9 Semi-Subtle Signs You Need To See Your Dentist SOON
I don't know about y'all, but personally, I can name about three trillion things I would rather do than go to the dentist. I mean, my dentist and his team are nice enough, but between laying on my back, looking at those tools, and holding my breath to hear if there's any news that I'd prefer to avoid—it can all be overwhelming, a tad bit uncomfortable…oh, and not exactly the cheapest, either. Apparently, I am not alone because it's been reported that only 58 percent of folks see their own dentist on an annual basis. That's not good either because, aside from the fact that we need our teeth to eat (and look presentable), there are all sorts of health issues that are tied to poor oral hygiene including cardiovascular disease, respiratory infections, diabetes, infertility, and even dementia.
And while I'm not trying to scare you into seeing your dentist, what I will say is the last time I waited and then went, I had to get the root canal from hell. And you know what? It could've been avoided if I had simply not skipped out on my annual visit. It also wouldn't have become as "big" as it did if I had paid attention to a couple of these you-really-need-to-get-to-the-dentist-ASAP warning signs, too. Don't say a sis didn't warn you.
1. Incessant Bad Breath
There is someone I went to high school with who, no joke, had some of the worst-smelling breath on the planet. On many days, I was around her after gym and lunch, so I know she brushed her teeth, but damn—when she talked, it still always smelled like something died up in there. I hope she's OK because bad breath isn't always automatically a hygiene issue. Sometimes it's a red flag that someone has an underlying disease like diabetes, acid reflux, or, in some cases, even cancer.
All of the mint toothpaste and Altoids in the world won't fix those things, so aside from not sucking the life out of everyone around you, for the sake of your health and well-being, incessant bad breath is something that should not be ignored.
2. Gum Pimples
If you're not exactly sure what a gum pimple is, I'm not referring to canker sores. (Another name for those is aphthous ulcers and they are basically surface-layer sores in your mouth.) No, what I'm talking about are bumps that have pus in them. Sometimes, what that means is an abscess has developed and you have a dental infection of some sort. If you choose to ignore it or even pop it yourself, the infection could ultimately spread and lead to far more serious issues like sepsis. It could even go to your brain and lead to fatality. So yeah, you should make an appointment with your dentist if you happen to notice any of these along your gum line.
3. Dry Mouth
Our mouths were designed to be wet with saliva at all times. This means that if, no matter how much fluid you take in, you just can't seem to shake having dry mouth, that is something else that could potentially be cause for concern. Not only does saliva keep bacteria at bay while helping to fight decay that leads to cavities, a lack of saliva production could be an indication of things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Dry mouth is one of the most slept-on reasons to go to the dentist, but a valid one nonetheless.
4. Cracking Teeth
Do you have a cracked (or crumbling) tooth that seems to have come out of nowhere? You know that you haven't eaten anything hard and you also know that you haven't neglected your teeth in any way, so what in the world could it be? One guess is you are producing an excessive amount of stomach acid that is damaging your enamel. There's only one way to find out for sure, though. You already know what I'm gonna say.
5. Receding Gums
Here's something to take pretty seriously. Did you know that, not only do half of all Americans have gum disease, but gum disease in an advanced stage? Aside from bleeding and swollen gums, another pretty telling sign that gum disease is starting to get the best of your oral health and well-being is if you notice that your gums are receding anywhere. Since there is a direct correlation between gum disease and other health-related issues like diabetes and heart challenges, don't let this one slip either. The state of your overall health could very well depend on it.
6. Teeth Sensitivity
While there are plenty of commercialized oral products out on the market that profess to treat teeth and gum sensitivity if this is something that has just recently started to happen, make an appointment to see your dentist.
When you react, excessively, to hot or cold foods, what that could mean is that you've got some tooth decay, a loose filling, or an exposed tooth root somewhere. The only real way to treat any of this is professionally.
