Time, time, time.  Why is it we never seem to have enough?? So how do you find the time for all of this whole foods stuff??  Some of Dr. J’s tricks:

• Always make green smoothies. I always do my laundry, always brush my teeth (have to set the example!), and now I always make green smoothies.  No debate!!  Have all the stuff ready and in the fridge.  If it’s there, you’ll use it.  I found a used fridge in online classifieds for $75 and it looks brand new!  It’s my green smoothie garage fridge.  I can always see when I’m low on green smoothie makin’s.
• Get your family on board. I’m not ashamed to tell you I paid my kids to drink the first 30 smoothies!  $1 per day.  After that, they’re asking me for it- really!
• Chop veggies at night after the kids are in bed. My crockpot is my friend – I even have two of them!  On work days I make a crockpot meal the night before.  Get the kids to bed and start to chop.  It’s actually relaxing.   Keep it refrigerated until the morning, and plug it in as you leave.  It makes it a lot easier to make good choices after a long tiring day at work if it’s already cooking on my counter when I get home.
• Two week menus. I know this sounds a little obsessive, but that’s how life has to be at our house!  I plan menus for two weeks, so I always know what’s for dinner, and I always have everything on hand.  I post it on the fridge along with the recipes, so my family can help out when I’m pressed for time.
• Don’t do too much at once. I went a little crazy at first and my family stopped eating anything, and complained about everything.  I had to choose what steps I wanted to focus on and let the others go for awhile.  I focused on green smoothies – now an every morning habit,  salads – some incredible yummy ones in green smoothie girl’s manual (and her dressings make all the difference in getting everyone to like them), and breakfast- prepped the night before too.
• Shop once a week. I hate to shop.  Really.  But I get star struck with all the wonderful, colorful produce and find myself drawn to it more often than I wanted!  This one has been hard with all the produce, but I try to plan so I’m not running to the store every day.  That costs time and money.

More to come… Today I made some yummy Asian noodle stir fry for lunch and a delicious hearty Veggie Chili for dinner.  I’ll share the recipes soon.  I’d love to hear your time saving tricks.

If you haven’t already heard, here’s some fun news.  Total Care Dental was selected for a Green Smoothie Girl Makeover.  It’s our journey to better health through Whole Foods and Green Smoothies.  And it is a journey!!  We have been filmed learning how to make some of these lifestyle changes.  It’s a 8 week ride, and we are about 2 weeks into it.  We wanted to share what we are learning with all of you, and hope you will share back.

The Good, the Bad and the UGLY…

Let’s get the UGLY out of the way at the beginning. There has been a gas epidemic at the office, and it’s not laughing gas…  Apparently all of our systems are getting used to roughage!  Hopefully this phase passes quickly (pun intended!)

On to the Good.  We’ve been making green smoothies at the office every day.  I think some of us are getting addicted, and at times it’s scary!   Some people get the shakes waiting for their hit of green in the morning, and the smoothies are a very hot commodity.  If you aren’t in the break room when it’s made, too bad.  By Thursday, we’re running out of produce, so anything that’s left in the fridge get’s thrown in.  You drink those smoothies at your own risk.  We’ve had warts fall off (Dr. J), running records broken (Jilene), push up contests at work (check out our Facebook for the video), and energy like never before.  I told them they were like a bunch of ping pong balls in a tiny room – bouncing all over the place.  You can’t help but get hit by it sometimes!

And last, and very least is the Bad.  Some are breaking out, most of us are feeling a little bloated, and two of us (Julie and Dr. J) are gaining weight.  That’s not on the plan!!  We’re hitting the water, picking up the exercise, and considering doing the green smoothie cleanse.

As you all know, we are busy working parents.  This has been a little overwhelming to implement, but we’re figuring it out.  This has been the quick update, but look for other posts with ideas on how to make this a Lifestyle change for your family – because we’ve decided that’s what it’s going to be for the Total Care Dental team.

I had a great question today from a really health conscious patient. She asked how I feel about silver fillings and whether I take them out or not. Here’s the truth – I do take them out. But not because they will cure your MS, or because you will feel better when they are gone. (Those things might happen, but I don’t promise or even suggest they might.) I take them out because very simply, they destroy your teeth.

It’s physics 101 – metal expands and contracts with heat and cold. So, you eat some hot soup and chase it with a drink of ice water. Hot, cold, hot, cold. Expand, contract, expand, contract. Your tooth does not expand and contract the same way. What does this all lead to? Cracked teeth. Yep, look at the tooth surrounding any silver filling you might have. You will see cracks all over the place. If the filling is large enough, it will crack off a chunk of tooth (think iceberg). And if the cracks get big enough, a gap forms between the tooth and the filling(think Grand Canyon), bacteria crawl in = cavity . And the cavity is under the filling, where you can’t clean it. This is a recipe for toothaches.

Enough said? So, will it make you feel better if you get your silver fillings out? I don’t know. Will it help your teeth be stronger and last longer? No question. Thanks for bringing this up today Cindy!

Would anyone like a FREE Ipad? Here’s how you can get one. Look us up on Facebook under Total Care Dental, and like our page. When you do that, you’re automatically entered into the competition. Then if you put our contest on your wall and tell your friends to like us, you’ll get another 5 entries in the contest. That makes 6 entries per person. We’re giving it away when we get 250 likes, and since we’re almost there, we just might give another away… Keep watching us, and tell all your friends to like it if they could use a free Ipad too!

What is a weekend without some homework? My daughter Meg and I put together a book report featuring the author of our national anthem Francis Scott Key. Her project- an oral report along with a sculpture.
At a young age Francis Scott Key had the opportunity to meet George Washington. This meeting left such an impression on young Francis that he told his sister that one day he would do something great for his country. During the war of 1812 Francis had gone to rescue a dear friend that had been taken captive by the British. Aboard a British warship he witnessed the bombing of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. The British rained bombs and rockets down on the fort for some 24 hours. As the morning fog lifted Francis saw the American flag still waving over the fort and received his inspiration to write the words to the Star Spangle banner.
Dr. Babcock where are you going with this-
At a young age Francis meet George Washington. Most people are familiar with the fact that our first president wore dentures. Most people incorrectly think those dentures were made of wood. Who knows what George’s teeth were really made of?
**The first correct answer wins a $10 gift certificate for lunch on us!

The Five Myths about Teeth Whitening:

1. Those “laser whitening” systems are pricey, but worth it… You’ll be glad to know this isn’t true. The tray-whitening you do at home is just as effective (and maybe longer lasting.)
2. No pain, no gain goes for teeth whitening too… Whitening can cause sensitivity, but you can put fluoride gel in your whitening trays to combat the “ouch”. (Ask the dentist about the gel.)
3. If I drink lots of coffee or colas whitening won’t do any good… It’s true that brown drinks will darken your pearly whites, but whitening will help. Just stick with it!
4. If you bleach your teeth once, it will stay that way forever… Sorry, this one isn’t true either. You do have to do maintenance whitening – but only about once every 6 months.
5. Grocery store whiteners don’t work… Well, one brand does work. Crest Whitestrips are actually pretty good whiteners, but they only cover the front six teeth. If you can see more teeth than that when you smile, see the dentist for custom trays. Happy Whitening!! (michelle@totalcaredental.com for questions)