Teeth And Mouth Care

Regular Cleaning Of Teeth:

1.The Ideal Toothbrush:There are a multitude of different shapes and sizes of toothbrushes available.It is however, best to use a simply designed or slightly angulated tooth brush.A brush with a head approx 2.5com in length is ideal for use in an average adult.Nylon bristles are superior to natural bristles because they are more hygienic and are easier to maintain.Medium textured brushes are the best because they cause very little injury to the gums.
How Often Should You Replace Your Brush?
Generally, the bristles of the medium toothbrush splay in about4-6 weeks.This is when the brush needs to be replaced.
How Frequently Should You Brush Your Teeth?
Ideally teeth should be brushed immediately after each meal.The brushing before going to bed is important because during sleep the flow of saliva is reduced and any food that is retained in the mouth during the night causes the most damage.
2.The Toothpaste:Toothpastes are supplementary to the brush-they aid in the cleaning and polishing of accessible surfaces of the teeth.The main constituents of toothpastes are mild abrasives, soaps, detergents, colouring agents and flavouring agents.Additional substances such as ammonium salts, chlorophyll, flourides, and clove have been used with varying degrees of success.The value of flouridated toothpastes in preventing caries is now definite.If a commercial paste is not available, salt and bicarb of soda are very cheap and effective substitutes.It is, however a bad practice to rub lime juice on the teeth as it can damage the teeth.
3.Dental Floss:The toothbrush cannot adequately clean in between the teeth.Dental floss is the most efficient method to clean this area.Waxed and unwaxed floss is available.The floss is wrapped around two fingers and gently pulled backwards and forwards between the teeth, taking care to avoid damage to the gums.It is best to learn this technique from your dentist.
4.Dentist And Oral Hygiene:For good teeth regular visit to the dentist is necessary.His role is to ensure the complete elimination of decay and stagnation.This is done by scaling, polishing and filling the teeth, and carrying out corrective techniques as and when necessary.This ensures that there is no region in the mouth where food can lodge and cause problems.Further he would advise you on the techniques of oral hygiene.A visit once in 6 months is usually adequate.

Diet And Teeth:

1.Flourides:
Adequate intake of calcium, phosphorus, flouride and vitamins A, C, and D are essential.Most of these are present in adequate amounts in the normal balanced diet.Only Flourides tends to be deficient and needs to be suplemented.Teeth containing flouride are definitely more resistent to decay
2.Carbohydrates:
There is a definite relationship between caries(tooth decay) and the intake of refined carbohydrates like flour, sugar, and other carbohydrates which have been treated in order to make them whiter, less fibrous and tastier.Refined carbohydrates become sticky quickly and cling to the teeth for long periods.They are easily broken down to acids by the bacteria in the mouth, these acids are primarily responsible for tooth decay.The best would therefore be to stick to natural unprocessed foods-fats, cereals, meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits and cheese.The sugar substitutes like saccharin also do not cause caries.
3.Other Foodstuffs:
Frequent consumption of acidic foodstuffs(like habitual drinking of carbonated drinks and excessive consumption of some fruit juices) is associated with erosions of the teeth.It is also suggested that one should end meals with fibrous foods such as carrots and other salads as fobrous foods might have a mild cleansing reaction as they remove food debris from the teeth.

Common Dental Problems:

1.Dental Caries(Tooth Decay):
Tooth decay is the disease of the hard parts of the teeth, leading to disintegration.The only successful way to stop tooth decay is to cut down on the frequency of eating sugar.Adequate brushing alone will also not eliminate decay, but it does stop the plaque film from building up to a great thickness.
2.Plaque:The film of bacteria known as plaque forms very quickly on the tooth surfaces.Bacterial plaque is only one of the factors in the causation of dental caries.The areas of the teeth such as the pits and fissures in between the teeth where the brush cannot reach, are the places where plaque remains undisturbed despite frequent brushing.Flourides definitely helps to prevent tooth decay.Thus people who live in an area which has an optimal level of flouride in the water suffer much less from tooth decay.80%-90% of the toothpastes in the market today contain flouride.
3.Gum Inflammation:Gum Inflammation or Pyorrhoea is one of the commonest diseases in the world.The patient may sometimes notice bleeding of gums especially while brushing the teeth.Bad breath is most commonly caused by chronic inflammation of the gums.In this disease oral hygiene and interdental cleaning is the most important preventive measure.Smokers in general have a poorer oral hygiene as compared to nonsmokers.

