TTC_06_08_16_Vol.12-No.32.p1-16

June 8 - 14, 2016 www.TheTownCommon.com Page 13
Health & Wellness
By J. Peter St. Clair, DMD
Thomas Jefferson was born in
1743, the third of 10 children.
His political career began when
he was elected to the Virginia
House of Burgesses in 1769. In
1775, he was a delegate to the
Second Continental Congress in
Philadelphia. During that congress,
he was the principal author of the
Declaration of Independence.
He returned to Virginia, where
in 1779 he was elected governor
of Virginia, a position which he
held for two years. In 1783, he
was appointed a delegate to the
Confederation Congress and in
1785 was appointed minister to
France -- a position he held until
1789. That same year he was
appointed secretary of state.
In 1796, Jefferson ran for
president but was defeated by John
Adams. Having the second most
electoral votes, however, Jefferson
became vice president. In 1800,
he was elected as the third U.S.
president, the office in which he
served for two terms, from 1801 to
1809. He died on July 4, 1826, at
the age of 83.
In 1824, describing the then
81-year-old Jefferson, Daniel
Webster wrote, “His mouth is well
formed and still filled with teeth;
The results of a long-term
Swedish study suggest that help
for our aging brains might be as
close as the vitamin aisle in the
drugstore. Vitamin B-12 was
shown to slow the rate of brain
aging ... probably.
Homocysteine, a non-protein
amino acid, is the culprit in
increasing the rate of brain aging,
and vitamin B-12 slows that rate.
Between 2001 and 2009, some
500 participants over age 60 were
examined and assessed, including
medical history, cognitive function
Brighter Smiles...
A Brief History Lesson
it is strongly compressed, bearing
an expression of contentment
and benevolence.” That same year
Jefferson wrote to Charles Willson
Peale, a long-time friend and part
of the intellectual elite of the time
stating, “I am particularly happy
not needing your porcelain teeth. I
have lost only one [tooth] by age,
the rest continuing sound.” Like
Jefferson, Peale was a renaissance
man of many arts, trades, and
interests, one of which was the
development and refinement of
porcelain artificial teeth, which
were replacing ivory, animal, and
human teeth for dentures.
Jefferson was fastidious about
his health. Documents that have
survived, mostly archived at the
Library of Congress, reflect his
dental care. His journals list eight
dental visits between 1772 at age 29
and 1824 at age 81. Other dental
needs he noted in his journals and
letters included the purchase of
toothpicks and toothbrushes, the
latter with “the hair neither too
strong nor too weak.”
In the late 1770s through the
1800s, pig, horse, and badger
hair were used for bristles on
toothbrushes. Another common
method of teeth cleaning in the era
was placing soot and salt on a rag or
sponge and rubbing it on the teeth.
Jefferson also recorded the purchase
of “a silver toothpick case,” in 1785
while he was minister to France.
Jefferson experienced only two
known serious dental problems in
Senior Scene
Help for Aging Brains?
and B-12 levels. Brain volume was
measured during the study. Higher
levels of B-12 seemed to help lower
the rate of homocystein.
Not all researchers are sold on
the conclusions, however. Maybe
it’s another lifestyle health factor
that’s involved. They do think that
trials are warranted, with more
in-depth looks at the levels of
homocysteine and B-12.
At the same time, they point
to a previous study with basically
the same results, this time with
participants over age 70 who
already had mild cognitive
impairment and received a few
vitamins, not just B-12. There
was less brain volume loss in those
who took the vitamins.
In yet another study, B-12
deficiency was associated with
his life. In December 1807 at age
HELP WANTED:
64, he wrote his daughter Martha:
OLD FASHIONED
Experienced
“I was taken with a toothache
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Barber Wanted
about five days ago, which brought
Across from Agawam Diner
Please Call
on a very large and hard swelling of
the face, and that produced a fever
at TD Bank Plaza
which left me last night.”
In November 1808, 11 months
after he disclosed his problem,
there is a journal entry in which
Are you holding back
he discloses he borrowed $5 to pay
“Dr. Bruff” to extract a tooth. A
a beautiful smile?
The
week later in December 1808,
Town
he
Making your
Com
smile beautiful changes
wrote yet another letter to Martha:
• General & Complex Restorative Care the way people look at you and
“I have been confined to the house
• Dental Implants
the way you look at yourself.
these three weeks with a swelled
• Periodontist on Staff
face.” He stated that he “suffered
• Mercury-free Dentistry
•
much” for four or five days, but
Grinding/Clenching Therapy
• Custom Dentures
“was relieved by a suppuration and
• Appearance-Related Dentistry
have since been able to extract the
tooth.”
Aside from his obvious genius,
Jefferson cared for and took care of
his health throughout his life. He
did not use any tobacco. According
to Dr. John Bumgarner in his
book The Health of the Presidents,
“Jefferson encouraged exercise,”
with walking, horseback riding,
and shooting as his favorite forms
of exercise.
Dr. St. Clair maintains a private
dental practice in Rowley and
Newburyport dedicated to healthcentered
family dentistry. If there are
certain topics you would like to see
written about or questions you have
please email them to him at jpstclair@
stclairdmd.com. You can view all
previously written columns at www.
jpeterstclairdentistry.com/blog.
The North Shore’s Largest Independent Please call Commun
our office to
cognitive ability difficulty on
tests.
So where does that leave us? Still
unsure about the actual mechanism
of vitamin B-12 as it pertains
to counteracting loss of brain
volume, at least until researchers
satisfy their need for longer-term
trials with every parameter and
detail to their liking.
Meanwhile, unless we get the
all-clear from our doctor to take
a vitamin B-12 tablet every day,
there are a few additions to our
diet that might help, if the study
results are true. Sardines and beef
liver have more than enough B-
12. Even milk and salmon have
enough for the daily requirement,
as do Swiss cheese and eggs.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
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