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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2009)
Siletz Community CHAA-MAY WEE-YA’ - MEDICINE TALK Men’s Night Out! June 27,2009 • 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Gymnasium (next to Tillicum Fitness Center) This event will honor those men who have passed away in the last year. We will have a basketball tournament and horseshoe throwing contest, barbeque, giveaway, raffle, orientation to the Fitness Center and using the equipment, along with some great guest speakers. The main speaker for the event will be Dr. Hank Taylor, the new doctor at the Siletz Clinic. This is open to all men, boys, uncles and grandpas from age 15 and older. Last year was great and this year will be greater! If you would like more information or have questions, please call Lin Rasar, nurse navigator, at 541-444-9627 or 800-648-0449, ext. 1627. Don’t miss out! Tooth Talk Native American Ethnobotany: Oral Health by Mary Ellen Volansky, RDH, MS July is Culture Camp month. The Siletz Dental Clinic is working to expand our list of Native plants that were once used by Northwest American Indians for treating oral health problems. Over the last three years we have been looking at plants for treating toothaches, ulcers in the mouth and just plain brushing and flossing. Most recently I mentioned pine sap, chewed by Siletz people for cleaning teeth, a gum of sorts. Today the Siletz Dental Clinic uses a “modified ... pine sap”1 with fluoride added. It’s called it fluoride varnish. This tree sap-flavored film (actually, there are cherry/melon/mint flavors) is applied to teeth to prevent cavities. The dental profession has utilized fluoride var nish for preventing tooth cavities for more than 35 years, beginning in Europe. More plants that have a history of being utilized by Tribal people of North America are listed below. In addition to fluoride varnish, two others have made their way back into present-day use. In the spirit of Culture Camp, I thought you might be interested in the following. Tooth Pain: Did your family use cloves or clove oil to treat tooth pain? I first learned about clove oil while in dental hygiene school back in the ’70s. The clove tree did not originate in North America but the seed/oil made its way here. North American Tribal people used it to treat tooth pain (eugenia caryo- phyllus or clove tree).2 Original peoples of North America, India and Europe used clove oil to treat tooth pain. A piece of cotton was soaked in clove oil and placed onto a tooth with a cavity in it. The active ingredient for this pain reduction is eugenol.3 There is some germicidal effect from eugenol as well.4 Eugenol has long been utilized in dentistry and continues to be used today. Along with other medicines, it is used for dry socket, some dental cements and as a toothache medicine.5 Tooth Blackening: This practice was done to demonstrate “fidelity” or an “aver sion for teeth colored the same as the pig or dog,” depending on where you lived. OK, I really don’t mind having my teeth the same color as my dog or my cat, as long as my dog and cat get their teeth cleaned regularly. As for fidelity, my partner will just have to trust me and if there isn’t trust, there isn’t anything worth blackening my teeth for now, is there? What is interesting is that some of the blackening compounds also “preserved the teeth and prevented toothaches.”6 One com pound currently is being reviewed by the federal Food and Drug Administration.7 OK, not for blackening teeth, but for preventing Uoth problems. The dental profession has found a way to remove the blackening aspect of one of those com pounds, silver fluoride, which had been commonly used in Japan for blackening.8 Sore Gums: Different Tribes used a variety of plants and in a variety of forms: mouthwashes, poultices, etc. to treat sore gums, gingivitis and periodontal disease. “Smooth Sumac” was used for sore gums and periodontal disease by Native North American people,9 not poison su mac. One Tribe used smooth sumac, the San Poil or Sanpoil Tribe. Members of this Tribe chewed leaves of the smooth sumac tree/bush to ease sore gums. This Tribe lived along the San Poil River (Washington state), a tributary to the Columbia River. If you have questions about other herbs or plants used by Native American Tribal peoples, stop by our tent at Culture Camp in July. Or you can e-mail your questions to Toothtalk@csti.nsn.us. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 dental@3m.com, Renee. April 2009 Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Human Health, second edition, by Walter H. Lewis and Memory P.F. Elvin-Lewis, 2003, p. 423. Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Human Health, second edition, by Walter H. Lewis and Memory P.F. Elvin-Lewis, 2003, p. 423. