Living Life Ten Minutes At A Time

                                    Living Life Ten Minutes At A Time

                                                      F.Spiva Jr. CDT MDT CD

                                                            The Denture Pro.

 

    Every ten minutes someone is born, someone dies, and someone has a new reality. That reality happens because they don't remember the previous ten minutes, at least those with special health issues don't remember.

    The most common reason a person begins a new reality every ten minutes, is due to the disease called Alzheimer's. As that terrible memory robbing disease progresses, the person affected by it reaches a point in time when they live life ten minutes at a time. During that short ten minute life span they have all the same feelings they had when life was hours, day's, months and years at a time. They enjoy discussing everyday happenings about family, friends and general events. They enjoy discussing their reality, and their interests, concerns and opinions are as valid as any time in their past, and that is their reality.

    If you have a special loved one, family member or friend who is living life ten minutes at a time, are you helping them live that ten minutes to the fullest? All to often family and friends develop an indifferent attitude towards the person with Alzheimer's. They  to often see the person as mentally damaged to the point that they don't deserve having their ten minutes of reality taken seriously. They will often just isolate them from conversations and ignore them at family or group gatherings.

    Do you have a loved one, family member or friend you have grown to ignore due to their Alzheimer's? Do you dismiss their desire to be part of a conversation or have an ability to express an opinion? Have you limited your contact with them? Have you actually stopped seeing them at all? Do you not realize that by limiting your contact with them your actually assisting the Alzheimer disease, helping it to advance more quickly? 

    While there is no known cure for Alzheimer's, stimulating the brain helps slow it's progress. You can be the stimulation that keeps the disease at bay for an additional  week, a month or possibly a year. "Or"..you can be indifferent and ignore the person and possibly assist the quicker onset of the memory loss.

    When you get frustrated over answering the same question more than once in ten minutes, remember, it's a different time span to them , I suspect you get frustrated at hearing the same story more than once, and I suspect that you get frustrated at hearing an opinion that doesn't quite make sense (even though you have no doubt had some of your own opinions become suspect at times). Let me ask you this, how would they treat you were the circumstances reversed? Would they make your ten minutes of reality special and a quality experience?

    Now go and live your life, enjoy every Ten Minutes you are privileged to live it disease free.....and if you find you can spare ten minutes to make someone else's ten minutes special, I hope you will, it can be a life time experience for them. Don't suddenly find yourself wishing you had taken that short ten minutes to be with that person regardless of their inability to recall you were their...Don't suddenly find yourself reading their obituary and unable to recall your last visit with them.

    How many "Ten Minutes" did they give you in their life time? How many "Ten Minutes" did they spend listening to your troubles? How many "Ten Minutes" did they sit by your bed side when you had health issues? How many "Ten Minutes" did they spend with you because YOU was simply important to them?

    The short time it took you to read this could be a Life Time experience for someone who needs your love and caring, can you spare Ten Minutes?

Failure To Launch As A Christian

Failure To Launch As A Christian

 

    Failing to Launch as a Christian means, a person who has accepted the Lord as their savior, and feels the need to make that commitment known to every one they meet, in a manner that distracts from how a Christian should project. They get so caught up in their self sanctity they fail to Launch as a true Christian by following God's instructions regarding witnessing and presenting themselves as an example that entices others to want to be a Christian.

 

    Instead of Launching into being an example and witnessing in a manner that glorify's the savior and presents his edicts as a wonderful way to live ones life with purpose and responsibility, they "Launch" into, as I said, self sanctity, which in no way represents the lifestyle that makes others eager to become a Christian. Instead, their self sanctity presents a picture of someone who is engulfed in a life style that leaves no opening or place for the exchange of everyday ideas, conversation about events that are not pre-qualified as having a religious context, or just being an ordinary person with opinions, desires and aspirations based on our God given right to think, feel and make choices as everyday human beings.

 

    How many times have you talked to, or corresponded with someone, who either begins or ends every statement with a reference to God himself, or words that reference a religious context.? Christianity, in my opinion, must be lived and presented to others as a, if you will, a smorgasbord of possibilities. Not every Christian is destined to be a minister, a Sunday school teacher, a youth director, a choir director or an exceedingly verbally talented teller of his or her conversion.

 

Now, I'm not saying that you have to be a Dale Carnegie in order to witness, but even Dale Carnegie didn't attempt to immediately enroll every person he came in contact with in one of his self improvement classes. Can you imagine how difficult that would be when attempting to tell the auto mechanic what your car was or was not doing, or informing your doctor what your symptoms were? Remember the old saying, "a place for everything, and everything in it's place? " Apply that to your Christianity and like the other old saying about the ease of drawing bees to honey will make your attempts in influencing others far more successful.