Your Posture:

The Correct Posture:

Your personality depends more than just on your face.If you really want to look good, hold your shoulders back, tighten your bottom, and straighten your back.Now look straight ahead at eye level, so that your head is evenly poised above the spine and your chin is at right angles to your neck.Keep your shoulders straight by pushing your chest up and out, to avoid a hunched back.Tuck in your tummy, because a bulging stomach is a feature of an unattractive posture.Initially you might have to make a conscious effort to maintain this posture, but later on it will come naturally to you.All this will give you a graceful carriage and make you feel fitter.

Your posture while you sit is also important.See that you sit in a suitable chair-the seat should be of such a height that the knee joint forms a right angle when the feet are resting on the floor.The back of the chair should conform to the shape of the spine and be firm enough to support the spine.Practise sitting down and rising up in one flowing movement, rather than in a series of awkward jerks;keep the top half of your body straight and lower yourself slowly into the chair.Once sitting, hold your back straight, keep your stomach in and your trunk pushed deep into the chair.Reaching upwards should also be a movement of the whole body, keeping your back straight and your weight evenly balanced on the balls of the feet.Remember to keep all movements relaxed and flowing, not jerky and stiff.The exercise schedule to follow will do much to improve your posture.

Observe Your Gait And Improve Upon It:

From time time, study your walking posture in shop windows, as you walk past them.Another way to check your gait is to imagine a straight line(or better still draw a straight line in the verandah) and walk exactly on that line.If you have a defective way of walking, your feet will not follow the line.Another way to find the fault with your gait is to walk barefoot with wet feet -check the impressions left by your feet.Practise regularly to get a straight line of walk.For good carriage while walking, practise walking with a book on your head.

Your Posture Routine:

Here are some excellent exercises for improving your posture:

Exercise 1:
a.Thread a ruler behind your shoulders through the armholes of a sleeveless top.This will keep your shoulders well back.
b.Keep the ruler in place for about 15-30 minutes daily.

Exercise 2:
a.Stand with feet slightly apart and arms held straight out on the side, at right angles to your body.
b.Swing both your arms backwards following a circle and then bring them back to position.
c.Repeat 30 times.

Body Care

Weight Reduction:

Counting Calories:
All the food you eat is a source of energy and can fatten you, but some foodstuffs are more fattening than others.For instance, fats are more fattening than both carbohydrates and proteins.Calories are a simple way to measure, how much energy and how much fattening potential your foods contain.Foodstuffs differ in thier caloric content because of two reasons: Firstly they contain varying amounts of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates and secondly, they contain different amounts of water, an ingredient which truly has zero calories.Similarly the energy you spend when working or exercising can be measured in calories.So the simple basis of a "calorie control" diet would be to limit your calorie intake, while making you use up the usual or more number of calories.Your body will then have to draw upon the fat stores to fill the energy gap and you would begin to lose weight.

While on a weight reducing diet there are certain foods you must avoid:
1.All fried and greasy foods.
2.All sweets:Honey, ice-creams, cakes, pastries, jams, chocolates, candies.
3.Dry fruits and nuts:peanuts, almonds, cashewnuts.
4.All alcoholic drinks.
5.Fruits: Bananas, grapes, mangoes, strawberries.
6.Vegetables: Potatoes and other tubers.

Foods which you can eat as much as desired without causing any problems:
1.Salads: Carrots, radish, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, lettuce.
2.Drinks: Clear Soups,Lemon Juice, jaljeera, Buttermilk.

To Lose Weight Sensibly:
The safest and the most effective way of slimming is to lose weight slowly.Crash diets should be avoided as they often fail.This is simply because they just cannot be sustained.Moreover, crash dieting can adversely affect your beauty, making you look haggard.An advantage of a gradual diet control, is that your taste in foods can be adjusted over a reasonable period of time so that the craving for certain food items is reduced.
An average woman spends about 2,300 calories a day.If you want to reduce your weight, you should aim to eat about 1,200-1,300 calories daily.If you persistently eat about 1000 calories less every day, your body will have to make up the short fall, by using up about 100grams of your body fat daily.So in about ten days you would be able to lose a kilo of your weight.On this diet you should not expect a rapid loss of weight.It may take you sometime to lose the desired weight.Even though it would be slow, if you are steady in your diet control you are sure to be a winner.

