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View album in Google’s Picasa.

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Good news at the dental office.

This morning a young boy came in to have his biannual teeth cleaning and fluoride, and this is what we saw. The baby tooth had split in half, with the permanent tooth pushing its way through.

Even though the baby tooth was split in two, the patient was not having any discomfort. The remnants of the baby tooth were very loose. The hygienist joked

“If he were to sneeze the pieces could come flying out.”

Seasons of Smiles Dental recommendations? Go chew on some carrots, or maybe some hard crunchy bread, anything that will encourage the pieces to come out.  Everything else looked healthy!

Great checkup!

This is the patient’s last baby tooth, as he will be turning 13 this summer.  Any ideas what happens when this young boy loses his last baby tooth?  Much to his mother’s sentiment  . . .

. . . a boy becomes a man!

How long has it been since your six month cleaning?  Give us a call at Seasons of Smiles Dental at (207) 236-4740.  We’re here to check your smile!

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Penobscot Bay YMCA – Zero Sugar Sweetened Beverages Pledge

A shout out to Jason Wood and the Penobscot Bay Rockport YMCA. We just received some email informing us about the Zero Sugary Drink Pledge. We think it’s a fabulous idea for the oral health of you and your kids. We at Seasons of Smiles Dental accept your challenge and take your pledge!!!

No Sugary drinks except water and lowfat milk.  We’re in!!! We just need to check with Jason and check out the rules on Sugar Free Moxie.

Our pledges have been mailed in. Our fingers are crossed.  Great incentives, we are definitely hoping for the family pool party at the Y.

Below is a copy of the email we received, in case you didn’t get your invitation.

TAKE THE ZERO SUGARY DRINK PLEDGE!

The Penobscot Bay Rockport YMCA, 5210 Let’s Go! and Knox County Community Health Coalition (KCCHC) are committed to promote and provide education for healthy living to our community.

During the month of May, we are excited to introduce a challenge to eliminate Sugar Sweetened Beverages from your family’s diet. For those who sign the pledge, the Y will provide support with weekly email health updates, two guest passes as well as enter you into a drawing for a family pool party!

Download the pledge today!

You can email your pledge to Jasen Wood at penbayymca.org,  drop off at the Y, or mail to: PO Box 840, Rockport, Maine.

Questions? Please call Jasen Wood, Y Senior Program Director at 236.3375 ext. 211

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One of the best kept secrets in Belfast Maine is their Bicycle Club. If you live in the area or are visiting through the summer months and are looking for a ride be sure and check out their schedule. It is the best way to see the area.

Just about every ride with the Belfast Bicycle Club is different. There is a maze of great roads to ride around Belfast. A shout out and thanks to Ken for continually mapping out great routes for us to explore. If you wish to check out todays route in more detail,

Press here.

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The Crazy Amount Of Sugar Hiding In Random Foods

Sugar is Everywhere

What is it with dentists and sugar? When I saw this video, I couldn’t help but think of one of our favorite dental patient kids, I would see him on a regular basis, around town, with a big liter bottle of Mountain Dew soda, and I couldn’t help but cringe knowing that I would have to break the bad news to him at his next dental cleaning. To my pleasant suprise, it still amazes me that his teeth could be bathed in Mountain Dew on a regular basis and never get a cavity. Why is it? It just doesn’t seem logical!

I don’t think there is an easy answer, but if I had to come up with a short answer, all I can say is decay is a multifactorial problem, and sugar is a big factor!

This youTube video is definitely a huge argument for eating unprocessed whole foods.

As your dentist we would encourage our patients to be very careful with sugar for your teeth’s sake. And on a side note, if you feel like you need to lose a few pounds, this would be one area of your diet you may want to focus on.

One can of Coca Cola has 39 grams of sugar.

The other interesting tidbit in the video is that the “light” salad dressing had more sugar than the regular salad dressing!?!?

How many of the other products shown in the video such as Tropicana 100 Orange Juice, Monster Energy Drink, Bush’s Country Style Baked Beans, Muesli Cereal, Fruit Loops Cereal, Starbucks Frappuccino, Snickers Candy Bar, Wish Bone’s Salad Dressings, Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, McDonald’s McChicken sandwiches, Cliff Bar with Chocolate Chips took you by surprise?

If you have any questions or concerns about your teeth, please give us a call at (207) 236-4740.

Thank you BuzzFeed Videos for this great video illustration.

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What is the Number One Worst Food For Your Teeth?

By. Dr. Mark Burhenne, DDS

Did you know that candy is not the No. 1 cavity-causing food? You’ll probably be thrilled to learn that dark chocolate actually promotes good dental health. The worst food for your teeth may surprise you.

THE CAVITY-CAUSERS IN YOUR PANTRY

Don’t go crackers

Brace yourself: The No. 1 most cavity-causing food in the world is actually the saltine cracker. This fact shocks most of my patients, since crackers are everywhere and are even given to toddlers as a healthy snack. Saltine crackers are worse than candy for your teeth because they’re a fermentable and highly processed starch. Many people don’t realize that most crackers are highly processed and contain genetically engineered ingredients, essentially increasing the glycemic index and making the food more cariogenic (cavity-causing).