7. Weird-Feeling Tongue
Your tongue is a breeding place for bacteria. That's why it's important to make the time to brush it every time you brush and floss your teeth. Not only will it remove a considerable amount of bacteria and germs, it will also reduce your risk of getting periodontal (gum) disease while helping to keep your breath smelling fresh throughout the day.
But what if you do take pretty good care of your tongue but happen to notice that it's been feeling pretty weird as of late? Should you chalk it up to not being that big of a deal? If by "weird" it has suddenly changed texture, color, or has lumps or bumps that you know aren't canker sores or "lie bumps", don't casually overlook that. Medical professionals often check for oral cancer via our tongue. It's another reason to see your dentist as soon you possibly can.
8. Swollen Jaw
Swollen jaw tissue could mean that you've gotten an infected tooth or even a cyst or tumor that is developing somewhere beneath your gum line. There's no way that you'll know for sure without a thorough examination and quite possibly a few X-rays, so if you feel or see any swelling, don't just "ibuprofen it away". Chances are, things will only get worse over time if you do.
9. Numbness
One more. Each tooth contains nerves and blood vessels that help to keep it healthy. Another thing that the nerves do is help us to know when something that we put into our mouth is either hot or cold. When the pulp chamber of a tooth either gets exposed or becomes damaged in some way, that can first cause an extreme amount of pain. However, that's a good thing because it's a heads up that something is very wrong. The bigger problem is if we try and "Google our way through that" and then the nerve eventually dies, resulting in numbness. While on one hand that means the pain has subsided, what that doesn't mean is that the underlying problem has gone away or that it won't get worse over time. So, if you happen to notice any type of numbness anywhere, most definitely see your dentist. For the sake of your teeth—and your overall health.
Yeah, I know this wasn't the most pleasant read on the planet, but you know what? It's better to know what to look out for and book an appointment than to wait too late and have a world of oral issues that you didn't even know about. You need your teeth. Be proactive in taking care of them or you could live to regret it. Literally.
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Different puzzle pieces are creating bigger pictures these days. 2024 will mark a milestone on a few different levels, including the release of my third book next June (yay!).
I am also a Professional Certified Coach. My main mission for attaining that particular goal is to use my formal credentials to help people navigate through the sometimes tumultuous waters, both on and offline, when it comes to information about marriage, sex and relationships that is oftentimes misinformation (because "coach" is a word that gets thrown around a lot, oftentimes quite poorly).
I am also still super devoted to helping to bring life into this world as a doula, marriage life coaching will always be my first love (next to writing, of course), a platform that advocates for good Black men is currently in the works and my keystrokes continue to be devoted to HEALTHY over HAPPY in the areas of holistic intimacy, spiritual evolution, purpose manifestation and self-love...because maturity teaches that it's impossible to be happy all of the time when it comes to reaching goals yet healthy is a choice that can be made on a daily basis (amen?).
If you have any PERSONAL QUESTIONS (please do not contact me with any story pitches; that is an *editorial* need), feel free to reach out at missnosipho@gmail.com. A sistah will certainly do what she can. ;)
Beyond Burnout: Nicole Walters' Blueprint For Achieving Career Success On Your Own Terms
Nicole Walters has always been known for two things: her ambition and her ability to recognize when life’s challenges can also double as an inspiring, lucrative brand.
This was first evident more than a decade ago when she quit her job as the corporate executive of a Fortune 500 company during a Periscope livestream. “I’m not sure if there’s an alignment of [our] future trajectory. I’m going to work for myself. I'm promoting myself to work for myself,” she said at the time before flashing a smile at the viewing audience. As she resigned on camera, a constant stream of encouraging messages floated upwards on the screen.
By 2021, she’d fashioned her work as a corporate consultant and her personal life with her husband and three adopted daughters into a reality show, She’s The Boss, for USA Network. This year, she released the New York Times bestselling memoir Nothing Is Missing, written as she was in the process of getting a divorce and dealing with her eldest daughter’s struggles with substance use.
