Having “A Look under the Hood,” or What to Expect from a Dental Exam!

            It is simple human nature to put off anything we don’t like.  Many people who faithfully change the oil in their car on a regular basis will avoid scheduling routine dental healthcare for themselves.  But maintenance of your very own mouth is one of the most important routines you can establish! It’s one of the basics of overall health: as we mature, it can become the deciding factor in maintaining health and even life itself.  How should you get started?      

         First, find a dentist whose philosophy makes a difference to you, based on such criteria as experience, education, overall expertise or approach to medicine.  Choose a practitioner who makes you comfortable about asking questions, who encourages you to understand the mechanics of your mouth.  Just like we invest time in selecting the car that will dependably take us where we need to go, we should give thought to our choice of who is providing our healthcare.         

        A thorough exam enables your dentist to make the best recommendations for you as an individual. After all, no two people are the same, and good dentistry takes that into account. There are several key elements to look for in an exam, starting with a detailed review of your personal medical history and lifestyle.  For example, many conditions such as diabetes or heart problems are strongly linked to your dental health.  Pregnancy can be profoundly affected by the condition of the mother’s mouth.  Your diet, allergies, medications, activity level and other lifestyle choices also influence your teeth and gums.           

       The dentist will make a visual evaluation of your mouth, too.  Besides making notes on any build-up of tartar and obvious cavities, the dentist will be looking for suspicious-looking areas that might be precancerous or need further tests.           

        Next, a full mouth set of x-rays, usually 18 different views, will be taken.  These show the teeth above and below the gumline, as well as a portion of the bone in the jaws.  This creates a picture of the extent of any cavities or other defects.  If the dentist sees any reason for concern, other x-rays may be in order.  What we are looking for, however, is the underlying cause of any problems you may have.           

        A thorough exam also includes impressions of both the upper and lower teeth and gums in order to see how the teeth work together.  Just stacking the resulting models together won’t tell the whole story, so the models are mounted on a tool called an articulator to demonstrate the true interaction of your jaws.  Measurements taken with a device called a face-bow, when paired with the models on the articulator, can accurately show just how your unique dental and cranial anatomy functions.  This is very important, for example, if you have frequent or chronic headaches.  Knowing how your teeth and jaws fit, and if there are any flaws or problems that need correction, can reveal key solutions to decades of discomfort!  Just imagine the bumpy ride you’d have if you had three wheels of one size on your car, and another one of a different size.  You’d change that off-size tire, wouldn’t you?           

       Intraoral photos taken during the exam will show you, as the owner of your mouth, just what the dentist sees and if there is cause for concern.  When all of the pieces of information are fitted together, a treatment plan is made, which is a roadmap of care created just for you.  Maybe routine maintenance care is all you will need; if problems need to be fixed, now you have a plan of how to fix them.  You can hit the road with confidence knowing that you are taking the best route to good health! © 2009 Tor Gotun                                                                                   

Tor Gotun, DDS, MAGD, Cand.Odont.    info@austinsmilecreations.com  512-329-5555     

Don’t skimp on your roof. Get a Quality Roof.

Preliminary estimates say that the June Hail storm cause over 18 million dollars in damages in North Austin.  Over 500,000 homes were affected.  Where you one of them?

Whether you know it or not, hail damage can creep up on you and eat away at your roof and electric bills.  So it is strongly advised to get a roofer and your adjuster out to look at your roof and assess the damage (preferably at the same time).  Once your insurance company agrees to pay for a new roof installation, you should get your roof replaced by a professional roofer as soon as possible.

A few things though that you should know about your roof.

Tear-off: The price of your roof replacement should include tearing off the old roof down to the decking and replacing rot-damaged deck areas and carrying off the debris.

Home insurance policies cover at least one layer of shingles. If you let your roofer skip the tear-off and your two-layer roof is damaged by hail, you wind up responsible for the expense of tearing off both of them.

Decking: Rotted roof decking should be replaced with decking of its same thickness. In new construction, builders are using seven-sixteenths inch OSB (oriented strand board: glue and wood shavings). Older construction usually has three-quarter inch solid lumber decking.

Tuttle Roofing sells Pabco Premier Shingles in four quality grades, starting with “basic:” 25-year limited warranty, 110 mph wind resistance, on up to “best:” lifetime warranty, 110 mph wind resistance. The heavier the better, the more years warranted the best.

