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Let 'em Play in the Dirt

12/26/2016

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The microbes we need for good health develop a healthy immune system in children. 
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Microbes found in the soil have proven to be especially good for children's health. 
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The problem with antibacterial soaps and sanitizers is that they kill good bacteria necessary for health as well as killing bad bacteria. 
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My nursing school education is precious to me. 

Quite frankly, it’s also precious to lots of parents and children who are in my day-to-day community of love.

Very often, I hear questions like,   
“You’re a nurse - let me ask you…” 
 “Can I ask you as a nurse…?”  
“As a nurse, what would you tell me about…?”

My answers and knowledge come from: 
     - my incredible diploma nursing school education (Memorial Baptist Hospital, Houston);
   - an amazing dental school education, residency and fellowship (University of Kentucky College of Dentistry and University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine); 
    - having been the oldest sister of six children;
    - having raised four children of my own, and 
    - more than 25 years in practice of pediatric dentistry and orthodontics.

Germ-a-phobia
Interesting that “direc-ly” (as we Texans say) out of nursing training, (and having grown up in a household where cleanliness was indeed next to godliness), I had learned to be a relative germaphobe. 

I understood the role of micro-organisms in many diseases, and in our operating room semester, we certainly learned how to effectively wash our hands (also known as “scrubbing”). Our nursing instructors did not subscribe to the belief in the “5-second rule,” or any other such thinking that if something touched the floor, and it were only there a few seconds, that somehow the bacterial load was not virulent.

Uh-oh - we have a problem
Having followed the literature for all these years with strong curiosity and interest in things medical. I have now tempered my thinking about germs.  This change in thinking revolves around research on the immune system, AND the science showing that the chemicals that kill the “bad bugs,” also kill the “good bugs.”   

About the immune system: Turns out  the good bugs (the microbes we need)  develop a healthy immune system in children. Failure to develop the immune system puts children at higher risk for allergies, asthma, diabetes and even obesity.

About the bugs, good and bad:  The body’s microbiome is the vast array of micro-organisms in the body, which are about equal in number to the cells in the body. We cannot live without the good organisms.  

There are also pathologic (disease-producing) bugs that I call the “bad” bugs. An anti-bacterial soap, for example, will kill those bad bugs. Unfortunately, it kills most of the “good” bugs as well. Without the balance of the good bugs, the bad bugs will grow and prosper and one’s risk of disease is actually greater.

Now we have antibacterial soaps, antibacterial gels and sprays, antibacterial cleaning wipes and other disinfecting cleaning products. Our children are growing up in clean, disinfected, sterile environments, protected from germs in every way possible. At the same time, rates of allergies, autoimmune problems and gut related disorders are increasing (especially in children).

Could there be a connection?  The scientists answer with a resounding YES!

And we have some answers
Scientists find that widespread use of these disinfecting and antibacterial products (and the removal/avoidance of dirt) prevents proper formation of healthy gut (GI tract) bacteria. 

Restoring the good bacteria could be the key to boosting immune function, reducing multiple sclerosis, Type I Diabetes, allergies and digestive problems like celiac disease, GERD, IBS. Restoring the good bugs can even reduce anxiety and improve mood.

In September, 2016, the US FDA banned anti-microbial agents in soaps. In one year, these may not be sold. As clinical research has shown many times, antibacterial soap is no more effective at cleaning your skin than plain old soap and water. 

The concern about the anti-microbial agents is for the harm they may do in killing the good bugs with the bad bugs.  

The antimicrobial agent Triclosan, found in soaps and other disinfecting products, is a hormone disruptor and may be affecting our endocrine systems and contributing to the occurrence of reproductive system cancers (breast, prostate, uterine, testicular, ovarian…).

Triclosan is also known to impair muscle function. Researchers have shown that the effect of this antimicrobial agent on the heart muscle acts like a potent cardiac depressant.

Antibiotic resistance is worse in the presence of these antimicrobial agents.

Kudos to the FDA! Now, our immune systems’ work to rid the body of bad bugs will be more effective and we may be much, much healthier. In the meantime, since the manufacturers have one year to stop selling these bad products, you can reduce your use of antimicrobial products, to keep your family and yourself healthier, less at risk of infections, and of heart problems and cancers!

