Flax Dental - August 2020

Flax Dental - August 2020

404-255-9080 | www.flaxdental.com

August 2020

Living Your Best Life With a Smile Dr. Flax Shares His Inspiration to Be a Cosmetic Dentist S ome assume that if you’re seeing a cosmetic dentist, then you’re only there to fix the external appearance of your teeth. That’s not true at all. At my practice, we look far beneath the surface — literally. We go beyond just

My mom used to cover her mouth every time she laughed — then, she didn’t have to. She even laughed more! All of a sudden, she wanted to go out to restaurants and all of my football games. She started imagining her potential differently. It changed her whole life and even made her a deeper part of mine. There’s a good reason why I can’t forget that moment. I see it in patients every day. When people ask me about what I find rewarding about cosmetic dentistry, my mind goes to the patients who lose weight, lose their glasses, begin sharing emotions more openly with others, start dating again, and simply live confidently after their smile has become brighter and healthier. Some people are not afraid of the dentist; they are afraid of not being accepted by others. The gentle dentist that my mother saw in high school is among my amazing inspirations for being in their field. I’ve had many wonderful mentors, but my ideal experience for my patients has always been one that includes acceptance and empathy. Any good dentist knows how to put their patients at ease and plan their treatment to give a lifetime of healthy, beautiful smiles. That’s why I began this newsletter. I know how difficult it is to go into a dentist’s office at times. We have helped patients recover from severe conditions, scared out of their minds that they’d never want to show their teeth again. We have also helped patients benefit from simple procedures that tremendously improved their smile all the same. Using this newsletter, I hope you’ll stay informed and that you’ll enjoy my experiences and explanations about how vast and curious the world of dentistry truly is, and keep a smile on your face while we’re at it. No matter what your fears may be, from treatment to costs, my whole (incredible!) team is on your side.

repairing the damage to our patients’ teeth. We understand it. I know how important planning for your long-term health is, and I’ve spent decades teaching cosmetic dentistry across the U.S. to showcase how important it is to hundreds of dentists. Having a healthy smile changes our outlook on ourselves and our entire lives. Many things inspired me to be a dentist. I don’t think I would’ve been able to guess any of them as a kid. Like a lot of boys who grew up in the ‘60s, I dreamed about joining The Beatles and becoming a firefighter or an astronaut. (And, man, did I really want to be the fifth Beatle.)

“There’s a good reason why I can’t forget that

moment. I see it in patients every day.”

But, while I’m recognized in my field these days, it really wasn’t glamour or fame that ultimately drew me into dentistry. I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it.

It was my mother’s smile.

While I wouldn’t call myself a mother’s boy, throughout my life, I’ve seen my mother struggle with the health of her teeth. There’s a lot of fear when you walk into a dentist, and nobody knew it better than my mother. As a woman who has had her mouth reconstructed four times, she had to go in all the time. Luckily, one day, she found an amazing, kind, and gentle dentist while I was in high school. I remember the first time I saw her with a glistening smile. We easily underestimate how great it feels to smile confidently, and we don’t realize how little someone smiles until they start doing it all the time.

We very much look forward to serving you. Stay safe out there!

—Hugh Flax

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Hold the Salt

Don’t Let Food Seasonings Sabotage Your Health

• For beef: bay leaf, marjoram, nutmeg, pepper, sage, thyme • For chicken: marjoram, oregano, paprika, rosemary, tarragon, chili powder • For pork: garlic, onion, sage, pepper, oregano • For fish: curry powder, dill, dry mustard, marjoram, paprika, pepper • For vegetables: pepper, parsley, cumin, dill, chives, basil, paprika Try not to use more than 1/4 teaspoon of dried spice or 3/4 teaspoon of fresh spice per pound of meat or veggies. And for the best flavor, add ground spices to your food about 15 minutes before the end of cooking time. Add whole spices at least one hour before. Remember, salt doesn’t have to be the enemy — in moderation, it helps your body stay properly hydrated and helps deliver nutrients more efficiently. But too much can quickly lead to negative side effects, and with granules that are hard to see, it can be easy to go overboard. Instead, experiment with the hundreds of incredible spices available, and you might just open up a whole new world of great flavors and healthy habits.