“Good” grade has a 30-year warranty and “better” has a 40-year warranty. Price? You get what you pay for.

It is not wise to skimp on quality and performance of the main components protecting you and your most valuable assets from harsh conditions.

Roofing felt: Roofing felt comes in 15-, 30- and 43-pound weights. The 30-pound is better than 15 because it’s thicker and provides more of a vapor barrier. Felt should be lapped 19 inches for double coverage if the roof pitch is less than 3-12, meaning a 3-inch rise for every 12 horizontal inches.

Valleys and vents are prone to leaks from water and/or ice damage and products such as Ice and Water Shield create a membrane material that seals tightly around the nails to prevent seepage.

Staples vs. nails: Use galvanized or zinc-plated shingling nails of sufficient length to penetrate shingles, felt and decking at a rate of 2 pounds per square. The nails usually must be 1 1/4 inches or longer.

Staples eventually “back out,” but nails don’t. Good roofing nails have a wire welded to their shanks that prevents their turning and working free.

To get a higher rated Wind-Storm Compliance, Tuttle uses 6 nails per shingle instead of the usual 4.

Flashing: Sometimes, “drip-edge” — L-shaped galvanized or painted steel flashing — is used on jobs where drip-edge was used originally or where shake or wood shingle roofs or two-layer composition roofs are being replaced. The drip edge hides the deck edge. The felt should be nailed over the flashing, and vent-stack flashings should be replaced.

Closed valleys: In the past, the “open valley” was made by flashing the junction of two roof plains, shingling down almost to the valley bottom and cutting the merging shingles off diagonally so the flashing showed. Now Tuttle uses a 6 layer valley. It consists of overlapping the valley with felt, then Ice & Water Shield, felt, Aluminum flashing, Felt again, then the shingle.

Build a good relationship with your roofer, and make sure that they are not trying to give you a lower quality roof to fit into your allocated price.

You need to have an advocate!

You need to have an advocate!

Here’s a story and why you need allies in life and your business. When my father was in the hospital for a kidney transplant and died due to complications, I told my mother not to pay “any” bills till we were able to review them. My dad spent the last 21 days in a hospital, and was billed 500K. The hospital sent my mother a bill for 93K dollars. We can say we were in shock, since my father had health and supplemental insurance.

I spoke to one of my clients with Your Local City, Lynn and Harry Shank. They are with Texas Assurance Care, and they have been handling my mother’s assets and investments. The first thing they told me after I explained what was going on, was for her to send them the invoice and all paper work that the hospital received for payment from the insurance company.

They knew something was wrong, and reviewed how the invoice was keyed into the system and rekeyed into the hospital system. There is some method where accounts payable and accounts receivables are key. Is it for efficiency? Is it that each system doesn’t understand the nomenclature of the other? Or is it to cause confusion for the client?

Because of the hard work from Lynn and Harry, that bill of 93K went down to $5.50.

I’m not kidding in the least bit. Lynn and Harry always say, their clients are lifelong clients and that they are advocates to their clients.

My amazement and disgust of this type of insurance practice has be speechless.

Protect your self.

Call Lynn and Harry for your investment and retirement needs. They deal in Long Term Care and Annuities, so that your estate is at minimum risk and that you keep as much of your assets as possible. They have become good reliable friends and really have been there for my family at my greatest need.

Texas Assurance Care

Lynn and Harry Shank

512-343-5400

txassurancecare.com

Michael Hofmann

CTO Your Local City

“Out of This World”

 Johnson Space Center, Houston TXTexas can be deceptive. Take, for instance the city of Houston, TX. This city is a precise blend of what you’d expect:

bumper to bumper traffic, talls buildings, and professional sport teams. According to the students of KIPP Austin College

Prep, every child should experience the Johson Space Center. If you don’t you’re likely to end up watching the stars fall.

Visit the only place in the world where you can personally experience the thrill of launching into space like a real astronaut.

It’s not just a movie; it’s the thrill of personally feeling the launch into space — from the rocket boosters to the billowing exhaust.

