Best way to fight COVID-19? Don’t be stupid
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
When contemplating my column for this month, I looked over the columns of years past and thought about how different things are now. As I write this I am sitting in my office with the sound of the newly installed localized negative pressure units humming away as my hygienist is working with a patient. It sounds more like I am in a vacuum...
Inner Nature: Sodium and Potassium — The Yin and the Yang
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
In previous articles, I have examined the various roles that oxygen and iron play in living organisms. These elements are linked in an energy-cycling relationship – iron moves oxygen and electrons around the body, as well as around the inside of the cell itself to harvest energy from food [1]. In this article, I will examine another dynamic relationship: that...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: Compassion in an unsettled world
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
My messages in the last few months have taken me in directions that have stirred up many emotions, changing, often times, moment by moment.
I can assure you that my message here is not a diatribe that will only bring sadness and discontent to you, my Readers. Instead, my hope is that I can, in some way, give you a different interpretation of what you’re...
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
As we dip our toes into the “new normal” of the world of the COVID-19 pandemic we have a lot to consider. Every single person has had their lives and or livelihoods affected in some way. As a dentist and what some would call a “quasi-essential” healthcare provider we have a very complicated web of concerns to address. I thought...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: Quarantine, a taste of retirement
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
It has been 11 weeks since most of us have been under Pennsylvania’s Stay Home ordinance.
How have you been spending your time?
Many of my clients, who are not yet retired and, quite frankly, fearful of how it will be when they stop working, are getting a taste of what retirement will look like.
The first, and most important, challenge we were faced...
Inner Nature: Chocolate — food or poison?
By Vidja Rajan, Columnist, The Times
Easter, with its egg hunts and chocolate eggs, is past. With the current school closures and social distancing, the kids are bouncing off the walls already, and don’t need any further stimulation. It’s time to get rid of the chocolate. But the reliable excess food disposal unit, aka Man’s Best Friend, is forbidden from gormandizing Godivas.
Why so?
In...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: Pivoting to cope with changing times
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
No matter what age we are, there comes a time in our lives, or many times in our lives, when we must take stock of where we’ve been, where we are now and where we want to go.
We currently have the gift of time to ponder such introspection.
It is essential to take stock of our lives and ask those questions in order to assess and reevaluate if we’re...
COVID-19 will change a lot for your dental/medical providers
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
I don’t have to tell anyone that the world we knew just a few short weeks ago has been forever altered thanks to a tiny viral invader. What’s important to know is that many changes need to be made as a result of how we as a country handled this.
Now – before anyone looks for me with pitchforks and torches, I am not on a political...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: What a difference a month makes
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
My last article was about “going into the desert”, figuratively speaking, to realign myself and focus on guarding and protecting from the distractions that were and still are affecting who I truly am, the “Real Me”. That meant disconnecting myself from what was making my heart heavy. It meant to still my mind and to reconnect with myself and my...
A common sense guide to prevention of COVID-19 — and a look at the likely impact
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
Today I sent a communication to my patients, explaining what should be, for most, common sense. I advised my patients that if they have a cough, a fever, respiratory symptoms or shortness of breath that they should reschedule their dental appointment.
Why? All I needed to do was to take a look around, in my small waiting area were two elderly...
