By Dr. Jernell Escobar

Dr. Escobar has been practicing dentistry in the Bay Area since 2006. She took over Dr. Palmerlee’ s practice when he retired in 2012. She is passionate about providing exceptional oral health care in a patient centered environment. Dr. Escobar participates in continuing education seminars with other leading clinicians in exploring new and innovative methods and materials for restoring smiles.

But it has been proven that good oral health, good oral habits and hygiene and regular visits to a dentist are all intricately linked to the health of the whole body.

In fact, brushing, flossing, and regular visits to the dentist can protect you from far more than cavities.

For example, gum disease can lead to a host of illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, researchers have found that people with gum disease were twice as likely to die from a heart attack and three times as likely to have a stroke.

June is Employee Wellbeing Month, an annual initiative that highlights the workplace’ s role in helping to create healthy employees and providing businesses with new ideas and proven strategies built around prevention and wellness.

It was founded in 2009 as National Employee Wellness Month by Virgin Pulse, part of Sir Richard Branson’ s famed Virgin Group. Virgin Pulse partnered with the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent( STOP) Obesity Alliance, along with the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease and WorldatWork. com.

“ It’ s great to see so many organizations and their workforces come together to focus on employee wellbeing in a fun, healthy environment,” says Chris Boyce, CEO of Virgin Pulse on employeewellbeingmonth. com.“ Employee wellbeing is at the foundation of a productive, engaged workforce and successful business. Employee Wellbeing Month is a great way for organizations to shine a spotlight on this connection. Anything helping employees make small changes to support healthier habits makes a difference, because it’ s the small habits that lead to lasting, positive results.”

Organizations interested in participating can pledge their support as Proud Supporters of the initiative. In 2014, more than 200 companies and 70,000 employees participated in the initiative.

All Proud Supporters of Employee Wellbeing Month will get a free tool kit featuring a variety of resources and ideas to promote their organization’ s leadership and support of this initiative with not only their workforce, but the community at large and local news media.

Participating organizations and their employees are encouraged to share their Employee Wellbeing Month celebrations, photos, videos and more on social media using the hashtag # EWM15.

Goals of the initiative are to:

• Engage employees in healthy habits and lifestyles

• Create healthy workplace cultures

• Improve employee health and well-being

• Lower health-care costs

• Reduce turnover

• Drive employee engagement

Employee wellness programs also have more benefits beyond the obvious good health.

“ The bottom line is that these employee wellness programs need to be encouraged,” says Kenneth Thorpe, chairman, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease and a professor of health policy and management at Emory University.“ They make sense at a societal level, understanding that better health in the workplace is critical if we’ re to make progress in the fight against chronic diseases that eat up more than 80 cents of every health care dollar we spend in this country. But also at the individual company level, where employers both large and small are achieving returnon-investment success stories, maintaining a healthy workforce is both the right and smart thing to do.”

In order to maintain good oral health and strong and healthy teeth and gums, a simple preventative routine can help keep your smile bright and your overall health at its peak.

• Gather your tools. Start with a toothbrush with soft, rounded bristles, fluoride toothpaste and floss.

• Set a schedule. Brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss at least once. Brush again after high-carbohydrate meals or snacks, sweets or sugary beverages.

• Be thorough. Brush teeth for at least two minutes each session, angling your toothbrush at 45 ° and making short, circular strokes. Use just enough pressure to feel the bristles( don’ t squish them). When you’ re done, brush your tongue to remove bacteria.

• Don’ t forget floss. Floss removes plaque from between teeth and below the gumline. Don’ t worry if gums feel tender at first. They’ ll feel better once bacteria is removed, in five to six days.

• Rinse to refresh. After brushing and flossing, rinse your mouth vigorously with mouthwash or water to remove any loosened plaque and food particles.

• Twice-a-year dental cleanings are an important part of maintaining your oral and overall health. Call your dentist for an appointment as soon as possible.

More information on Employee Wellbeing Month can be found at the official website at employeewellbeingmonth. com.

GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN JULY / AUGUST 2015 gmhtoday. com

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