In 1961, the Johnson Space Center was established and named after former President Lyndon B. Johnson. From the early Gemini,

Apollo, and Skylab projects totoday’s Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs, the Center continues to lead NASA’s

(National Aeronautics & Space Administration) efforts in human experience.

Families will not want to miss this new thrilling and entertaining show Treasure!, where the whole family can experience the mystery and adventure of real treasure hunters by embarking on their own interactive pursuit of fun that will include panning for gold; modern

treasure hunting and a chance to see half a million dollars worth of recovered artifacts once lost at sea. Visitors will find Treasure! available

now.

“INTELLIGENT FUN“ defines the way that groups describe their day at Space Center Houston. A day when they’ve touched a Moon rock,witnessed a shuttle launch, enjoyed a guided tour of NASA , seen real space-flown vehicles and explored the inner workings of the Pepsi

Martian Matrix…..all this and much, much more combined with a group discount that’s out of the world!

Dancing for Exercise Equals Less Stress

The same regular dance routines that will help you build muscle and prevent disease can also help you manage stress.  According to the Mayo clinic, regular dancing activities bump up the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins.  Although this function is often referred to as runner’s high, dancing can also produce this same feel good feeling.

Dancing is meditation in motion.  After a good dance exercise you may find that you’ve forgotten the day’s problems and irritations because you are concentrated only on your body’s movements and the music.  As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through the movement, music, and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything you do.

Dancing also improves your mood.  Regular exercise can increase self-confidence and lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety.  Going out to dance regularly can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command of your body and your life.  It has huge social benefits.  Most often the physical activity of dancing involves others and gives you a double dose of stress-relief with the combined benefits of exercise and fun with friends.

A dance studio is the perfect environment to be in at the end of the day.  Dancing just a couple of times a week to start can begin to increase your energy levels and allow you to be less tired throughout your day.  Local dance studios offer beginner’s classes almost everyday of the week.  Set aside time in your schedule and try to stick with the plan.  Commit to taking a once weekly dance class alone or with a partner for a month, and see how you feel.  Dancing your way to a better physical and emotional you can be one of the best new things you’ve ever tried!

Jim Stein enjoyed a twenty year career as a dancer with Boston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and Ballet Austin.  He is the Fitness director at the Dance Institute located on 6612 Sitio Del Rio in the Four Points area.

danceinstitute.com

Simplify Your Life for the Holidays

The holidays are fast approaching!  Are you ready for all the gifts, parties, guests and celebrations?  Start now, and with a little planning and organization, you can make 2008 the best holiday season yet!

 

• Plan to have everything done a couple days early.  This way you can relax with your family and friends instead of running around on the holiday itself.

 

• Declutter.  Now is a good time for the kids to donate some of their old toys, games, and clothes.  Add the holiday decorations you didn’t use last year.  Toss anything that’s broken or worn.  Remember, even at the holidays, that “less is more.”

 

• Right-size your commitments.  Ask family members:  If you could only go to three holiday events, what would they be?  Decide which celebrations are the most meaningful and fun, and which ones you could do without.  Only go to those events.  Give yourself downtime to simply enjoy the holidays, and save money and stress.

 

• Get online instead of in line.  Purchase stamps at usps.com.  You can also print labels and even have mail picked up from your home.  Shop online to avoid crowds, hassles and stress.  Order as much as possible from one site to save on shipping costs.

 

• Simplify gift-giving.  Consider giving cookies or other edible treats, tickets to an upcoming event, or gift certificates for a massage, balloon ride, or other special activity. 

 

• Break big jobs into mini-projects.  Start early and mix a batch of cookie dough each night and freeze to thaw as needed for parties and gifts.  Set up a gift wrap center with all your supplies in a box or bin and wrap a little each day.  Finish one step of the card-sending process at a time.  Sign cards, address envelopes, seal, and stamp during television commercial breaks or during any downtime.  Consider using an online service such as yourcardconnection.com.

 

• Keep it simple.  Purchase bakery cookies instead of baking.  Have a buffet style holiday dinner.  Make your party a pot-luck dinner or tree-decorating party.

 

• Plan ahead.  If you have guests coming, prepare the guest room and bathroom now.  Plan meals and have your shopping done before guests arrive, or prepare meals in advance and freeze.     

 

Remember, holidays are about LOVE and FAMILY.  Take time to enjoy and appreciate each other as the best gift of all!

