Are you one of thecoutry’s 145 milliondental phobics? If sofear of the dentistkeeps you away. Per–haps you think there issomething wrong withyou ... You worry aboutbeing criticized and areembarassed ... Yet, youwould like to feel andlook good. Does thisdescribe you?

If so, its time to learnabout Dr. Greg Phillipsand Conscious SedationDentistry. This wonder-fully relaxing and total-ly comfortable experi-ence leaves patientswith little or no memo-ry of the visit.

Perhaps there is noother healthcare profes-sion like dentistry thathas the unfortunate(and false) reputation ofwanting to cause painrather than prevent it.For all the good thatdentists do to improveour well being, there isabout 50 percent of thepopulation at large thatdoes not see the dentistat all largely due to fearissues.

Perhaps it has some-thing to do with not lik-ing sharp metal objectsput into your mouth ora distaste for fluoride,no matter how stronglythe hygienist insists itis ìcherry flavoredî.But whatever the rea-son, there are manypeople (young an old),who have dental anxi-ety.

For your teethís sake,there are ways to com-bat dental anxiety, acondition sure to causecavities. If positivereinforcement, learn-ing to control fear andother behavior manage-ment techniques donítdo the trick, dentalsedation could ease

your mind and allowyou to get your teethcleaned.

Sedation is accom-plished through placinga small crushed pillunder your tongue andthen allowing you tobecome fully sedated.You are then coveredwith a blanket andmany times you havedark glasses placedover your eyes so youcan easily drift off. Thewhole experience ispeaceful and you wakewith no memory ofwhat has been done.

Choose safe oral seda-

tion and accomplish allyour dental care in aslittle as one or tworelaxing appointments.

There’s no discomfor,no groggy feeling andlittle or no memory ofthe treatment. Even ifit has been 5, 10, or 20years since your lastdental exam, call 225-869-4422 today andschedule an appoint-ment. One Pill Cons–cious Sedation Dent–istry” is safe and com-fortable. You’ll wake uprefreshed with a beauti-ful smile. Don’t wait.Call today.

Addressing dental anxietyadvice from local businesses

Urgent care centershave been popping uprecently all over, butwhen should someonechoose to go to one ofthese centers instead ofa more traditional med-ical facility? Urgentcare centers, such asRiverside Urgent Carein LaPlace, are for thetreatment for minor ill-nesses and injuries.Instead of trying tosqueeze in an appoint-ment with their pri-mary care physician orpediatrician or havinga lengthy wait in theemergency room, patie–nts are now able to see aphysician according totheir schedule. Fordecades the healthcaremodel was based onpatients relying ontheir primary carephysician, or in somecases the emergencyroom, for their illnessesand injuries, but urgentcare centers across thecountry are offeringadditional options.

Most people can rem–ember at least one timewhen they desperatelyneeded to see their pri-mary care physicianbut could not get anappointment the sameday or even the sameweek. Many adults areable to bear the initialbrunt of an illness, butthat is not always thecase for children. Riv–erside Urgent Care,which recently openedits first urgent care cen-ter on Louisiana High–way 51, can help allevi-ate such situations.

“We recognize thatchildren do not have thesame medical needs asadults,” said Dr. ChrisSwearingen, owner and

primary physician ofRiverside Urgent Care.“Often times when chil-dren get sick or injured,their doctor’s office hasclosed for the day, andthe injury or illnessmay not warrant a tripto the emergency room,so Riverside UrgentCare is a great resourcefor parents in this com-munity. You neverknow when your childmay have an urgent ill-ness that needs to betreated right away.”

According to Swear–ingen, there are two pri-mary reasons whyurgent care centershave become so popular

and why they continueto grow — cost savingsand convenience.

“We live in a conven-ience oriented worldtoday” said Swear–ingen. “Whether it’s re–tail, banking or health-care services, familiestoday want conven-ience.”

Most medical profes-sionals would alsoagree that urgent carecenters started growingover the last decadebecause of skyrocket-ing healthcare costsand increased frustra-tion when fighting forbetter Medicare reim-bursement. By 2007, theUrgent Care Associ–ation of America saidthere were about 8,100urgent care centers inthe United States. Thatnumber has increasedaround 7 percent, reac–hing about 8,700 centerstoday. Limited access toprimary care physi-cians and cases sent tothe emergency roomunnecessarily supportthe existence and con-tinued growth of thesecenters.

The need for urgentcare was highlighted ina RAND Corporationstudy released in thejournal Health Affairs,stating that about 17percent of all visits tohospital emergencydepartments across theUnited States could betreated at retail medicalclinics or urgent carecenters, potentially sav-ing $4.4 billion annual-ly in health care costs.Nationally, many hospi-tals and physiciangroups are guarded intheir comments abouturgent care centers andwalk-in clinics altho–ugh they do see urgentcare centers filling a

much needed void.Whether or not

patients decide to uti-lize urgent care centersis at their discretion,but it shows the grow-ing importance for con-sumers to not only havea choice where they gofor their healthcareneeds but also whenthey access care. Urg–ent care centers havebecome a key compo-nent of the healthcaremodel while facilitatingthe most efficient andeffective method oftreatment.

When to use an urgent care centeradvice from local businesses

“Often times when children get sick orinjured, their doctor’s office has closed

for the day, and the injury or illness maynot warrant a trip to the emergency

room, so Riverside Urgent Care is a greatresource for parents in this community.”