Another important answer
We want to restore the good bugs.  We are getting rid of the disinfecting products that are killing them.  

Where do you find the healthy bacteria? 

Probiotic supplements, like the chewable American Health Probiotic Acidophilus are a good start. 

And this is probably even more surprising! It turns out there are SBO’s (soil-based organisms) that are stronger good bugs.  These bugs survive best in the digestive tract and give the most benefit.    

The scientists who wrote the book “Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World" say, keeping children too clean keeps them away from many of the microbes necessary for a healthy immune system. The book's authors, Brett Finlay and Marie-Claire Arrieta, experts in micro-organisms and immunology, show evidence that allowing children to get dirty exposes them to healthy germs that are actually good for their health.  “If we miss out on that exposure, the immune system is not going to mature,” Arrieta reports.  

Another book for you to check out is by Mary Ruebush, a microbiology and immunology instructor, who wrote, “Why Dirt Is Good” . 

She says, “What a child is doing when he puts things in his mouth, is necessary for protection, and it also plays a critical role in [developing] the immune response.”

Let ‘em play in the dirt!
Children should be allowed to get dirty when they play. 
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(How to make it a) Happy New Year

12/26/2016

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The autumn weather has morphed to wintry weather. Cooler to cold temperatures have come in on breezes and even gusty winds. The skies are grayer more often, filled with the moisture of the winter.  Snow has greeted many of you with gusto! 

And the Christmas season is with us.

"Christmas waves a magic wand over the world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”     ~ Norman Vincent Peale

In the last several weeks, time being the illusion that it is, “suddenly” the holidays have come upon us.  Christmas shopping, celebrations in our schedules, merriment  and Christmas music have further lifted our spirits, and reminded us of this wonderful time of the year.  

Though we may feel as if we are moving faster to “get it all done”, we also slow down, breathe a little slower and take it all in.  We connect to the goodness of our divinity, and our oneness with each other. 
The parties and shopping and wrapping have ushered in Christmas. This year Hanukkah and Christmas share the same day.  Candles are lit and hearts are full.  

Christmastime creates precious holiday time for us, wrapped around the end of the year and closed with New Year’s Day.  

This week, you can keep your awareness focused on your goodness, your oneness.  YOU are critical and necessary - yes, necessary - to so many others.  

“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?”    ~ Clarence the Angel to George Bailey in 'It’s a Wonderful Life'

Know your divine love makes a huge difference.  This week (and always) look for opportunities to give of your wonderful self, to others… 
  • a bright smile; 
  • a genuine connection and compliment to the store clerks who are weary;
  • an extra word for the harried and overwhelmed mother with her children out of school and in tow;
  • drive a little slower and precisely, and ponder your gratitude for your life;
  • a thank you to the worker who is cleaning or stocking, as you are out and about;
  • hugs; 
  • say “I love you,” to your family and friends - lots of times this week;
  • stay the extra moment at the check-out and wishing a Happy New Year to the check-out clerk, and to the people behind you in line;  
  • let the other driver merge ahead of you and smiling at him/her;
  • say thank you lots and lots;
  • Lasso the moon. Throw that lasso around the moon and pull it down!​

“Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” ~ Calvin Coolidge


As Charles Dickens said, Honor Christmas in your heart and work to keep it all the year.

Happy New Year, Beloved.
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Yes! Take transfer orthodontic patients (Most of the time). Part II

12/23/2016

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Dr. Chris Baker's groundbreaking book, Your Child's Smile, is a parents guide for their children's oral health. It is available on Amazon.com. 
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You can have happy and loyal transfer patients!

In the UAE, because the expats come and go so often, we are accepting and sending many patients in transfer situations. And it works fine - even well.  You can do it too!

Earlier this month, I promised to tell you what to do when the mother and her daughter, a cute transfer patient, are sitting there, waiting for you to tell them about her transfer orthodontic treatment.

How can you take (most) transfer orthodontic patients and enjoy them? Part of the answer lies in how you charge them, so they don’t feel taken advantage of -- and so you don’t feel taken advantage of. And, how do you work with and communicate the unknown amount of treatment time left?