Lori Thompson is a Professional Organizer offering all or space by space organizing of home, office, garage, and storage.  She also speaks on this and other organizing topics.  You can reach her at lori@quality-life-solutions.net or (512) 863-6558.

Organizing Children

Organizing children.  A phrase sure to strike terror in the best of parents!  But it is never too early to teach life-long organizational skills.  The key is to make it easy and fun.  Let your child help pick out storage products and décor.  Listen to music while working.  Talk and reminisce about the toys and “stuff” as you go through it all.  Working with your child to clean, organize, and maintain his space gives you an opportunity to spend quality time together and get to know each other better. 

 

As with any organizing project, begin with an idea of what is working, what is not working, and why you want to be more organized.  Hooks in the front hallway may be great for coats and backpacks.  The dirty clothes thrown in the bottom of the closet may not be so great.  The color-coordinated binder and folders may be too elaborate for a young child, but perfect for his older sister.  Parents might want their children organized so they can put an end to morning madness and scrambling for last minute supplies.  Children may want to hear less nagging from their parents, have more room for play, and take better care of their toys and supplies.  Have fun discussing and setting these goals together. 

 

Next, plan how the room will look and what spaces, or zones, you will create.  This depends on your child’s age and personality.  A preschool child needs a large play area, a table or desk for quiet play, a dressing area, and a bed.  School-age children need a space for games and puzzles, large play area, desk or table for study, dressing area and a bed.  Tweens and teen need space for their books and supplies and childhood mementos, a quiet study area, dressing area, and bed.  Is your daughter a shoe-hound?  You might need to plan for extra closet space.  Does your son cherish his action figures?  An extra shelf would be handy.  This is when you can talk, plan and share ideas.  This is also a great time to update the furnishings and décor.  When a child is proud of his room and feels it reflects his personality, he is more apt to keep it neat and clean.

 

The next steps are to sort and purge.  Most children have more toys than they will EVER play with.  Work with your child to decide which ones need a new home.  Broken or worn out toys and games with missing pieces can usually be thrown away.  Outgrown toys and other never-used ones can be donated, passed down, or sold at your next garage sale.  Toys, artwork, and gifts that are sentimental or part of a collection or set can be stored or artfully displayed.  Finally, the played-with toys can be sorted by category or use.  Be ruthless!  Find everything, in every corner, and decide its fate.  If children have a say in the decision making and if the storage system makes sense to them, they are more likely to continue with it.  

 

Every item you keep needs a home.  Hammocks are wonderful for stuffed animals and dolls.  Clear bins, baskets, and dishpans all work well for toys.  Trucks and cars, dolls and accessories, Legos, and action figures, should all be stored by groups for easy access.  Labels and/or pictures on the containers make clean-up easier and more fun.  Books can go on shelves, in magazine racks or in baskets.  You can store CD’s and DVD’s on shelves or in racks.   Be creative in your storage ideas!  Utilize space under the bed with short bins, boxes, or even an inflatable wading pool for toys.  Don’t forget vertical space.  Over-the-door hangers can hold small toys and supplies.

 

Go through the same process with clothing.  Hang an extra rod from the higher rod to instantly double storage space and make clothes easier for young children to reach.    Grouping by outfit works for some children.  Pants, shirts, skirts, separated into each category works better for others.  Hanging a rack for shoes can free the floor space.  Dresser drawers should each hold specific items:  sock drawer, shorts drawer, T-shirt drawer, etc.  The key, again, is to make it as sensible and easy for your child as possible.  Using a laundry basket on wheels or with a removable bag makes it more likely that dirty clothes will make it to the laundry room.

 

School age children and teens need a specific study space.  Make sure their desk has enough room for working, adequate storage for supplies, and is well-lit.  If a room is small, or is shared by siblings, you may want a space away from the bedroom for study.  A nook in a quiet corner works well.  Be sensitive to your child’s unique needs.  Some study better in silence.  Others need music or white noise to concentrate.

 

Keeping up with a well-organized system is important.  Encourage daily clean up and establish the habit of putting one thing away before taking out another.  Some parents follow a “one in-one out” guideline:  when a new toy is received or bought, give or throw away another.  Plan to go through a similar organizing process every year or so, updating, redecorating and purging.  Children grow and mature so fast that they will need this.  The best times are after Christmas or birthdays, when there is an influx of new toys.  