 

    So, avoid failing to launch your Christianity. Your life style is the greatest witness you can show others. Have you ever heard the saying, "me thinks you protest to much?", meaning that doing so makes your integrity questionable. Apply that to your Christianity, only in reverse, over expressing your Christianity verbally can call into question your varsity and true conversion.

 

    Now for those of you whom I have stepped on your sensitive steeped in the word toes, relax, your safe. No one is doubting your dedication or conversion, but some may question your need to begin and end every greeting or conversation with a "Blessing", or similar pronouncement. While Missouri may be the "Show Me" state, apply that to your Christianity, Show who your are and what you believe through deeds, words last only a second, deeds can last for a lifetime. Introduce others to your Christianity through caring words, but demonstrate the meaning of those words with longer lasting deeds.

 

May the Lord bless each and every one of you.

 

 

 

The Power Of "STUFF"

The Power Of STUFF

    by; Floyd Spiva Jr.

   fspivajr@aol.com

   Copyright-2009

 

    Your Stuff, my Stuff, her Stuff or his Stuff. Seldom will you ever find anything on a person's body, in their home, their car or a secret hiding place that means more to them on a deep personal basis than their "Stuff". Stuff, as a rule, defines who they are, who they want to be and what they have been or achieved.

 

    I would defy you to explicitly describe or exactly define what comprises, "Stuff". Is it animal, vegetable, mineral, or a combination of all three? Most likely it's all of those. Some a mixture, others not. Size, shape, texture and use will vary greatly, depending on a number of criteria. The reason you can't specifically describe or define "Stuff",  is because there is no specific criteria that an object or thing must meet to be correctly defined as being honest to goodness "Stuff". When it comes to Stuff, the old adage, "One person's junk is another's treasure", totally applies.

 

    So, why do I say that Stuff has power? I say so from both personal experience and observation of others. A persons age, gender, social standing or level of education, plays no part in identifying what constitutes real identifiable Stuff and who is justified in having, owning or cherishing their Stuff. The sad fact is that we, as a society, have ignored the importance of Stuff. We as parents, children, grandchildren, friends or just strangers have miserably failed to recognize that Stuff can often be the difference in a person feeling loved, wanted, respected, successful or understood.

 

    This type of discrimination is usually carried out against the elderly, the people who have, in someone's opinion, wrongly or foolishly kept things that weren't important. Items that had no obvious intrinsic value, things that quiet possibly you wouldn't let near your home or private place of solitude. No indeed, why in the world would anyone want to keep such old, outdated, oddball, long past it's usefulness objects? Especially why would anyone in their "right mind" want to pack away or place in an out of the way place, "junk", I would have trashed months if not years ago.....The answer is, "because it's "their" STUFF".

 

    Like overhead circling vultures, family, friends and anyone who can take part, descends on the homes of those who, for what ever reason, find it necessary to relocate or change their lifestyle. Most often for the elderly it's health issues that creates a need to alter their lifestyle....When that happens the vultures descend and begin deciding what the affected person can keep and what is "junk" they have no earthly use for... That is when the emotional damage besets the person or persons being affected. Those making the decisions about what is kept, what is "junked", or what is taken home by someone else, has little appreciation or understanding about what comprises cherished "STUFF". They have no concept or realization of The Power of Stuff.

 

    "STUFF" are those items that may have no importance to others, but holds cherished memories of the past for the owner. Stuff may be an odd object that connects a past relationship. Stuff may be only a child's worn or even broken toy, or Stuff may be some nondescript item that represents an important period of success. Stuff may be an insignificant piece of something or object that ties one's past and present together in a special bond. Stuff can be a Bible, a photo, a piece of furniture or just a keepsake, or even an old tool. Stuff is a person's life history, hopes, desires and very often the key to emotional stability. Take away their Stuff, and you may be taking away their reason for continuing to exist.

 

    If you have a parent, a grandparent, other relative or just a close friend who has reached a point in time where their lifestyle needs to be altered in some manner, keep in mind that what ever the reason for change, their overall well being and health issues are at stake. Unnecessary taking away of their STUFF may have a more lasting emotional affect on them than anything else they experience. Be very selective about removing their Stuff from them. Great memories is like Stuff in a box, as long as they exist life will be far more robust and easier to achieve on a comfortable level....... That's, The Power of Stuff.

