Peeps memes: What to do with your stale Easter candy – Washington Post
Easter is over. Chances are your local convenience store is trying to clear its shelves of all pastel-colored candies — including everyone’s favorite, love-it-or-hate-it seasonal treat: Peeps. But consuming all those jelly beans and Cadbury eggs, the thought of a sugar-dusted Peep might be enough to give you a toothache.
So what should you do with your deeply-discounted bits of marshmallow? There’s Peep jousting, but the microwave cleaning that follows won’t be so much fun. Put ’em in your favorite Internet memes, instead, like these competitors in our annual Peep contest (check out the winners here).
Previously: Peeps in movies, Peeps in D.C., Peeps in politics, Peeps in love, Peeps in pop culture, and Peeps in fine art.
Nyan Peep: Based on the adorable meme Nyan Cat, outfitted in his finest Easter Pop Tart.
(Julia Schillo)
[Stuff] Peeple in D.C. Say: Based on the never-ending series of videos explaining [expletive] people say, a meme that made its way to our fair city to poke fun of Washington’s most self-important types.
“Sh*t Peeps in DC Say” includes parody vignettes of the YouTube sensation. (Casey Saggers)
Words with Peeps: The super-addictive game that got Alec Baldwin kicked off of a flight last year gets a Peeps treatment.
“Words With Peeps” – The current trend of “people” everywhere playing multiple games of “Words With Friends.” (Dawn Lipshultz and Andy Eckert)
Peepquake: This diorama was a take on a popular image that became a meme after the D.C. earthquake last year. The devastating “earthquake damage” included one knocked-over lawn chair. 
“What the PEEP just happened?!” – Inspired by a popular picture on the internet of a lawn chair that was knocked over, along with the caption “we will rebuild.” (Janna Murphy and Tori Sieber)
Peepterest: The mega-addictive Pinterest has already spawned so many spin-offs, so why not one for Peeps?
“Peepterest: The Loss of American Productivity.” Wrote the artists: “This diorama represents Pinterest in the marshmallowy world of peeps. We tried to do justice to the variety of things you would come across on Pinterest: reciPEEPs; fashionPEEPsta ideas; how to get six PEEP abs, and many more fun ideas for the peep world!” (Karlyn Owens and Dave Owens)
What Peeple Think About Peeps: Based on another series of viral images that riff on people’s assumptions, Peeple think Peeps are art, science, delicious, a cash cow, a ninja, and a recipe comprised of sugar, marshmallow, and love. Megan Hustings and Rachel Hamilton’s diorama was a finalist in this year’s competition.
“What Peeple Think Peeps Are” (Megan Hustings and Rachel Hamilton)
See our winner and all of our finalists here:
View Photo Gallery: Presenting the winner of our sixth annual Peeps Diorama Contest, along with the other four finalists and a few dozen of our favorites.
More Peeps: Peeps Contest 2012
Categories: Info & News Tags: candy, Easter, memes, Peeps, post, stale, Washington
5 years after boy dies from toothache, Maryland Medicaid dental care is on mend – Washington Post
In 2007, Maryland’s Medicaid dental-care program came under fire after a Prince George’s County boy died from an untreated tooth infection that spread lethal bacteria to his brain. Five years later, the same system that failed 12-year-old Deamonte Driver is now touted as one of the best in the nation, officials said Wednesday at a children’s dental care panel on Capitol Hill.
Health-care representatives from across the country addressed the state of children’s dental care at the event hosted by Pew’s Children’s Dental Care campaign. Maryland’s efforts at reform, spurred in large part by Deamonte’s death, received top marks in a 2011 Pew Charitable Trusts report released in May.
During the hearing, which became emotional at times, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) pointed out that Deamonte would have been 17 this year, “but he’s gone,” Cummings said. “No more birthdays, no more Christmas, no graduation from high school. Gone.”
“His sun went down as it was still day,” he added.