How Fattening Are High Protein Foods?
There is a popular notion that protein-rich foods are not fattening.This is absolutely a myth.Proteins actually provide the same number of calories per gram as carbohydrates and so are equally fattening.But protein-rich(and even fatty foods) foods, do not leave the stomach as quickly as carbohydrates, so they tend to satisfy your appetite for longer periods of time and you do not feel hungry quickly.It is for this reason that a serving of mutton appears more filling than a bowl of cereal and sugar, even though the portions have been adjusted to give you precisely the same number of calories.
However a slimming diet which recommends protein foods, such as eggs, yoghurt or fish rather than starchy and sugary foods is very likely to be rich in minerals and vitamins as well.On the other hand refined carbohydrate foods can be easily eliminated from the diet without causing any deficiency of vitamins and minerals.

How To Cut Down On Fats:
Since fats contain more than twice as many calories to a gram as carbohydrates and proteins, a low fat diet would seem a very sensible way to cut down on the calories in your daily meals.The danger here lies in the fact that when you cut out on the fatty bit of your meals, you tend to feel hungry much sooner and if you succumb to your hunger-pangs, you might well end up eating more(snacks, sweets and other foods) before your next meal is due, and ruin your dietary schedule.
We consume a large amount of fat in our diet; actually 40% of our daily calorie intake is derived from fats.Half of this is visible as the oil we cook our food in, and the butter we spread on the breakfast bread.The other half, however, is not so obvious; the margarine present in the cakes and biscuits, the fat in a boiled egg and the cream in our morning cup of tea or coffee.

Hand And Feet Care

Taking care of your hands is important as well as easy.Even those who think that they have no time for such treatments, can manage to take out about 5 minutes from their busy schedule, and pay some attention to those poor, neglected hands.

To make your hands look pretty as well as well-kept, start with manicure.It takes about 15 minutes, and once a week is quite enough.Once your hands are manicured, all you need is a little natural oil to keep it moisturised.

A Simple To Do-Home Manicure:
Things You Require:
For your manicure, take a small bowl of warm, soapy water.A small hand towel, a nail file, cotton wool, coconut oil for moisturising, nail polish remover, and polish.It is much nicer to prefer pink and pearlised shades, for the daytime.Nail polish is best applied before you go to bed so that you do not have to worry about badly kept nails in the morning.Purple, violet and other dark shades, are a bit too extreme for formal dressing, but if you find that they suit your personality, as a lady with a mind of her own, please go ahead! After all, individual tastes, differ.
Manicure Steps:
A.First, remove your older nail polish and then file your nails.Long nails are best suited to people with long slim fingers, and if you have short, sturdy singers, please make sure that your nails are shaped to an oval, and not more than 1/16 th of an inch past the fingertip.
B.Next, soak your hands in the soapy water, for 2 minutes.Press back the cuticles, very gently with your towel.They are very delicate, and need moisturising.To remove any soap deposit, wipe your nails again with nail polish remover.
C.Apply a base coat, beginning with the thumb.Base coats are normally transparent nail polishes, which are either strengtheners, or just present to stop the chemical products of the nail polish, to yellow your nails.
D.After it has dried, apply nail polish.Use only 2 light coats, allowing the first to dry completely before applying the second.
E.Finally, when the polish is completely dry, massage the coconut oil/ Almond oil/ olive oil into your hands up to the wrist.
A manicure once a week keeps your hands feeling good.As it is always preferable to use natural products, rather than expensive creams and moisturisers, go back to nature and every night, use a bit of milk cream, or milk as a natural moisturiser.A little bit of salt added to it will bleach your hands beautifully.

If you have to use your hands for washing up, gardening, or any work which needs hand care, it is always best to use hand gloves.And if you think that it is too tiresome, what is to stop you from oiling your hands too well, with coconut oil, or milk, and then washing up? For gardening, always make sure that little soap pieces are placed under your nails, so that dirt does not get caught between fingertips and nails.

