Mouth

Question: : The inside of my mouth became very sensitive to salt, acid and anything spicy. When my wife looked, she said it looked like thrush. I went to my dentist to have it checked out. After a visual assessment and asking about medications, one of his first questions was, "Are you using a cinnamon toothpaste?" Stopping the cinnamon toothpaste and using a prescription medicated mouthwash called "Magic Mouthwash" cured the condition in about 10 days. I hope this will help other readers.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - There is a certain etiquette that usually prevails in the NFL post-game environment, where one of the first rules is to avoid any criticism of the officiating no matter how egregious and arbitrary it might have seemed. The price for breaking that rule can be pretty high. The league doesn't take kindly to anything that might cast doubt upon the integrity of the game and its officials, and is quick to levy stiff fines on players and coaches who vent about the questionable calls that might or might not have cost them a game.

The Baltimore sports apparel company Under Armour is introducing a line of mouth gear that it says will not only protect the jaw from hits but will reduce stress to improve athletic performance. UA Performance Mouthwear was developed by Bite Tech Inc., a Minneapolis company that has researched mouth products for athletes. The mouthpiece is for noncontact sports such as baseball, running, golf and tennis, and costs $495. The mouthguard for football, hockey, lacrosse and other contact sports costs $450.

In Baltimore last week, new U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske made the case for expansion of drug courts to treat rather than imprison addicts and called for drugs to be considered a "public health crisis." Why, then, is the Obama administration proposing to spend an even higher percentage of its anti-drug resources on law enforcement than the administration of George W. Bush? Nowhere are these issues more resonant than in Baltimore. Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, a star of HBO's The Wire and a native of the city, said that her mother stole clothes off of her body for drug money and locked her in a closet.

Recently I started talking to my wife while covering my mouth with my old Rawlings glove, a practice she finds disturbing. "The neighbors might be lip-reading," I said. "Who knows what they'll pick up?" "You're watching too much baseball," she said. "Dial it back a little." She might have a point. Watch a major league game now and every pitcher-catcher conference on the mound involves both players talking with their gloves in front of their faces. The first time I saw this, I thought: What, someone had onions for lunch?

This could have been a great week in the life of Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. He could have had one more big payday and a legacy in Baltimore that would have put him in the same class with John Unitas, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr. But instead of celebrating a new contract and enhancing his iconic status, Lewis was embarrassed on the first day of free agency because none of the other 31 teams in the NFL offered him a contract....

Some days, it's hard not to marvel at Willis McGahee. He can cut. He's slippery. He makes your eyes shake out of their sockets. Sometimes, you simply can't believe what has taken place in front of you. If only we were talking about McGahee's feet instead of his lips. In an interview this week with Sporting News Radio, McGahee seemed to imply Ravens coaches were at fault for his lack of production this season. McGahee said he "tried to be someone else's running back this year, and it didn't work out."

This season, Frank Walker had garnered more attention for his mouth - talking and otherwise - than his skills as a cornerback. Walker got a chance to demonstrate why the Ravens coveted him in the offseason as he led the defense with six solo tackles, forced a fumble and broke up two passes in the Ravens' 27-7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at M&T Bank Stadium yesterday. "Whenever [defensive coordinator Rex Ryan] calls on me, I try to be ready," said Walker, who signed two-year, $3.5 million deal in March.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It wasn't surprising that the New York Giants beat the Ravens yesterday, but how they beat them. In a match up between two smash-mouth football teams, the Giants delivered the most body shots, and several knockout blows in what was supposed to be a statement game for the Ravens. It was. "I was embarrassed," said Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs. He should be. So should the entire offensive line, and inside linebackers Ray Lewis and Bart Scott. And defensive tackles Haloti Ngata and Justin Bannan.

James Bennett hadn't seen a dentist in a decade. He had other priorities, like scoring heroin. Even if he'd been of a mind to do something about his rotting teeth, he wouldn't have known where to go or whom to call. Now, at long last, he sat in the blue exam chair in the Southwest Baltimore office of Dr. Larry Bank, a cramped space with a bucolic wallpaper scene of a waterfall. At 45, Bennett is trying to restart his life. That means getting a grip on his addiction through a residential rehab program - and fixing his ragged mess of a mouth.