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October 2016 Newsletter

What´s New at Savon

Quote Of The Month
Contest Winner
To Your Health With Jourdin Hendershot - Cupping
Grandma's Kitchen With Grandma C. - Easy Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings
Keeping Fit With Clayton "TR" Parker - Bungie Swimming: The New Water Workout
Spotlight On The Dentist - Discount Dental
Fun Facts - Crazy, Zany Facts About Halloween We Bet You Didn't Know
Dental Talk - A Member Chat Forum
Here’s Your Answer - Questions From Our Members
Benefits Update - New Schedule Of Benefits Effective 11/01/2016
Special Part 2 Of A 3 Part Article - Periodontal Disease, You Might Be At Risk! (Part 2 of 3)

Quote Of The Month: Visit a haunted house? Nah, if I want to hear blood curdling screams I'll save money and just tell my wife there's a spider on her neck. (Author unknown)

Congratulations To:

D. Ryan of Tempe, Arizona Winner of our September early payment drawing for 1 free additional year of membership.

Congratulations to our winner and thank you to everyone that entered the drawing.

To Your Health With Jourdin Hendershot:

Cupping

While I was watching the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, I noticed some perfectly round bruises on many athletes and wondered what caused them so I did a little research.

These bruises are formed by a type of therapy called Cupping. People get cupping therapy to help relieve pain, increase blood flow, and loosen muscles. Therapists use tiny cups that create suction on your skin, which then pulls stagnate toxins, lactic acid and cell waste to the surface of the skin. This helps the injured area to heal by allowing oxygen, nutrients and new cells to start the recovery process.

The color and pattern of the bruises determine the level of stagnation in the area. The bruises that range form a bright red to a dark purple, mean there is a lot of inflammation, these marks will last about 3 weeks. If there is little to no stagnation, you will only see a pink mark, which can last a few minutes to a couple of hours.

There are two types of cupping:

Dry Cupping;
- This method is where suction is created on areas of the body. The suction is created by warming up the inside of the cups with a lighter. This eliminates all oxygen from inside the cup. The warm cups are immediately placed directly on the effected area forming a vacuum seal, causing the skin to rise. The cups are left on the body for 3-5 minutes. After this procedure the patient will notice the marks (like those mentioned above) and may experience tender skin for a couple of hours after treatment.

Wet Cupping;
- Wet cupping uses the same method as the dry cupping but is taken one step further. After the therapist takes off the cups (3-5 minutes) they will use a small scalpel and make a tiny incision on the marks so the toxic fluids can be released. Once everything is cleaned up the therapist will apply ointments to help with the healing process. *Please note that these cuts are so tiny they will heal in no time and will not leave a scar.

Although this type of therapy looks horrible and painful, I have heard and read different. One lady wrote: “Having Fibromyalgia and muscle adhesions are painful and are not helped with just cold and hot packs alone. The massage cupping used on me releases my stuck muscles and allows circulation; it has ultimately helped in preventing chronic muscle pain and spasms.”

Cupping therapy may be the new trend since the Olympics but this type of therapy is believed to have been practiced as early as 3000 B.C.

If you have questions you would like to discuss with Jourdin, feel free to drop her an email by clicking here.

The above health material is provided as an information service. It should not be used for diagnostic purposes nor is it intended to take the place of the important relationship between you and your doctor.

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Grandma's Kitchen With Grandma C.:

Easy Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients

1 pkg (about 1½ lbs) boneless chicken thighs
1 meduim onion, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
2 carrots, sliced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can refrigerator biscuits
1 tsp parsley flakes
Garlic salt, salt & pepper

Line your crock pot with a plastic crock pot liner to avoid the mess of cleaning up!

Place boneless chicken thighs on the bottom of the crock pot. Add diced onion and celery, mixed vegetables and carrots. Sprinkle with parsley flakes. Season with garlic salt, salt and pepper to taste.

Cut 4 biscuits into 4 sections each. (6 sections each if you want smaller dumplings). They should be about ½ to 1 inch each. Place them on top of the meat and vegetables.

Mix the 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup together and pour over the top of ingredients in the pot. Add a little salt and pepper to the top. Cook 5 hours on high.

Bake remaining biscuits in the oven according to package directions and serve the Chicken and Dumplings over the biscuits.

**A nice variation is to serve the chicken and dumplings over rice and have the baked biscuits on the side. Yum!

Enjoy! And remember, if it looks and smells good, eat it!!

If you have a recipe that you would like to share with Grandma C., drop her an email by clicking here.