Remember that very hot and very cold water is disastrous for hands.Make sure, the water is at room temperature.In the winters, it is always preferable to wash your face and hands in cold water, to keep the naturally moisturising oil in, but make sure, you apply some oil after a wash.

Exercise For The Fingers And The Wrist:Fingers are best kept supple by exercising upon an imaginary keyboard.Put your hands out, and flap them like wings of an ostrich, then rotate your wrists, clockwise and anticlockwise.If you happen to be doing a lot of writing work, exercise your fingers by clenching your fists, and then opening out your fingers, fast.This close-open, close-open exercise can not only relieve finger fatigue, but it's also useful in keeping your fingers from gaining deposits at the joints.

The Magic Of Massages

Done by experienced hands, a massage can help to ease tension, soothe tight muscles and relieve pain.Remember, a massage should not be done on an inflammed skin and it should not be done without the use of oils or a light dusting of talc or baby powder to make the skin more malleable.

How Often?
You can give yourself a facial massage atleast once a month.It is important that you relax and enjoy the total experience-the calmer you feel, the better will be the result.The massage should last about 10 minutes, anything longer will be too tiring.

What To Use?
Always use a cream or oil suited to your skin type.An oil-free cream or baby powder is best for those with a greasy skin.A few drops of warm almond oil is a treat for dry skins.

Steps Of The Massage:
1.Tie your hair back, away from your face.
2.Apply the cream over the face and neck.Use powder for oily skins.
3.With your hands facing inward, start at the base of neck and run your fingers lightly up, onto and over the face.Let the fingers of one hand follow those of the other, to the centre of the face.
4.Using your index and middle fingers only, tap lightly all over the face.
5.With the thumb and index finger, gently knead the chin around the mouth and fleshy part of the cheeks.Don't pull or pinch at the skin, but keep the movements firm, steady and even.
6.Smooth and soothe the forehead by ironing over the fine lines.Hold the skin firm between the index and the middle fingers of one hand, and using the index finger of the other hand, massage the skin with in and out movements.Do this over the whole forehead.
7.Using the same 2 fingers, massage the cheeks in circular movements.
8.Now for the eyes:With the middle finger of each hand, gently smooth over the brow bone to the outside of the eye, then bring the fingers below the eyes and back to the centre.With the little finger, press around the outside of the eye especially where fine lines are present, and release immediately.
9.Repeat all the above steps thrice.
10.Finally close your eyes, and relax for a few minutes.
11.Remove all of the cream.

Dark Underarms? It Could Be Your Deodorant

Are you plagued with dark armpits? Don't swear off sleeveless tops just yet - find out how your deodorant or anti-perspirant may be causing this problem, and how you can solve and prevent it

Dark underarms have always been a problem for women with pigmented skin. For some women, this is caused by pregnancy, and for others, the use of the wrong deodorant or anti-perspirant. Many commercial deodorants and anti-perspirants contain ingredients which are too harsh for underarm skin. Ingredients such as alcohol and aluminium salts irritate the underarm skin and can cause the area to darken.

Solutions

There are a few solutions to this problem. Chief among them is lightening the underarm area with whitening products. However, be careful about which whitening products you use for this purpose. Your underarm skin is sensitive, and too harsh a product will only solve the problem temporarily but cause further hyperpigmentation problems later on.
Exfoliating the area with a good physical scrub or chemical exfoliant will also make the area lighter, as exfoliating removes the darkened top layer of the skin.

Prevention is better than cure

Avoid deodorants that have too strong a fragrance, or deodorants that contain alcohol. Try a crystal deodorant instead. Always use a good sunblock on your underarms and all areas of the body.

Hand And Feet Care

Now that ladies have become more trendy, and like to experiment with skirts, and shorts, beautiful legs are about a must.Shapely and beautiful legs usually depend on the shape and length of the legs.The one test of beautifully shaped legs, is standing with feet together, and see if you can hold a coin, between your ankles, another between your calves, and another between your knees, all at the same time!Beautiful legs normally have a space between ankle and calves and between calves and knees, and a small space above the touching knees.But that does not automatically mean that just because your legs do not pass these tests, they are not attractive and well shaped.Many ladies think that their legs are too fat or too thin.Unfortunately, the actual shape of your legs cannot be easily changed.However, with exercise you can improve muscle tone, and make them look better.