Convinced that there’s no way the 39-year-old has achieved all of this without intentional strategic planning, I asked her about it when we spoke less than a week before Christmas. I’d seen videos on social media of her working on 2024 planning for other brands, and I wanted to know what that looked like following her own year of success.
She listed a number of goals, including ensuring that the projects she takes on in the new year align with her identity “as a Black woman, as an African woman, as a mother, as someone who has lived a [rebuilding] season and is now trying to live boldly and entirely as themselves.” But, I was shocked by how much of her business planning also prioritized rest.
Despite the bestselling book, a self-titled podcast, and working with numerous corporations, Walters said she’s been taking Fridays off. This year, she doesn’t want to work on Mondays, either.
“A lot of us think we work hard until retirement hits. I want to progress towards retirement,” she said, noting that she’ll check in with herself around March to see how successful this plan has been. The goal, Walters said, is to only be working on Tuesdays and Thursdays by sometime in 2025. “It is intentionally building out what I know I would like to have happen and not waiting for exhaustion to be the trigger of change.”
"A lot of us think we work hard until retirement hits. I want to progress towards retirement... It is intentionally building out what I know I would like to happen and not waiting for exhaustion to be the trigger of change."
Walters said the decision to progressively work less was partially in response to her previously held notions about her career, especially as an entrepreneur. “When I first started, I thought burnout was a part of it,” she said. “What I didn’t realize is that even if you’re able to bounce out of burnout or get back to it, there’s a cumulative impact on your body. If you think of your body as a tree and every time you go through burnout, you are taking a hack out of your trunk, yes, that trunk will heal over, and the tree will continue to grow, but it doesn't mean that you don’t have a weakened stem.”
But, the desire for increased rest was also in response to the major shifts that occurred three years ago when she was experiencing major changes in her family and realized her metaphorical tree was “bending all the way over.”
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“One of the things we have to recognize, especially as Black women, is that there is this engrained, societal, systemic notion that our worth is built around our productivity,” she added. “That is some language that I think is just now starting to really get unpacked.” In recent years, there’s been an increased awareness of achieving balance in life, with Tricia Hersey’s “The Nap Ministry” gaining attention based on the idea that rest, especially for Black women, is a form of resistance. Even online phrases such as “soft life” and “quiet quitting” have hinted at a cultural shift in prioritizing leisure over professional ambition.
"One of the things we have to recognize, especially as Black women, is that there is this engrained, societal, systemic notion that our worth is built around our productivity."
If companies are lining up to consult with Walters about their brands and products, then women have been looking to her for guidance on starting over since she invited them to livestream her resignation 12 years ago. As viewers continue to demand more from content creators in the form of intimate, personal details, Walters has navigated her personal brand with a sense of transparency without oversharing the vulnerable details about her life, especially when it comes to her family.
The entrepreneur said she’d been approached to write a book for several years and was initially convinced she was finally ready to write one about business. “I started to do that, and then I went through my divorce. When that happened, I said, why would I write a book telling people to get the life that I have when I’m not sure about the life that I have,” she said.
Instead, she decided to write Nothing Is Missing and provide a closer look at her life, starting with being born to immigrant Ghanaian parents (“You need to know my childhood to know why I’m passionate about entrepreneurship.”) through the adoption of her three daughters and eventual divorce. Despite her desire to share, however, she said she felt protective of the privacy of her family, including her ex-husband.
When discussing this with me, Walters said she was reminded of a lesson she learned from actress Kerry Washington, who released her own memoir, Thicker Than Water, just a week before Walters’ book release. Washington’s memoir grapples with family secrets, too, specifically the fact that she was conceived using a sperm donor and didn’t learn about it until she was already a successful TV star. While Washington reflects on how the decision and subsequent deception impacted her, she’s also careful to hold space for her parents’ experiences, too. “A lot of things she said was that she had to recognize where she was the supporting character and where she was the main character,” Walter said.
This is something Walter worked to do in Nothing Is Missing when discussing her daughter’s struggles with addiction. “I was very intentional about making sure that I did not reveal more than what was required,” she said. “If I say something about someone’s addiction, I don’t need to go into the list of the substances they used, how they used them, what I found. [I don’t need to] walk into a room and paint a picture of what it looked like for people to understand.”