Keeping Fit With Clayton "TR" Parker

Bungie Swimming: The New Water Workout

I have written about many different water workouts, but this one takes the cake.

There is nothing more annoying than trying to swim your laps and having other people in the pool that you have to swim around.

While surfing the internet, I came across a video of people bungie swimming. I was impressed at the functionality of it. The process is really simple and rather inexpensive. You can get the swimming bungie just about anywhere online, and they are small and easy to travel with.

This is how to use them:

Tether the bungie to the side of the pool (most pools do have side hooks installed) or to a fence.
Secure the bungie to your waist with the harness that it comes with.
Swim however you choose (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly etc.)

The band will hold you in place and provide resistance to your swimming routine and increase the workout that you are doing. It is proven to be more of an effective work out than just swimming laps due to the resistance from the bands.

This is also a great tool for teaching someone to swim or training a competitive swimmer. By using the bungie, you can keep them close to you while you work on the proper swimming technique.

I do not have a pool so I am not able use it on a consistent basis, but I did have the chance to try it out at a friend‘s pool last week. I must say I was quite impressed. As a former competitive swimmer, I wish that this was available when I was training. It took away the process of having to swim laps and allowed me to focus solely on my technique and the workout of swimming.

If you get the chance, give it a try!

Until next time. Stay Fit, Stay Healthy, Stay Strong!

If you have questions you would like to discuss with Clayton, feel free to drop him an email by clicking here.

The above fitness material is provided as an information service. Remember: Always check with your doctor before starting any new type of exercise program.

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Discount Dental
	Our spotlight for October goes to the city of Phoenix, Arizona and shines on Dr. Anthony Rao and the staff of Discount Dental Discount Dental is a state-of-the-art practice for all of your dental needs. They use cutting edge technology to perform cleanings, exams, preventative care, restorations and cosmetic dental procedures. Their customers have ranked them the best dental provider in Phoenix. This is due to the fact that their experienced professionals work closely with the patient to understand their needs. They use their expertise and the latest dental technology to give every patient a brighter smile.

Dr. Anthony Rao is the founder of Discount Dental. Dr. Rao has extensive experience providing cosmetic dentistry procedures. He believes every patient deserves a beautiful smile that will last a lifetime.

The practice is located at 7821 North 35th Avenue, Phoenix AZ 85051. The phone number is (602) 841-0002. We also invite you to visit them on the web.

Say thank you to your dental office for the excellent manner in which you are treated by nominating your dentist!

Fun Facts:

Crazy, Zany Facts About Halloween We Bet You Didn't Know

Halloween goes by multiple names: All Hallows‘ Eve, Witches Night, Lamswool Snap-Apple Night, Samhaim and Summer‘s End.

There‘s a reason broomstick became associated with witches! Old women accused of witchcraft were typically poor. Since they couldn‘t afford horses, they used a walking stick, which was replaced by a broom to help them travel.

Just like broomsticks and witches are synonymous, so are black cats and witches. This is because it was once believed the felines protected the powers of witches.

Samhain, which is an Irish Celtic festival, inspired Halloween. It celebrates the end of the Celtic calendar year in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They believed it was a time that spirits or fairies could enter our world, and the Celts would put out treats and food to placate the spirits – sometimes, a place at the table was even set for the souls of the dead. Wiccans still celebrate Samhain as a New Year celebration today.

Ever wonder why orange and black are traditional Halloween colors? Orange represents the harvest and black represents the death of summer.

Jack-o‘-lanterns started in Ireland, too. Candles were placed inside of hallowed-out-turnips to keep away evil spirits on Samhain.

Trick-or-treating might have started from the superstition that ghosts could disguise themselves as humans and knock on doors for food or money. If they were denied, the spirit could haunt the person who refused it.

It was believed that the boundary between the living and dead was blurred on Halloween. Since the living were allowed to walk among the dead, human would wear ghoulish masks and dress up so the spirits would not recognized them.

Salem, Massachusetts, and Anoka, Minnesota, claim to be the Halloween capitals of the world, even though the holiday originated in Ireland.

Halloween only precedes Christmas as the highest grossing commercial holiday.

Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

Come back for more in next months issue!

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Dental Talk - A Member Blog Forum:

Come blog with us! Dental Talk with Savon is a fun forum to post your interesting topics! Your comments are welcome, it‘s free to use and no membership is required.

Some of the topics include;

These are just a few of the topics. Our blog site contains many other interesting topics. Please join us!!