 

 

 

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FLAT GUMS

For those of you who have asked about FLAT GUMS and if dentures can be made to work with them....look through my Blogs and you will find my article on Flat Gums and the kind of denture teeth I have found that works best with that condition. If you want to correspond with me directly, write me at:
<thedenturepro@aol.com>

Where and How Do I Find A Good Denture Maker

Finding the kind of denture maker you want to deal with is an enormous undertaking. First you want one who is capable of actually making dentures with their own hands. Dental professionals who only "sell" dentures, like 99% of practicing Dentist's, are at a disadvantage do to their lack of denture creation training. Since the late 1950's Dental Colleges ceased to require dental students to hands on learn how to create dentures. That is one reason Dental licensing boards do not require a person testing for a License to practice Dentistry to actually make a denture as part of the licensing exam...Denturist's, who are not dentist, but are trained to be denture specialist, are required to actually create a denture for a live patient as part of their licensing exam...and that of course is because the testing Board knows that Denturist have extensive training and education in hand crafting the highest quality dentures possible and do so direct for and to the patient. There are no middle men between the Denturist and the patient.
Now, one place to search for a place to get good dentures ( when your state doesn't have licensed Denturist's), is to ask a Dental Technician who creates dentures for Dentist. Dental Technicians provide their services through a Dental Laboratory. Dentist's send denture impressions to the dental Laboratory with instructions that tell the Dental Technician the size, shape and color of denture teeth to be used...The Dentist also sends what is called a "Bite Registration"...which is made of wax and is intended to be used by the Technician to properly position the plaster models of the patients gums on an artificial metal jaw. This artificial jaw holds the models in what is supposed to be the proper jaw alignment of the patient as dictated by the "Bite Registration" the dentist has provided.....If however the Bite Registration in not accurate the dentures will be out of alignment and will not function properly or look right.
So, look up a the list of Dental Laboratories in your phone book. Call at least five in your area. When they answer the first thing you say is that you know they are not allowed to make dentures for the public and that isn't what your calling about...What you would like is their help in finding a dentist or denture maker who they consider the best they make dentures for. And that you understand that they create dentures for Dentist and know who they would send their mother or father to if necessary.
Now, not all Lab Technicians will talk to you as they will fear that one of their dentist customers is having you check to see if they recommend them, and if they don't they might lose the dentist as a customer...Other Lab Tech's will talk to you and they should feel good about telling you who they would recommend....Also, I suggest you go to the Internet site in your state that list complaints and ratings of licensed dentist....You can also ask the Better Business Bureau if they have had complaints about any dentist you may be considering...and if the state your in has licensed Denturist's, you can secure the same information regarding them.
If you have a new set of dentures that your unhappy with, and the person you bought them from is not showing an interest in making you happy or correcting an obvious mistake you see with the dentures, you can do the following. (1) You go to another denture provider and get an evaluation of the dentures your unhappy with...When you make that appointment, "DO NOT" say your unhappy with another denture maker and you want to see what's wrong with your dentures...NO NO No...you only tell the receptionist that your dentures have been bothering you and you would like to have them looked at to see what you can do to get them to feel right,look right and work right. It's also a good idea to take a friend or mate along to listen to the evaluation....If the evaluation is that the dentures are made wrong, get the finding in writing if possible. Then you can confront the original denture maker who you paid. If he or she declines to make things right by making new dentures or giving you a refund, you then file a complaint with the State Dental Board.
When you file a complaint with the State Dental Board they will ask the dental "Peer Review Board" to assign a neutral dentist to examine and evaluate your complaint by examining the dentures. If he or she agrees with your complaint, the Peer review Board has the power to require the original dentist to do one of three things, (Remake the dentures)...(Pay another dentist to make you new ones) or (Give you a refund)...Of course you always have the right to hire an attorney and file an action against the original dentist.
One caution I would like you to adhere to..."Do Not" judge a dentist or denture maker "only" by what someone else tells you about the dentures they got from one. People and their mouths are like fingerprints, no two are alike. Every denture is a one of a kind, and just because someone else had great success or poor success with theirs, doesn't mean your going to get the same. Dentures can be made wrong and dentures can be made right. People can be right and people can be wrong...meaning their are some people the good Lord couldn't make dentures they would be happy with. People with emotional stress issues seldom ever find happiness with dentures until they deal with what ever it is that's causing their emotional stress issues...If they are gritters and grinders, it's not the dentures fault, they have stress issues. I have written an article on that issue called, "EDS" Emotional Demure Stress"....it's worth reading. If you need to asked additional questions contact me at: thedenturepro@aol.com  
F.Spiva Jr. CDT MDT CD (The Denture Pro.)

WHO actually makes Dentures and WHO doesn't?

