I manage a dental office. My boss is very proactive about catching periodontal disease. When caught early, it can be managed long-term just like diabetes and other health conditions. Research increasingly shows the link between dental health and systemic health. The bacteria present in your mouth, if left unchecked, eats away at bone and is a major contributor to tooth loss. But it can also travel throughout your body. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/dental/art-20047475 Up to half of young people have it and the percentage of the population that has it drastically increases with age. https://magazine.medlineplus.gov/article/gum-disease-by-the-numbers#:~:text=Almost half%2C 47.2%%2C of,Gum disease increases with age. Every patient that comes through our doors is screened once/year for periodontal disease with a dental probe that measures the depth of the pockets around each tooth. A phrase that everyone should know: “Healthy gums don’t bleed.” Bleeding is a sign of inflammation and an early indicator of trouble to come. If your dentist recommends “deep cleaning” aka “scaling and root planing” aka “SRP” aka “quad-scaling” you should seriously consider it. In our office it is done with local anesthetic. Two 60-minute appointments. Left side at one appointment. Right side at second appointment. Our patients describe it as “tolerable” and “much less scary than I thought it would be.” A recheck is performed at 1-month to assess how the gum tissue is responding. Patients are placed on a 3-month recall. This is because the life cycle of the oral bacteria is 3 months, and the more frequent cleanings help to keep this under control. The majority of patients remain on this schedule. Some are able to return to 6-month recall if they are diligent with home care. Periodontal disease is no joke. ETA-I’m also the financial coordinator in our office. Most insurance companies cover at least 50% of this procedure. Some cover less. Some cover more. And more insurance companies are beginning to cover 4 periodontal maintenance visits per year with a small copay. Some still only cover 2 cleanings per year and a perio patient will have to pay for the other two cleanings. Even if you have to pay for the extra cleanings, the investment in your health is worth it. It is priceless to be in your 70s/80s/90s and still able to eat with your own natural teeth! ETA-There is strict criteria to diagnose periodontal disease. This is not something a dentist can falsely diagnose. Insurance companies require a chart that records pocket depths of 5+ for multiple teeth and x-rays need to show visible bone loss. If your dentist recommends treatment for periodontal disease and they have proof for your dental insurance, you are already at the point where intervention is critical if you want to keep your teeth. This isn’t something your dentist is making up. Take it seriously.

Are any of us still expecting anything on the internet to be secure?

I use thyme and Rosemary. I skip the carrots and fennel. We love the potato/onion combo. More onions than potatoes. I toss them with a generous amount of olive oil and salt and pepper. And sprinkle with thyme. They caramelize beautifully. I also stuff the cavity (after liberally sprinkling it with sea sal and pepper) of the chicken with tons of minced garlic, a whole lemon sliced in half and Rosemary and thyme. I don’t bother with kitchen twine. I just tuck the legs so everything is held in place. Its so easy and every time I make it, I feel like an accomplished cook. My house smells amazing and everyone in this house loves it. That almost never happens here…

Ina’s recipe is my go-to. It’s never dry. And it makes 3 meals. First night is the chicken. Second night is chicken salad on lettuce or bread. Third night is soup made with the carcass. I roast the chicken on a bed of 75/25 onions/potatoes. It’s our favorite meal here. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-chicken-recipe-1940592.amp Enjoy!!!

I’m late to the conversation, but I cut my prescription costs by 75% for some meds through Amazon Pharmacy. The Prime price for some of my medications is pennies on the dollar compared to my insurance price.

My husband and I followed this schedule this year. We are almost finished! He loves it because each day of the week has a different theme so it provides variety. We read in the evenings together.

Writing lots of papers, discussion boards, etc. Pursuing a psychology degree. Not much homework so far. Completing prerequisites right now. English Comp, Information Literacy, maths, humanities, etc.

Thanks! I’m only looking at the ones that currently have a student discount at BestBuy but I don’t really know how to choose which one would be best. I’ll keep researching. My laptop does not have a touch screen. I’ve gotten very used to that with iPads and iPhones. It’s a feature I would like in a laptop.