Lose fat by going on a sensible diet, by cutting down on potatoes, rice and adding up on cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Ways To Have Beautiful Legs:

1.If you have too thin legs, improve them with exercises.The legs can look much more shapely with exercises.
A.Put your heels together.Rise on your toes.Sink to the ground.Bending your knees back, straight and then get up slowly.This exercise has to be repeated three times, and it is sheer cruelty!But it works.
B.Walking and bicycling are wonderful exercises for shapely legs, at the office, walk up the stairs, instead of taking the lift!.
2.Sometimes, legs may not be fat, but look heavy, because of bad circulation.Put your legs and feet up.In case, you have a feeling of water retention, drink about 6 glasses of water, and get the wastes out.
3.Smooth legs look more appealing than fuzzy legs.Creams can be used as hair removers, and there are quite a number of ladies' shaving tools present in the market.But the best natural depilatory is a turmeric paste, applying before a bath, and left onto dry.After a bath, make your skin feel good by moisturising it.

The Perfect Simple Pedicure:

1.Preparatory Stage:�
A.Position a chair behind a clean, wide bucket filled with hot water.
B.Fold a bath towel into a square and place it at the bottom of the bucket.This will give your feet a comfortable surface to rest on when you soak them.
C.Add half a cup of Epsom salt, a natural disinfectant. You can also throw in a few capfuls of Herbal Vapors, readily available in the markets.The best would be one that contains rosemary, eucalyptus and menthol -- three therapeutic, cleansing herbs that make the room you're in smell just like a spa.

2.Grooming Stage:�
A.Use a cotton pad soaked with nail-polish remover to take off old polish.
B.If your cuticles are dry, add a drop of olive oil to the pad before using it on your nails.
C.Clip your toenails straight across with clippers.
D.Use a nail file to smooth the edges, including the sides. Best shape: square with rounded edges.

3.Soothe Your Soles:�
A.Soak your feet in the hot water for five minutes, then rest them on the edge of the bucket.
B.Dip a foot file, in the water, then use it to smooth your heels, the balls of your feet and the outsides of your pinkie toes.
C.Pat feet dry with a towel.
D.To get cuticles under control: Use the edge of the nail file to push your cuticles back, then a nail brush dipped in an exfoliating scrub, to clean the area where your nail meets your skin.
E.If you feel that you must get rid of your cuticles, have a pro do it in a salon so you don't end up with painful, ingrown toenails.
F.Rinse, then dry feet and apply a generous amount of super-moisturizing foot lotion or cream. Massage it into your feet and calves.
G.Wash the moisturizer off your toenails with soap and water and let them dry.

4.Applying Nail Polish:�
A.Create space between toes with a foam toe separator.
B.Apply one coat of base coat, two coats of color and one coat of top coat.
C.Confused about which color to go for? For summer, say good-bye to burgundies and browns. The hot shades are bright. Think coral with a sheen to it, hot pink and orangy-red.
D.Use a Q-tip moistened with nail-polish remover to remove any polish that missed the mark.
E. Let your polish dry for a few hours before putting on close-toed shoes.
F.Apply one coat of top coat three days after your pedicure, then every third day after that to keep polish from chipping.
G. If your feet are going to be in the sun, use a top coat with sunscreen, to keep the polish from fading.

Exercises For Your Tired Feet:

Exercise 1.
a.Sit on the edge of the stool.
b.With legs raised, clasp your hands around your bent knees.
c.Rotate your feet, first outwards and then inwards, then upwards and finally downwards.
d.Repeat 30 times.

Exercise 2.
a.Sit on the edge of a stool.
b.Place a talcum powder container on the floor.Put your right foot on it and roll it backwards and forwards from the tips of the toes to the heel.
c.Repeat with other foot.
d.Do it 10 times with each foot.

Exercise 3.
a.Sit on the floor.Bend your knees and keep back straight.
b.Clasp the right foot with the right hand and left foot with the left hand.
c.Raise left and right feet alternatively.
d.Repeat 10 times.

Exercise 4.
a.Lie on your back with your legs raised resting against a wall.
b.Try to form a right angle between your legs and your body.
c.Stay in this position until you feel refreshed.