I've heard quotes like these from parents, “The other doctor told me we would need to ‘take off the braces, and start over,'” and “We just saw another dentist who said, ‘Whoever was doing your treatment didn’t know what they were doing.’”

There are NO benefits to tearing down the decisions the parent/patient has made in the past, in their choice of practitioners, in their lack of compliance, in "the other dentist’s work", etc.  That only serves to make the parent, patient and you feel bad.

And this approach makes you either look bad, OR, for a little while, like the “knight in shining armor.” (In time, the parent/patient may decide you are not this hero.  When a dentist tries the "knight in shining armor" approach and fails, things get even worse.)   

Better communications include statements like:
  • "Let me show you where your child is right now with her bite…"  Then, show the patient's occlusion, molar relationship, canine relationship, overbite, overjet, and other issues.
  • "My best 'guesstimate' is treatment for approximately (x) months, depending on how well she wears elastics, how long eruption of the ectopic tooth takes.., and then retainers."
  • "We may need to replace some brackets to provide the best results in my hands, and be the most time-efficient."  And/or, say, "There are two sizes of ‘slots’ in brackets. These brackets on her teeth are the ‘other’ size, so we will switch the brackets to the size we use, so that our wires and sequences work the best for your child."  
  • "Today I recommend records as to where she is now - photography of her teeth, (x-ray if needed, and models for measurement if needed.)  The cost for those records is ___."
  • "Your next visit will start with a review conference where you and I can review the treatment remaining, and the plan to accomplish it. Then, we will proceed to x-y-z (bracket revision, wire change, etc.)"
  • "The fees for her remaining treatment will be..." (Doctor, read and think about the following, and then you can project fees that the parent or adult patient will feel are ‘fair’ or ‘appropriate.’"

Here is a great approach for charging transfer patients:

A transfer patient is not an opportunity to take advantage of the parents and their money. Immediately charging a full case fee is not a good approach.

I have developed a fee structure that works well for the patients and for us. Remember parents have already paid a lot of money and are distressed when they are told that it will cost them a full case because you are "starting over." 


Here is my method:
Make an upfront charge to cover new records that you need, unless they come with very recent progress records. For example, if they have not had ceph tracings and other diagnostics you need, it is appropriate to give them a records fee that allows you to do just that.

If your diagnostic workup for that patient shows you do indeed need to replace all or many of the brackets, then you can have an upfront fee that covers that cost for the first visit. This means, when they start, they might pay as much as $1000 or $1500 for the ‘start-up’. Don't charge this if you don't need to replace brackets.

Following that, there is be a per month charge which includes any patient visits that month, whether 1, 2 or even 3 times. That monthly fee might be $350, or whatever is typical on your patient contracts, after your “down-payment” has been paid at bracketing. 

Again, our office charges it monthly, even if we need to see the patient more than once, to change power chain, etc. We charge only once for that month.  If we don't need to see a patient for 6-8 weeks, they pay for the month in which we see them.


This monthly fee will go on for as long as the treatment time requires. Then there is a removal and retainer delivery fee at the end, usually about $1000 to 1500 in our practice.

I have had patients who needed four or five months of finish up treatment, and I have had patients who needed a year and a half or more.

Also, I have had patients whose previous practitioner did not diagnose an ectopic tooth that was not a erupting, or an open bite that would need to be treated over a longer period of time, or with TAD’s etc. etc.

Most transfer patients need several months to a year or so of treatment. Many do need at least several brackets re-bracketed due to position changes that you need.  If it is minimal, we absorb that in the monthly fee, and just begin the monthly fee when we see them for the first treatment visit. 

However, if you use .022 wires and the transfer patient has an .018, or vice versa, you may wish to change the brackets. Again if that is needed, charge that initial fee to cover the removal and rebracketing.

Oh, and by the way, if the patient needs something at the transfer exam appointment, we ‘throw that in’ for, say, a module change or a pack of elastics.


Make sure your total fee for everything does not exceed your normal case fee that would be charged for that patient 

Often patients are happy to be more compliant because the parents understand that their fees will be based on how many months the patient needs to be in treatment.  

