Mouth Breathing

 

If you know Dr. Tommy Spears, you probably know him as a prominent local dentist. If you have been around here a long time, you might remember him as a standout athlete at Maryville High School.

I first got to know Dr. Spears because of a mutual love of basketball. Well into what most people consider old age, we were both playing pickup basketball games on a regular basis. He and I played in a game at MHS on Sunday evening for years.

Being quite a bit older than him and not growing up here, I didn’t know what an athlete he had been growing up. I just knew that he could hoop in his 30’s and 40’s. Our friendship grew over the years and I now consider him a close friend.

One thing that not enough people know about Dr. Spears is that he has become a noted expert on the impact of mouth breathing on childhood development.

Through the years, he and I have had numerous conversations about this, particularly as it relates to TMJ problems. He led an interprofessional group studying oral health and mouth breathing that I was part of.

Along the way, Dr. Spears became passionate about the possibilities of helping people from birth through old age, not just with their dental care, but with the complete spectrum of oral health.

Let’s go back to that part about mouth breathing for a bit. Oral habits start at birth. Most new mothers understand that suckling is important for infant development. Breast feeding is best but not everyone can do that and not everyone chooses that and that’s OK.

Bottles from way back had nipples that were not anatomically correct in any way. More modern nipples are better. Those oral behaviors are important for the development of the nasal passages and palate.

We also know that allergies are a lot bigger problem than they were not that many years ago.  That means that young children develop chronic rhinitis, stopping up the nasal passages and promoting breathing through the mouth instead of the nose.

There are some structural parts of the mouth, chiefly under the tongue and the upper lip, that inhibit proper development of the mouth. All that leads to mouth breathing, which leads to a whole host of physical and developmental problems.

This is where Dr. Spears comes in. As an extension of his dental practice, he established Tennessee Orofacial Myology, whose purpose is to address those issues. Tennessee Orofacial Myology provides a wide range of services, including education, exercise, appliances, and, when needed, minor surgical interventions.

The program is designed to reduce the incidence, severity, and consequences of mouth breathing.  The ultimate goal is to produce healthier adults. And the results with early intervention are amazing.

Not just oral health is impacted. Proper growth and development of the palate, nasal passages, and face are promoted. Posture, neck, and TMJ problems are hugely impacted. The incidence and severity of sleep apnea are reduced.

Think about this—a child that is a nasal breather makes better grades and is overall healthier. An adult that has remained a nasal breather will be healthier, happier, and more successful.  I know, it sounds like a stretch, but it’s true. And medical evidence backs it up.

And it all starts at birth. Questions? Talk to your pediatrician or dentist.  There is too much that can be done for this to be ignored.

Leadership

We talk a lot about leadership in sports.  We don’t talk enough about it in the corporate world, but that’s another topic for another day.

“Be a leader” is an admonition heard almost daily in team sports.  But what does it mean, really? To me, leadership is helping others in performing at their best. All leadership implies enabling others. To do less is management, not leadership.

Some people talk about leadership “style.” I don’t. Style implies you can copy it and thus become it. Leadership is more who you are. Leadership is more of a mindset. Leadership is something you have to work at.

I like to categorize leadership into four groups: Performance Leader, Encourager, Builder, Role Model.

The Performance Leader is often the star of the team. They are the one that you notice, the one that carries the load. Maybe it comes naturally to them but a lot of times, they have put in an immense amount of work to get that good—work that most people don’t see.

Performance Leaders are accountable and coachable. Most, but not all, are confident yet not arrogant. Arrogance diminishes their leadership impact. They’re good but they want you to be good too.

The Encourager is the one that lifts you up. The one that tells you that you CAN do this. The Encourager is often not the Performance Leader, but when they are, they are doubly effective.

Encouragers see the potential in everyone and do what they can to bring it out. They make great teammates (and great coaches). Aim high. Achieve your dreams.

Each morning, about 40 young physical therapists from around the country get a text message from me. Every day. 365. Some for years. Always something positive, something encouraging. One of the recent ones was a quote from that grand philosopher Steve Harvey that said “If you see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand.”

We need more Encouragers in this world.

Builders do the work. Offensive linemen on a football team are Builders. Their work is unsung and largely unrecognized. Only when one of them jumps offside do we know their number. Back row on a volleyball team, defenders on a soccer pitch, right fielders, first leg on a relay team. Those are Builders.

We don’t really notice them but without them, the team will fail.

Role Models are most often the quiet ones. They let their work speak for itself. Here’s the thing though—they hold themselves to a higher standard than they do anyone else.

Role Models work harder. They pay more attention to the little things, like always being on time, eating right, never taking shortcuts, listening and learning constantly.

Role Models aren’t noticed until they are. We don’t think about them but then we figure it out and realize that we want to be like them. How they carry themselves, How they behave.

And most of all, how they treat others.

You might notice the absence of the Motivators from this list. I’ve never cared much for the rah-rah people. I would have run through a brick wall for my high school football coach but he was quiet and rarely yelled. I would have busted bricks to please him, because he had convinced me that I could do it.

So, what are you?

