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AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
NEW
! E R U T A E F
The
Advice Doctor
YOU S
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Dear Advice Doctor, I love my wife dearly, but after ten years of marriage, I find her laugh is more annoying every day. When we were dating I thought it was cute, but now I despise it. I don’t want to leave her, yet every time she lets loose with her cackle — many times every day — it sets my teeth on edge. Sometimes I just want to choke her. Do you have any advice on how to handle this? — Husband on The Hill Dear Husband on The Hill, The situation you describe is potentially serious, and is what dentists call “bruxism.” That’s the word for grinding and clenching your teeth, and over time it can cause jaw pain, headaches, damage to tooth enamel, and even cracked or chipped teeth. Sometimes teeth are literally flattened, making chewing food difficult. For some people (like you), bruxism is a stress reaction; millions of others don’t even know they do it: they grind their teeth in their sleep. The solution to bruxism can be anything from counseling or therapy to treatment by a sleep specialist. Check with your dentist to begin. He or she may be able to supply you with a mouth guard to protect your teeth from further damage, and worn tooth surfaces can be restored using crowns. Oh, one more thing: don’t tell your wife any jokes. + Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about love, life, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important life topic? Send it to Advice@AugustaRx.com. Replies will only be provided in Examiner issues.
SOME
WIN LOSE
ometimes the pursuit of a longer and better life is a matter of one step forward, two steps back. According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control, Georgia is in just such a situation. Georgia is one of a steadily growing number of states (21, plus the District of Columbia) in which deaths from bullets outnumber traffic fatalities. Can you believe that? More people are shot and killed in Georgia than die in car accidents. This isn’t even breaking news. It’s been that way for a while now, the result of years of decreasing traffic deaths and gun deaths that aren’t decreasing. Ten years ago the situation was reversed: nearly 1,700 people would die on Georgia roads in 2006, compared with fewer than 1,200 shooting deaths. As one grim statistic kept dropping, the inevitable happened and bullets finally overtook cars as the more lethal of the two in late 2010. Since then the gap has only widened. In 2013, for example, 1,262 Georgians died by firearms (both murders and suicides) compared with 1,179 on the
IT’S TIME!
highways. The trend is likely to continue. Cars, after all, have lots of safety features they didn’t have years ago: seat belts, airbags, collision avoidance systems, anti-lock braking, rear view cameras, navigation systems, eletronic stability control, and energy-absorbing “crumple zones.” New cars are significantly safer than older cars. Highway design has also improved, and laws have been enacted to encourage safety by stiffening penalties for distracted driving and driving under the influence. On the other hand, as one trauma physician observed in a Washington Posat article, 9mm bullets still measure 9mm, just like they always have. Bullets still travel the same speed they did ten years ago. Everyone seems to decry gun violence, whether the event is a mass shooting event like San Bernadino or Sandy Hook, or just
JANUARY 8, 2016
one unfortunate victim. Even so, laws designed to reduce gun deaths always face a difficult uphill battle. Many have been passed only to be rescinded soon after. Georgia, in fact, was the first state to ban handguns. Kentucky was the first state to make it illegal to carry a concealed weapon. Kentucky passed its law in 1813; it was struck down by an appeals court less than ten years later. Georgia’s ban went into effect in 1837; it was deemed unconstitutional by the state supreme court soon after. Where do you stand on the issue? Do you support stricter handgun laws? Or do you view gun control as an infringement on personal freedom and a dangerous intrusion by government into private citizens’ constitutional rights? However you may feel, in the deadly race of guns versus cars, highway safety is a progressive field that is producing results. By contrast, gun safety feels like a runaway train. The brakes are inconsistent and ineffective. We never go many days without another massacre someplace, and there is little basis for any realistic expectation of change. As we said above, sometimes it’s one step forward, two steps back. +
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