The Smiles for Life Foundation helps children facing serious health conditions.

How?
It's easy: You come to our office for a Home Teeth Whitening System (normally $400) and we'll take
$101.00 off the price of the system. Your check or credit card is paid to Smiles for Life, and 100% of the whitening goes directly to the Smiles for Life Foundation, so that newly white smile of yours is 100% tax deductible!

If paying all at once is not an option for your budget, Smiles for Life Foundation will charge your bank account or credit card $30 monthly until the contribution is paid off. This is a way to get whiter teeth AND help a child with serious health problems! Over $25 million has been raised for children in the 12 years of the campaign. Call us today or just stop in to schedule an appointment for your home whitening system!

Bring in a friend, and receive $50 off your

Whitening Treatment! Call us for details.

Offer ends June 30th.

We are so grateful for your trust that we have a Friends & Family Reward Program to thank you for sending new patients to us. For each patient you send, we'll bank $50 toward your next treatment AND your friend enjoys a $50 credit to his/her first treatment as well! Come in for your referral cards on your next visit or call us and we'll mail you some!

Click here to find some great children's dental activity sheets, including puzzles, word jumbles, coloring sheets for kids of all ages, and a smile calendar!

Dr. Mai-Ly Ramirez was interviewed for an upcoming article in Reader's Digest. We'll let you know when it will be published!

Recent study shows green tea may reduce periodontal disease
The Asian world has been drinking green tea for over 4,000 years, claiming wonderful health benefits. The Journal of Periodontology published a study that uncovered an interesting benefit of green tea consumption: routinely drinking green tea may promote healthy teeth and gums.

The study, which analyzed the periodontal health of 940 men, found that the men who regularly drank green tea had superior periodontal health compared with men who drank less green tea.  Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the gums and bone supporting the teeth, and periodontal disease has been connected to other diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

"It has been long speculated that green tea possesses a host of health benefits," said study author Dr. Yoshihiro Shimazaki of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. "And since many of us enjoy green tea on a regular basis, my colleagues and I were eager to investigate the impact of green tea consumption on periodontal health, especially considering the escalating emphasis on the connection between periodontal health and overall health."

The men in the study were between 49 and 59 years old. They were examined for three indicators of periodontal disease: the depth of the gum pockets surrounding the teeth, called periodontal pocket depth (PD), the level gum tissue loss, and bleeding in the gums. The study revealed that for every cup of green tea consumed per day, there was a decrease in all three indicators, therefore signifying a lower instance of periodontal disease in the men who regularly drank green tea.

The antioxidant catechin may be the reason. Other research has shown that antioxidants can reduce inflammation in the body, and this study suggests that catechin is key to treating the inflammatory response to periodontal bacteria in the mouth. By interfering in the body's inflammatory response to periodontal bacteria, green tea may actually promote periodontal health and ward off further gum disease.

Glen Park Dental recommends adding green tea to your daily routine. We caution you to avoid bottled teas sweetened with sugar or high fructose corn syrup, as these ingredients contribute to tooth decay. If you do drink bottled teas, be sure to follow it up with either brushing or, if not convenient, at least thoroughly rinse your mouth with water following your glass of green!

Children Exposed to Second-Hand Smoke Have More Cavities
According to a study at the University of Rochester's Strong Children's Research Center, children whose parents smoke are more likely to develop "undefined" dental cavities than children from non-smoking homes. "This study should serve as a sobering wake-up call to parents who still don't see the danger in smoking around their children," says pediatrician Andrew Aligne, M.D., the study's lead author. "This study indicates that second-hand smoke accounts for a significant proportion of cavities in children."

The study of 3,873 children showed a definite relationship between a child's blood level of cotinine and cavities. Cotinine is a quantitative marker of tobacco-smoke exposure. When the body absorbs nicotine, it's converted into cotinine. The higher the cotinine level, the more cavities found.

The overall rate of cavities in the study was 47% in baby teeth and 26% in permanent teeth. It's likely that baby teeth had more cavities because younger children spend more time in the presence of caregivers (family or babysitters) than do school-aged children. If those caregivers are smokers, the preschool children are more often exposed to second hand smoke than are school-aged children.

Dental problems can have substantial consequences, particularly in baby teeth, which are essential for speech development. It's estimated that dental problems cause children to miss more than 50 million hours of school time every year.

We urge all our parents to give serious thought to these issues. If you aren't a smoker, be sure your caregivers aren't smoking near your kids!

To learn more, please click here.

A beautiful smile is a great start, but if your closet also needs a makeover, she's your gal! Click here to visit her online.
~ Dan & Mai-Ly

Have you ever found yourself standing in front of your closet just staring at your clothes? You see hanging before you a few items you love next to many that:
Look out-of-date?
Need mending?
Does not coordinate with anything?
Does not fit your lifestyle?
Too big, too small?

