Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2013)
Youth Conference B’nai B’rith Camp, Lincoln City, Ore. • Nov. 9-10, 2013 Photos by Diane Rodriquez Several groups of young people (above) plus Lexi Metcalf, Kaetlin Bayya, Angel DeAnda and Frankie Rilatos (below) take part in indigenous games during the conference. Other activities included cultural sharing, breakout sessions led by the Change Team and the Healthy Traditions project, and a presentation by the Siletz Youth Council. Courtesy photo Congratulations! Tim Pigsley got lucky during the September bow season Tooth Talk: The season is upon us to let cranberries help care for our teeth By Mary Ellen Volansky, EPDH, MS To begin, allow me to express my appreciation for your patience while I was gone this summer. Many of you had appointments cancelled, more than once, because I was in western New York for my mother’s sudden seven-week illness and her passing on July 25. It was my responsibility to close up her apartment and find a home for Lucy, her cat. In choosing which special posses sions of hers I wanted, I seemed to end up wanting everything - the vase and flowers or the dish where she placed her favorite candy, the watch and/or the necklace, the afghan she crocheted and/or the needle point she worked and framed. As the number of boxes grew, I began to realize I was trying to collect her into these boxes, an attempt to preserve her and bring her with me back to Oregon. Thank you to all who have voiced your condolences for Mom’s passing and my family’s loss. I’ll admit I knew I would miss her, but the intensity of this loss has been a surprise to me. Thank you all. Well, we are in the midst of the season of being busy with family and foods. As enjoyable as all these foods and activities are, they may provide opportunities to miss brushing and flossing. And when we miss completing our home care routine, we increase the risk of developing cavities. 8 * Siletz News • Oh, you say you never miss? Good. For those of us who miss and for those who don't, here are some holiday hints that could enhance your oral health experience now, during the holidays, and always. Cranberries, an all-time favorite side dish, began its nationwide burst onto our taste buds in the '50s. As many of you know, or can guess, cranberries first were eaten as a food by North American Indians. Did you know that cranberries, besides making a great taste sensation, can be helpful in reducing the risk of tooth decay? Robert Kentta told me that cranberries also are called “bog huckleberries.” He suggested that in Athabascan, cranberries might be call “Lhtuu-me’ or Tuu-me’ Dee- chi” or words for “marsh+huckleberry.” Algonquian people called them Sassamanash,1 which was used for pem- mican, wound medicine and dye.2 The Thompson and Okanagon Indians3 used cranberries as a food too. Cranberries are high in vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants. It is when bacteria have set up com munities on our teeth that we call those communities plaque. Only when bacteria are in these communities on our teeth can the bacteria poop/excrete acids that cause cavities. Lhtuu-me’ contains natural enzymes that prevent bacteria from form December 2013 ing on our teeth. Sounds great, bring on bination of good and bad foods won’t the cranberries. cause us problems if they are eaten as Of course, there is a hitch. Have you a holiday’s special meal, eaten once in ever eaten plain cranberries? Have you a while. ever eaten a cranberry off the bush? Sour Those additions cause us problems and bitter without, you guessed it, sugar. when we consume these foods through Lots of sugar, about a teaspoon per ounce out the day, every day. And they cause us is found in cranberry juice cocktail.4 problems when we don’t take the other Many dentists, including Hyun steps necessary to maintain our health “Michel” Koo, DDS, Ph.D., at the Univer each day - exercise, brush and floss, drink sity of Rochester Medical Center in New water, rest, etc. York state, with a grant from the National Try reading labels. Look for sugar to Institute of Dental and Craniofacial not be the first item in the ingredients list Research, are working on finding ways (certainly not the first and second ingredi for us to prevent cavities more easily than ent, as in Hostess Snowballs). we can now.5 Also in anticipation of this holiday Dr. Koo is working to find the exact season, check this out. It takes 17 muscles substance in Lhtuu-me’ that keeps plaque to smile and 43 to frown,6 so take the easy from growing on our teeth. Once found, way out and smile all the time. this substance might be made into a tooth You have my wishes for experiencing paste or mouthwash to prevent cavities. many reasons to smile, including enjoying Most of the foods surrounding the your favorite holiday(s), mouthwatering coming winter holidays are good for our foods and spending time with family and health: grains, meats, dairy, and veggies friends. May peace be with you. and fruit. We all need the nutrients con tained in these foods each day. Proteins, 1 wikipedia.org/wiki/cranberry vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, etc. are 2 wikipedia.org/wiki/cranberry in those foods, nutrients that build our 3 Perry, F. 1952 Ethno-Botany of the Indians in bodies toward our overall good health. the Interior of British Columbia. Museum and Art Notes 2(2):36-43. (p.38) As with cranberries, it’s what is added 4 wikipedia.org/wiki/cranberry, page 1 to them that causes us problems - salt, 5 urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm/ sugar or fats, nitrates, sulfates or maybe id=3048 cooking them to the point of destroying 6 2009 American Dental Association, Flossy’s the nutrients inside. Generally, this com Big Book of Dental Trivia
