LONG HAUL, OR LONG IN THE TOOTH

The ‘long haul’ is a lifespan, no matter how long or short.

Baby boomers know all about it, yet some are still reluctant to embrace the details.

How does that work out over the long haul?

Let the embracing begin.

In the midst of heatwaves, fires, and floods, climate change is on the watch list.

Make that the ‘must watch’ list.

So we watch.

One of the ‘greatest living writers’ has a new novel with climate change at the core.

‘Blue Skies’ by T.C. Boyle makes climate change personal in a way that asks, “What would you do in similar situations?”

Boyle, one of the most inventive voices in contemporary fiction, transports us to water-logged and heat-ravaged coastal America, where Cat and her hapless, nature-loving family–including her eco-warrior parents, Ottilie and Frank; her brother, Cooper, an entomologist; and her frat-boy-turned-husband, Todd–are struggling to adapt to the “new normal,” in which once-in-a-lifetime natural disasters happen once a week and drinking seems to be the only way to cope.

“Drinking seems to be the only way to cope?”

What goes better with drinking than eating and drinking? How about drinking and food shopping at New Seasons or Whole Foods or any grocery store with beer on tap; then meal-prep, cooking, and eating and drinking?

You like to eat, I like to eat. If not a ‘Foodie’ I am a food fan.

Why just recently I whipped up enchiladas lasagna-style, and a variation on Sheperd’s Pie with a thin potato cover hand-cut on a mandolin.

With no blood spilled.

We may live in dire times, but we still need help with health matters.

Things Go Wrong In The Long Haul

Baseball great Mickey Mantle got credited with, “If I knew I was going to lived so long I would have taken better care of myself.”

The men in his family checked out around thirty-nine; Mick was sixty-three.

What does it mean to take care of yourself?

Start with the basics. Eating and drinking.

If you can feed yourself you’ll need regular dental check-ups to stay on schedule. Why? Because in the long haul things go wrong.

You could have an exploded molar in a root canaled tooth. Then what?

You could have it pulled in a prolonged probe to make sure every single piece of exploded tooth is out from all the way down in there.

Top it off with a bone-graft. Then what?

Then you put on your Actuary hat and start working the numbers. Your age, your life expectancy, and the cost of a tooth implant.

And you come up with, “Why bother?”

Or you make adjustments and find someone trustworthy, recommended, and find a way to pay for that tooth implant.

While tooth loss is a major dental problem, most people do not bother replacing a single missing tooth.

This is especially the case when the tooth is not visible – and thus cannot affect smiling.

However, while missing a single tooth might not do much to your appearance, the invisible damage it can cause can be extensive. 

And here’s why: You like crunchy food, crisp food, fresh food. Without the right teeth in your mouth your ability to process food diminishes.

What’s it feel like when to bite down on an almond and it slips and stabs you in the no-tooth gum with the point?

Sounds painful?

The Right Doctor At The Right Time

When I had to get cancer treatment or die, I got the radiation oncologist who wrote the study guide for the Bible Of Radiation Oncology.

Dr. Hansen served as President of the Oregon Radiation Oncology Society and is a member of the American Society of Radiation Oncology. He was selected by President Clinton as a United States Presidential Scholar. Dr. Hansen is Editor of “Handbook of Evidence-Based Radiation Oncology,” a leading medical text used by Radiation Oncologists worldwide.

I like people who navigate their career with extra educational fervor.

Dr. McAllister fits on my team of All-Stars.

He is both a board-certified diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and of the International Congress of Oral Implantology.

Prior to starting his own practice in Tigard, Dr. McAllister was a full time faculty member at the Oregon Health Sciences University. He was the director of the dental implant program for the residents and performed research related to implantology. 

Dr. McAllister: One of the biggest impediments for patients is the word ‘Surgery.’

I wasn’t sure what my problem was but hearing Dr. McAllister explain the importance of tooth health moved my needle to go.

Was I one of those afraid of the word surgery? Well, yes I was, but I kept it to myself so I could scoff at anyone as nervous.

Dr. McAllister: Most of the anxiety is before the procedure, with the takeaway being it wasn’t as difficult as they’d imagined.

These are the words from a master of their profession.

And they are as correct the day before as they are the day after.

If you’re here for the long haul and need a dental update, you know who to call.