Do you have Netflix? Look up Nate Bargatze. He has two comedy specials. 1. The Tennessee Kid. 2. The Greatest Average American. He is squeaky clean and the funniest comedian I know. I’ve seen him live. He’s worth your time. He also has a Podcast with some comedy buddies. It’s awesome. Genuine humor without controversy or offense. I think it’s called the Nateland Podcast.

Hey Everyone. First an update. I have two weeks left of my first semester. I am loving it. Why did I hate school so much when I was a teen?!? Now I find it to be invigorating, validating, and just the thing I need to pick me back up after being a stay-at-home-mom for 17.5 years. I started with a cheap HP laptop from Amazon because I didn’t want to spend a lot of money at the beginning before I was sure I wanted to continue. This laptop has gotten me through my first 2 classes. But I HATE it. I’m using the word HATE here and that’s not a word I use. It’s awful. Slow and glitchy and frustrating. A friend of mine told me I should be using a Surface Pro for college. There are a lot of student discounts available right now for Surface Pros. I’m usually an Apple consumer but I just can’t justify spending that kind of money right now. Any thoughts or feedback? I know I asked this question a few months back and I’m not sorry I got the HP laptop. It worked for a small course load and I learned a lot about pros and cons with laptops. But now I need to upgrade for future course loads. Any Surface Pro fans out there? PS-I also went back to work part-time and I feel like a new woman. I am so happy I had the option to stay home with my babies. But it absolutely took a toll on my mental health. You know how new moms talk about getting their bodies back? Pishaw. I feel like I finally got my BRAIN BACK!!! 😉 ~Courtney

Not as prestigious as the WSJ but here is the gist of the issue: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-explicit-videos-sex-and-drugs-to-minors-report-2021-9%3famp Another free article referencing the WSJ piece: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9970435/amp/TikToks-algorithm-promoting-sexual-content-children-young-13.html

Yes! Both professors keep referencing that source. When I get a paper back, I can see how they graded me according to the rubric, but I can’t see exactly what they are talking about in my paper. So their comments are somewhat helpful, but also not. There is no correcting of the actual paper. Just comments. So they may deduct for grammatical errors but they don’t tell you what your errors actually were. They may tell me how I should have credited a reference but they don’t actually show me what I did wrong. It’s very confusing. I’m old school. I haven’t done school since the mid 90’s. I am used to getting a physical paper back with lots of corrections in red pen. That’s not happening here. 🙈

That’s a good reminder. Thank you 🥰. I will try to remember that thought. And is it terrible of me to say that I’m APPALLED at the grammar of my classmates and even my professors? There/their/they’re and your/you’re are regularly botched. It’s hurting my eyes. And I’m just starting to need reading glasses. So the combo is making me cry 😢😢😢 I know most people don’t care about that stuff nowadays. I was born in 1979 and I remember whole days in elementary school of drilling on the difference between they’re/their/there and your/you’re. My own children struggle with the differences. I’m living in a Twilight Zone episode…

I’m still getting the hang of this. I know TESU offers tutoring. But I’m not aware of a writing center. I will check that out. Thanks! I’m still intimidated to ask more questions of my professors. I’m not sure why. I’m older than both of them 😂🤣😂. Why am I still feeling so intimidated?!? 😩😩😩

Hey Everyone! I’m in my 5th week of college with Thomas Edison State University. I’m taking two classes right now, both required for all students; English Composition 101 and Critical Thinking and Information Literacy. So far I’m crushing it! But my latest paper in the Critical Thinking class scored a 92 which I know is a perfectly acceptable grade but I’m a perfectionist and I’m not content with anything under 98-100 😩😩 Some of the feedback was due to errors in my citations for APA style. I’m still learning what that entails and I’ve ordered the latest edition for reference. I’m also getting used to grading rubrics. This was not a “thing” when I was in high school in the middle 90s. I like the rubrics. But I also see areas where my interpretation is different than what my professor expected. Any tips or suggestions from you accomplished students? I have never measured worth through beauty. I like brains and intellect. So this 92 is really making me question my worth. Help!!!