That's Fit

Not to sound like a V.O. guy in a toothpaste commercial, but, do you have plaque? If you're not sure, check the bottom two front teeth in the center of your mouth, as it is there where it is typically most visible. How are you looking?

If the results of you quick self-exam are less than stellar, you're probably not alone -- studies show that one in five people admit to brushing their teeth less than twice a day. In addition to giving your teeth a good brushing more often, you can also try eating raisins. Researchers from the University of Chicago found that these tasty little fruits contain chemicals that prevent black from sticking to your teeth.

Of course, a trip to your friendly neighborhood D.D.S wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Oh, and at the end of your visit, when the hygienist offers you the choice of a complimentary tooth brush of roll of floss, go with the floss ... and unlike 72 percent of the rest of people living in America, do it every day.

• Eat right

• Exercise

• Get lots of sleep

• Drink plenty of water

• Brush and floss your teeth

• Stay safe

My kid got a cavity. Just had it filled recently. It cost me a bundle and makes me rethink getting dental insurance. It also makes me rethink what I need to do to ensure my two little guys do the very best they can with their pearly whites.

Of course, they need to brush. If I had it my way, they'd brush after eating, every time they eat. But this is hard since they spend a few hours each week day in school and I can't realistically mandate classroom brushing after snacks and lunch. I can be vigilant at home, though. I can hover like a helicopter over them, judging their respective techniques. Let's face it: Kids left to their own brushing devices will cheat, even if unaware their form is not exactly right.

My boys can floss -- and they do -- but as a team, we can do better. We can also swirl around a little mouthwash. And use this cool pink solution the dentist gave us (well, sold us) that marks the hiding places of food bits. And my favorite: We can cut down on sugary, sticky, sweet treats. We've got them down to a pretty good minimum but there's always room for improvement.

What can you do to treasure your kids' teeth? Visit this American Dental Association site for age-appropriate practices.

It's inevitable that we will all someday shuffle off this mortal coil. Still, there is much we can do to stick around for as long as we possibly can, and it's no secret that a healthy lifestyle is the key to celebrating more birthdays.

Growing old is not so much a matter of how old you are, but rather how fast you're aging, say Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz. in an article for Open Air magazine. The way our bodies react to stressors can affect the speed of our aging process, similar to the way our brake system changes the speed of our vehicles. Considering that our rate of aging doubles every eight years, if we are able to put on the brakes, so to speak, we could -- at least in theory -- live to be well over 100.

Three tips for life extension, all of which are offered by the docs in the aforesaid article, are to: 1 - stay active with regular exercise; 2 - keep glucose levels in check by limiting your intake of simple carbs; and 3 - be sure to floss regularly, for it will not only keep your teeth and gums healthy, but it will also help prevent inflammation in your arteries.

I am officially addicted to brushing my teeth! A few weeks ago I got hold of the new Triumph with SmartGuide toothbrush by Oral-B and have been doing that weird licking the front of my teeth thing since. I've always used plain old no-frills toothbrushes, but just recently got to thinking that it wasn't doing the job. Kind of like cleaning your dinner table with a napkin. It removes the big crumbs on the surface, but doesn't really get all the dinner goo that truly needs to be removed. The Triumph is the equivalent of using a scrubby sponge with soap on that table. It does the job a toothbrush is really supposed to do.

Not only do my teeth feel like I've just visited a dental hygienist every day, but brushing has become a strangely enjoyable challenge. The Triumph comes with a neat SmartGuide wireless monitor (a personal trainer for your teeth). The SmartGuide gives me the goal of brushing for two minutes, and encourages me to spend 30 seconds on each quadrant of my mouth. I'm totally in to this. And when I hit the two minute mark.....the monitor gives me a happy face! Woo-hoo! If I keep going, the monitor will wink at me. Who couldn't use a little wink to start your day, right?

We're living in a time where the average life expectancy for people in the US and Canada is higher than it has ever been. Personally, I think a lot of us owe those extra years to the many medical breakthroughs that have occurred over the last century or so. People can abuse their bodies like crazy, and often, doctors can still fix it.

If you want to feel great and enjoy those extra golden years, rather than spend them in a doctor's office or hooked up to something that will keep you alive for as long as possible, think about breaking the 5 bad habits discussed here, that will prevent you from feeling your best.

• Smoking - Quitting will help prevent you from getting lung cancer as well as respiratory disease. People take breathing clearly for granted until they can't do it anymore.
• Idleness - Don't spend all of your spare time in front of the TV. 20 to 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise (like a short walk) can reduce the risk of heart disease and arthritis.
• Junk food - Stay away from fast food and potato chips as you'll feel better physically plus these high fat foods can lead to Type 2 diabetes.
• Stress - According to the article, if you can learn to relax -- perhaps through yoga, reading a good book or even enjoying a bubble bath -- you'll lower your risk of everything from heart disease to eczema.
• Not flossing - Make sure to floss and brush every day, and try to include a yearly visit to the dentist in your schedule. You know how annoying it is to try to eat with a painful canker sore? Think about how rough it'll be if your gums are bleeding and your teeth are aching, or if you haven't got any teeth left at all!

This is a statistic I can honestly say shocked me: 12% of people don't brush their teeth daily. Eeeeew! And it's not like they only brush once a day or something, which would be bad enough, but they don't even brush every day. Wow!

Now this was a British survey, so I'm hoping we're better than that over here in the U.S. Overall oral health has improved by leaps and bounds over the last 30 years or so, but obviously there is still room for improvement. And your oral health is not an area to be fudging on as it's been linked to heart disease and all kinds of other seemingly unrelated health conditions in recent research.

So brush and floss, people! We all need to, but those 12% especially -- you know who you are...