Dental-damaging sugar doesn’t just come from sugar

What’s wrong with sugar? There are naturally occurring bacteria in your mouth that love sugar and proliferate out of control when your diet is full of these processed simple starches. What happens when you eat a saltine cracker? The bacteria in your mouth have a feast, which allows them to multiply beyond the proper balance in your mouth. Ever noticed how saltine crackers or Goldfish become sticky in your mouth as you’re chewing them? Even better for the bacteria, that sticky goo gets stuck between your teeth and the bacteria can feast for even longer.

Bacteria is literally wasting your enamel

Saltine Crackers?!?!?

Just like any organism, after bacteria have a meal, they have to “go to the bathroom” afterwards — and this is the stuff that causes bad breath and tooth decay. Yup, you can blame that on bacteria literally “pooping” in your mouth. I use that word to impress my pediatric patients and I encourage you to explain it this way to your children as well. Eating simple starches once or twice won’t make your teeth rot — it’s years of cumulative habits. Cut these foods out of your diet and you won’t wake up 10 years later wondering why your teeth look like your grandmother’s.

Opt for healthier grains

If you have children, replace saltine crackers and Goldfish with a whole-grain cracker made of ancient grains like Mary’s Gone Crackers. This simple act will affect your children’s dental health for the rest of their lives. Not surprisingly, saltine crackers aren’t the only simple starch to avoid. Beware of the cavity-causing foods lurking on supermarket shelves and in your kitchen — anything with white refined flour wreaks havoc in your mouth. As you’re taking stock of cavity-causing foods in your pantry, make sure you put dental-friendly foods on your shopping list. Try my list of the best foods for your teeth.

Source: http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/983591/saltines-are-worst-food-for-your-teeth

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Monroe is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The town was named for President James Monroe.

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Named after David Sears of Boston after he agreed to grant a large sum of money towards founding of Searsport, Sears Island is currently state-owned land, but is part of the town of Searsport. Formerly it had been known as Brigadier’s Island.

A causeway was built approximately 20 years ago upon what formerly was a tidal bar. At high tide Sears Island was a true island, and at low tide the exposed gravel bar allowed for easy access. Locals would drive over at low tide, always careful to return in time, lest they would have to wade or swim and leave the car stranded until the next tide. Several generations ago there were farms on the island. Only stone cellar holes and a few small fields remain today.

Sears Island acts as a great element barrier for one of the most well-protected harbors in the state of Maine, Stockton Harbor, an attractive anchorage both for the protection it offers, and its convenience to upper Penobscot Bay towns Searsport, Belfast and Castine. Bar Harbor is about an hour car ride east, and both Camden and Bangor are about a half-hour south and north, respectively. Sears Island also offers spectacular views of Cape Jellison. It is home to numerous species of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians and plant life. The shallow shoal off the west side of the island supports meadows of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and other nursery habitats and features that play an important role in the fish and shellfish populations of greater Penobscot Bay.

[edit] Environmental controversies

The possible industrial development of the island has been a point of controversy for many years. Writer E. B. White, a resident of nearby Brooklin, Maine, noted in a 1975 essay for the New Yorker that he had attended an evening forum about a Central Maine Power Company proposal to construct a nuclear power plant on Sears Island. White reported to New Yorker readers that the Central Maine Power Company “feels very good about nuclear generating plants, is not worried about radiation or accidents.” In response to a goat farmer, their spokesman acknowledged radioactive “iodine can contaminate milk . . . [b]ut he was cheerful about the prospect. You would simply put the animals on a controlled diet, he said, and after about forty days the radioactivity would be gone.” Facing local opposition, the plant was not built.[2]

Since the 1980s, successive Maine governors have promoted the development of the island as a general cargo port (Joseph Brennan, John McKernan), a wood-chip port (Angus King), an LNG terminal (John Baldacci, 1st term), and an intermodal freight transport hub for global container ship traffic (Baldacci’s 2nd term).

A three year long consensus-driven effort by Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) and its Sears Island Joint Use Planning Committee culminated on January 22, 2009 in the signing by Maine transportation commissioner David Cole of a perpetual conservation easement granting Maine Coast Heritage Trust control of 600 acres (240 ha) of the island, while leaving the remaining 340 acres (140 ha) of the island open to port development.

On February 19, 2009 however, a Rockland, Maine environmental activist and separately residents of Augusta and of Searport, sued asking the Maine Superior Court “to rescind the Jan. 22, 2009 conservation easement until the MDOT has fully complied with the requirements of the Maine Sensible Transportation Policy Act and the Maine Site Location of Development Law.” On September 8, 2010, Maine Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hjelm dismissed all three cases as premature, concluding that the current lack of port development, and lack of any interest in port development by the Plaintifs made the injury theoretical and impossible to evaluate: the Plaintiffs as yet lacked demonstrable standing to sue. On May 3, 2011, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judge’s decision.[3]

Many Penobscot Bay area environmentalists and tourism-based businesses have expressed environmental and aesthetic concerns about further industrializing this portion of the coast.[1]

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