Walters said some of the most vulnerable moments in the book barely made a ripple once it was released. She was extremely nervous to write about getting an abortion, she said. But no one has asked her about this in the months since the book was released. Instead, people have been more interested in quirkier revelations, such as the fact that she once appeared on Wheel of Fortune.
“I have bared my soul about this thing I went through in my youth that has changed me for people, and people are like, ‘So how heavy was the wheel when you spun it?’” she said, chuckling. “It just goes to show that people never worry about the thing that you worry about.”
With the success of Nothing Is Missing, Walters said she still isn’t planning to release a business book at the moment. But, as she navigates parenting a teenager and two adult children while also navigating a relationship with her new fiancé, Walters said she believes she has at least one or two more books to write about her personal journey. “There is sort of an arc of where my life has gone that I know I’ve got something more to say about this that I think is important, relevant and necessary,” she said.
In just three years, Walters’ life has undergone a major transformation. There’s no telling what the next three years will have in store for her, but it seems likely she’ll retain an inspired audience wherever life takes her.
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Check Out These 8 Supplements That Will Slow Down The Graying Process
Even though I have some gray strands on my head in a few spots, I honestly don’t think much about graying until I go to get my vulva waxed and my waxer decides that she wants to comment on how pretty my gray pubic hair is. *le sigh*
Chile, I don’t know if she’s low-key trolling me or what, but when someone has hot wax and your cooty cat in your hands, you tend to let the sarcasm (although she says she’s being sincere) slide. Besides, what really can I do? I mean, it’s not like I don’t know how graying happens. Once we get a certain age (in large part, due to genetics), our hair follicles shift from being full of pigment to having none at all — and, as a direct result, in walks, gray/silver strands.
That’s not to say that there aren’t other factors that can lead to graying either before our time or more than we should be experiencing— and one of those is a nutrient deficiency. So, if it seems like you’ve been getting more grays than usual, umm, somewhere, and you want to slow their roll down naturally, check out these eight nutrients to see if you need to ramp any of them up into your system. Since they can help you in other ways, why not cop a few as soon as possible?
1. Copper
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Copper is an interesting nutrient because it plays a significant role in helping your body to produce blood cells, regulate your blood pressure and also help your system to absorb iron. If you happen to be postmenopausal, copper can also help to prevent low bone density, too.
The reason why copper can help with slowing down the graying process is because it also helps your body to produce and maintain pigmentation — this includes your hair strands. So, while it’s not the most common thing on the planet to have a copper deficiency (so you probably won’t need a supplement beyond a multivitamin that has copper in it), if you like to snack on foods like chocolate, cashews, or sunflower seeds, just know that you are doing your part to keep the natural color in your hair around for longer.
2. Amla
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The other name for amla is Indian Gooseberry. Ayurvedic experts are huge fans of this particular fruit because it’s loaded with the kind of antioxidants that help to regulate diabetes, boost immunity, and improve digestion and one’s memory. Another cool thing about amla is it can help to keep your liver in good shape.
As far as your hair goes, if you’re looking for a nutrient that will stimulate hair growth while reducing hair loss and excessive shedding, amla’s got your back. And, as a supreme bonus, since it’s able to increase the natural pigment of your hair strands, this means that it can help to prevent graying from happening at a faster rate — which can result in less of a need for hair color for you. Eat the fruit or take a supplement. It’ll benefit you either way.
3. Folate
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Another name for folate is Vitamin B9. Although the thing that folate is most known for is it’s the nutrient that helps to ensure a healthy pregnancy, it’s needed for more reasons than just that. For instance, some indications that you might be low in this nutrient are if you’re experiencing unexplainable fatigue, you’re feeling depressed, ulcers are popping up in your mouth, or you’re having a difficult time remembering things. Also, if you need some assistance with regulating your blood sugar levels or reducing bodily inflammation, folate can help to make that happen, too.
