Why you shouldn’t use Yelp! to search for a Dentist

Most of us have, at one time or another, used Yelp! or some other social media review site to research a place of business, such as a restaurant. Using a review site to find a great restaurant may be ideal. If it turns out the reviewers were a bunch of compulsive liars, worse case scenerio is you end up hugging the toilet for a few hours.

On the other hand, if you’re searching for something as important as a doctor or a dentist, you might want to think twice before trusting Joe Schmo’s review. Call me crazy, but when it comes to choosing a health professional who will be injecting my mouth with lidocaine and drilling for oil, I want to know more about the business than whether the receptionist was friendly.

Continue reading this article to find out what info you should be looking for when searching for a dentist.

Tea Makes Everything Better

My throat is sore and swollen and my usual jonesing for a soda is no where in sight. The only drink I’m craving right now is hot tea. Black tea in the morning, Green tea in the afternoon and Chamomile before bed. And now that I’m stuck at home not wanting to infect anybody with my cold, I have plenty of time to peruse a cool new website I recently discovered, California Tea House. The site is not only visually pleasing but they have tons of information on almost any tea topic you can think of. In my ill-state I  went straight to the “Tea Health” section, but you naturopathic buffs may also want to check out the “RemeTeas” section where they walk you through using a tea bag to treat cuts and bruises. I kid you not, check it out for yourself.

Ok, enough blogging.  My throat is screaming for it’s green tea…

Are Silver Amalgam Fillings Hazardous to Your Health?

There’s quite the controversy over whether silver fillings should be replaced due to their mercury content. Here’s what I’ve discovered.

My new life

I’m on my way to being where, professionally, I want to be in life. By turning down full-time health professional jobs, I left myself open for new opportunities, against my  parents wishes of course. And as is the norm with me, the opportunities came when I was ready for them. “What opportunities”, you ask? I’m working as a photographer (in training) in a studio, but we do a lot of on location, so I get to laugh and spend the day outside taking pictures and getting paid for it. Awesome. I’m also working for this start-up company called Doctorbase.org. My job is to write dental articles that don’t make you want to fall asleep. Turns out I’m actually good at it.  Who knew I had this talent? This sort of sassy web-writer in me?? And lastly I’m working for an old boss at a bio-tech company, part-time, to make some additional cash and mix it up a little. Life is wonderful, and once again I’ve proven to myself that if you want something badly enough, you can have it.

Moms and Step-moms: Can’t we all just get along?

One of the most challenging relationships is between a mom and step-mom. The dynamic, the emotions and thoughts involved with the situation can be extremely volatile. Let’s see if we can’t curb that craziness a little.

Heal yourself

You reach out in search of comfort. You look to him, wanting his arms to wrap you in safety, but they’re unable to reach you. You listen for his words to ease the pain, but he’s unable to speak. You’re alone. Alone with your emotions, alone with your thoughts, alone with your sorrow.

Take comfort in yourself. Wrap your arms around you. Hold yourself. Cry to yourself. Tell yourself all the comforting words you long to hear. And then heal yourself.

Activities for stuck-in-the-rut couples

Are you and your special someone stuck in a rut? Do you liken your life to living in a nursing home that’s in desperate need of an events coordinator? Dinner, movie, bed. Repeat? If so, here are some activites that you and your bored-o-matic mate can do together. It just might remind you that there’s more to life than ordering pizza, watching ‘Jon and Kate plus 8′ (puke) and heading to bed.

Just like in the movies

Today I had lunch with a good friend. She asked, “how’s everything with you and Mario?”, and I got all smiley and misty eyed. I answered with the only possible answer, “Great! Everything is really really great between us”. And then I thought about it, and I thought about all the crap going on in the background of our lives. Well, his life, but therefore ‘our’ lives. And it reminded me of a scene from a movie, where everything is in slow motion and there’s some sort of calm music playing but some massive destruction is going on in the background. Things are blowing up, fire’s everywhere, explosions causing debris to fill the air, and in the foreground are the hero and heroine, holding hands walking away from it, serene and unscathed. Immune to the devastation going on around them. That’s how I see us right now. Right out of a movie.

Animals helping our relationships

There’s no denying that furry friends can improve your quality of life. Multiple studies have been conducted proving that animals can lower blood pressure and stress levels while increasing your immune system. So how can this help you in your relationship? Read on to find out.

5 basics of communication

A relationship without effective communication is like a pile of dog poop. Given enough time, it will start to stink of assumptions and misunderstandings and will eventually deteriorate into nothing.  Here are some basics to remember when communicating with your loved one.