Dr. Kathleen A. Schenk

04/19/2023

Looking for a reliable source for information on oral/dental health?
The Ontario Dental Association has a consumer magazine, now online, with valuable information.
connect with it here:
https://online.flippingbook.com/view/493447893/
The current issue has tips on healthy snacks, school lunches, va**ng and aligner therapy (orthodontics).

Smile Magazine Fall 2022/Winter 2023 issue

03/29/2023

Wondering what the recent Federal budget will do for your dental bills?

Initial skim through shows some real positives:

Benefits for families including no co-pays for households under $70,000 income
Money for access to care for people in remote locations or with disabilities
Money for research to ensure that benefits are being applied to where the need is greatest.

Key is that you cannot be receiving dental benefits either from an employer or any other government program.

Thanks to the Canadian Dental Association who highlighted key areas that have been recognized in this budget.

As always, the fine print is everything. The government is tendering a contract to third parties (read insurance companies) to administer the final plan.

Stay tuned….

In the meantime, keep brushing and don’t delay urgent and/or necessary dental care!

03/04/2023

Are you a data j***y? Do you watch CP24 or CPAC?
Neither do I, but I am interested and concerned about how the Federal Governments proposed investment in oral health care benefits will impact my community and the country as a whole.
People who have thought about this a lot, even before the announcement, have contributed to this position paper from the Canadian Dental Association. You may be surprised to learn that it is not all about money.
Have a flip through as you recover from digging yourself out of the snow!

02/23/2023

PART 2:

HOPE IS EVERYTHING.On this , I have a message for carers and for everyone everywhere. Please help me in my mission to raise awareness of...

02/23/2023

https://youtu.be/RFQ4-kDr_N8
Everyone carries a burden and has a story. Not everyone has the talent and courage to do something about it.
This happened to someone that I know. It could happen to someone in your family. Please watch and learn about encephalitis.

Today is ! 🧠Please help me raise awareness of this neurological disease that can affect ANYONE. Taking the time to learn about it means...

02/19/2023

How did you spend your Family Day weekend?
I connected with my mom making an old recipe for authentic Viennese strudel. We made cherry-cheese and poppyseed, both favourites when my grandmother would have the family over for ‘strudel eating day’ in the winter.

02/10/2023

Ready for a family sized giggle to start the weekend?
Reposting this Zombie video from the American Dental Association

This Halloween, the Putrid Posse is coming after the mouths of kids everywhere. We need your help to stop them — and Stop Zombie Mouth! Team up with PopCap —...

02/10/2023

Looking for signs of spring…or at least the end of winter?
People that know me know that I am still looking for signs of winter!
However, if you are of the mind that this has been cold enough long enough know that I have heard the cardinal sing!
YES! For the last two years my first ‘sighting’ of the cardinal’s spring territorial whistle has been February 9. He doth not disappoint. Today is February 10.
FYI I was working yesterday and did not get an opportunity to listen for his call.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS . THE END OF WINTER HAS BEEN FORTOLD…more accurate than the groundhog? You decide.

02/06/2023

I have started reading a book called ‘Younger Next Year’, seemingly a contradiction in terms but in it the authors argue that what we do, our behaviours, can either age us faster or slower. Indeed by taking account of what we eat, how we exercise, how we connect socially we can profoundly effect our physical, mental and emotional health….and can even be physiologically ‘younger’ next year.

One of the authors, a very successful American internist (medical specialty, not ‘intern’) talks about the American medical system as being broken. Sound familiar?! He talks about the need for a ‘health care system’, not a ‘medical system’ that we only connect with when we are sick. An effective health care system would include a long term relationship with our health care providers. These people would know us, help be our ‘coaches’ for a healthy lifestyle, detect early signs of disease and steer us to corrective action or early treatment.

In dentistry, I think that we have historically been very good at this long term approach to oral health care. I have definitely seen the benefits to my patients, many who have aged into their 80’s and 90’s with little change to there teeth and function from 20 or 30 years earlier.

One of my patients years ago who had recently immigrated asked me at what age most people lose their teeth and need dentures. The answer is: maybe never! But only with long term ‘dental health care’! And I would argue that, where possible, a long term relationship with your dentist and hygienist is part of that.

01/30/2023

What’s for breakfast?
According to research quoted by Leslie Beck, a nutritionist writing for the Globe and Mail, breakfast may be the most important meal of the day to add protein for:
Muscle function
Curbing appetite
Helping in blood sugar control
Why do I care?
What I see as the most common breakfast is a coffee and a bagel or muffin (or doughnut) at your local grab and go coffee stand; or cereal or toast at home on the run out the door. Carbohydrates only, especially refined carbohydrates like toast, muffins, cereal, can cause a rebound effect of dropped blood sugar mid-morning leading to an increased snacking habit and… you guessed it! - potential for increased decay and gum disease.
Adding nut butters to that toast/bagel, or cheese, or having an egg (seriously people- 30 seconds the microwave, ask me how), or serving of higher protein yogurt (plain and add your own berries and nuts or seeds) will prevent those midmorning munchies and add more nutrition to your diet.

11/18/2022

Wondering what has happened to the Canada Dental Benefit? Keep on reading! But don’t cancel your treatment or other coverage just yet!

The Benefit has just become law. It currently covers children up to the age of 12 and is administered by the CRA, much as CERB was.

For the details, please access this Government of Canada website.

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/dental-benefit.html

Parents will still need to pay the dental office directly, but at least you have freedom of choice! At this time,you do not need to go to a government clinic.

The benefits are retroactive to October.

Please read the fine print!

Know that the dental community and the provincial and federal associations that represent us are actively engaged, not to get the ‘best deal’ for dentists, but to help the government understand what the needs are and what has worked…and what has not worked cost effectively!

We want any public funds to be maximized to the benefit of our patients and the public and not lost in unnecessary administrative costs…..

Stay tuned

The new interim Canada Dental Benefit provides financial support to eligible families who earn less than $90,000 per year and do not have access to a private dental insurance plan for their children under 12 years old.

07/16/2022

Pandemic factoid: did you know that prior to the Spanish flu the bathroom was like any room in the house: probably wooden floor, wooden cabinetry, wooden toilet seat. The need for disinfection the came with trying to contain the spread of the flu led to a reconsideration of materials to be used in the bathroom.
As you enjoy the lovely tile work at Dent Leslieville you can be reminded of the legacy of that pandemic.
I wonder what the legacy of covid will be?