How fast is your mile?

If you needed just one more reason to start an exercise routine here it is....

Researchers at the Cooper Institute in Dallas in conjunction with University of Texas Southwest Medical School found that men and women in their 40's and 50's ability to run a mile in under 8 (for men) or 9 (for women) minutes correlated to a low risk of heart disease in their senior years. Men and women who could not run a mile in under 10 (men )or 12 (women) minutes has a much higher chance of developing heard disease in their senior years.

However, there is nothing special about running. You could also be doing any other cardiovascular work (or better yet, mix it in with some light strength training) like swimming or biking or zumba or whatever the latest craze at the YMCA. Just do it regularly.

Locally, 1st Place Sports or the Florida Striders are great for beginners and experienced runners alike to find groups and fellowship and accountability for your runs. Good Luck!

What is your sentence?

I am reading a thought provoking book called "Drive" by Daniel Pink which talks about what motivates us. I just came across a section where he references Clare Boothe Luce who was one of the first women to serve in the US Congress. She told then President John F. Kennedy, "A great man is one sentence." For example, Abraham Lincoln was: "He preserved the union and freed the slaves."

Using this as an exercise can be a way to discover or clarify a greater purpose in your life which can be useful for staying motivated and driven. I imagine you could have different sentences for different stages of your life, but at any one stage focus on being great in just one sentence. Something you can be passionate about and strive to achieve. I think I have a sentence for home: "He honored God in his leadership and interactions with his wife and children" and also a sentence for my business: "He created an environment in his dental practice that helped parents succeed in establishing lifelong health for their children." As I grow older and (hopefully) wiser, my sentence may change to involve children's oral health nationally or at a county health level or maybe teaching at a school.

So I challenge all who are reading this on FB or my blog to contemplate your own sentence for your present stage, and add yours below in the comment section. If you are like me, your first few attempts will be very longwinded, but work to get it parsed down to one short, concise sentence. This could be fun. What's your sentence???

A pacifier that won't mess up teeth??!!

I was looking at the most recent journal to come across my desk when an article on pacifiers and open bites caught my attention. Apparently there is a new pacifier from "Dentistar" that claims to avoid causing open bites. So researchers compared 42 kids with a NUK, 42 kids with a Dentistar, and 36 with no pacifier. The Dentistar significantly reduced the open bite over the NUK at mean age 16 months. So while limited pacifier use is still best, if your child is pacifier addicted, you may want to consider trying out the Dentistar design. Or recommendation, no matter what pacifier you choose, is to keep the pacifier reserved for times when you child is overtired and overstimulated and needs pacifying. It should not be a babysitter or, as our friends across the pond call it, a dummy.

YEAH! Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who made this years Give Kids a Smile an amazing success once again. Give Kids a Smile events provide free dental services to low income families who do not qualify for medicaid or have dental insurance. This year we saw 78 patients and provided $41,000 of dental services. We had great kids this year who endured and perservered, many of them getting all their dental needs completed, or the major portion of what they needed. Our goal, as always, was to keep kids out of pain for the coming year, protect their adult teeth, and help them see the value of healthy eating habits and dental care. By any standard, this year was another success.