Being Healthy

 

If you read this space regularly, this is gonna be one of those “I’ve heard it all before” columns.  I’m recycling an old sermon. Not literally, but the same ideas and advice.

It’s all about being healthy. A little background—I was riding bikes recently when someone I just met tried to guess my age. Let’s just say she missed it badly. I think it was more her eyesight than anything else. I guess, from a distance, you can’t see the wrinkles and all that.

Anyway, I do put a lot of effort into staying healthy—not necessarily younger, just active at my age, any age.

I believe you should exercise daily. That doesn’t mean a 50 mile bike ride or hours in the gym. It doesn’t mean hiking the Appalachian Trail or swimming the English Channel. Although those are worthy endeavors, they’re not necessary. And definitely not for everyone.

You just need to MOVE! I really don’t care what you do (I really don’t) as long as you just do something to move your body. I do think it helps if you get your heart rate up a bit and a little sweat along the way never hurt anybody.

I’ve talked about the resources we have around here. Take advantage of those! If you just go for a walk, that’s great. All you need is a good pair of shoes. No fancy equipment. No personal trainer.

We don’t really do that enough. I’ve talked about green space here before. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind (and it’s backed up by tons of research) that our emotional health is improved by a walk in the woods.

You don’t have to go far to find that. I’ve told you about Jarvis Park. Minutes from downtown Maryville. Twenty-six miles of Greenbelt lacing through our cities. And if you can find a more serene stretch of downtown walking trail than the segment of the Greenbelt that runs from the tennis courts at Sandy Springs Park to Montvale Road, I want to see it.

Sure, at some point, you may want to take it up a notch or two. I’ve preached about strength training as you get older—particularly important for women in the fight against osteoporosis. And things like Yoga and Tai Chi help keep us moving.

I talk often about what you should and shouldn’t eat. The best and easiest advice to follow is avoid white sugar and white flour. And High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Those things will kill you. They are at the very top of what is called the “Glycemic Index,” which means avoid them at all costs.

Yeah, most of us eat more carbs than we should, but after a lifetime of a high carb/low fat diet, I can blame my high blood pressure and atherosclerosis on all those carbs. I just hope that a drastic switch in my diet over the past ten years makes a difference.

Sunscreen. You’ve gotta use it. A lot of cancers start with skin cancer, which then migrates to body parts that we can’t live without. Sunscreen even in winter, when the sun’s rays are still dangerous. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again, and again), have a primary care physician that knows you by name. That knows your medical history. Have honest conversations with that doctor. They’re trained to

And if you smoke, well, dadgummit, you’ve got to find a way to stop. There’s just no fudge room there. It. Will. Kill. You. Sooner or later but probably sooner.

Helene

 

Sometimes an event happens that is so catastrophic, so tragic, that normal activities seem even abnormal.

I’m talking about the flooding and devastation last week in upper East Tennessee and western North Carolina. By now, you’ve probably seen all the media reports on how horrible it is.

Last week, we got about 8 inches of rain at my house, which is an extraordinary amount for such a short period of time. Yet, in Asheville, they got over two feet! All the rain that hit the mountains quickly traveled down into the valleys below, creating floods at never-heard-of levels.

I knew that Erwin and Newport were hit hard but it really hit home when I saw a video of helicopters evacuating patients from the rooftop of the Unicoi County Hospital. I had heard about it and sort of assumed it was an orderly removal of patients from a helicopter pad.

It wasn’t. It wasn’t an orderly evacuation. It was a rescue.

It hit home about how important our hospitals are, even small, community hospitals in maybe remote regions.  Those hospitals serve an important purpose and are an essential asset to their communities.

It also hits home that not everyone has access to quality health care. That there are doctors and nurses and physical therapists working in places that don’t have the amenities found in bigger cities. Health care professionals that choose to live in underserved and rural communities.

I saw videos of entire homes being swept away by raging floodwaters. Nasty, churning, brown water that is powerful beyond our imagination. Trailers are particularly susceptible but I saw entire homes swept off their foundations and quickly broken apart.

Homes where the contents will be so scattered that the families that lived in them will never find any evidence of what they left behind in. In one particularly macabre scene, I saw a video of a casket floating down the river.

I saw bridges that you might think could hold up to most anything crumble as though they were made of Tinker Toys. Can you imagine how long it will take Interstate 40 through the Smokies to be fully restored?

I saw a map of access to Asheville. All roads in and out were closed. No power. No cell service.  I read one story of a fellow who hiked 11 miles to check on his parents, finding stranded folks all along the way as roads were either destroyed or impassible.

I heard about the Tennessee National Guard rescuing people and dropping massive loads of supplies off in places where only helicopters could reach. It’s often been said that in the event of a crisis, look for the people running toward the problem.  There seems to have been plenty of those.

I’ve seen a bunch of local folks and businesses gathering supplies and arranging for transportation to areas without water, power, food, or shelter. This won’t be a one-time, short-term thing. These folks are going to need a lot of help for a long time.

I would ask that you open your hearts, your wallets, and maybe even your homes to those that so desperately need help right now.