Recently, I saw a small film with my wife Dorothy called 180 Degrees South.

It’s about a young man’s adventure to Patagonia, and involves a sailboat expedition, surfing, climbing and some very interesting advice from Patogonia clothing company founder Yvon Chuinard. There is a mild environmental undertone and it’s quite uplifting to learn about the open space movement in South America.

I especially liked these phrases which came from Chuinard, the elder mountain man himself:

1) “The term adventure is overused. For me, adventure starts when everthing is going wrong.”

2) “The greatest fear is fear of the unknown. If you’ve done much exploring, you realize that these are important guiding thoughts.”

I thought the movie was great. Dorothy couldn’t have disliked it more, and gave up on it halfway through.

This really got me to thinking about my particular tastes, and how they aren’t exactly broad. Everyone has ridden a bike at some point, but not everyone is a hardcore cycling enthusiast, as I am. Another love of mine is rock climbing, another activity with a low relative number of participants.

It a question I confront often when composing this blog, i.e. can I write about something that’s beloved by me and still make it readable by others? Will anyone care?

I’m not having an existential blog-writing crisis or anything. It’s just something I think about, in the spirit of writing about things I care about, and trying to be genuine here on my blog.

I suppose every topic has an entry point of some kind. For example, I’m just realizing I was able to write about a movie I like that not many other people would, though it was through the lens of something more relatable, like whether one’s unique tastes translate to others.

What do you love that few other people do? I’m not just talking about movies, either. Foods, activities, anything…I’d love to hear them.

Originally published as 180 Degrees South & Niches

It was about why drinking tap water is preferable as far as being more “green”, and explained a bit about the production process of bottled H2O.

Did you know that it takes 26 bottles of water to produce the plastic container for a one-liter bottle of water, and that doing so pollutes 25 liters of groundwater?

Those are amazing numbers. Who knew?

Of course, one must be lucky enough to have a nice filtration system or good local water (or both) in order to drink tap. (You may be aware I spent some years in Los Angeles, and it certainly wasn’t ideal for drinking down there.)

With a dental practice, we obviously need the most perfect and pristine water available, and we’ve used the Alhambra water delivery company for many years. While their delivery truck is decidedly “non-green”, we’ve added an on-site water filtration system the past two years, which has significantly reduced the need for deliveries.

In any case, the article is well worth the read – go check it out and let me know what you think.

Originally published as How Bottled Water Is Made

No less than the White House has thrown their weight behind this idea, and it’s something so simple, it seems we should’ve had it for the past decade, at the very least.

The Button basically allows you to monitor and download your energy consumption levels, giving you the ability to keep a closer watch on your usage.

One study showed that subjects who were given access to their data reduced their usage by 8.7% just by tracking it. At scale, this could mean an annual savings of $32 billon per year on the country’s annual $369 billion power bill.

Those are some monster numbers!

If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I’m all for an initiative like this one, so I hope the government is successful in getting this adopted nationwide.

Would you keep closer tabs on your energy usage, given the ability to check it at any time?

Originally published as Going Green Button Saves Energy & Money

We really want to make a big push on this, so please check out the Deal on our Facebook Page.

One thing about this I really want to stress is that you don’t need an appointment to participate. Just stop in for two seconds and execute your check-in.

Not only that, but you don’t need to be a patient. Feel free to stop in, to pass this to friends/family/co-workers, or if you are a patient, drop by with a friend.

This is a great cause and we want to give as much as we can. Thanks so much for your help and support!

Originally published as Alzheimer’s Check-ins Continue

Specifically, they noted the importance of taking care of one’s mouth beyond the obvious points of gum disease, tooth decay, and aesthetics.

New research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in November found that people who had their teeth cleaned by a dentist or hygienist had a 24% lower risk of heart attack and 13% lower risk of stroke.

I’ve talked about this before, and the reason is that the research keeps providing further support for it. 24% is a huge number and worth paying attention to!

If you’ve been lax in your dental visits the past couple years, please make the effort to go in 2012.

Originally published as Dental Care as New Year’s Resolution

Beginning today, if you check-in on your mobile smartphone with the Facebook App (we can show you how), we’re donating two dollars to the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California.

If you don’t have an appointment and happen to be in the area, please drop by and check-in, anyway – we want to give as much as we can.

This is a cause that’s very special to us, and we appreciate your participation. Hope to see you soon.

You can connect with the Association on Facebook right here.

Originally published as Facebook Holiday Check-Ins

It’s not entirely certain what we’ll be able to do there that can’t be found on Twitter and (especially) Facebook, but if you happen to be using it, let me know, and we’ll be sure to put you in a circle.

There look to be some ties into Google Maps and Offers in the works, so perhaps good things will come of this new presence.

Originally published as Now on Google+

According to one recent report, cancers of the mouth and throat are on the decline among the well-educated.

In the spirit of remaining educated on the topic, here are nine things to look for that may indicate you should come into the office and get checked out for such things.

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth.

* Development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth.

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth.

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck.

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within 2 weeks.

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat.

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue.

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or change in voice.

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together.

Other signs could be persistent ear pains and dramatic weight loss. Both of those can be indicators of a number of other things, as well, so I would hesitate to include them on any primary list.

Now, if we can get the uneducated to absorb this same information and avoid oral cancer, I will be even happier about the report linked above.

Originally published as 9 Possible Signs of Oral Cancer

Will it make a difference for the underserved in our region? The investment is large in the short run and the long term benefits may be excellent, as studies have shown that there is a significant impact in communities where water is fluoridated.

If you’re not aware of the issue, the fluoride debates are classic – even some dental health care providers oppose it. The big argument against it: mass medication.

That said, is fluoride a medicine? Is calcium? Salt? What about potassium? Vitamins in general?

Fluoride is an element on the periodic table, and drinking water in some regions has naturally high fluoride ion concentrations. In fact, some are naturally higher than the water company will mix in San Jose.

On the other side of the argument, fluoride can indeed cause improper dental development, resulting in a blotchy spotting and/or pitting of enamel. The technical term for this is fluorosis.

However, water companies provide fluoride at incredibly low concentrations – the levels are set so low that fluorosis could not be a possibility, at least due to water consumption.

Communities in the US have been fluoridating water since the 1940s, and over the past 60+ years, none of these communities show any significant change in cancer/disease rates (not including dental caries) as compared to the national average. Yet, all of these communities do show a significant decrease in dental decay as compared to the national average.

There are many studies which show effectiveness and safety for fluoride programs. Here is a start.

I’d love to hear your opinions of this – please comment or let me know what you think on Facebook.

Originally published as Santa Clara Country Puts Fluoride in Water

Let me spell that out quite literally: eighty percent!!

Just like in humans, oral disease and infection can lead to serious health conditions such as heart, kidney or liver disease.

The number one sign that your dog might have a problem with their oral hygiene is bad breath.

Make sure to check your dog’s breath at least once per week. It’s never going to smell minty fresh, of course, but anything particularly offensive could be problematic.

This page on the ASPCA website is a great resource, and provides some additional information and tips on making sure your dog has a healthy mouth.

Originally published as One Reason to Check Your Dog’s Teeth