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Pop Quiz: Establishing a solid oral care foundation

Will your child have a future Filled with healthy smiles? Teeth add to your smile, allow you to enjoy delicious foods, and rip apart that plastic wrap off your new DVD. However, as a parent, you might be wondering whether you’re setting up proper oral hygiene habits for your child, or if the little tike…
To smile or not to smile

Dr. Karen Teston and other local experts on oral hygiene and your overall health Some folks are afraid of pain. Some know they haven’t done a good job of taking care of their teeth, and don’t want to be lectured. Still others lack cash. Whatever the reason, many avoid the dentist until an emergency arises.…
Community outreach programs make check-ups more available

Free dental exams, preventative tooth care, and more Several outreach programs in Polk County recently offered free dental exams and other tooth services to spread awareness about the need for dental health care. At the Haines City Dental Clinic, the Florida Department of Health in Polk County (FDOH-Polk) offered free comprehensive dental exams to children…

Healthy cook: Save your summer diet with canned salmon

If you had to pick up a precooked, trimmed and ready-to-serve protein at the supermarket, you’d expect to pay a premium for the convenience. After all, someone else is doing the prep work, so you should be paying more. However, it’s nice to know that the opposite can also be true. With canned salmon…
Medical advice: Essential but simple ways to help loved ones with Aphasia

We tend to take for granted our ability to communicate, how effortlessly our words flow out of our mouths. However, when our speech becomes impaired, we profoundly feel the impact. June is National Aphasia Awareness Month. Yet, most people have never heard about this type of communication disorder. Aphasia is a language impairment that…
Signs & Symptoms: Practicing safety & preventing the little known CMV Virus

The Varicella-Zoster Virus causes chicken pox and the painful rash, shingles. The Epstein-Barr Virus is associated with mononucleosis, an infection known as the kissing disease. Then there’s CMV, the lesser-known cytomegalovirus, which joins them as a herpes viruses. Most people who catch CMV don’t know they have anything, at least nothing more than a…