With so much emphasis on what foods you should eat to be healthy, it’s easy to overlook an important element of the cooking process: seasoning. You can find thousands of premixed seasonings on the market, and although adding dashes to your food seems

inconsequential, the seasoning may actually turn your healthy foods into unhealthy foods. And the main culprit, in this case, is salt.

Salt is a popular component of many premade seasonings because of its flavor-enhancing abilities. The label on your favorite mix should tell you exactly how much salt it contains. If it’s high on the ingredient list, you’re better off finding a substitute. High-sodium seasonings will promote water retention if used too liberally, which may lead to weight gain. The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 2,300 mg of salt a day. Ideally, adults would consume only 1,500 mg of salt daily. Removing salt from your seasoning repertoire may be difficult because it does enhance flavor. But alternative spices, when paired with the right food, can be great substitutes and have numerous health benefits. Here are a few.

Georgians Sharing Their Love for Others

Good News The

BLACK TEEN GRADUATE RECEIVES A CAR FROM HIS COMMUNITY Two years ago, after a tragic, sudden car accident, Traven Curry and his six siblings were left without a mother. However, since the accident, his community has stepped up to look after the kids in big ways. Carrie Inglesby, a friend of his mother’s, took Curry in to help him finish his senior year of high school. She also continued to help the family. After the accident, Inglesby always included the family in holidays, vacations, and outings, and she became extremely close with them, as did many others. When Curry became college-bound to Mercer University and graduated from high school in 2020, another woman named Valorie Walton began collecting money to help fund Curry’s first car. They raised more than $4,000 and gave Curry not just a car but also insurance. Curry shared with Channel 13 WMAZ that he was incredibly grateful, and he hopes he can “pay that kindness forward to someone else in the future.” Thank you, Georgia, for all of the wonderful good things you do! We can’t wait to share more amazing good deeds with you next month. From everyone at Flax Dental, keep up that beautiful smile.

The media has been overwhelmed with terrible and worrying news, but that doesn’t mean we should stop noticing all of the good happening around us, too. In the wise words of Thomas

Carlyle: “He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope has everything.” That’s why we want to spend time in our newsletter spreading the good news happening all around us, right here in Georgia. ‘HEARTS OF HOPE’ IN THE SKY A group of volunteer pilots has taken to the skies throughout the pandemic to spread “Hearts of Hope.” Randy Sage, one of the pilots, designed the giant heart routine, and it took weeks of practice to perfect it. The name was suggested by another pilot named Dave Romuald. In mid-June, they flew over the major Macon and Warner Robins hospitals on a Saturday morning to leave several giant white hearts in the sky — a symbol of appreciation, good health, resilience, and hope.

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Meet Molly Our New Office Manager Staff Spotlight:

Our Best Patients Refer Our Best Patients

“Flax Dental provides the highest quality dental care I have ever experienced. The entire team is so accommodating and makes you feel welcome from the moment you arrive for your first appointment. Dr. Flax is highly trained, and he made me feel extremely comfortable and confident in the treatment plan we decided upon to improve my smile. During the procedure, Dr. Flax was very considerate in allowing me to watch the entire process and constantly checking in to ask my opinion and thoughts on my bonding. I left Flax Dental feeling more confident than ever with my new smile and would highly recommend the practice to anyone! I cannot stop smiling!” —Danielle B .

Molly in the Agafay Desert, Morocco

New to the team, but not new to the scene — that’s our Molly. In fact, some of our patients