 

Finally, remember that every child is different and special.  The room may never look how you want it to, but encourage and reward their efforts.  Separate a messy room from the heart and personality of your child.  As long as your child is able to function and easily find what he needs, it needn’t be perfect. 

Lori Thompson is a Professional Organizer offering all or space by space organizing of home, office, garage, and storage.  Her years as an elementary teacher make her especially knowledgeable about children’s needs.  You can reach her at lori@quality-life-solutions.net or (512) 863-6558.

Vacations and Jewelry

Vacations and Jewelry

On more than one occasion I have been asked to do an appraisal for a purchase made while a client was on vacation. I have seen many different styles of jewelry and many different priced ranges purchased on a cruise or in a resort area. Some have been beautiful and well made pieces but the vast majority were misrepresented. The hardest part of my profession is telling someone that a piece that they have purchased, been given or inherited is not what they believed.
Many years ago, prior to the internet and the ever expanding global economy, it was possible to find truly good prices on many fine jewelry items including fine watches. But times have changed. Manufacturers now balance the pricing of the products they manufacture and you will find that one item in Europe for example costs the same at home. Moreover, the jewelry stores that have sprouted up in resort areas are there for a reason. They have a captive audience on holiday with money to burn and people are usually celebrating an event that they would like to commemorate with a beautiful piece of jewelry. The temptation is GREAT I know I have been there myself. I was actually offered the management position for several stores in Alaska that opened when the cruise ships arrived. I simply could not take the position. It not only required me to be away from my family for 6 months at a time but the pricing policies and types of merchandise I was required to carry I deemed below my standards.
Please remember one simple rule when purchasing ANY piece of Fine Jewelry. It is always a good idea to purchase from someone you can always get your hands on. This is not to say that if you find a modest piece that you like, it will remind you of your trip and it is something you will wear for a while and enjoy you shouldn’t purchase it. But be smart about a major purchase. The idea of spending over $300-$400 in another country from someone you do not know and will never see again should cause you to think twice.
Remember!!!! You should know your Jeweler as well as you do your doctor, lawyer and accountant.

Life Insurance: Perm or Term?

Many times I am asked which is the “best” type of life insurance to own, Permenant or Term. The stock answer is: The type that is in force when you need it.

Over the years, I have had to deliver several life settlement checks and none of the beneficiaries ever asked what type of insurance their loved one had, they only wanted to know ‘how much was it’ and ‘were there any other policies’.

The two types of Life Insurance are designed for specific needs. To determine which is best for you and your family, contact your insurance professional. Think of ‘Term Insurance’ as ‘renting a residence’. Generally your rental agreement is for a specific period of time, so is ‘Term Insurance’ (ie: 1 yr, 5 yr,10 yr, 20 yr, or 30 yr). Each time your lease is up, you must move on or renew your lease, usually at a higher price. The same is true with ‘Term Insurance’, at the end of the term, you must renew (usually at a higher price and only if you are medically qualified), move on (and do without) or convert to a permenant policy (ie: buy a home). Because it is only for a specific time period, term is much less expensive than permenant (like renting is less expensive than buying a home).

Buying permenant (cash value, whole life, universal life, etc.) Life Insurance is like buying your home, usually more expensive in the begining, but less expensive in the long run because you have the opportunity to build equity (cash value) much like in buying a home.

Too many times, I have seen young individuals think they have all the life coverage they need through their employer and don’t need to own any policies individually, then they change employers (for a variety of reasons) and don’t have the same type of benefit package with their new employer OR they become self employed and have NO benfits at all. Then they realize they still have young children at home depending on them for everything and too many times the household budget then does not allow for life insurance. This is when the Permenant Life Insurance would be most valuable because the Cash Value (equity) would allow them to use the equity to do many things. Such as pay the life insurance premium either during periods between jobs or at the start of a business, provide a non-qualifying loan to help start a business, pay the monthly bills until the business gets going, and many other things.

Once again, to determine which type is best for you: TERM or PERM, consult your Insurance Professional. If you do not have an Insurance Professional you currently work with, feel free to contact me at 512-251-5782.