And why is folate on this particular list? The long story short of it is there are studies that say that people with (especially premature) gray hair are actually deficient in folate; that’s because folate helps to produce an amino acid by the name of methionine that helps your hair to maintain its original color.
4. Pantothenic Acid
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Another name for Vitamin B5 is pantothenic acid. It’s essential for your system because it helps to keep your cholesterol levels under control. Not only that but what a lot of people don’t know about this vitamin is it helps to keep your skin in a healthy state; it can also reduce the irritation that’s associated with eczema.
What some studies have revealed is, if you take pantothenic acid along with folate, it can help to reverse premature graying in some people. So, if you’re out looking for a multivitamin, make sure the label states that it contains them both.
5. Bhringraj
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Bhringraj is a type of plant that is also big in Ayurveda. And when it’s used in oil form, it’s probably the most “hair beneficial” nutrient out of all of the ones listed here. It’s great at helping you to achieve inches, it aids in reducing dandruff, and there are darkening properties in Bhringraj that can help prevent gray hair from showing up before its time.
Since this is a plant that also has vitamins D and E as well as magnesium, iron, and calcium if you’re looking for something that will hook your hair up while also improving your quality of sleep and even helping to reduce your chances of having a urinary tract infection (UTI) — look into trying this out. You may not hear about it every day, yet it is a hidden gem that is certainly worth investing in.
6. Vitamin B12
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Did you know that Vitamin B12 is a type of vitamin that your system needs yet is not able to produce on its own? And since it does everything from give you more energy and help to prevent heart disease to improve your memory and reduce depression-related symptoms, all of this is reason enough to make sure that you add foods like lamb, beef, fortified cereals, trout and milk alternatives like almond and oat milk.
Since there tends to be a link between gray hair and a Vitamin B12 deficiency, that’s a solid reason to take a Vitamin B12 (or B-complex) supplement, too, especially if you happen to be vegetarian or vegan since they tend to lack more Vitamin B12 in their bodies than those who consume meat.
7. Catalase
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If you’ve heard of oxidative stress before, yet you’ve never really been quite sure what that is, whenever your body is experiencing it, that means antioxidants aren’t working at their optimal level. And since antioxidants help to fight off free radicals so that you can remain healthy and strong — anything that helps to prevent oxidative stress is something that you should take special note of. One of those things is an enzyme called catalase.
And since it’s actually not a myth that stress can cause your hair to lose some of its pigment, anything that you can do to keep your body’s stress levels down, that is something that will benefit your health and well-being from head to toe. If stress is a “thing” for you, catalase needs to go into your diet.
8. Zinc
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Zinc boosts your immune system. Zinc gives your metabolism a bit of a kick. Zinc reduces inflammation. Zinc can help to speed the healing of breakouts. Zinc can even help to increase your libido and treat a man’s erectile dysfunction. So, these reasons alone are enough of one to make sure that you’ve got enough zinc in your system.
As far as graying goes, a low level of zinc is also connected to premature gray hair. Well, since studies reveal that zinc also helps to reduce hair loss and keep your strands strong — it’s one of the surefire ways to keep your hair in the condition that you want it to be in.
BONUS: Saw Palmetto
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Another nutrient that doesn’t come up a lot is saw palmetto, although it features enough benefits that it deserves an honorable mention. It’s a tree that helps to prevent UTIs as well as it can keep your partner’s testosterone levels where they should be while also keeping them from being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
And while studies are ongoing when it comes to whether it can prevent graying, one thing is certain is if you want to keep your hair healthy, saw palmetto can help to do so.
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You know, there’s a verse in the Bible that says, “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.” (Proverbs 16:31 — NKJV) So, if you’d prefer to let your gray hair shine through, DO THAT. I ain’t mad at you. Yet, if you want to ease into that level of “glory” a little slower, take these recommendations to heart. Gray hair or not, they’re good for you. And that’s enough of a reason to take them seriously — and literally.
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