Sometimes patients come in with worsened appearances in their dentition or occlusion, due to the orthodontic care they have already received. I have had patients from several various countries come to our practice in the UAE with this situation. The first thing to do is take the wires out and let the teeth settle for about a month and see where everything is, then take your progress records and proceed.
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Joy to the World

12/18/2016

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It is the Christmas season, a time to celebrate, a time for family, a time for joy. 

Joy is part of the word, en-joy.  It's an emotion of happiness; an emotion which comes from optimism.  


A recent Harvard study published in the Journal of Epidemiology found that optimistic people live longer.  The study leader said that optimism is having the expectation that things will get better. 

The expectation that things will get better is a happy thing.  


And, understanding your ability to influence your life can increase your joy. 

As Wayne Dyer
said it, “Everything you do is based on the choices you make. It’s not your parents, your past relationships, your job, the economy, the weather, an argument or your age that is to blame. You and only you are responsible for every decision and choice you make. Period.”  

How free-ing this realization is!! How joyous! You can love yourself more, enjoy your time with others and make the most wonderful decisions for your life, your future.  

  • Expect things to get better and better.
  • Know your decisions and choices are leading you. Choose well this wonderful season. Make the tiny and big decisions that take you to joy.  
  • Enjoy, in joy.
 
A Joyous Christmas to you, with so much love,
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Yes!  Take Transfer Orthodontic Patients!  (Most of the Time)

12/14/2016

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Dr. Chris Baker's groundbreaking book, Your Child's Smile, is a guide for dentists treating children, orthodontists, and for parents concerned with their child's dental health. 
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Dentists, you know the story: A patient comes in and you're asked to “finish” an already-begun orthodontic treatment. The mother says, “We only have four months left,”  or something like that.

So, you look at the patient, wanting to please the parent, and wanting to take the case (you ARE in business to make money as well as care for patients).

Yet you think, “I have NO idea what this patient’s remaining treatment will entail - it sure looks like a lot more than four months, and I don’t know where they started.” When you look at the records the parent presents you, they are not a lot of help. 

You hate to commit to anything just yet.  What do you do right now, as the mother and her cute little girl are waiting to hear your response???

What you do know:
  • There is a patient sitting in your chair, whose parent wants you to treat her.
  • They seem nice. (If the parent seems to be unsure, unhappy, demanding or difficult, obviously you have poor or no chance at a therapeutic relationship, so don’t take the case - * see my note below.)

What you don’t know (the "Accursed Unknowns"):
  • What the REAL starting point was
  • How the patient's teeth have responded.
  • How compliant the patient has been with plaque control, appointments and wear of appliances…
  • What the mom’s expectations of you really are, so you have no idea if you can meet those expectations. (Or, if you even want to try.)
  • How much treatment time truly remains, in your hands.

*Note:  It’s important for you to understand, that you can ONLY do a great job for your patients if you can love them as you interact and treat them. This goes for patients AND parents. So, if the parents’ needs, personalities and expectations are not easy for you to meet and love, it will be very difficult for you to treat them.

It is best for both you and your patients and their parents, that you work to identify if the relationship can work, or if it may not.  Do NOT take them on as patients if you have doubts.  

So, as to transfer orthodontic patients. The typical answer by many-to-most orthodontic practitioners, to a transfer patient/parent is something along the line of “I don’t take transfer patients,” or “We’ll have to take the braces off and start over,” or “I have no idea what your previous practitioner was doing/thinking…”

Why this answer?  Because of the “Accursed Unknowns” and our own "inside-the-box" thinking.

The problem with us and orthodontics is that, as engineers and artists, we get so stuck in our idea of what we've learned and what our "system" is, that we have a hard time thinking "outside our box." 

The dentist's approach to orthodontics is often so formulaic that he/she never looks outside the box.  Sometimes the best treatment for an orthodontic patient IS outside that box.  