Are you one of those people WHO thinks that Dentists actually make the dentures they "sell" to the public? If you do believe that, guess what, your "wrong". Back in the late 1950's the (ADA) American Dental Association gave permission to Dental Schools to cease requiring dental students to "hands on" learn how to make dental appliances,"Dentures". They had Dental Labs as a captive work force who could only work for them, or no one.
The ADA had allowed State Dental Boards to open up their Dental Acts and add legislation changes that for the first time acknowledged the existence of Dental Technicians and Dental Laboratories. Both had been providing services to the dental profession for some 100 years but had never been recognized as legally existing. Prior to that recognition they were simply referred to as "Non-Dentists". Organized Dentistry had for all those years attempted to conceal their existence from the public fearing they would provide competition for dentist should the public learn the Lab Techs were who actually created the dentures the dentists "sold" to the public....and of course dentistry would fearful the public would find out the high margin of profit the dentists was making from denture sales.
Once the State's opened up the Dental Act's to insert new legislation that would identify who Dental Labs were and who Dental Technicians were and what services they provided, the legislation was written in a way to place the Lab and the Technician under the legal thumb of the State Dental Board. That placement included stiff fines and possible imprisonment should any Lab or Technician be caught providing denture services directly to the public...However, no fines, imprisonment or legal action of any kind was to be taken against any member of the public who sought the services of a Dental Lab or it's Technician.
The Dental Lab was required to have in it's place of business a "Dental Laboratory Work Authorization Form" attached to each dental appliance in it's Lab, signed by a  licensed dentist, or face legal action. When the new dental regulations were being written into the old act there was much discussion as to what to call the new written order to allow a Lab Tech to create a dental appliance. Pharmacist were given a "Prescription", but organized dentistry saw that identification as providing a level of professionalism to a Dental Lab and it's Technicians that it didn't want the public to think they were entitled to. Again, organized dentistry was attempting to eliminate any chance of having to compete with the dental technician in the health care market place. Given that dental students were no longer required to learn how to make dentures and were graduated without knowing how, there was no way they could compete with the Technician who was educated and trained to hands on create all" the various dental appliances organized dentistry "sold" to it's customers. Through out the industry it was well known that on average for every dollar the dentist paid the Technician to create an appliance the patient was then charged 500 to 1000 percent over that Lab fee. Even today in the 2000 era those same fee ranges still apply. The Lab provides 90% of the labor and supplies required to create a dental appliance, the dentist has only 10% invested in office supplies and very little labor. Many dental offices now turn the required dental office procedures required to make a denture over to office staff who have "no" technical denture training.
So what is the answer to the fact that millions of Americans on limited incomes or living in poverty are not able to afford the much needed dental appliances required to help them maintain a healthy diet? The answer to that has been recognized for many many years by other countries.Our close neighbor Canada put the answer in place over 50 years ago. The answer is Trained, Educated, Regulated and Licensed "DENTURIST'S"...
"Denturist's" are individuals who's education and hands on training ranges for dental office procedures, examinations, health issues recognition, advanced dental laboratory training and fully competent Denturist to Patient provided denture services.....AND....at a reduced cost when compared to the fees dentist's charge for like services....with one very large exception, every Denturist is a denture "Specialist".
Because Organized Dentistry, has very deep financial pockets and can use political dollars to influence legislators, all but six states have legislation on the books that give Dentist a "legislated' Monopoly allowing them to be the only place a citizen in that state can legally purchase a Denture. That Monopoly also provides the dentist with the ability to stack the financial deck against the citizen and charge outrageous fees. Organized Dentistry has used it's deep pockets in an attempt to stop "Denturist" from being licensed in every state..however, through the Initiative Process, which political deep pockets can't control, Denturist legislation was placed on the general ballot and the public mandated through record setting votes that Denturist be recognized and licensed.
The Federal Trade Commission some years back did a study and determined that Denturist were safe, capable and competitive and should be allowed to practice. The "ADA" used political power to gag the FTC and place FTC employees jobs in danger if they attempted to pursue licensing of Denturist. That was over 20 years ago and the Gag appears to still be in place.
Denturist education and training is approximately five times that of any dental school training ever required of dental students and still is....Consider this, States that license Denturist requires each Denturist applicant that takes the State Licensing Exam to actually create dentures as part of the exam to get their license..On the other hand, a Dentist applicant who takes the board exam for a dental license is not required to make a denture to prove he or she can...and that's because the Board already knows the dental applicant doesn't have the training or ability to create a denture with their own hands.
Because dentistry has learned that cost is a major factor in trying to make denture services available to a broader area of the population and that competition makes that even more difficult for them....their answer has been to provide cheaper dentures at a faster rate...A good idea but you will note I said "cheaper" and "faster"....You get cheaper by using cheap materials and you get faster by using materials that most all well trained Denturist and Lab Techs will tell you, they would "not" use on themselves or family.
So how do you get involved in bringing Denturist denture specialist to your state and town that will bring exceptional talent, exceptional dentures, exceptional training and fair fees? Let me suggest that you contact the National Denturist Association at:  ndausadenturist@hotmail.com. The NDA will give you advice and help you plan a Denturist movement in your state.

