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This week on 'Your Money Maument', Mauritz Oberholzer looks at financial goal-setting and how clear, realistic goals can help you take control of your money. From short-term priorities to long-term financial plans, Mauritz shares practical advice on setting goals, staying focused and making smarter financial decisions.Your Money Maument is aired on eRadio SA every Thursday and available as a podcast afterwards.For more information visit https://www.mauritzoberholzer.co.za/

The Garden Route is facing a growing wildfire and environmental threat, with invasive alien plants, increasingly dry conditions and the risk of more intense fires placing added pressure on the region’s ecosystems.Veteran environmental manager Dr Guy Preston recently visited the Garden Route following the region’s extreme weather events and described the extent of invasive alien plants as “among the worst in the country”.According to Cobus Meiring of the Garden Route Environmental Forum, Preston expressed serious concern about the unchecked spread of invasive vegetation. Dense stands of alien plants not only displace indigenous vegetation and threaten biodiversity, but also create large amounts of combustible material that can fuel intense wildfires. Eon spoke to Meiring about Preston's findings.

Welcome back to Save Your Money, Save Your Teeth. In the previous episode, Eon Engelbrecht and Dr Clifford Yudelman looked at how stress shows up in the mouth before people admit it to themselves. This episode turns to the people for whom a normal dental visit is not just stressful but can be genuinely impossible.They cover special care dentistry for people with autism, severe ADHD, sensory processing differences, intellectual disabilities, severe anxiety, physical disabilities and dementia: people whose teeth fail not because they do not care, but because the dental chair was never designed with them in mind. The conversation covers what actually helps with bright lights and loud noises, how to prepare someone for a first visit, what desensitisation looks like in practice, how to manage a strong gag reflex, and how caregivers can brush a mouth that is not their own. They also discuss silver diamine fluoride, a painless liquid that can stop decay without a drill, when sedation or a general anaesthetic is genuinely the kindest choice, protecting the mouths of people with early dementia, and what a family should check before taking someone in a wheelchair to a dental practice.10 Questions and Summary Answers[1:31] What exactly is special care dentistry, and who is it actually for? It is less a specialty than a way of working, for anyone who cannot cope with dentistry the way it is usually delivered. That includes autism, severe ADHD in younger children, sensory processing differences, intellectual disabilities, severe anxiety, physical disability, dementia and people with a traumatic dental history. Some adults arrive having not seen a dentist in 15 years, not because they did not care, but because the visit was a total assault on their senses. Their teeth did not fail them; the system did. Getting proper care early is also far cheaper than an emergency extraction under general anaesthetic ten years later.[3:02] The lights, the drill and the suction must be overwhelming for someone with autism or sensory processing issues. What genuinely helps? Sensory overload is not bad behaviour; it is a nervous system being flooded, so the answer is to take things away rather than add them. The overhead lights can be dimmed or switched off, and light-sensitive patients can wear dark glasses. Unnecessary beeping, such as the bag sealer in the sterilisation area, is switched off, instruments are kept out of sight rather than waved in front of the face, and the dentist talks quietly about what comes next. The tell-show-do approach used for a four-year-old's first visit works well, and many patients simply bring their own over-ear headphones and disappear into their own music.[6:11] What can a parent or caregiver do before that first visit to make it go better? Preparation is half the battle, and it starts at home, not in the waiting room. Show the person photos of the practice, the chair and the people they will meet, so nothing is a surprise on the day. Book a quiet slot, such as the first appointment of the morning, and avoid practices where someone will sit for half an hour in a crowded waiting room. Tell the practice about triggers in advance, whether touch, noise, smell or waiting, sometimes through a video consultation with the caregiver. Bring comfort items such as headphones, a favourite teddy bear or a weighted blanket, because a first visit that goes well sets up every visit after it.[8:21] What does desensitisation actually look like in the dental chair? It is dentistry in small steps at the patient's pace, stopping before it becomes too much. The first visit might just be sitting in the chair, tilting it back and sitting up again; the next might introduce the light, over three or four very short visits. Each time the patient learns that nothing bad happened, and that is how trust is built. Routine matters too: the same person, the same room and the same sequence, because predictability is what makes a person feel safe. It takes longer at the start, but trust replaces a lifetime of crisis dentistry with genuine cooperation.[9:29] Some people gag the moment anything goes near the back of the mouth. How do you manage a strong gag reflex? A strong gag reflex is often fear-related, and can follow a choking or near-drowning experience. The patient is kept more upright, the dentist goes slower and avoids the back of the tongue, and a 3D scanner replaces messy impressions. Patients are shown that raising a hand stops everything, and they practise it several times until it becomes almost a game and they realise they are in control. Honesty matters as well: many special needs patients are waiting for the surprise jab they have learned to expect from doctors, so the dentist says clearly when there will be no needles. Nose breathing and small distractions such as wiggling the toes or twiddling the thumbs also help.