An abscess in Driver’s tooth spread to his brain, and six weeks and two neural surgeries later he was dead. An $ 80 tooth extraction could have saved his life.
Deamonte’s death exposed a disjointed dental-care program in the state: Thousands of Maryland children weren’t connecting with Medicaid-sponsored dentists, and those dentists were receiving little reimbursement for treating Medicaid patients. The year before Driver died, just one-third of Maryland’s more than 500,000 Medicaid-covered children had received dental-care treatment.
Fast forward to 2010, the most recent year for which Pew has released dental-care data, and almost 42 percent of Medicaid-enrolled children in Maryland were getting dental treatment. Last year, Maryland became one of only five states that Pew awarded an “A” for reimbursement of dental fees accrued when treating Medicaid patients.
“We were all pretty much put on our heels by Deamonte’s death,” said Harry Goodman, who took over as director of oral health for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shortly after Driver died. “But I think that we’ve really been fueled by the emotion of that event to change things, and we’re contuing to move forward.”
When Deamonte first became sick his mother, Alyce Driver, was searching in vain for a dentist for her other son, who was suffering from six rotted teeth. With her Medicaid lapsed, the family’s struggle to find a dentist was compounded by stretches of homelessness, a lack of transportation and trouble maintaining a consistent phone number or mailing address.
Congressional hearings held in the wake of Deamonte’s death led then-Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene John M. Colmers to create the Maryland Dental Action Coalition.
When the state reauthorized its Children’s Health Insurance Program in 2009, it added coverage for children in a slightly higher income bracket than those covered under Medicaid.
Pew also launched a national Children’s Dental Campaign to assess and help improve prevention and treatment across the country.
Alyce Driver worked to become a dental assistant, Cummings said. She graduated from a training program last year and now assists a dentist in Capitol Heights who works with the Deamonte Driver Dental Project to provide grass-roots treatment to Medicaid patients.
“Through his death his mother got a new life,” Cummings said.
Categories: Info & News Tags: after, Care, Dental, dies, From, Maryland, Medicaid, mend, post, Toothache, Washington, years
Deamonte Driver’s Death From Toothache Grants More Kids Dental Care Access – Huffington Post
HuffPost’s QuickRead…
EDITION: U.S.
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February 3, 2012
Categories: Info & News Tags: Access, Care, Deamonte, Death, Dental, Driver's, From, Grants, Huffington, Kids, More, post, Toothache
TIPS: Oral care post tooth extraction – Hindustan Times
Avoid eating acidic food like soft drinks, soda and citrus fruits in excess to prevent your teeth from decay.
Taking special care of your gums and teeth is essential to reduce pain and further damage. Tips to ensure the best oral health. 1 Take it easy: It is normal for the gum area and mouth to be tender for the first few days. Don’t exercise for at least 12 to 24 hours. If you
want to lie down, for the first night following surgery, keep your head up with pillows. Do not bend over or do heavy lifting for at least a week.
2 Bleeding control: Your dentist would let you know how to control any bleeding. Usually, a gauze pad will be placed on the area, and try and keep firm pressure on it. Change the dressing about every 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the amount of bleeding.
3 Rinse carefully: After 24 hours, gently rinse four times a day, using warm salt water. Do not spit out forcefully. Be careful not to dislodge the blood clot when brushing near the extraction area, for at least three to four days.
4 Ease your mouth: After 24 hours, gently stretch your mouth open to get it moving again. Talk as less as you can, and eat in moderation.
5 Soft food: Stick to a liquid or soft food diet for the first two days. Avoid hot food or drinks until the numbing wears off. You cannot feel pain while the gum is numb and this may burn your mouth.
6 Avoid smoking and alcohol: Do not smoke for at least the rest of the day. Avoid alcohol for 24 hours, as it could delay the healing process.
inputs from Dr Sameer Sachdev
Categories: Info & News Tags: Care, extraction, Hindustan, Oral, post, Times, TIPS, Tooth