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Recovering from Addiction to Prescription Medications

I never thought of myself as an addict, but I did end up addicted to anti-anxiety medication after developing Generalized Anxiety Disorder. At some point, the medicine stopped being a way to deal with the nervousness and panic attacks, and became something my body craved. I knew that I needed help fast. Fortunately, a local drug rehab program includes support for people like me. They helped me wean off the medication, use methods like massage therapy to help my nerves heal, and even provided ongoing counseling for our family. I don't know how I would have made it without their help. If you suspect that your medication has crossed the line from being helpful to hurtful, take heart. Let me tell you about my journey out of addiction and back to wholeness.

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Recovering from Addiction to Prescription Medications

Teaching Your Child about Tooth Care

by Valerie Stevens

If you have a little one that will be visiting the dentist for the first time shortly, you will want to prepare them for what is to come. Taking care of teeth is very important and should be stressed to your child so they do a good job brushing and flossing before their visit. Here are some fun ways to teach small children the basics about tooth care.

Brushing Help

When teaching your child about the importance of brushing, demonstrate the proper way to hold a toothbrush and how to move it across the teeth. Use an hourglass to let your child learn about how long brushing should be done at each session. When the sand runs out of the hourglass, your child can cease the brushing procedure.

Demonstrate the proper way to brush by using hard-boiled eggs that were placed in a bowl of coffee or tea overnight. Have your child place some toothpaste on a toothbrush and show them the proper brushing method on an egg to remove the surface stains. This is a great exercise to show children how leaving dirty substance on teeth can be removed simply by brushing.

Another brushing craft you can try using to teach with would be to laminate pictures of teeth that you cut out of magazines. Use a black dry erase marker to put marks on the teeth, representing dirty spots that need to be brushed away. Have your child use a dry eraser that is attached to a ruler to brush away the black areas on the teeth.

Teaching to Floss

It is often difficult for a small child to floss their teeth properly, so they may need help getting to the back teeth. To show your child the importance of flossing, place some clay in between the spaces on the bottom of an egg carton. Have your child use a large piece of yarn (the floss) to place between the bumps (the teeth) to dislodge the clay (the bacteria). Your child will learn what the purpose of using floss will be by seeing the material come loose.

Healthy Eating

Have your child look through a magazine to cut out pictures of any food item. Place these pictures in a pile. Draw a mouth with a smile and white teeth on one piece of paper. Draw a frowning mouth with black spots on the teeth on another piece of paper. Have your child glue the food pictures around the picture of the mouth that represents what type of food would be considered healthy (for the happy mouth) or unhealthy (for the sad mouth).

For more information, contact North Phoenix Pediatric Dentistry.

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