So Confused

So bleach trays....does wearing them at night cause grinding? My office in Cedar has people wear them at night. I thought that was alright. What is the correct rule...My whole dental hygiene knowledge is going down the tubes. I mean how did I not know this and the other things from last week? I am really confused with what is right and good standard of care.

Lovliest Day Ever...

Today in Portland it is about 60 degrees and sunny!!! It is beautiful. So I took full advantage of the day and went on a day hike. I borrowed a book from my friend Christie. (pic of cute little chapel. See the sunshine?)

Christie is a pharmacist for Albertsons and I worked with her a lot. I have been ticking off hikes over the last few weeks. And by hikes I mean more like nature walks. With some incline. So far the paths have been paved or woodchipped. So not too rustic. (pic of The Grotto fo Our Sorrowful Mother. It is set in a little cave)
So today The Grotto won. It is about 5 miles from my house. This 62-acre sanctuary is staffed by about a dozen priest, nuns etc from the Holy Order of the Servants of Mary. They were having mass when I was there so it was pretty quiet. The hike is BEAUTIFUL and peaceful. I cannot wait for spring and the flowers to bloom because I am sure this walk will be even more stunning. (pic of St Philip Benizi.. He is praying to a cross and there is a small waterfall by his knees. I just thought it was beautiful and serene)

(pic of welcoming Jesus :) I dont know official name of this one.)

So there are just tons and tons of sculptures depicting saints, Jesus and his life etc. There was a little set of about 6 wooden scenes. They were encased in glass I am sure to protect them from all the rain. The picture did not turn out but the carvings were beautiful you will just have to trust me. There was this chapel dedicated to Mary mother of Christ. It was lovely also. but a little weird. I guess I am used to LDS things. But when I walked into this meditation chapel I did not feel the spirit...any spirit. It was pretty. The leather chairs were nice and the view of Portland was alright but the feeling was off. Needless to say I did not hang out for long. All in all it was a good nature walk/hike. I enjoyed it very much. But think the spring/summer would be better. So I guess I will have to do it again.

I personally am doing good. I have been having some cabin fever. Any cures out there???? Today was good for me. I also went shopping for new jeans and guess what? I purchased a pair of jeans 6 sizes smaller than the huge pair I am currently wearing and dont have to unbutton to get off...I am so excited!!!! What a lovely day!

Also I am listening to KSUU. The radio station of Southern Utah Univ in Cedar City Utah. My long time roomie Angie has a show that I like to tune into. It was a good show as always and I love hearing her shout out to me! But guess what...Angie took 3rd place in a national radio DJ personality contest! She is the best DJ ever! Contrats Angie!

3 Quandries

Well I have a couple dental questions. I have been working since January for this dentist. He is great. He is young and fresh from school. He did 3 yrs for corporate dentistry and now has owned his own practice for 1.5 years. He bought the practice from an amazing clinician. This dentist was a bit crazy and brought her dog to work every day. The dog would lick people while they were laying in the chair. Most patients loved the dog and loved the dentist. But her turn over rate was astronomical. She used to be a RDH and then became a DDS. I will admit that she did the most beautiful gold work I have ever seen. The margins are wonderful. Her inlays were perfection. I have never seen such consistently good dentistry hold up for so many years. I look in their charts and the restoration was placed 17 years ago and it looked like it was placed 2 years ago. Anyway, my dr is new and he is inexperienced but he is knowledgeable. He has also been taught by this retiring dentist. He has brought up a couple things I do not agree with and I am thinking my education is not up to par. I need some help.....I have 3 questions. Any insight you have would help.

Question #1 Vaseline dries you up. I use vaseline on patients lips each and every time. I use Vaseline lotion and it works fine. I dont know the chemical make up of petroleum jelly but....it seems kind of emollient to me.

Question #2 Arm & Hammer toothpaste (baking soda) is more abrasive than any other toothpaste out there including Pro Health. Ok so particle size pro health is the winner with the huge stannous fluoride ion and the large particles in the paste--you know what I am talking about. I thought baking soda was the smallest particle out there and that the toothpaste was least abrasive. My front office manager said it is like a nail file where the rough side gets a lot but the fine side really abrades your nail. So using that analogy I can see why baking soda is bad for you. But I have not seen any research stating that. I really thought it was good.

Question #3 Electric toothbrushes are bad. They are too abrasive and do more damage than good. What??? I love my Oral B. I tolerate my Sonicare. I think patients who have switched to electric toothbrushes have less plaque and better tissue health. I have seen this myself. I think it helps the average patient brush better, longer and more thoroughly.

Let me know your thoughts. I guess they are not questions per say but I do have questions about them. Thank you for your help!!!

Happy Birthday Emily

This weekend I had the chance to cross the Columbia River and enter the great state of Washington. I went to visit Emily in Yakima. So I cross the river and almost instantly I entered fog land. It was so fun. I love the fog. It is a challenge to drive in it especially when I am on a road I have never been on. I pulled over to take a pic of some of the fog. It was very localized. It was beautiful and cold.

Next I stopped at Stonehenge. It is shortly after the bridge and a little out of the way but totally worth it. Dan texted me on my drive and told me to stop. I am so glad I did. The replica of the original Stonehenge in England was placed here to commemorate the lives of 13 soldiers lost to the local community in WWI. It was really cool and cold:)

It was Emily's birthday while I was there. It was so wonderful to see her and talk hygiene for a while.

Then I enter Yakima on the Yakama Indian Reservation. (the a is native and the natives protested the use of it for the city name so the city changed it to i) So there you go. Anyway the power lines are very low in Yakima. So low that the traffic signals have to be turned sidewards so trucks can pass underneath. It was different. Also tribe people live a lot differently. I was shown first hand the tragic circumstances that these people live in. They live in them for reasons of lack of education, lack of discipline, lack of white mans traditions. So I guess they are happy perpetuating the welfare induced drug addicted lifestyle because they do not change. It is an entirely different way of thinking. I guess that is why we are different cultures. Needless to say Emily is my hero for trying to deal with their perio needs knowing they do not value oral hygiene and that she will have to srp again in a year. You are a wonder hygienist! Keep doing all you can girl!

Shortly after lunch (at 3pm ha ha ha) I received a text from Dan. He was busy doing drill. He wanted to know when I would be home. I was planning on staying until dark and then going home. It is a 3 hr drive and I wanted to be with Emily for as long as possible. But Dan was so cute in asking me to come to the Auto Show with him that night that I said my farewells to Emily and drove home. So here is Dan sitting in a Jeep Rubicon. He really likes them.

Then here we are in a Jeep Wrangler. I am totally trashed. I was so tired by then I was glad I left Yakima as early as I did. It had been a long week with some late nights and very early mornings and several nights of not sleeping. I can see the difference from the am pic at Stonehenge and the 9:30 pm pic at the Auto Show.

It was a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed my drive over the river and LOVED spending time with Emily! Thank you again for letting me come! And we definitely can do The Dalles next time ;)