Earlier this spring Ruby, a dentist's daughter and illustrious recently graduated Sion 8th grader (Okay, now she is officially an alumnus.) made a frantic afternoon call to her favorite dentist apprising her (mother) of the fact that she busted off her front tooth in a Ruby vs swing set pole mishap. All was well, there was no blood after all but her beautiful front tooth was MIA in the wood chips and in fact, the Spring Dance, was a mere month away. What to do. Dr. Sheridan rushed over because in these instances of tooth breakage or avulsion (the whole tooth knocked out of the socket) rapid repair is the best to save the tooth in the short term and to prevent continued problems into adulthood with the affected tooth.

I learned a lot from Ellen Sheridan on the subject of tooth trauma. It is great information to have in my line of work and great to have in yours, as well (that of parent!).

Primarily, the first thing to do in the case of breakage and/or avulsion is to try to find the fragment or whole tooth. In the case of avulsion, the best course of action is to rinse off immediately the tooth if there is obvious dirt on it, and then put the tooth right back into the socket. It will be in a sense splinted into place and will be maintained in the proper environment for emergency repair. If that is simply not physically possibly due to the child not allowing you put it in the injury spot because of pain or fear or age and understanding the next best place for you to store the tooth or fragment is in the saliva environment. If your kiddo won't keep it in his/her mouth or is very young then the best thing is to pop it into your mouth and keep it there until you get to the dentist. If just a piece of the tooth chips off and you are able to find it, putting it in the child's mouth or your mouth is still the best option. Your dentist may be able to bond it back in place quickly.

That brings us to the little topic of prevention. What do they say about prevention? An ounce of that stuff is worth a pound of cure. I like those odds. Dr. Sheridan and I, both are fans of protective gear. We are all very accustomed to helmets for bike riding and knee and ankle supports for sports such as volleyball and soccer, not to mention all pads for catchers and football players. Those things are just a matter of "suiting up". Mouth guards for all contact sports should be considered "part of the uniform". Football, soccer, lacrosse.. consider those flying elbows and high kicks. It might save a great deal of pain and time and money both in the now and in the future.

All of this information comes to you with well wishes for a safe and pleasant summer and in hope that emergency dental services are not in your summer future! nor mine! See you all in August!

It is primary lunchtime and as I sit here and type the low roar of the kinder, first and second graders is outside my door. They are enjoying their lunch and the time to sit and visit with each other. Since my nook here at school is so close to the kitchen happenings I have loved watching and hearing all the lunch buzz. Last week when Chef Jackie served the bbq pork sandwich some of my "regular brushing brigade girls" came in and declared it the "best lunch ever"... and I thought the tomato soup/grilled cheese lunch was the best! I think it is important to note that this is probably the third time Chef Jackie has had the bbq pork sandwich on the menu and yet this was the first time I had heard such rave reviews. I think that speaks to the idea that kids (and hey, parents, too!) often need to try something or be exposed to something more than once or twice before they can decide if they like it or not! Give peas a chance. I say. oh, okay, I read that on a tee shirt!

On a similar garden/foodie note... Chef Jackie put out her kitchen peelings and waste in the compost bin which was provided by the Going Green garden iThink class! That will be a good start to the compost pile which will help make for a beautiful garden which will give us back some beautiful food for our lunches.

There is a new crop of head lice in primary grades. We did battle together in the fall and truly thought we had it licked. And perhaps we did. It is impossible to know if a one case was not completely resolved and the cycle started anew or if head lice was picked up again elsewhere. And, it is not the important thing. The important point to remember is that head lice is a nuisance.. not a disease. It means work and patience but it can be rid. My recommendations would be to be overly cautious by doing frequent head checking in all family members if there is a current outbreak in your students class, keeping long hair pulled back in pony tails, stress no sharing of cold weather head implements (that's hats, folks), combs, brushes, scarves, hoodies, the like and perhaps consider switching to a shampoo with tea tree oil in it. Tea tree is a natural deterrent and actually is the main ingredient in some of the OTC non-toxic shampoos.