Charles Eiben
Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF)
Farmers Insurance Group of Companies
512-251-5782

Video Scrapbook

This Video Scrapbook May Be the Most Important Thing You Ever Do For Yourself

We don’t wish to add to the ever-growing list of crises but there is an event in everyone’s life that is a “GOTCHA!”  It is the moment that a loved one passes on and all of a sudden you realize that you will never see them alive again. 

Now, that may sound rather obvious but it always happens.  As you finally have a few moments to reflect on the loss of your mom or dad or grandma, a freight-train like wave hits you that they are gone and you have nothing left but some stuff and fading memories.  That fact won’t change but, you can make that “GOTCHA!” a lot less hurtful.  We call it a Legacy Video Scrapbook.  And, yes it is a video recording of your loved one (ahead of their passing) but with several differences.

OK…so what’s the big deal?  Why make a video scrapbook, indeed. Stick a camera in someone’s face and play “60 Minutes”. Grill them on what was this and that like and call it a video scrapbook. Grandma is being a pill about making a video anyway. After all…I can take my time and paste some wonderful memorabilia into a scrapbook and end up with a nice keepsake. Who needs the grief?

Here is a true story… (It isn’t too unusual whenever you have a camera in your hand and you’re eyeing a potential subject or even when you are “threatening” to make a video of someone.)

We approached “mom” (86+ years old) with the idea of making a video scrapbook.  First reactions? No thanks…I have nothing to say…who’d want to watch me anyway…I don’t want to go through the hassle…the list continued. It was up to us to explain the reason of why make a video scrapbook to her.

Not surprising at all. In fact, one of the first things an elderly person will think when you start talking to them about shooting a video scrapbook is that YOU think they are going to die soon and so you want to get them on video before it is too late! They usually don’t even suspect that you’d just like to hear what they have to say!

Here’s one of the best ways to make your intended star understand this whole process.  You simply say…”Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if you were able to see a film of your great-great-grandfather or grandmother? Think of the connection you could make…the understanding of what it was like to live back then…what they were really like. We’d like your grandchildren to have that opportunity.”

If that doesn’t work…explain that this is a kind of insurance policy that will protect you from that sick feeling you expect at their passing.  It will give you a special heirloom to hang on to.

That is pretty powerful and will be very hard for anyone to resist.

And this is one of the many amazing benefits of your creating a video keepsake of a loved one - one of the many scrapbook tools you’ll find here. Let’s sum it up with a quote from our E-book.

We would love to be able to re-capture the personas of those that we have lost—to hear them speak, to hear the stories that we remember as children, tap into their genealogical history once again, hear them philosophize, receive the benefit of their wisdom in a thought provoking way. We cannot recall many pertinent facts, for instance, of our grandparents’ histories, our fathers’ early years as children, and the circumstances of the transporting of our respective ancestors to the part of the country in which our fathers grew up. We have some recall of the sounds of their voices but over time, it is more and more difficult to remember those sounds.

Why make a video scrapbook? We hope all this explains why we believe this is so important. To be able to preserve some of the personality, the essence of a loved one so generations decades from now can experience them is huge!

Watches and letters are nice to touch and feel but to experience the subtle hand gestures and hear the voice inflections from great-great grandma or grandpa is utterly compelling.

The process isn’t brain surgery and follows right along with what it takes to compile a paper scrapbook.  So, don’t have a “GOTCHA!” moment – a little time spent right now will fix all that.  We have made them for our remaining parents.  Unfortunately, we began this process after our fathers passed on so we missed our chance there…we’ll always regret it…don’t you.

Don’t think you have the time or talent.  Nonsense.  Do as elaborate or as simple a video scrapbook as you wish but just do it.  Don’t make excuses.  You’ll actually find that what we tell you is a real positive for everyone involved.  It is fun and actually inspiring.

Find out everything you need to create this special heirloom.  Please go to our site at http://www.make-a-video-scrapbook.com.  You can also get a free video of some actual video scrapbook samples.  But, don’t put it off until it is too late - it may be the most important thing you ever do for yourself!

Gene Vasconi – video/multimedia producer
www.commartsmultimedia.com
888-742-0074
(512) 868-0548
Pamela Horton, Ph.D. – clinical psychologist