may already recognize her. For 12 years, she’s worked as a hygienist for a skilled periodontist to whom Dr. Flax has referred patients for many, many years. Over the years, as her former boss and Dr. Flax continued to work closely, Molly got to know our team. Her journey in the world of dentistry is fascinating. While she’d been a hygienist for over a decade, she’s also a former surgeon assistant and loves to work with dentists with comprehensive knowledge and expertise. So, when Dr. Flax made her a job offer and she came onboard in February, we were always confident she’d adapt fast to our office — of course, we didn’t know how fast things would change for all of us! Still, Molly has gone above and beyond for everyone at Flax Dental. Since the start of the pandemic, she’s been assisting Dr. Flax chairside for emergency treatments while limited staff have been allowed in the office. Molly says that experience has been awesome. Between the periodontist and Dr. Flax’s offices, she spent a few years at another restorative practice but the standard at that practice wasn’t quite the same. “Even before Dr. Flax reached out to me, I had really missed working with a comprehensive dentist,” Molly says. It didn’t take long for her to notice the differences at Flax Dental. While working at our office during the shutdown, she started noticing that the treatments were taking longer than she’s been used to. Curious, she started helping him out, and she says she’s been excited by how much she’s learned about “things I’d never heard of before.” In Molly’s spare time, you can probably catch her watching ESPN, exercising, or talking with her daughter, who just moved to Los Angeles to study for a career in the film industry. Also, Molly has taken some amazing trips! Over Christmas, she spent three weeks between Europe and Africa, exploring Paris, Amsterdam, Belgium, and Marrakesh; she even found herself in a desert camp by the end.

Protein-Packed

Breakfast Burritos

You can make these easy freezer breakfast burritos in under an hour! They’re healthy, delicious, and perfect for mornings on the go!

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp pepper • 1/2 tsp paprika • 1/2 tsp garlic powder • 6 eggs • 12 8-inch tortillas • 12 slices cheddar cheese

• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided • 1 medium onion, diced • 1 bell pepper, diced • 16 oz ground chicken • 16 oz sausage • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and sauté. Remove from pan and set aside. 2. In the same pan over medium heat, add chicken, sausage, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Cook for 3–4 minutes before stirring to get a brown crust on the bottom. Then, stir and

continue cooking until meat is cooked through. 3. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs together.

4. In another skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Pour in eggs and scramble them, cooking until no liquid remains. Set aside. 5. Lay out the tortillas with one slice of cheddar cheese on each. 6. Place an even amount of vegetables, meat, and eggs on every tortilla. Wrap each burrito and enjoy immediately or wrap in foil and freeze for another morning!

Next time you come by, make sure to say hi!

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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

5673 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd. Ste. 430, Atlanta, GA 30342 404-255-9080 www.flaxdental.com

Want a Brighter, More Confident Smile? Don’t Know Where to Start? Send in Your Pictures and Have a Personalized Zoom Call With Dr. Flax With a FREE Virtual Smile Consultation! Visit: www.flaxdental.com/smile

Inside

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Living Your Best Life With a Smile

Is Seasoning Sabotaging Your Health?

The Good News

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Meet Molly, Our New Office Manager!

Protein-Packed Breakfast Burritos

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Why We Still Need Travel Agencies

Get the Most Out of Your Trip With the Expert Advice of a Travel Agent

They can lower costs. Enlisting the help of a travel agency isn’t as expensive as the average customer might think. Travel advisors receive a small commission from airlines and hotels when they book your trip, which allows them to keep your travel costs down. Every agency charges different fees based on the package you purchase, but on average, you can expect to pay around $75 per traveling person for an agent to book your trip. With all the added experiences and deals they can find, this cost easily pays for itself and then some. They simplify the complicated process. The No. 1 reason people use a travel agency is because planning a trip can be overwhelming. You have to research the location, book flights, plan ground transportation, secure lodging, discover activities, and find restaurants. If you don’t travel often or are going to a destination you’re unfamiliar with, then tackling everything yourself leaves room for mistakes, stress, and disappointment. A travel advisor makes the entire process as simple as possible so you can enjoy your vacation to the fullest.

Once upon a time, you couldn’t plan a vacation without using a travel agent. They would book your flights and hotels, provide information about local activities, and point you to the best sites to see. But with the advent of the internet, it seemed travel agencies would become obsolete. However, these services are actually far from disappearing: Nearly 20% of travelers still use an agency. Because the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people travel for the foreseeable future, travel advisors, as they’re now called, are more valuable than ever. They give expert advice. If you want to get the most out of your trip, then you should talk to someone who knows exactly how to give you that. Travel advisors undergo training and gain experience with different policies, customs, and travel regulations to get you where you want to go. They will be your go-to experts for what you should do when you get to your destination, especially if you’re traveling to a foreign country or overseas.

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