These tasty lamb cutlets are quick and easy to make and are perfect served with a fresh green salad.

Ingredients

16 trimmed lamb cutlets

12/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 lightly beaten eggs

150g trimmed snow peas

1 chopped avocado

1 small thinly sliced red onion

2tsp onion powder

80g baby spinach

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Olive oil spray

1tbsp lemon juice plus wedges for serving

150g tub basil, feta, cashew and roast tomato dip

¼ cup finely chopped coriander

Instructions

1. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.
2. Mix coriander, onion powder and breadcrumbs in a large snap-lock bag and season. Place lamb and egg in a large bowl and toss to coat. Put the lamb in the breadcrumb mixture, seal the bag and shake until lamb is thoroughly coated.
3. Place lamb on the baking tray and spray with oil, baking for 30 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
4. Put snow peas in a medium heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for two minutes before draining and rinsing under cold water. Thinly slice peas lengthways and mix with spinach, onion and avocado.
5. Mix together extra oil, dip and lemon juice, and serve cutlets with dip mixture, salad and lemon wedges.

Serves 4

Wedding season is a time to smile, but do your teeth look their best? If they could use a little help, we have some easy suggestions to help your pearly whites sparkle.

Have a Professional Dental Cleaning

A professional dental cleaning is an excellent way to spruce up your smile, and it’s great for your gum health too. Ideally, everyone should have their teeth cleaned professionally at six monthly intervals.

Treat Yourself to a Professional Teeth Whitening Procedure

If you’re looking for something a little more, a professional teeth whitening treatment is just the thing. Choose a one-hour teeth whitening treatment in our comfortable dental office, and which will brighten your smile by several shades. Otherwise, we can provide custom home whitening kits for use in the privacy of your own home. These take a couple of weeks to achieve maximum effects.

Improving Your Smile

If you have always wanted to improve your smile, the wedding season is the perfect opportunity. We can custom-make beautiful all-ceramic crowns, veneers and fillings while you wait. Dental implants are the most advanced way to restore missing teeth. Although treatment takes a little longer, they are well worth the effort, and you should be enjoying the results for many wedding seasons to come.

Anyone who has ever put up with the misery of hay fever will dread the warmer weather. Listed below are a few ways to naturally control your symptoms this spring.

1. Vaseline. A smear of Vaseline or another balm around your nostrils creates a barrier that can help trap pollen.
2. Hay fever is the perfect reason to buy a new pair of sunglasses. Choose a wraparound style for more protection.
3. Weather apps. If you haven’t already, download a weather app to keep track of pollen counts locally. This can help you to plan events and to decide when it is better to stay indoors.
4. Quercetin and Vitamin C. Onions and apples contain quercetin, a natural antihistamine. Vitamin C is another natural antihistamine, so eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
5. Close your windows. Your windows create a physical barrier to pollen, so keep them shut if you can and especially at night when the pollen count is often higher.
6. Dry your laundry inside. Pollen can stick bedsheets and clothes dried outside. Drying your laundry indoors might be less convenient, but it could reduce the severity of your hay fever.
7. Shower often. Pollen sticks to your clothes and to your hair and skin. Showering and washing your hair helps to eradicate pollen.

Did you realise oral health and mental health are intimately connected? Many people are unaware of this link, and even scientists are not quite sure of the exact connection.

How are the Two Connected?

The relationship between oral health and mental health is cyclical. People with mental health problems are less likely to look after their physical and oral health. When oral and physical health is neglected, a person is less likely to eat nutritiously or to follow healthy habits.

Depression is often associated with tobacco and alcohol usage, increasing the risk of tooth decay and acid erosion. People who are depressed are less able to look after their oral hygiene and are at higher risk of developing dental disease.

Bipolar disorders negatively affect dental health. The medications used to treat bipolar can cause dry mouth or xerostomia, and stomatitis. People with bipolar can overbrush their teeth, damaging gums and abrading tooth enamel.

Poor dental hygiene can impact mental health in another way too. People who have lost their teeth or who have bad breath are more likely to suffer from social anxiety.

Everybody leads such busy lives that it can be tricky to relax, and often good quality sleep is sacrificed as we struggle to find more time in the day. But, good quality sleep is crucial and affects just about every part of your body, including appetite, your immune system, cardiovascular health, blood pressure and breathing. While you are asleep, your body produces hormones that help to repair cells, regulating energy use and these hormones can affect your weight. When you don’t receive enough sleep your risk of developing heart disease, infections or struggling with your weight increases. Most adults need approximately 7-8 hours of sleep each night, while young children need 10 hours each night. Teenagers need about 9 hours sleep.

If good quality sleep is elusive, try these tips:

• To ensure you get enough sleep, go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning.
• Make sure your bedroom is quiet, comfortable and dark.
• Ideally, take the time to relax before bedtime by reading or having a soothing bath, and limit your use of electronics.
• Daily exercise is useful, but avoid exercising just before bedtime.
• Try to avoid stimulants late in the day such as caffeine and alcohol.

If you have already lost teeth or are facing tooth loss imminently, dental implants could be the long-term solution you have been seeking. The great thing about dental implants is that they look, feel and function just like real teeth, and they provide some significant benefits for dental health.

