September 2011 Newsletter

What´s New at Savon

• Quote Of The Month
• Contest Winners
• Keeping Fit With Jourdin Hendershot - How Can Body Piercing/Tattoos Affect Your Health?
• Grandma's Kitchen with Grandma C. - Roasted Chicken Breast With Veggies In Foil
• To Your Health - Causes And Cures For Bad Breath
• News You Can Use - News From Inside Your Dental Plan
• Fun Facts - Crazy, Zany Facts About Sports We Bet You Didn't Know
• Dental Talk - A Member Chat Forum
• Insurance Insight - Twelve Questions To Ask Your Health Coverage
• Investing Made Simple - A View From A Lay Persons Eyes

◄ Back to What´s New At Savon - Monthly Newsletter Home Page

Quote Of The Month:  You know you live in Arizona when the four seasons are:  tolerable, hot, really hot, and are you freakin' kidding me?!  (Author Unknown)

Congratulations To:

J. Voltz of Surprise Arizona  Winner of our August early payment drawing for 1 free additional year of membership.

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

Keeping Fit With Jourdin Hendershot:

How can body piercing/tattoos affect your health? Body Piercing and tattoos are very popular, but they can lead to health risks.  The majority of the people who decide to get body piercing and/or tattoos are teenagers and young adults.  Many do it to fit in with their friends, make a statement about themselves, mark a special moment in their live or the death of someone special. Before getting a body piercing/tattoo you might want to do some research on the place(s) you think you will be going…

1. Is it reputable?  Has anyone you know has work done there before?  How was their experience?


2. Is it professional?  Depending on the location on the body where the piercing is done, piercing can be very personal.  How professional are the employees?  The last thing you want is sexual harassment!


3. Is it clean?  Inserting metal into the body can pose many health risks.  Make sure their tools any the jewelry being place are very sterile.

1. Viral infections:  Hepatitis B(HBV) Hepatitis C (HCV) Hepatitis D (HDV) *Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver.  Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) *Aids is a disease of human immune system, caused by the retrovirus HIV.


2. Bacterial Infections:  Impetigo, tetanus, syphilis.  Impetigo in an inflammatory skin disease.  The skin becomes crusted, this occurs around the mouth and nostrils.  Tetanus id a disease of the central nervous system.  Syphilis is a chronic venereal disease marked by lesion that involves any organ or tissue.


3. Fungal infections:  Sporotrix schenckii transmitting sporotrichosis and Saksenaea vasiformis transminting zygomycosis.   Sporotrichosis is a chronic granulomatous infection of the skin and lymph node, marked by abscesses, nodules, and ulcers.  Zygomycosis is a blood vessel-invading infection.  The infection involves the lungs, skin and other organs.

• May not heal properly
• May be painful
• Tissue swelling
• Allergic reaction to the metal
• Scars
• Piercing around mouth can damage teeth

Grandma's Kitchen With Grandma C.:

Roasted chicken breast with veggies in foil. This recipe makes separate individual meals. It's quick and it's easy! Ingredients 2 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 cup of sliced mixed veggies, raw (any combination of your favorite veggies will work) 1 jar of prepared spaghetti sauce Grated Parmesan Cheese

To Your Health:

Bad breath?  Causes and cures.

• A dirty mouth - Mouth odor come from either food you eat or bacteria that's already there.  Mouth odor is like any other body odor–the result of microbes living in the body giving off byproducts.  bacteria that normally live in the mouth interact with food particles, blood, tissue etc., to create stinky sulfur compounds.  If you don‘t clean properly, the bacteria builds up and "stinky breath".


• A mouth out of balance - Gum disease and dry mouth are condition that allow bacteria and odor to get out of control quickly.  Gum disease causes bloody gums, creating more elements for those pesky bacteria to putrefy.  But it is a dry mouth that is the more common cause of bad breath.  Saliva helps flush out the mouth, keeping bacteria moving so they don‘t settle down and multiply, while drier mouth is a breeding ground for bacteria.


• Stinky foods - If it stinks going in, chances are it‘s going to stink coming out.  The obvious offenders are onions, garlic, alcohol and tobacco.  And foods don‘t only create a stench in the mouth.  Plant oils and other byproducts are absorbed into your bloodstream and are actually released via the lungs 3 to 4 hours later.


• Not enough carbs - High-protein, low-carb diets cause your body to burn stored fats for fuel instead of carbs and can lead to a condition called ketosis.  As the fat burns ketones build up and some are released through your breath and unfortunately they don‘t smell particularly good.