As far as treatment which route to go has to be a personal choice, whether to opt for the conventional pesticidal shampoos or to try natural shampoos which are available must be your decision but do use the shampoo of your choice as directed. The most important thing in every case is the diligent removal of the nits. (This is where the patience and work spoken of earlier comes in). After initial shampoo, work with either a fine toothed nit comb (metal one probably works best) and/or your fingers to pull off the nits one by one. Concentrate on the ones that are attached to a single hair shaft closer to the scalp (within 1/4 inch or so). Those are likely to be the viable ones that have yet to hatch. During these tedious sessions, give your child (and yourself) a break (Besides, you got laundry to do!). Twenty minute sessions with time to get up and wiggle and do something else will make the overall job more successful, very likely. Day 1 will likely be an all day affair of nit removal. For the rest of the week daily sessions to continue the search for "missed nits" will result in you bagging some hiders. Everyday there should be fewer and fewer. We do not have a no-nit policy at school meaning if you have done a shampoo treatment and made a good effort at nit removal then your child can come back to school. Keep on working on it though. Daily nit removal followed by re-shampoo in 7 days. As the cycle of nit to nymph (juvenile louse) to adult goes through a week long cycle the re-treatment on day 7 will hopefully kill any hatched lice of a "missed nit". Then I would recommend continued head checks and observation.

Other things..

*wash linens, coats, sweaters, hair scrunchies, anything soft that can harbor a wayward parasite and can safely be tossed in the laundry, on hot water and in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes.

*Refrain from shampooing as normal for a few days immediately post treatment. Do not use conditioner or cream rinse after using the treatment shampoo.

*vacuum carpets, sofas, car seats, etc. Just a cursory vacuum will do. Lice truly do not live longer than 24 hours off their host and that route of transmission is not as likely as the usual which is close head to head contact such as sleeping in the same bed and snuggling on the sofa and working closely head to head as in play or desk work.

*Put away in a plastic, sealed garbage bag and soft items that cannot be readily thrown in the laundry.

*There's probably more.. so I am going to attach a link. http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/common/head_lice.html#

There are many resources out there. Find one that you find very useful and/or call or email me with further questions.

I was invited to spend a few minutes in each kindergarten classroom yesterday to talk about healthy snacking. Kinders still have and need that mid-morning snack that takes them up to lunch with brain power and body power. When I visit with them about snacks my main goal is to introduce a few new things or new ways of having familiar faves. I don't get into great detail about the nutrients in food that our body needs. I tend to keep it simple and talk about habits in our daily actions and how habits are something we do over and over sometimes without thinking too much about it. Healthy habit rabbit is a fun and feisty fellow who chooses fruits (and veggies!) first. Ask your kinder about the snacks I shared in "try me bites"! Look for a colored picture of healthy habit rabbit in homefolders this week!

And seeing is essential to learning!

I am doing vision screening on kinders this week. You will hear from me if a referral for a more thorough exam, by an eye care doctor, is necessary. First Graders and Third Graders will be screened for basic visual acuity soon, as well. If your child exhibits any of the following a complete exam is a good idea.. tearing or excessively watery eyes especially when trying to read or focus, drooping lids, frequent styes or swollen lids, loses place often during reading, displays short attention span in reading or copying, frequently omits words, writes up or down hill on paper, complaints of seeing double, squints, closes or covers one eye when trying to focus, extreme head tilt while working at a desk, holds book closely or works closely to a desk or work surface, excessive blinking while reading or working on a desk task, complaints of headaches or even queasy stomach, excessive eye rubbing and easy fatigue. This list is not exhaustive (okay, maybe it is.. :) It's a long one, I know!) but can give you direction in thinking about your child's overall health. Keeping eyes healthy can lead to a better school day and more enjoyable learning life!

Hi and good health to all brave readers. This is my first attempt at blogging and think it is just the right venue to relay pertinent school health information to our community. I'll try for a good mix of fun facts, notable news and sweet sentiments, as well. Sweet sentiments abound in my little health office here at Sion. Every day I am lucky to have interactions with students across the levels that make me smile and glad to be here.

This year has started off much smoother than last year (remember swine flu?!). I have been hearing some murmurings of vague viral illnesses (low grade fever, stomach complaints, headache) in some of the intermediate grades. As always, if your student has a fever, keep them home for 24 hours fever-free (without the aid of fever reducing medication). Just a good rule of thumb for contagion control. Same goes for vomiting and that is for the comfort and well-being of all.

New immunization requirement for incoming 8th graders (mandated by the state of Missouri). A booster Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) within the past two years is now required. I have been in contact with you if I am in need of this record for your 8th grader. Our fax number is 816-753-0806.

I will be teaching health classes to 6th graders within the iThink schedule during 2nd quarter. I look forward to this and will send home more content information in the near future (or check back here!). I love this communication mode.