterize bruxism can cause significant damage to teeth over time. A number of different factors can cause people to grind their teeth, but most people who engage in this habit don’t even know they’re doing it. That’s because most of the heavy-duty damage to the teeth occurs during sleep – even during short naps!

Bruxism is habitual, and once the habit is formed, it’s very difficult to break. Stress is though to play a role in habitual grinding, as are allergic reactions, some medical conditions like Parkinson’s Disease, and chronic magnesium deficiency (a rare condition in the United States). High caffeine consumption, drinking, smoking, and drug use are also associated with bruxism.

Signs that you may be grinding your teeth include headaches, earaches, migraines, loose teeth, and jaw pain, and telltale damage to your teeth, which your dentist will discover during an oral examination. Treatments for bruxism may include the nightly use of a dental bite splint, biofeedback treatments, dietary changes, dietary supplements, electrical stimulation and botox injections. Damage caused by grinding can be repaired using caps, crowns or dental veneers, however veneers can be dislodged if the grinding persists.

My husband and I have both had a lot of dental work done in the past two years. I am ashamed to admit how many years I went without visiting the dentist. There was a lot of work to be done.

Now we are regularly going to the best dentist I have ever seen. He is also the least talkative dentist, too. Maybe that’s why I like him so much. He just gets the work done. Going to the dentist might be a frightening idea especially if it has been years since your last visit. All that worry will quickly go away once you get that first visit out of the way.

Make sure to properly care for your teeth in between routine trips to the dentist. Floss daily and brush at least twice a day. My niece brushes her teeth after every meal and has never had a cavity. I’m not that diligent but do try to brush before bed time and in the morning. Change your toothbrush every three months. We even change our toothbrushes if we have been sick. Get those germs out of the house. Not sure if it really helps but at least it makes us feel like we are doing all we can.

Devote at least two minutes to brushing your teeth. Some fancy toothbrushes are programmed to let you know when to stop brushing. You could also sing a song, listen to the radio, or buy an egg timer.

Even if it has been a while, get to the dentist and take care of your teeth. You will feel so much better. I know we did.

Life can become stressful when you combine looking after kids, a house, pets and all the little things that inevitably fall at your feet. Week after week this tension builds and you can end up
becoming quite stressed. Thankfully, there is a sure-fire cure for this: the spa. Pamper weekends at a gorgeous retreat will evaporate all your cares with a parade of facials, massages and steam baths.

Pamper weekends are an amazing invention: basically, a group of ladies head off to a spa for two full days – during this time their every need is met, and they can relax in the evening at a sumptuous
hotel with a nice bottle of wine. Of course, you can’t do this every weekend, but a few times a year it’s good to get away with the girls and really spoil yourself.

If you go on a pamper weekend twice a year, that is still probably not enough – you don’t want to let your stress pile up for six straight months! So, arrange to go on shorter, yet still relaxing spa days. You can arrange to have a massage, a pedicure, a manicure and a steam bath all in one day – this will leave you feeling refreshed and tide
you over until your next pamper weekend.

It is a hard task looking after so many people, and it’s important to take some time and put yourself first for a change – this can be hard to do, but it is crucial to carve this space out for yourself. The spa
is the perfect place for this as it will take you far away, let you turn off your cell phone and fall into a truly relaxing experience.

Last night my daughter had something sticky in her hair. It quickly grew into a massive knot. We tried washing it out but to no avail. I used some peanut butter and got a little of her hair free. With her hatred of having her hair comb and the time it would have taken to get out the knot, we decided to cut her hair. She hates getting her hair cut and misses her long hair.

Her hair cut is cute. It’s shorter in the back and longer in the front. It made me want to get my hair cut. I enjoy cutting my hair although the idea makes my husband cringe. But I’ve decided that he insists on growing that thing on his face (goatee) then I’m going to cut my own hair.

I washed is this morning and took the scissors to it. I read a couple of good tips on cutting your own hair that made a big difference in quality. Next time I wash my hair I think I will cut it shorter. I’m really want a short hair do but want to gradually get used to having shorter hair.

Last week I did two things I hate doing – got a haircut and clothes shopping. In fact, I did both in the same day. It was exhausting but glad to get both knocked out together. I mean if I must do it, then it’s best to get both over with as quickly as possible.

It has been at least two years since my last hair cut. Sure I whack on it occasionally and it shows. Hence the real reason I needed a hair cut. I had a lot of split ends naturally. I was given the following advice on how to take better care of my hair.