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary. com/eugenol. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary. com/eugenol. Medical Botany, Plants Affecting Human Health, second edition, by Walter H. Lewis and Memory P.F. Elvin-Lewis, p. 448. Dr. Peter Milgrom, Department of Dental Pub lic Health Sciences, Box 357475, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, April 22, 2009, handout page 7. Dr. Peter Milgrom, Department of Dental Pub lic Health Sciences, Box 357475, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, April 22, 2009, handout page 7. Medical Botany, Plants Affecting Human Health, second edition, by Walter H. Lewis and Memory P.F. Elvin-Lewis, p 437. Clinic Health Smoking While Pregnant by Jamie Mason According to the Tobacco Facts and Laws report, 5,719 infants in Oregon are bom every year to mothers who use tobacco while they are pregnant. Women age 18 to 24 are the ones more likely to use tobacco while pregnant. Nineteen percent of these pregnant women did not graduate from high school. Eighteen percent are high school graduates or have completed their GED. Two percent are college graduates. One could conclude that the less educated you are, the more likely you are to use tobacco while you’re pregnant. Out of every race/ethnicity, American Indians have the highest tobacco use. Twenty-two percent of American Indian women use tobacco while pregnant compared to Hispanics and Asians, whose use is only 3 percent. Caucasians are at 15 percent and African Americans are at 16 percent. Even though Caucasians and African Americans have a high rate, 22 percent is a lot compared to all the other groups. I ask myself, why that is? Is it a lack of education that Natives have on tobacco? Or is it because they just don’t care? What do you think? I think that we as Native people should be mad at these statistics and want to change them for the better. Not only are these statistics showing that we are people who use commercial tobacco a lot, but we don’t care about our unborn children. 1 strongly disagree and know that we care very much about the health of our children. If you smoke while you are pregnant, the cigarette chemicals can reach your baby. These chemicals keep your baby from getting the food and oxygen needed to grow. Women who smoke have a higher risk of early pregnancy, bleeding and miscarriage. If you quit smoking while pregnant, your child is less likely to be stillborn and less likely to die from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and this will reduce the risk of asthma, lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses in your child’s future. As you can see, smoking while pregnant is a risky behavior for your child. So if you are pregnant, please think about all 1 have written here and quit smoking for at least those nine months to help ensure your unborn child’s health. As Native women, think about the image and statistics that are out there about us. I think we need to prove them wrong and show them we are no longer ignorant to the harm that smoking can cause our children. If you would like help to quit smoking, please call me at 541-444-9659 or 800- 648-0449, ext. 1659; or the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line at 877-270-7867. You also can try these quit tips: Pick a day to quit and stick to it. Throw out all your cigarettes. Drink six to eight glasses of water a day. Chew gum or crunch on carrots or celery. Keep your hands busy. Knit a baby blanket. Make a baby album. Ask for support from your family, friends and health care provider. If you can’t stop, try to cut back. Think about your growing baby. Chemawa Service Unit Update The students at Chemawa Indian High School have gone home for the school year and so have the security guards. The students and security guards will return when the new school year starts on Sept. 1, 2009. Chemawa Indian Health Center Information Important Phone Numbers Toll Free Main 800-452-7823 503-304-7600 Telephone Prompts: Pharmacy Same-Day Medical Appointments Future Medical Appointments Dental Ortho Optometry Operator 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 Hours of Operation Chemawa Health Center Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Wednesdays (no services) Noon to 5 p.m. Dental Monday - Thursday 7:15 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (except Wednesdays) Walk-ins Sign up at 7:15 a.m. (limited to 4) Fridays Walk-ins (limited to 2) 7:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sign up at 7:15 a.m. Lunch Hours Noon-12:30 p.m. Medical Monday - Friday (except Wednesdays) Same days June 2009 • 8 a.m.-5 p.m. 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Siletz News • 19