Here’s Your Answer

Questions From Our Members

D. Harberstone of Miami, Flordia asks:

“During a recent dental exam the dentist asked me about my sleep habits, (how many times a night do I wake up). I didn't question her about her question but since I'm not in any pain, why do you think she would care about how well I sleep?”

Savon’s Answer

During a dental exam the dentist looks for many different indicators of oral and physical health. If your dentist notices certain things like worn tooth surfaces, a small jaw, tongue with scalloped edges or redness in the throat, it could conceivably trigger a question about your sleep habits.

What the dentist is looking for with a question about your sleep habits is a condition known as “Obstructive Sleep Apnea¹”. The condition causes repeated breathing interruptions throughout the night; the pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes and may occur 30 or more times per hour.

The first sign of sleep apnea is often bruxism (tooth grinding). If you grind your teeth while you are sleeping, your jaw tenses up and it sends a message to your brain to wake you up and take a breath.

Bruxism is just one sign the dentist sees. The small jaw, tongue with scalloped edges or redness of the throat may indicate that you snore which is another symptom of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

Although dentists are trained in the symptoms and treatments of sleep apnea, only a medical doctor can make an official diagnosis.

_{1. http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/link-sleep-apnea-dentist#1}

Schedule Of Benefits Update

New Schedule Of Benefits Effective 11/01/2016

I know it only seems like yesterday that we adjusted our fee schedule but in reality it‘s been since May of 2015. In order to keep up with the increasing cost of operating dental facilities, Savon adjusts the Schedule of Benefits every 18 months.

This adjustment will increase members cost approximately 3% on all procedures. The new Schedule of Benefits will go into effect on November 1st of this year. We do not anticipate another evaluation until June of 2018.

The manner in which we monitor the cost effectiveness of our Schedule of Benefits is what makes Savon such a great value to both our members and our providers. We make sure that our relationship with our providers and members in mutually beneficial.

Dental facilities across the nation are discontinuing other dental plans because the fees that they are allowed to charge are too low. In fact, many of those dental facilities are suggesting the members switch their plan to Savon instead of changing to a new facility that still accepts the plan(s) they are no longer accepting.

Stability of facilities and a fair Schedule of Benefits continues to make Savon Dental Plan a “win – win” proposition for both our members and providers.

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Special Part 2 Of A 3 Part Article

Periodontal Disease, You Might Be At Risk! ( Part 2 of 3)

Last month we discussed periodontal disease. We talked about the causes, symptoms and types and we discovered that virtually anyone could be at risk. We also dabbled in the possible consequences of failing to treat gum disease, including the importance of regular maintenance since 75% of the population has gum disease and doesn't even know it. This month we are going to take a closer look at the moderate to severe health risks of untreated gum disease. The connection your mouth has to the rest of your body might surprise you.

-Tooth Loss is the most common risk associated with gum disease. Although mild cases rarely result in the loss of teeth, severe or advanced cases are at a high risk. When left untreated, gum disease will grow usually from gingivitis, then advance in to periodontitis which has many different forms ranging from mild to sever, to rare. In sever cases, gums become inflamed and begin to pull apart from your teeth, forming spaces, or "pockets" to grow, allowing infection to grow as well. As your body (immune system) fights off the infection, bacteria and plaque continue to destroy the bone and tissue that hold the tooth in place, causing them to become loose and eventually fall out.

Heart Disease and Periodontal Disease have recently been medically linked together. All though the study is still in investigative status, recent reports have shown that people who have severe periodontal disease are at a higher risk of heart disease and stroke. Keep an eye out as we will be keeping you up to date on this subject and more information becomes available.

Diabetes is a risk factor for periodontal disease as is periodontal disease a risk for diabetes patients. It is proven that people with diabetes are at a higher risk of gum disease because diabetes causes changes in blood vessels and high levels of inflammatory chemicals that increase the risk of gum disease. And on the reverse, periodontal disease can worsen diabetes and make controlling blood sugar difficult.

Respiratory Diseases can also be caused by bacteria from periodontal disease being inhaled in to the airways and in to the throat and lungs. This bacteria can cause respiratory problems and also worsen existing problems such as emphysema.

Pregnancy can be effected if the mother has severe periodontal disease. Recent studies have shown that bacteria from gum disease may trigger the same factors in the immune system that could cause the baby to be premature and have a low birth weight. The worse the infection, the worse the risk is to the baby.

Many of these health conditions can be prevented, managed or easily controlled with regular visits to your dentists and general physician. Join me again next month for the conclusion (part 3) of this blog series as we will be discussing prevention, treatment, and cures for gum disease.

_{Presented by Meridith Osborne from our 2010 November blogs.}