DR. CHRIS SWEARINGENRiverside Urgent Care

Owner and Primary Physician

Tom Hartley is the NREMT-P at Riverside Urgent Care, located on Highway 51.

If you are like every-body else in the world,you will want your airconditioner to last aslong as possible.

These units can bevery expensive to rep–lace, so proper air con-ditioner maintenanceis a must. By caring foryour unit properly, youwill be able to keep itfor as long as possible.This will surely saveyou a couple thousandsof dollars throughoutthe course of your life.

While trying to keepyour air conditioner intip top condition, thereare a couple of tips thatyou will want to follow.They are:

• Make sure that youcheck all of the hosesfor leaks at least twice ayear. The best times todo this is before youturn your unit on forthe summer, and justbefore you are ready toturn it off for the win-ter. This will allow youto find any problemsbefore they get out ofhand and make the nec-essary repairs.

• If you have centralair conditioning, it isimportant to keep theoutside compressor asclean as possible. Ofcourse it is going to getdirty because of natu-ral occurrences, but byspraying it off with a

hose every so often, youwill be able to keep itlooking new for longer.

• In addition to themaintenance you doyourself, you shouldalso have the ductworkcleaned by a profession-al every couple ofyears. This mainte-nance may not seemlike a big deal, but itcan extend the life ofyour air conditioner.

Also, it will get anydust or allerges out ofthe ductwork.

• During the wintermonths, make sure youkeep the compressorcovered. By doing thisyou will protect it fromcold weather as well asharsh conditions suchas snow and sleet.

When you are buyingyour air conditioner,ask the installationcompany if they alsohave a cover that youcan buy. If they do, youshould purchase one onthe spot. This way youwill always have a coverthat fits your unit with-out hassle. Air condi-tioner maintenance isvery important if youwant your unit to last along time.

Taking a few easysteps a couple of timesa year can save youmoney in the long runas well as help you keepyour cool!

Tips on keeping your A/C running longeradvice from local businesses

When it comes to thehealth of their childrenand even parents, manymoms feel it's theirresponsibility to be aseducated as possibleabout health and medi-cine. With the many dif-ferent medicines outthere, it is hard to keeptrack of who in the fam-ily is taking what andthe dangers of drugreactions, interactionsand side effects.

In fact, the incidenceof serious drug reac-tions is increasing, ac–cording to a recent ana–lysis of adverse drugevents reported to theFood and Drug Admini–stration.

Now there is a freeonline tool to help the"family health officer"stay informed about thefamily's medicines:MedNotes (www.Drugs.com/mednotes). MedNotes is an award-win-ning, easy-to-use, per-sonalized medicationmanagement programthat can be used totrack the whole family'smedications. Deve–loped by Drugs.com, themost comprehensiveonline medicine infor-mation website, Med–Notes will help mothersand caretakers stayinformed about theirfamily's prescriptionand over the counterdrugs, safety news andpossible allergic, foodand drug interactions.

"Moms are gatekeep-ers of their families’health, from their chil-dren to their elderlyparents, so it's criticalfor them to stay infor–med about their fami-lies' medications. Butthe reality is it's hard tokeep up with new drugsafety information com-ing out nearly everyday," according toAlison Rhodes, "TheSafety Mom," andnationally-recognizedexpert in child safety."MedNotes gives moth-ers the important med-ication use and safetyinformation they want– and peace of mindwhen it comes to moni-toring and managingtheir family's medica-tion needs."

Some tips fromMedNotes:

• Add your medica-tions to instantly asse–mble relevant medicalinformation in a sim-ple, easy to read person-alized format.

• Gain immediateaccess to in-depth con-sumer information, dr–ug comparisons, histor-ical news, FDA alerts,drug interactions, plusfood, allergy and med-ical condition interac-tions.

• Choose to be notifiedwhen new FDA alerts

are issued and whenany new drugs becomeavailable for any ofyour existing medicalconditions.

• Print health andmedication records, in–cluding physician andemergency contacts, all-ergies and medical con-ditions.

• Use MedNotes tomanage medicationsprofiles for yourselfand your family.

MedNotes gives moth-ers the chance to createprofiles for differentfamily members, enterthe names of all med-ications being takenand register to receive– all in one easy-to-access place – drug safe-ty or interaction alerts,new drug and specificcondition news that isreleased by the FDA ordrug makers. Moms canalso print portable per-sonal health and med-ication histories, in–cluding physician andemergency contact in–formation.

Feedback from earlyusers recognizes Med–Notes as a valuable aidto their everyday healthmanagement, and insome cases as a poten-tially life-saving infor-mation source. Oneconsumer shared hisprinted MedNotes med-ication profile withparamedics in the am–bulance and creditsMedNotes with savingcritical time and, poten-tially, his life, on theway to the hospital.

Family medicine cabinet safetyadvice from local businesses

“Moms are gatekeepers of their families’ health, from their children totheir elderly parents, so it’s critical for

them to stay informed about theirfamilies’ medications But the reality is

it’s hard to keep up with new drugsafety information coming out nearly

every day.”

ALLISON RHODESNationaly-Recognized Child Safety Expert

A message from Entergy Louisiana, LLC ©2011 Entergy Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

At Entergy, we’re working to keep fuel costs low – and keep

your bill down. Efficiency saves energy and money for

everyone. We also help to eliminate seasonal spikes in your

bill with level billing. Sure, I work for Entergy. But I’m a

customer just like you. Find energy-saving tips to lower your

bill at entergylouisiana.com.Sherry Duplessis, Specialty Clerk

We want to lower your bill, too.