The company issued the recall because the products do not meet required standards. Some of the products may contain high levels of active ingredients, inactive ingredients that do not meet the company’s testing requirements or tiny particles. The recall is a precaution. The company suggests you not use affected product. Use generic products instead.

Be sure to check your cabinets at home and verify your product lot numbers. You can find a list of lot numbers and the product list at www.mcneilproductrecall.com.

There are three main types of mouth guards: stock, boil and bite, and custom.

Stock mouth guards are available at your local drug store, and can be immediately removed from the package and placed in the mouth. Although they’re convenient, they tend to be very bulky and require the child to constantly bite down to hold the mouth guard in place.

A boil-and-bite mouth guard is the most commonly used mouth guard. It’s immersed in boiling water and then formed in the mouth using biting pressure. While these mouth guards are better than the stock versions, they also can be bulky and improperly fitted.

A custom mouth guard offers the best protection, but it’s the most expensive. It’s designed by your child’s dentist and offers the best fit with the least amount of material needed for safety. A custom mouth guard is a must for any player with braces.

Remember, any injury to the mouth needs immediate treatment. Cuts may need stitches, cracked or broken teeth may need cosmetic repairs and teeth that have moved may require repositioning and stabilization. If a tooth is completely knocked from the socket, it’s best to either immediately re-implant the tooth or store it in milk and quickly seek emergency dental treatment. Time is a key factor in most cases of dental injury.

-Kevin Walter, MD, program director, Pediatric and Adolescent Sports Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and Lori Barbeau, DDS, medical director, Children’s Dental Center, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

Learn more about Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin at chw.org.

A suntan today can cause very serious skin problems tomorrow. Many teens think tanning in a booth or bed is not harmful, but this is not true. Ultraviolet lights have the same damaging effects as the sun.

Explain to your teen that all tanning harms the skin, causing visible and invisible damage. Visible damage, appears within a few hours after exposure, and includes suntan and sunburn. Invisible damage, such as premature aging, wrinkles, sun spots and skin cancer, may develop years later.

Because most children and teens are outdoors three times more than most adults, up to 80 percent of a person’s lifetime exposure to the sun occurs before 18. It can take 10 to 20 years for skin damage caused by childhood or teenage sun exposure to result in skin cancer or premature aging.

Encourage your teen to:

• Refrain from tanning in beds or booths.
• Avoid long periods of sun exposure. The sun’s energy is greatest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or greater. Apply it as often as needed to prevent redness or burning. This will vary depending on a person’s skin type.
• If swimming or sweating, reapply the sunscreen often.
• Wear hats with a visor or adequate brim.

Ty Mursau, 3, poses with the pumpkin his mother helped carve with another Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin patient family.

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is a special place for many families. They can spend weeks and months in the hospital getting to know doctors and other staff.

This fall, two patient families have shared their appreciation for the care they have received. Jeni Mursau and Erin Darling carved a special pumpkin with the hospital’s logo on it. The process took almost 90 minutes.

“We wanted to do something to show that we appreciated everyone who has been a part of our boys’ care,” said Darling. “They are truly wonderful people in our lives.”

Darling’s son Garret is one week shy of his first birthday. He’s known Children’s Hospital since day one. Born 10 weeks early and weighing only 2 pounds, he had his first surgery at the hospital when he was only 2 days old. “He’s having what should be his last surgery today,” his mom said.

Erin Darling’s husband, James, works with Rich Mursau, Jeni’s husband. The Darlings found out about the Mursau’s 3-year-old son, Ty, who was born with the same condition – a tracheoesophageal fistula, a condition in which the esophagus is not connected to the stomach. The two families bonded and relied on each other for support.

“Rich and Jeni have been the biggest blessing in our lives,” said Erin Darling. “They have helped us get through the last year and have given us a great amount of support. They were so willing to share their story to help us get through ours.”

“Our family and friends know our story and what the hospital has meant for us,” said Jeni Mursau. “They kept Ty alive and helped bring him to where he is today. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is a godsend for us. Without them, Ty never would have made it.”

Hi I’m Gus, and I’d like to take you on a tour of Safeville. Safeville is a town dedicated to poison prevention. My human friends at Children’s Health Education Center and Wisconsin Poison Center teamed up to create fun and interactive games for children ages 3-7 to teach them how to stay safe if they come across a poison.

There is a lot to learn in Safeville. Before I flew around Safeville, I didn’t know that more than 1/2 of poison exposures occur in children 5 years or younger. I knew my bird friends and I get upset stomachs after eating anything but berries, but I didn’t know poisons make so many children sick and that this could be prevented.

Please log on – I think that is how you humans say it – to Safeville at BlueKids.org/Safeville with a child that lives in your nest, and join me and my friends Max, Olivia, Abby and Miss Eversafe. You’ll both have fun visiting the park, school, grocery store, Safeville’s police station and more, all while learning about poison prevention. Spread the word that Safeville is here for kids and parents. Many local schools and day care centers will be receiving information soon in the mail, too.

And remember, if you or one of your chicks has any poison emergency or question, call Wisconsin Poison Center toll free at 1-800-222-1222 any time of day or night.