Topics

I see many new patients who come to our office for “smile makeovers.” Some do it for a special occasion, while others thought it was about time to take care of themselves. Regardless of the reason, they understood the value of healthy teeth and a smile they could be proud of.

A physician in her 50s told us she wanted to look good at her daughter’s wedding and in the wedding photos. She had lost a few upper and lower front teeth as a teenager due to an accident. At the time, the teeth were replaced with permanent bridges made of porcelain on top of a metal framework used for strength.

Though they had lasted many years, they looked their age, with a number of fractures and chips, and some of the metal margins were visible. After exploring her options, we used a combination of all-porcelain bridgework in the front and all-porcelain crowns in the back. She confided in me that she wished she had done the dental work earlier so that she could have been enjoying the benefits, both cosmetically and functionally.

The wedding pushed her into moving forward with treatment. As she also travels frequently with her husband and has a grinding problem, we made her a soft night guard, which will help protect her teeth from grinding and any accident that might occur on the road.

Looking Good, Feeling Great

Another patient, in her mid-80s, was brought in by her daughter — a professor at a northeastern Ohio university — prior to their annual family reunion. “Jackie” had a large space between her front teeth that had bothered her for her entire adult life. After looking at various options, she decided to have four porcelain veneers placed to both close the diastema (space) and to make the proportions of her front teeth appropriate.

In such a youth-oriented society, it’s easy to feel over the hill at age 50 or 60. It really is the prime of life, and that means it’s time to update your affairs so you can enjoy retirement and your grandchildren.

Get the proper legal documents in place. That includes a Last Will and Testament, Financial Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney, Living Will Declaration and maybe a Living Trust.

Without a will specifying who’s in charge and who gets what, the wrong people might inherit your assets. For example, if you wanted to leave all of your assets to two of three of your children because you already gave the third child money, it needs to be specified in your will. Without a will, Ohio law would force your assets to be paid in equal shares to your three children, with no regard to your wishes.

Who’s In Charge?

If you become disabled, you’ll need a Financial Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney, and Living Will Declaration to name someone who will handle your affairs. Without these documents, the court will appoint a guardian to oversee your affairs. That’s a lot of money and paperwork that can be avoided with smart legal planning. Keep copies of these documents handy so your family can find them when needed.

Coordinate your bank accounts, investments, retirement funds, life insurance, real estate and cars — the titling, the beneficiaries and the asset allocation. This may take a team, which might include your attorney, financial planner, tax preparer, banker and life insurance agent. Your family will thank you for making sure everything is organized and easy to find.

Take advantage of senior discounts and bank accounts. Turning 50 makes you eligible for AARP. Sign up and use it for the many senior discounts available — don’t let it make you feel old.

By Kabb Law

What and who is the Sandwich Generation? It’s group of people mostly between the ages of 40 and 65, who are “sandwiched” between the obligations of bringing up their own children, a job and caring for aging parents.

What are the problems? They include stress from financial, legal, care and family dynamics, and pressure from the responsibility of providing for parents and the loss of parents’ financial assistance. The result for caregivers may be family arguments, higher health costs for themselves from stress, illnesses and substance abuse.

What are some solutions? Open communication on aging, driving and finances. Get legal documents in place. You can prevent caregiver burnout by finding solutions early and building a support network. If it is difficult for a child to have “the talk” with elderly parents, seek out professional services to be a facilitator. Good planning will allow you to be free to manage the sandwich and enjoy the process.

Research leaves no doubt and the scientific proof is so overwhelming, it’s shocking that building muscle is not prescribed as THE frontline defense against disease.

Unfortunately, taking control of your health and fitness is significantly underpublicized in our hectic, media-frenzied world. In short, fatty muscles are killing you.

After you reach the age of about 16 to 20, your body naturally stops growing new muscle. That’s when the power of youth stops working in your favor.

Every second of every day, most of our 100 trillion cells in our body are busy creating new cells to replace old ones that are damaged or dying.

