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Juiced Up Toothbrushes

Published on June 18, 2008 in health. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I am a wildly fanatical person when it comes to oral hygine.  It’s a problem I have.  There are worse issues to have, I think.  Part of my routine definitely includes the use of an electric toothbrush.  I love it.  I can’t live without it.  I started using one about four or five years ago and have been hooked ever since.

There are two main differences\advantages that I notice when using an electric brush. First is that my teeth are dentist smooth after normal brushing.  I love this feeling.  The other nice benefit is it means much smoother, shorter, less agonizing trips to the dentist.  It’s a quick trip through the pearly whites for my hygienist now that I made the switch.  They know that you are using an electric as soon as they get started, it makes that big a difference.

Kate sent me an email which prompted this little post.  She asked if I had a preference between the various brands of brushes out there.  I have always been an Oral-B user, currently the Oral-B ProfessionalCare® 8000 Series.  The newer models are definitely an improvement as they employ the ultra-sonic care along with the standard agitation of the older Oral-Bs.  The other major contender is sonicare from Phillips.  I don’t personally have experience with these brushes but I would guess they are also fairly effective.  I looked around for some good head to head comparisons but didn’t find much out there.

Next time:  The Reach Access.  awe-some.


Sit up straight boy!

Published on June 2, 2008 in health. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Posture from bluelephantI don’t know how many times I heard this on TV or from my Mom or some teacher in grade school.  I really wish that I had listened to these people.  My posture is atrocious.  I feel like I am slumped over all the damn time.  I don’t know if I look like a fool or not, I don’t care, I feel miserable about it.  Apparently I am not alone.  There are a vast number of resources on the internet about posture.

I found some nice short posts from DumbLittleMan, WikiHow, and AskMen.  These, along with others, center around a few key points.  The three key areas of posture are sitting, standing, and sleeping.  When standing up you should be able to draw a straight line through your ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles when viewed from the side.  When sitting you should keep your hips moved as far back in the chair as posible, feet flat on ground, shoulders back and down, head back and chin in.  Most seem to believe the sleeping on ones side is the ideal position.  Using a pillow between the knees to help keep back aligned.  I’d definitely recommend reading some of the above resources for more details.

There is also some mentions of stretches and exercises as well.  @jessmartin suggests squats and deadlifts to strengthen the back.

All of this is great advice and good knowledge to have.  I can only hope that I can get some of this jammed into my brain enough to actually get it to stick.

Diagram courtesy of bluelephant