Inner Nature: Parasitic control of host behavior
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
We act, we think, rationally. But our thoughts are subject to manipulation: by new ideas, new experiences, psychoactive drugs, and … parasites.
Parasites are organisms that take up residence in a host, and then proceed to use the host’s energy to replicate themselves and spread. If the host is killed as part of the process, then the parasite must find some...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: As we close the book on 2020
By Gail Suplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Here we are, nearing the end of the year but not just any year. This is a year that will truly be memorialized in the history books. It’s certainly like no other I’ve ever seen in my six plus decades of living.
It’s particularly notable for a young person, like my thirteen year old grandson, to be living through and being very much aware of and affected...
Inner Nature: Vaccine Formulations
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
In early October, I was listening to Weekend Edition on National Public Radio when an interview with the Executive Director of Shark Allies, Stefanie Brendl, came on the air [1]. Her concern was urgent: a world-wide coronavirus vaccine that could contain the ingredient squalene, isolated from from shark livers, could lead to over a half-million sharks being...
You may not want to hear it, but Public Health Professionals are keeping us safe
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
We are in complicated and trying times to be sure. This month I would like to spend a few moments thanking another group of unsung heroes in our current crisis. Public health professionals have gotten ignored or “thrown under the bus” at times during this pandemic.
I thought it prudent to share all of things we take for granted today...
Don’t Retire, Refire: Waiting to exhale
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
November is the month to celebrate Thanksgiving. I usually focus on the holiday but this year, there’s an added perspective to ruminate on.
Reaching for thanks and gratitude in the midst of this stormy year has been challenging and at times, arduous.
Weariness has come over many of us as we navigate through COVID-19, an unusual number of devastating...
How dental offices are working to keep you safe
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
It’s been a complicated year for everyone. In the dental world we have faced full business shutdowns, treating only emergency patients while scrambling for overpriced and undelivered PPE and taking care of our patients during a time of overall uncertainty. Dentists and dental employees alike were weighing the pros and cons of returning...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: A season of change
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
As the light of the day gets shorter and the air brings a chill, we think of the change in the season, something we anticipate, prepare for and expect, without fail.
However, we are entering an extraordinarily different kind of season, which will wrap up an extraordinarily different year. It’s the season of change.
In this change, I am not talking about...
Be Smart – don’t waste your dental insurance
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
In this era of uncertainty everyone needs to be careful about so many things. It’s always true that regular dental visits save money in the long run. If you are fortunate enough to have dental benefits it’s imperative to use them to their fullest. Did you know your dental benefits reset every year? It’s true. If your dental insurance...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: Entering the last quarter of a crazy year!
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
I think we can all agree that it has been a strange and unusual year and dawn of a new decade.
The question on our minds is, are all these extreme events the birth of good change or the continuation of more unsettledness of what’s to come?
In many ways the year has flown, yet at the same time, I describe the months as moving in slow motion.
Whether...
A new spin on an old idea can give you a better smile, quick
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
A more beautiful smile can be yours today, yes really.
Sometimes we need to revisit the past to find something new. How about a nicer whiter smile today. Years ago people got their teeth “bonded”. It was the new tooth colored materials that allowed dentists to hand sculpt a better looking tooth in just one visit. Bonding went by...