• Illness - Bad breath can also be a sign of a more serious illness.  Common causes of bad breath are diabetes or gastro esophageal reflux disease.  Less common causes are liver or kidney disease/

• Keep your mouth clean - Gum, breath mints and mouthwash won‘t cure bad breath.  The way to get rid of bad breath for most of us is to brush, floss and tongue scrape twice a day.  Yes, for fresh breath, the key is tongue scraping.  Tongue scraping is the only way to get back far enough to get the bacteria that causes bad breath moving.


• Keep you mouth moist - The best way to keep the right saliva balance is to drink plenty of water or liquids.  To prevent dry mouth in winter, use a humidifier.  If you have sinus problems try using a saline nasal spray to keep your nasal passages moist.


• Be careful of what you eat - Avoid stinky foods.  A couple cups of tea a day can help with bad breath for some people.  You can also chew on parsley, eat cranberries and chew sugarless gums that contain Xylotol.



• Add some carbs to your diet - Apparently the only way to help the ketosis caused by low-carb diets is… to eat some carbs.  Try some fruits, vegetables, whole grains and frosted doughnuts.


• See your Dentist or Doctor - If tongue scraping and adding carbs doesn‘t work, check with your dentist or doctor to see if he or she suspects a more serious cause. Diabetes, GERD or other diseases require specific diagnoses and treatments.

News You Can Use:  News From Inside Your Dental Plan

Conversion plan coming soon!

Fun Facts:

Crazy, zany facts about sports we bet you didn't know!

• Tug of War was an Olympic event between 1900 and 1920


• The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card


• The state sport of Maryland is Jousting


• The average life span of a major league baseball is 5-7 pitches


• Pittsburgh is the only city where all major sports teams have the same colors: Black and gold


• People in nudist colonies play volleyball more than any other sport


• From a complete stop, a human is capable of outrunning a Formula One Racecar for about 30 feet


• At 120 miles per hour, a Formula One car generates so much down force that it can drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel

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; The Flu Bug-It Lurks In Places You Might Not Think Of Mouth Modification: Taking Self Expression To A Whole New Level Myths about ADHD Gum Disease And Your Immune System Should You Fill Rotten Baby Teeth

Insurance Insight: - Twelve questions to ask your health coverage
Brought to you courtesy of June Shaffer with Arizona Life lines.

Part 2 of 6

3. Does your insurance company reserve the right to raise your premiums based on your individual claims?  If so, a company could raise your rates so high you could not afford coverage!  Rate increases should be based on geographical costs or group classification (sex or age or plan selected), not on any one person's claims.  The average HMO or insurance company adjusts rates once a year, usually on your anniversary date.  Association plans generally guarantee their rates for the first 12 months but can raise rates based on claims by as much as 70% after the first 12 months.  Regular insurance carriers cannot single a policyholder out for rate hikes based on claims, nor can an HMO.

4. Can your insurance company cancel you by giving a 60-day notice, or only if they cancel all policies in your general classification (again, usually age, sex or geographical location)?  If you develop a long- term illness, some less-reputable companies will evaluate the liability and cancel your coverage, leaving you uninsured and uninsurable.  Certain medical conditions can preclude getting health coverage for five to 10 years - or ever, depending on the severity and recurrence potential of the condition.  Other conditions can result in premium "rate-ups" of as much as 100%.  A good carrier cannot drop your coverage due to a condition which occurred itself after the policy went into effect, so long as that condition and any symptoms did not exist prior to applying for the coverage.

Investing made simple - a view from a lay persons eyes

There are many options to venture if you want to invest.  We are all trying to plan and save for a later time and gain high rewards.  In the old days we may have used a shoe box, piggy bank or under the mattress.

The Stock markets have been anything but normal the last few months so do your homework.  The banks financial advisor and brokerage consultant could be your best friend.  These are the people who have experience so don`t be afraid to ask questions.

Bonds are still like they were in the old days…  slow but reliable.  Fixed rate savings bonds can pay up to 4% (rates may vary) and are usually available at the Post Office.

Mutual funds are shares that are bought from many different companies.  This is called diversified and I like these because you don`t have all your eggs in one basket.  Retirement funds should be started early even if you only put in a small amount at a time.  Please check out the expense ratio of mutual funds because that will decrease your earnings.  A company can charge you 1.5%- 2.5% for managing your money each quarter.  Understand that you are paying for their knowledge but don't hesitate to shop around and try to get a lower rate.  There are also load fund charges, (i.e.: 5%).  This a charge for just investing your money in a mutual fund.  Stay away from these and search for no load fund.  With your money in an IRA, making an early withdraw from that IRA could and will cost you a 8-10 % penalty.

Investments can help carry us thru difficult times and into the future.  Invest in your finances, health and dental needs early in the life.  Our choices (financial, health, dental, etc.), are carried on by our children and their children.  We as adults must be good role models for younger people.  I believe the investments you make in early in life, whether it be money, time or work will pay dividends in in the future.