First, do not wash your hair with hot water. That is apparently a no no. You should use lukewarm water. Hot water can cause damage to your hair. I always wash my hair in a very hot shower. Lesson learned.

Do not brush your hair wet. Use a comb as a brush will cause split ends. I bought a wide-tooth comb as I find these to work the best with my hair. Surprisingly the comb works very well for my daughter with her long, tangled hair.

Finally use a good shampoo. I have been using whatever is on sale at the time I am buying shampoo. I picked up one that formulated for oily hair. We’ll see if that really makes a difference. I do like the way it smells because it reminds me of a salon.

I hope by following this advice that this will help my hair have less split ends.

Spring is definitely in the air. Soon summer will be here and so will the warm weather. Now is the time get your feet ready for sandals. I have already found the pair of sandals I want from Zappos. Now I just need to get my feet ready to wear these gorgeous sandals. My feet need a lot of TLC after a winter stuck in socks and sneakers.

I love using my pumice rock to help with callouses and dead skin on my feet. It doesn’t hurt to use it and works fast. I can tell a major difference just after using it once.

Twice a day I use emu oil on my feet. Emu oil is good for cracked feet. It’s also inexpensive at only $3 a jar at the drug store. A little goes a long way so the emu oil will last for a while. It also works well even though it takes a few days to notice any difference. That’s why it’s important to begin now to get your feet in shape for summer. It’ll take time.

Now that I’ve found a pair of sandals, I have the motivation to keep at a beauty routine for my feet. Hopefully my feet will look good by the time summer gets here.

So how are you getting your feet ready for sandal season? Share your tips by leaving a comment.

Do you spend a lot of time looking through acne products to find one that will work for you? My husband sometimes gets adult acne, so we’ve recently bought him some acne products to help with outbreaks. But did you know that eating certain foods can also help your acne?

Reading this article on good foods for your acne makes me want to try some. Cucumber is on the list because they contain vitamins A and C. They are also in the same family as watermelons. My husband loves cucumbers, so this one we will have to give a try next time he feels an outbreak coming up.

It’s an interesting idea to fight acne with foods that are good for us. But I guess it does make sense that if we eat what is good for us then that can help fight imperfections in our body.

After not wearing contact lenses for years, I decided to give them another try. My problem with them was the my eyes were always dry because I work in front of a computer all day.

I tried a pair of Acuvue Advance that worked really well. The contacts are still a little dry every once in a while, so I just use a few rewetting drops to remedy the situation. But then I remembered a piece of advice from a former co-worker about dry eyes.

Her optometrist had told her to start taking Evening Primose Oil to ease dry eyes. I have taken EPO before but not for dry eyes. I had read that EPO was good in aiding to get pregnant. We tried several things when getting pregnant, even progesterone cream. Taking the EPO wasn’t bad, and since it’s readily available, I plan to start taking it again to see how well it works with my dry eyes.

My co-worker swore by it, and she wore contact lenses. EPO isn’t expensive, so at least if it doesn’t work I won’t be out much money.

There are a few skin care products that I just can’t do without. One product is Clinique’s facial scrub. It’s great for cleaning your face. My skin always feels so much cleaner and fresher once I’ve used it.

Best of all, a jar of it will last a long time. I’m running low on my supply, so soon it will be time to buy more. Usually I am not picky about cleansers or other beauty products, but I insist on splurging on this one. The facial scrub is a little coarse to put on, so it’s hard to remove. They recommend using their cleanser removal. I just use good old fashioned water. It might take a little longer but the end result is the same. I have my clean face that is all refreshed, and I saved money since I only use the one facial product instead of the recommended 3 or 4.

I’m really a low maintenance kind of gal. I seldom wear makeup and I haven’t had proper haircut in a long time. I do find that as I get older, I seem to understand the appeal to have a little help when hiding your real age. I know the first wrinkle I find I will be tempted to get work done. I may have to get a Maryland browlift so no one locally finds out that I have had some touchups.

My Mom has always used a nightly lotion on her face before going to bed. Try as I may, I cannot get into the habit of using lotion before bed. I think I will take a page from her playbook. I like to keep the lotion next to the sink in hopes that I will use it when I brush my teeth before I go to bed. Well, most days that is just one more thing I have to do, so I don’t. My Mom will keep her lotion beside her bed or beside her chair in the living room. That way it is more convenient to put on when she thinks about it.

So, beginning tonight I plan to do that, too. I may have to carry it all over the house before I remember to put it on. But hopefully I will remember to use it and can make it a habit.