Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2008)
Siletz Community W Clinic Health CHAA-MAY WEE-YA’- MEDICINETALK Have a Safe Day at the Beach by Sharon Mason. Health Advocate From seeing a thundering rip cur rent and a blazing sun to a stinging jel lyfish and possible shark attacks, a day of play at the beach can be very trau matizing. A good day at the beach can be a wonderful experience if you know' what to look out for. Look out for lurking danger and learn to avoid it by knowing what a rip current is and keeping yourself and your family or friends safe. Rip currents often are called rip tides or undertows. A rip current is cre ated when the water is being pushed up the slope of the beach and gravity is pulling it back. This creates concen trated rivers of water moving offshore. They tend to form as waves along the beach, causing water to become trapped between the beach and a sand bar or another underwater feature. The water then collects into a narrow river-like channel, moving away from the shore at high speed. These waves are very powerful. About 80 percent of lifeguard rescues and drownings at the beach are because of rip currents. Learn to conquer rip currents if one has snuck up on you by swimming sideways (parallel to shore) in the strong current and don't let it pull you backwards. Remember to stay as calm as you can and take deep hard strokes sideways until you no longer feel the current pulling at you. You also can tread water until someone sees you. Pick out a beach with lifeguards and if there aren't any, take all precau tions to be safe. Have a wonderful day at the beach, everyone. Did You Know? by Jamie Mason, Tobacco Prevention Coordinator The Oregon Legislature passed a law in June 2007 making the Oregon Smoke-Free Workplace Law even stronger than what it has been in the past. Beginning in January 2009, the number of indoor workplaces required to be smoke-free will expand to include: (g) Bars and taverns, including bar ar eas of restaurants (g) Restaurants g) Bowling centers (g) Bingo halls g) Private offices and commercial of fice buildings g Retail and wholesale establishments g Manufacturing plants and mills g Truck stops g Child and adult day care centers g Assisted living facilities g Movie theaters and indoor enter tainment venues g Hotels and motels (exception - up to 25 percent of guest rooms can be designated as smoking rooms by the owner or entity in charge) As you can see, this will be a major change on the economy. It will cause more people to think about quitting, less secondhand smoke, more family outings for people who didn t take their families out because of a smoky envi ronment and a lower percentage of health problems from smoking. Now that you are more aware of this new law coming in less than six months, you can prepare yourself for it, whether that's trying to quit smok ing or preparing yourself for not being able to smoke in these specified places. Businesses can get fined if an em ployee and/or the public reports a vio lation once the new law takes effect. They can do this by calling a toll-free number or completing an online com plaint form. Complaints will be inves tigated and violations pursued. But we know that none of us Natives will have to worry about this because we know the new law. Tooth Talk by Marv Eden Volansky, RDH. MS Saliva, Dry Mouth, etc. Dry Mouth - Dr. Molly Francis recently spoke at the Siletz diabetes group luncheon. She had participants sample mouthwashes used to ease the symptoms of dry mouth. In her study results were confirmed. Oasis Moistur izing Mouthwash tasted best and lasted longest. In second place was a mouth wash called Biotene. Biotene has been around for a long time. This company makes several products to ease dry mouth - gum, toothpaste, mouth spray and a gel ad vertised to last up to eight hours. The gel sounds great to use before going to sleep. Dry mouth while sleeping is a common complaint. Many clinic pa tients have recommended having a glass of water on a nightstand for drink ing during the night. Oasis, which finished in first place, offers only two products - a mouthwash and a mouth spray. If you visit the GlaxoSmithKline website (www. oasisdrymouth.com), you can obtain an instant coupon for this product. Searching the Biotene website, I was unable to locate any coupon options for Biotene products. Saliva - The May 2008 Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) listed nine functions for saliva,1 including lubricant, buffer, antimicro bial activity and aid to swallowing. All of these benefits are “largely protec tive of the oral environment.” The American Dental Association spent most of this issue on “how saliva can be used in caries prevention.” So now you can understand the importance of saliva, the impact of dry mouth and why there are products to ease dry mouth. The journal looked at saliva How' and chewing, especially chewing sugarless gum. Saliva washes away and buffers the acids inside our mouth. Acids are formed by bacteria that live off the foods we eat and acid comes directly from some of the food we eat (i.e., soda). Chewing increases the flow of sa liva. The results of seven clinical car ies investigations attest to the merits of stimulating salivary flow, in this case by chewing gum with sorbitol. Chew ing sugarless gum after meals was sug- gested for best results at reducing cavi ties. More research was recommended. Sports Mouth Guards - Summer is here and with it we are drawn to out door activities that involve contact with hard objects (other participants, trees, bicycle handlebars, etc.) and a risk of injuries to your mouth and teeth. “Studies have linked sporting ac tivities to nearly one-third of all dental injuries. Mouth guards offer protection by absorbing high-impact energy from potentially traumatic blows and dissi pating that energy, which otherwise would be transferred directly to the underlying dentition.” And. “Mouth guards also can pro vide substantial protection to patients receiving orthodontic treatment. By moving soft tissue away from teeth and preventing intraoral laceration and bruising, properly fitted mouth guards can assist athletes wearing fixed orth odontic appliances.” On the basis of the available litera ture, the Council on Scientific Affairs and the Council on Access. Prevention and Inter-professional Relations (now that's a mouthful!) recommend that ath letically active people of all ages use a properly fitted mouth guard in any sporting or recreational activity that may pose a risk of injury. Several stud ies suggest the custom mouth guard provides patients with the most precise fit and the best retention.2 If you are an “athletically active" person engaging in “sporting or recre ational activities that may pose a risk of injury.” you can obtain a custom- fitted mouth guard at the Siletz Dental Clinic. Call for an appointment with your continuing care dentist. Are your teeth in braces? The clinic has pre-made mouth guards that ad dress the special protection needs of those with orthodontic braces. / JADA. "Saliva and Oral Health: The benefits of chewing and stimulating salivary flow. " Vol. 139, May 2008. 2 JADA. "Using mouth guards to re duce the incidence and severity of sports-related oral injuries. Vol. 137. December 2006p. 1712- 1720 August 2008 • Siletz News • 17
