Winter Blah's in like a Lion!

I am not sure I want to blame climate change for our current situation but I do want to blame some annoying snow!! This weather is enough to drive someone crazy. Here in Louisville at least twice now we've gone from 70-80 to freezing in 24-48 hours. Hopefully spring is around the corner. Spring is a time of the year I like to re-evaluate my health and dietary habits in a spring cleaning of the body. Our overall health is of utmost importance from what fuel we put in our bodies to how we maintain it.

This couldn't be more true of our dental health. Each year more items are reflected to be linked to unhealthy teeth and gums. I personally have begun to look at my diet and particularly the amount of fats and proteins derived from animals.

Each person may have a different area they which to focus on but spring is a time for renewal, Lent, Easter, dog woods blooming and Derby right around the corner, its a great time to be in Louisville and alive for that matter. In our practices we have been focusing on cleaning as well, cleaning out any old treatment ideas and making sure our focus on positive patient care and forward thinking dental treatment in Louisville continues.

In music I have been continuing to expand my scope of music to include more indie-rock and electronic music. This includes a band I was turned onto by a friend. They are called The War on Drugs and in the past included a Philadelphia artist I saw at Forecastle named Kurt Vile. Their new album is available to preview on NPR music and is as if 70's era Tom Petty were channeling Dire Straights and Brian Eno with a bit of Fleetwood Mac guitars.

As always Annie clark aka St. Vincent keeps me excited with her new album, her approach to take organic music and completely disguise it as electronica continues to amaze me. Sounds that should be horns or keyboards may in fact be synths or processed guitars. After her collaboration with David Byrne in 2012 the workaholic Dallas native brings to mind a very powerful woman with art and music sensibilities as well as a great background in design that few can claim. Annie get your gun or Axe in this case because she is a killer guitarist.

In the office we have been listening to more country, reggae and classic jam bands like The Grateful dead based upon patient and team requests. You can always expect to hear something new, fun, or interesting in one of our locations.

My Kids teeth and other Cookout questions

I was recently at a Holiday cookout when of course the conversation turned to parents asking me questions about their children's teeth. Although I am not a Pediatric Dental Specialist, I do see a lot of children and worked alongside the Pediatric Dental Residents during portions of my elective residencies at the Chandler Hospital at the University of Kentucky.

In this case the questions were about Fluoride and its history and when their children should receive it as well as questions about toothpaste. I really don't mind these questions of course when people start showing me their teeth it is a little less pleasurable cookout conversation.

In this situation I was happpy to give my opinion. Many parents leave their children to brush their own teeth a little too soon. A good rule is that if the child is able to tie their own shoes they are old enough to do most of the brushing themselves.

After this the discussion turned to toothpaste. Specifically "When should my child start using adult toothpaste?" The answer to that as with the answer to many things is "It depends." This isn't an age question but more a behavioral question." The main concern with adult toothpaste when it comes to a child is the amount of Fluoride that would go into the child's system if the were to consume the toothpaste. So if a child is mature enough to expectorate all of the toothpaste(ie. spit out) then this is the age that the child could use adult paste. And this would in my opinion be a priority to be accomplished by the time the child had their first few adult teeth, which is for the majority of children around the age of six.