[12:49] For caregivers brushing someone else's teeth every day, what makes it easier, and are there special toothbrushes that help? Caregivers deserve real credit, and the last thing any of them needs is a lecture, especially in front of the patient. The most useful change is position: brush from behind rather than face to face, with the person's head supported against a chair or headrest, or with a young child lying with their head in your lap. An electric toothbrush can help, and even 20 seconds is better than nothing if two minutes is not tolerated. For people brushing themselves, chunky handles, straps and other aids help with poor dexterity, and there are special sprays and mouthwashes as well.[15:26] Is it true that there is a liquid that can stop decay without any drilling? Yes. Silver diamine fluoride has been around for a long time and is making a big comeback. It is painted onto the decay, takes seconds, does not hurt and can stop a cavity in its tracks, which makes it one of the most useful tools for people who cannot tolerate a drill. The trade-off is that the treated decay turns black, so it is not ideal on a front tooth, because everybody cares about their appearance. The arrested decay can still be drilled out and filled later if that becomes possible.[16:51] When is sedation or a general anaesthetic genuinely the kindest option? Choosing sedation is not a failure. When the adaptations have been tried, the decay keeps progressing or the patient is in pain, planned treatment under sedation or a general anaesthetic lets everything be done safely, quickly and well, with no memory of it. It should be planned so that cleaning, fillings and extractions all happen in one session rather than over multiple anaesthetics. OptiSmile does not do theatre cases; this is usually the work of a paediatric dentist, many of whom also treat adults with severe autism or Down syndrome, or an oral surgeon. Long term, it is far safer and cheaper than a string of emergency visits.[18:42] What about older patients with dementia who can no longer look after their own mouths? It is a sad pattern: a patient with years of good crowns, bridges and implants starts arriving late or lost, and six months later comes in with a carer. Oral hygiene goes downhill as the person forgets how to brush, and a dry mouth lets teeth fail very quickly. When there is an early diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's, that is the time to get the mouth into very good shape, treating any teeth or gums likely to cause trouble in the next year or two. Many of these patients are otherwise healthy, and poor oral hygiene is linked to pneumonia in frail older people, so the mouth should not become the next emergency.[21:12] For someone using a wheelchair or with limited mobility, what should a family look for in a dental practice? Google listings often say whether a practice is wheelchair accessible, but always check, because the listings are not always correct. Look for wide doorways, a lift and no steps; a practice in an old house may have neither. Most patients can transfer into the dental chair with help, and some chairs turn sideways so a short visit can be done with the patient still in their wheelchair, using the chair's headrest. Choose a practice that sets aside extra time and has a caring culture, not a 15-minute slot in a high-volume clinic. Pick up the phone and ask when they last treated someone in a wheelchair, and check the toilet facilities too.OutroThe closing thought is the one worth holding on to: a difficult patient is almost never the problem; a dental visit that does not fit the person is. Adapt the visit, and most people can be cared for far more gently than their families expect. Call ahead and tell the practice what is hard, whether it is the lights, the noise, the waiting room or the chair.As Dr Yudelman puts it, this kind of practical guidance is hard to find on a dentist's website, and it will stay just as valid in three or five years' time. Next week: robots, AI and the future of dentistry.Further ResourcesOvercoming Dental Fear: Why Are People Afraid of the Dentist (Episode 51): https://optismile.co.za/blog/overcoming-dental-fear-why-are-people-afraid-of-thedentist/How to Prepare for a Stress-Free Dental Visit (Episode 53): https://optismile.co.za/blog/how-to-prepare-for-a-stress-free-dental-visit/Dental Injections Explained (Episode 102): https://optismile.co.za/blog/dental-injections-explained/The Brushing Masterclass: Technique, Timing and Tools (Episode 117): https://optismile.co.za/blog/the-brushing-masterclass-technique-timing-tools/Sedation Dentistry at OptiSmile: https://optismile.co.za/sedation-dentistry/iTero 3D Scanner (no impression trays): https://optismile.co.za/dental-technology/itero/OptiSmile Podcast Series: https://optismile.co.za/podcasts/OptiSmile YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@OptismileZa-dentist-cape-townContact OptiSmile: https://optismile.co.za/contact-dentist-cape-town/Disclaimer: The content provided in this podcast, "Save Your Money Save Your Teeth" on Medical Mondays, is for informational and edu

This week on 'Your Money Maument', Mauritz Oberholzer talks about a clever repayment strategy, where you pay off your debts from smallest balance to largest balance until you are completely debt-freeYour Money Maument is aired on eRadio SA every Thursday and available as a podcast afterwards.For more information visit https://www.mauritzoberholzer.co.za/

In this episode, Eon speaks to Jaco Hamman from Hahn & Hahn Attorneys about a significant High Court judgment involving Johannesburg Water and municipal effluent billing.The case centred on whether a municipality can ignore readings from a properly installed and functioning effluent meter and instead bill a business using estimated water consumption. The court found that where direct measurement is available, the municipality is required to use it, resulting in a judgment of more than R6.3 million, plus interest and costs.Jaco explains what the judgment means for businesses, what ratepayers should look for on their municipal bills, and the steps they can take if they believe they have been incorrectly charged.Legal Talk is aired every Wednesday morning at 10:00 on eRadio SA and available as a podcast thereafter.