Why Dental Implants?

A dental implant is a small post which is placed in your jawbone to replicate a real tooth root. Over time, the post bonds firmly with the surrounding bone which prevents bone deterioration while providing a strong and secure anchorage point for a new implant tooth. Additionally, dental implant treatment protects your natural teeth because it is unnecessary to reshape teeth, which is the case for a dental bridge, and implant teeth prevent your natural teeth from shifting position.

Treatment is Versatile

Implant treatment is extremely versatile and can replace single or multiple teeth, or even complete arches of teeth using implant-supported crowns, bridges and dentures that clip onto the implants. Here at Apple Dental, we provide computer-guided dental implants, so each treatment is planned precisely, ensuring your dental implants are inserted into the optimum positions for restoring functionality and appearance. Also, computer-guided treatment is smoother and more comfortable!

Dental implants are an excellent solution for most people, and you can learn much more during your initial consultation.

Your body needs certain nutrients to fight infection and to repair the damage. If your diet is deficient in these nutrients, then you might find it harder to fight infections like periodontal disease (gum disease) and which is a major cause of tooth loss. Choosing foods that are high in sugars or starches can also harm your dental health. Bacteria naturally present in the mouth use starchy and sugary foods for energy, producing acid that gradually erodes tooth enamel, increasing the risk of cavities. If you like to eat lots of acidic foods, then the effect is worsened.

Eating a balanced diet helps your body fight signs of disease and infection, and it is helpful to avoid eating cavity-causing foods too frequently. If you want to eat something sugary, starchy or acidic, enjoy it as part of a main meal because this will help to reduce the damage to your teeth. If you like to snack, choose tooth-friendly foods like cheese, natural yoghurt or fresh fruit and vegetables.

This tasty and healthy recipe can easily be adapted to include whatever fresh vegetables you have in your fridge.

Ingredients

¾ cup ground chicken

2 minced garlic cloves

2 finely sliced garlic cloves

½ cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 large egg whisked to mix

1 leek sliced into 1cm pieces

1 cup carrots cut into 1cm slices

6tbsp grated parmesan

5 cups chicken broth

¾ cup ditalini or another small pasta

2tbsps extra virgin olive oil

2tbsp freshly chopped chives

1 cup packed baby spinach

Chopped fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Mix the breadcrumbs, half the parmesan, minced garlic, egg, chives, chicken and 1/4tsp pepper and 3/4tsp of salt in a bowl. Form mixture into meatballs. It should make about 28.
2. Heat oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat and cook meatballs for approximately 3 minutes until golden. Set aside on a plate.
3. Add the leek to the saucepan and stir until it begins to soften, for about 3 minutes. Add the sliced garlic cloves and cook for a further minute before adding 2 cups of water and the broth. Bring to a boil and add carrots and pasta. Cook until pasta is still al dente, for approximately 8 minutes. Add meatballs and cook for 3 minutes or until meatballs and carrots are cooked through. Add remaining parmesan and spinach and cook until cheese is melted, and spinach is wilted. Season to taste and serve with more parmesan and the fresh basil.

Serves 4

Are you aware how snacking affects your dental health? Whenever you eat foods that are carbohydrate-rich or sugary, they then are broken down by bacteria in your mouth. These bacteria produce acid, which weakens and gradually erodes your tooth enamel, increasing the risk of tooth decay. It takes approximately half an hour for acidity levels in the mouth to normalise and when you frequently snack then the damage to your teeth is increased.

Selecting the Right Kind of Snacks for Better Dental Health

Everybody knows sugary foods are bad for teeth, but did you know the risk is nearly as high for savoury snacks, dried fruits, smoothies and juice? Many popular snack foods contain huge amounts of hidden sugars. Better choices include oatcakes with sugar-free peanut butter or hummus. Cheese, sugar-free yoghurt and plain nuts are great because they are rich in phosphorus and calcium, which helps to repair tooth enamel. Crunchy fruits and vegetables are excellent for dental health because the high fibre content has a slight scrubbing action on teeth.

We are celebrating National Dental Health week 6-12 August, in Australia, and it’s a time when we become even more passionate about good oral health and education. If you’d like more advice on choosing tooth-friendly foods, then please ask!

Have you noticed how you immediately feel better after sharing a laugh with friends or family? It is because laughing promotes healthy emotional and physical changes in the body.

• When you laugh, it relaxes your whole body, relieving physical stress and tension.
• Your immune system is boosted because laughter decreases stress hormones and boosts immune cells and antibodies that fight infection.
• Laughing prompts the production of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good hormone that can promote an overall feeling of well-being.
• Laughter is great for your heart, improving blood flow and the function of blood vessels, which has a protective effect.
• Sharing laughter with others can help to put problems in perspective, diffusing any feelings of anger or conflict more easily.
• You may even live longer if you laugh more, as one study discovered that people with a good sense of humour outlived those who didn’t laugh quite so much. The effect was especially pronounced in people fighting cancer.

As children, we often laugh hundreds of times a day, but as we get older, we become far more serious and less able to laugh frequently. Rediscovering the ability to laugh often can be a powerful antidote to anger, pain, stress or conflict, and it’s completely free!