If you feel like you have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear, you're not alone. The garments hanging in your closet represent an investment of several thousand dollars. But studies have shown that only twenty-percent of an individual's wardrobe is purchased wisely; eighty- to ninety-percent of a closet represents a waste of money.

Pulling together a wardrobe that works can be daunting. And that is precisely one of the reasons Image Consultants were created - to help men and women build wardrobes that are flattering, affordable and effective. One of my favorite services as an image consultant is in-home wardrobe planning. I travel to clients' homes, review and analyze the clothes they currently own and make recommendations for future purchases.

A closet audit is only one piece of the wardrobe puzzle, though. Coloring, body type, personal style and lifestyle must also be taken into consideration. But certainly the chore people dislike most is cleaning out their clothes. Wardrobes should be assessed, thinned out and reorganized twice a year. Here are the steps to accomplish this dreaded task.

Before you begin
Set aside several hours for your wardrobe assessment. Send your spouse to a movie and banish all pets. Make sure you have adequate lighting in the room; bring in additional lamps, if needed. You will also need a full-length mirror. You'll be trying on all of your clothes, so wear suitable undergarments.

Step One
Empty everything out of your closet and drawers. Stack all of your clothing and accessories around the room in piles according to the type of garment& jackets, skirts, pants, ties, sweaters, scarves, etc.

Step Two
Move from pile to pile and try everything on, even the items you love and wear regularly. Take a long look in a full-length mirror at each item on your body. Honestly assess:
Color - does it flatter your coloring?
Style - does it enhance your assets and camouflage your challenges?
Lifestyle - is it appropriate for some aspect of your life?
Style Expression - does the design, silhouette, fabric and pattern appeal to you?

As you try on the clothes you wear regularly, determine what it is you love about them. Is it the color? The style? Make a note of what makes this garment work so well for you. Your goal is to duplicate those features in all of your clothes. You should feel attractive and comfortable in everything you put on your body. Don't settle for anything less than feeling terrific! If the item doesn't work for you anymore, get rid of it!

TIP If you have an emotional or sentimental attachment to garments you should get rid of, box them up but don't give them away just yet. Store the box under a bed or in the attic for a while. In six months, you won't be able to recall what's inside the box. You'll then be psychologically ready to part with the items.

Step Three
After trying on each item, place it in one of four new piles. Things you love, wear regularly, feel comfortable in. Older clothing that just needs a little -pizzazz.- Items to be given or thrown away. Mending -and get it done!).

Step Four
As you try on your clothes, start a shopping list of what you need to purchase. And take a good look at the items you're getting rid of. Does this collection shed any light on your shopping patterns? Does it contain too many impulse items or similar types of garments? For instance, do you buy more white blouses than you need? Do you have a stack of ties that don't coordinate with any of your suits?

Step Five
Try new combinations of clothing pieces: tops with skirts, jackets with pants, etc. Don't rule anything out until you try it. You may discover many new ensembles you never knew you had. Be sure to include accessories as you experiment.

Step Six
Put everything back into your closet and drawers. Hang similar items together - blouses together, pants together, jackets together, etc. Unlike men, women have the luxury of breaking their suits up and wearing each piece as a separate. So I suggest they hang suit skirts with their other skirts and suit jackets with other jackets and blazers. By hanging them up as separates, they will start to see them as independent pieces and new clothing combinations will be easier to spot.

TIP Use quality hangers in your closet. Hang jackets on shaped wooden hangers. Use clip hangers to hang pants straight, don't fold pants in half over a hanger.

TIP When you take off your wool suits at the end of the day, let them hang out overnight before placing back in your closet. This step will help them shed wrinkles, moisture, and odors and regain their shape.

Step Seven
The last step is to prioritize your shopping list into your "List of Five". Choose the top five items you need most, write them down and keep the "List" with you at all times. When you shop, look only for those five items. If you see something else you like, don't buy it; just add it to the main list. The "List of Five" will keep you focused when shopping and away from impulse purchases. As you buy something on the "List of Five", move an item up from the main list to take its place. The impulse item you fell in love with at the store may eventually make it to your "List of Five". If it doesn't, you didn't need it in the first place!

Following these simple steps will help you pare down your wardrobe to the pieces that really work for you. Don't fret if your closet suddenly looks a bit empty. Think quality, not quantity. Use your prioritized "List of Five" to gradually add more pieces. It took me two years of pruning to do it, but I now have a closet full of clothes I love. The colors and styles are flattering, each piece coordinates with two or three others and I can get dressed in five minutes for any occasion. Conduct your wardrobe audits twice a year and, before you know it, your closet will be your favorite room in the house!