If you don’t do something to keep your muscles activated and strong, fat begins to invade the sedentary muscles, boring itself deeper and deeper into your muscle tissue — marbleizing the muscle much like a fatty cut of steak.

The wasting of muscle tissue damages the metabolic processes that take place and weakens your body’s natural immunity in direct correlation to the amount of muscle you lose. Over many years, the ravishing effects on the body threatens the health and independence of millions of Americans.

If that were not enough, things can get even worse for the female population. The average woman loses 0.5 pounds of muscle each year and gains 1.5 pounds of fat. By the time she turns 50, nearly half of her body weight is fat.

Hope and Help

Many world-renowned, peer-reviewed medical journals and scientists have established that an improper fat-to-muscle ratio — too much fat in your muscles or intramuscular fat — leaves us vulnerable to a host of nightmarish health problems.

According to a new report from the National Center for Biotechnology, lack of strength and muscle tone causes sarcopenia — a wasting of muscle tissue — leading to weakness, disability, increased hospitalization, immobility and loss of independence.

Ever think we’d see the end of radio? Many of us remember when radio personalities were as important as the artists they played, and competition between stations raised the bar on creative programming.

Consolidation, cable TV and the internet all played a role in the diminished importance of over-the-air programming. There’s still great radio, much of it on satellite or online, but let’s not forget the folks who made radio great.

Why isn’t there a legitimate statewide broadcasters hall of fame? A lot of major names have worked here in radio and TV. Jack Paar, Soupy Sales, Casey Kasem, Nancy Dickerson and Alan Freed, to name just a few, went on from Cleveland media to national prominence. Even more stayed here. We should preserve their legacy and their important part of our media history. It’s time for that hall of fame.

There were a couple at one time in Northeast Ohio, but they didn’t last. Maybe it’s time for a respected institution like the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Ohio History Connection in Columbus, or an independent panel of historians, academic types and broadcast professionals to establish a real hall of fame that’s aimed at documenting these important accomplishments in a serious and, most importantly, impartial manner.

Let’s also preserve the artifacts, audiotape and videotape that still exist for future generations. The banner welcoming the Beatles to Cleveland in 1964 is sitting in a basement. Ernie “Ghoulardi” Anderson’s personal effects were auctioned off on eBay. Tapes and other memorabilia often find their way to the curbside when estates are left behind. Libraries could be great repositories. Like the idea? Let me know. The email is listed below.

Whatever happened to movie palaces?

I remember when the really big first-run films would open first downtown. I saw “The Sound of Music” at the Palace Theatre at a weekday matinee.

By Scott M. Zimmer, MD

QUESTION

Why do I have numbness in my hand at night?

ANSWER

If you ever need to “wake up” your hand and wrist at night because they feel numb and tingly, it could be a result of pressure on the median nerve in your wrist or a condition called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). This condition is the most common cause of numbness and tingling in the hand.

If pain is interfering with your ability to get a good night’s sleep, you may be able to make a few simple changes in your sleep routine before seeing a specialist. The easiest thing you can do is wear a wrist brace to bed. This will keep you from compressing the nerve that is causing you pain.

You may also want to think about the position of your arm when you sleep. Propping your arm up on a pillow may help symptoms, while sleeping with your hand under the pillow will likely worsen the pain. Anti-inflammatory medication can ease symptoms but should be used under the care of a physician.

CTS can be associated with a variety of medical conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, alcoholism, obesity, diabetes and hypothyroidism. In most cases, there is no associated medical condition. Some other daytime symptoms include numbness and tingling when driving or holding a device or book for an extended amount of time. It is common for both hands to be involved, although one side may be worse than the other. Over time, some might experience decreased grip strength.

It is important to see an orthopedic hand specialist to get the proper diagnosis before any permanent nerve damage occurs. There are several clinical tests for CTS they conduct, including manual compression on the nerve and a test for loss of strength and muscle.