In my next blog, I will tell you what to do as the mother and cute girl are waiting to hear your response, to wit, how to how to take (most) transfer orthodontic patients and enjoy them; how to charge them so they don’t feel taken advantage of; and you don’t feel taken advantage of; and how to work with and communicate the unknown amount of treatment time left.
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That which you have given away

12/11/2016

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Many businesses and public buildings, like the Abu Dhabi Ritz Carleton hotel, have elegant Christmas decorations. 
Live a happy, healthy life with strategies from Dr Chris Baker's book, REAL. 
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A Christmas tradition at many Abu Dhabi restaurants is the construction of full-sized gingerbread houses and structures. 
It is winter season here in Abu Dhabi, which means that the mornings and evenings may call for a light sweater or wrap. The midday temperatures are comfortably warm in the rays of Arabian sunshine. 

The desert here smells clean and fresh. And all around us is celebration. The first holiday here was the 45th UAE National Day, December 2. They celebrate National Day with lights and flags all about us, green, red, white and black. 

Those red, green and white lights seem quite Christmas-y to this girl, as we pass them sparkling on the roadsides everywhere. 

Then was Martyrs Day, to honor those in the UAE military who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country, December 3.  

School will soon be out for the Winter Christmas break, and everywhere you hear, “Merry Christmas.” One sees Christmas trees, decorations and hears Christmas music. 

Even though this is a Muslim country, everyone seems to enjoy the holidays of all religions. It's a very tolerant and loving place. 

Tonight in the grocery store the Christmas carols had me humming along as I looked for just the right Christmas treats to take into the office for next week’s patients. 

There’s a celebratory air about; the children and parents are excited about their plans for the holidays. It’s fun to tell the patients, “See you next year!”  

Holidays, celebration, happiness, joy - it’s a wonderful time of year.  

It is love. Christmas is about love; love that is irrepressible, bursting with joy, giving and giving, hurrying less and noticing more as we go to and from, smiling and connecting with people we meet, calling out “Merry Christmas,” hearing and rejoicing in the bells, as another angel gets his wings (as George Bailey discovered in “It’s a Wonderful Life”).   

And while we’re thinking of that movie, remember, “All you can take with you is that which you have given away.”  
​
Give love in your smile, your hand, your hugs, your warmth, your kindness. 
​

Merry Christmas!
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Design Your Life, part I

12/8/2016

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As a young teenager, I decided I wanted to be a doctor. So, I volunteered as a "candystriper" at the local hospital. Here I am, standing near the middle of this photo, holding the flowers. 
A great resource on how to design your perfect life is Dr. Chris Baker's book, "REAL." 
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Quite a lot has happened since my candystriper days. Here I'm getting ready to enjoy breakfast at Etihad Airways' beautiful lounge at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). 
When you were a teenager, and probably even when you were younger than that, you had conscious ideas (thoughts) of what you wanted your life to be. 

I have heard my children say, “When I have a house it will be…”  and, “In college, I will major in…”,  and “I will travel to…”


When my five siblings and I were little, we would build “houses” with our big wooden toy blocks that my mother had cut at the lumber yard, and then sanded smooth. 

Our toy block “houses” were a bit like architectural plans, with room upon room laid out on the floor. We would move “ourselves” (clothespin people) through the house, winding about from the kitchen to the many other rooms we had built. 

We were designing our lives. In our thoughts and dreams, we were imagining what we wanted our lives to be. 

Then, as a young teenager, I decided I would be a doctor. That decision led me to work at the local hospital where I volunteered as a Candystriper. I began to live my dream of working in a medical setting. 

As time went by, I decided on nursing school.  It seemed at the time to be more “do-able” than medical school.   

A few years went by. As a young adult, I was still designing my life. As I practiced as a critical care RN, and with a young son, I finally planned and executed my dream of being a doctor. I decided to be a pediatric dentist. 

And you know what? It took those plans to design my life of today - a joyous, grateful mom, wife, pediatric dentist and orthodontist.  


As we live the life that often “seems to happen” to us, we are often unaware that we designed it. It’s easy to get stuck in the “living” of the life. Yet, in doing that, we are designing our life of our future, by our thoughts. 

If your thought is, “this is my life, and I can’t change it much,” you will be right.
 
If your thought is, “this is my life and I will design x-y-and-z for my future", you will be right.  