If you have questions about this information please contact me: thedenturepro@aol.com
F.Spiva Jr.CDT MDT CD
The Denture Pro.

How OLD are your Dentures ???

HOW LONG DO DENTURES LAST ?

By: The Denture Pro.

Copyrighted Material

<thedenturepro@aol.com>

Given the cost of dental appliances in general they are a bargain when compared to other artificial body part replacements. Eye glasses are expected to be out dated with in two to three years. Pace makers are in general expected to be replaced between eight and ten years. Hearing aids three to five years. Dental appliances on the other hand are expected to have a life expectancy of at least twenty years (by the public). Dental operative procedures such as filings,root canals and crowns are expected last for a lifetime......those of us in the dental health field know that those expectations are unreasonable and for the most part will never be realized.

The average lifetime of a fully and properly functioning denture is between "five" and "seven" years. This time frame can be altered by health problems, mental stress and or the loss of body weight......We know that a sudden illness such as the "flu" can cause a person to loose weight quickly. If as little as 2% of the bodies weight is lost, in say three to five days, it can cause a denture to fit differently than prior to the weight loss. If the person looses a great deal more than the 2%, say 6% to 10% in a short period, most dentures will fit vastly different. Large amounts of weight loss, such as on an extended diet will also cause the gums to change a great deal. When the gums shrink, regardless of the cause, they never return to their previous size and shape.

SO...what’s the answer to the above? If the dentures are relatively new and the changes in the gums have ceased the dentures can be refitted by a process called "Relining". If on the other hand the dentures are five years old or older the smart thing to do is to replace them. Older dentures have worn denture teeth and more than likely the jaws have become over closed. These are problems that "Relining" will not correct.

If jaws are allowed to become to over closed there is a risk that damage will occur to the jaw joint. The area for this is often called "temporomandibular joint ", (TMJ) this joint is created where the lower jaw connects to the skull. At the top of the lower jaw bone on either side, the top forms a rounded almost ball like shape called the "Condyle" this top end of the lower jaw fits into a depression in the skull bone called the "fosse". The Fosse is shaped somewhat like the palm of your hand when it’s cupped. When the lower jaw opens and closes the Condyles move in the fosse like a ball joint.

When the jaw is allowed to over close some people begin to experience sever pain in the jaw joint. One of the worst reasons for the pain is when the lower jaw bone and the skull bone come into direct contact. The "fosse" in the skull bone is covered with a thin layer of skin. This layer of skin is very very slippery and it’s slippery surface provides the lubricated like surface for the "condyle" to slide back and forth on. If the lower jaw gets out of alignment due to an over closed jaw joint, it’s possible for that thin layer of fosse skin to get a hole worn through it allowing bone to bone contact.....and that is very painful. In some patients the pain is so great that they can not open their jaws enough to even get food into the mouth....The remedy for this situation is a surgical procedure in which an artificial lining is inserted into the fosse.

If on the other hand the fosse skin layer only detached at the edge of the fosse and gathered up in the fosse like a sock in a shoe, the surgical procedure will be to attempt to reattach the skin to the fosse rim. In either case the situation could have been avoided by having a yearly examination to determine the alignment of the jaws and the condition of the dental appliance or appliances.

Below are observations you can make to determine if you are in need of a "TMJ" exam and possible replacement of existing dental appliances.

1....When the jaws are closed shut and the lower front teeth are in front of the upper front teeth.

2....The lips are no longer full and are now thin with out much surface exposed.

3....The corners of the mouth form an upside down smile line.

4....Deep creases have formed from the sides of the nose down to the outside corners of the upper lip.

5....When you smile, little to no teeth are visible. (Check this against an old photograph when you had your natural teeth) and don’t let anyone tell you that because your a senior citizen you can’t show teeth and have a good smile line. Telling you that is almost always a cop out and an attempt to avoid responsibility for an error in establishing the proper jaw relationship when the dental appliance was constructed.

If you have any questions regarding this material or information please contact The Denture Pro. at <thedenturepro@aol.com>

The Denture Pro.

F.Spiva Jr. CDT MDT CD