"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."
​ 
    ~ Jim Rohn

It’s your choice.  It’s your opportunity.  You have today. Begin today. Decide to focus on one goal that you want in your life. Your design in your mind - your thoughts - is your beginning. 
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Design Your Life, part II

12/6/2016

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Two simple steps are needed to reach your goal: First, keep your attention on the goal. Second, make efforts towards that goal. Then, repeat!
Author and teacher Dale Carnegie dedicated his life to helping people realize their goals. 
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Starting and ending each day with expressions of thankfulness and gratitude increases happiness and positive results!
Part II of a series begun December 8, 2016.

So, you have a big, bold goal in mind - or maybe several!   Now that you know you want it, how do you get going?


  1. Place your attention on your goal.  Write it down.  Carry the paper in your pocket.  Look at it whenever you put your hand into your pocket. Some have said you can put a small shell or rock or item in your pocket and feel it. ANYTHING that helps you keep your attention on the goal is great.
  2. Begin moving toward the goal.  For me, though I didn’t know it at the time, wanting to be in medicine, I moved toward my goal by working in the hospital environment.  Fortunately helping with bedpans did not dissuade me from my goal ? .  Rather, the environment propelled me.  
 
​As
Les Brown says, ”Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner."

Before you sleep, picture yourself living your goal. Think about how it feels;  see it as your reality. This is charging after them.  Your life design is working!  

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward."    
​~ 
Amelia Earhart

And, as my son Trey says, “Never give up.”
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."     
~ 
Thomas A. Edison

Today is glorious for me; going to treat my patients at the dental office, or to teach orthodontics, or to cook dinner, or sit on the couch and talk to my husband Claude.

When I realize I am not enjoying the moment, as soon as I can realize it, I begin to re-focus my attention on gratitude and on my goals. 

My goals keep changing.  We meet some goals just as we had planned. Other goals change form or meaning. 

Some of these "changing" goals are stepping stones to more important and wonderful parts of life. They are part of the journey -- even though they are not met in the form we imagined.  Yet they are all very important.  


Every night Claude and I say together,
“I know, within me now, is the Divine ability to manifest or attract everything I need or desire. All I desire is on its way.  It will arrive on time, and in even greater amounts than I have imagined.”

 And every morning we say,
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for the miracles and magnificent outcomes of today.” 
​Then we review what they are for that day.


"Today is life--the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto."     
~ 
Dale Carnegie
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Your amazing choices

12/5/2016

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Usually, we're in Abu Dhabi. But we love to visit family in Texas for Christmas. The old Harrison County Courthouse, in Marshall, is lit up for the holidays. 
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Besides its annual Wonderland of Lights celebration, Marshall, Texas, has local merchants who create elaborate window displays. 
Think of it! 

Where your attention goes, energy flows.


When we choose thoughts, we send out energy and receive back the energy of the Universe.  

Remember - you get what you think about - whether you want it or not. Choose thoughts of what you want and need!  

Health comes from positive thoughts about health. Thoughts and worries about getting sick circulate an energy of illness.  

“A healthy outside starts from the inside.”
  ~  Robert Urich


Think of the breast cancer researcher husband and wife team that focused their attention on breast cancer research — BOTH were diagnosed with breast cancer. (See the original article on this by clicking HERE.) 

This same kind of experience was Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s, author of Stroke of Insight. Her book is about being a stroke researcher who had a massive stroke of her own at age 37, and about her eight-year recovery.  (Order the book by clicking on the Amazon link in this blog entry.)

Dr. Taylor’s research into strokes (thinking about strokes every day) became her experience.

Focus on health, not sickness.

Focus on happiness, not sadness or worry.

Focus on joy, not sorrow.

To successfully reap abundance — absolute health — happiness — the career you want — “You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so badly, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control.”
​
 
~ Elizabeth Gilbert


Keep putting your intention — and thoughts — on what you want and need!

To an amazing week of great choices of thoughts.

In love,
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    Dr Chris Baker

    America's most-trusted teacher of orthodontic continuing education, Dr. Chris Baker has practiced and taught for more than 30 years, and is a current or former faculty member of three U.S. dental schools.  She is a pediatric dentist, author, blogger, dental practice consultant, and mentor.  Dr. Chris is also Past President and Senior Instructor of the American Orthodontic Society.  She is based in Texas, USA, but lectures around the world.

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