• Terra Ziolkowski, a dental assistant in Miami, Florida, created a quick self-audit checklist to help people spot small issues early and keep a simple routine consistent.

Florida, US, 25th February 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, Terra Ziolkowski has released a free resource for everyday individuals called the “15-Minute Mouth Check,” a one page self-audit and mini script designed to help people catch common oral health slip-ups before they become expensive problems.

The guide is built for real life. It uses short prompts, a simple checklist, and plain language notes that people can complete at home, then bring to their next dental visit if they choose.

“Most people do not need a complicated routine,” said Ziolkowski. “They need a routine they can actually repeat, even on busy days.”

The “15-Minute Mouth Check” includes:

• A quick daily habit check (morning and night)

• A gum and tooth scan you can do with a mirror and good lighting

• A “what to mention at your next appointment” note section

• A short script for asking clear questions at the dentist without feeling awkward

“Perfection is not the goal,” Ziolkowski added. “The goal is a routine you can keep when life gets messy.”

The real-world cost when small problems get ignored

Ziolkowski created the guide to address a common pattern: people delay care, rush routines, and only react when pain shows up. The costs can add up fast.

• A single cavity filling can cost about $100 to $1,150 per tooth, depending on the situation and materials. 

• A dental crown can range from about $800 to $2,500 per tooth without insurance. 

• Emergency department dental visits average about $749 for patients who are not hospitalized, and ED care is often far more expensive than a dental office visit. 

• Lost productivity time due to untreated dental disease is estimated at $45 billion per year in the U.S., tied to oral pain and unplanned dental visits. 

“People are often surprised that the basics still matter most,” said Ziolkowski. “This guide keeps the basics clear and easy.”

Use this in 15 minutes

Set a timer for 15 minutes. Grab a mirror and turn on bright lighting. No special tools needed.

1. Check your routine (3 minutes)
   Circle what you actually do most days: brush once, brush twice, rush at night, skip between-teeth cleaning, snack late, fall asleep without brushing.

2. Do a quick scan (6 minutes)
   Look for:

• Gum bleeding when brushing

• Sore spots

• A tooth that feels sensitive to cold, sweet, or pressure

• A spot you always miss (same side, same back tooth)

1. Write your “next visit notes” (4 minutes)
   Use the guide’s prompts to jot:

• Where it hurts or feels sensitive

• How long it has been happening

• What makes it better or worse

1. Use the short script (2 minutes)
   Pick one question to bring to your next visit, such as:

• “Can you show me the one spot I keep missing when I brush?”

• “Is this sensitivity something I should treat now, or watch?”

• “What is the simplest routine you want me to follow for the next 30 days?”

Common mistakes people make

Ziolkowski says the same issues show up again and again, even for people who care about their health.

• Treating oral care like an all-or-nothing routine
  Doing nothing because you cannot do everything perfectly.

• Brushing fast and skipping the gumline
  Speed usually means missed areas.

• Waiting for pain before taking action
  Pain often shows up later than the problem.

• Not asking questions at the dental visit
  People leave without a clear plan, then repeat the same habits.

“This is about small checks that prevent big problems,” Ziolkowski said. “You identify the simple change you can keep, and you stick with it long enough to see results.”

How to use the resource today

Use the “15-Minute Mouth Check” tonight or tomorrow morning. Complete the checklist once, write down two notes, and choose one small habit to keep for the next seven days. Then bring your notes to your next dental visit and read your questions directly from the script.

About Terra Ziolkowski

Terra Ziolkowski is a dental assistant based in Miami, Florida. She supports patients through chairside care, clear communication, and practical oral hygiene education focused on simple habits people can maintain.

• William Gee, a prominent trial lawyer in Lafayette, Louisiana, is urging offshore workers and families to avoid early mistakes that can quietly weaken a maritime injury claim.

Louisiana, US, 25th February 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, William Gee, Managing Partner of William Gee Law Firm, released a public alert aimed at offshore and maritime workers who are hurt on the job, as well as families trying to help them in the first days after an injury.

The alert focuses on a common and avoidable mistake: handling an offshore injury the way someone might handle a standard workers’ compensation claim, including giving quick recorded statements, signing early paperwork without review, or waiting too long to document what happened. Maritime claims can involve different rules, different timelines, and different ways liability is proven.

As a recent profile of Gee’s work put it, “offshore cases are not simple.” The same profile described a practice built on “specialize rather than generalize,” and on “preparation and persistence.” Those themes are part of what Gee wants the public to understand: the first steps after an offshore injury often shape everything that comes after.

Why this matters in plain numbers

These risks show up in a world where serious accidents remain common:

• In 2023, the United States recorded 40,901 motor vehicle traffic fatalities.

• In 2023, there were 5,283 fatal work injuries in the United States. 

• Transportation incidents accounted for 36.8% of all occupational fatalities in 2023, or 1,942 deaths. 

• In 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard counted 3,844 recreational boating accidents, including 564 deaths and 2,126 injuries.

• CDC NIOSH notes commercial fishing is among the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., with a fatality rate over 28 times higher than the U.S. average during 2000–2017. 

Public alert: The trap to avoid

The trap is not just the injury. It is the early paper trail.

Offshore and maritime cases can turn on details that seem small at first: who supervised the work, what equipment was involved, whether the Jones Act applies, what training and safety steps were used, and how the first report described the incident. When those details are vague, rushed, or inconsistent, it can limit options later.

Self-check quiz: Are you at risk of this mistake?

Answer Yes or No:

1. Did you give a recorded statement to anyone other than your own lawyer?

2. Did you sign any document that mentions release, waiver, resignation, or “full and final” settlement?

3. Did you delay medical care or skip a follow-up appointment after the initial visit?

4. Did your first report of injury leave out key details about equipment, conditions, or witnesses?

5. Were you told this is “just workers’ comp,” with no discussion of maritime rules or the Jones Act?

6. Did you send texts or social posts about the incident that could be misunderstood out of context?

7. Did you return to work before your condition was clearly documented by a medical provider?

8. Did you rely on verbal promises about coverage, pay, or “taking care of it later”?

9. Did you lose track of names of witnesses, vessel details, or the timeline of the shift?

10. Did you assume the company’s process is designed to protect you first?

Quick scoring

• 0–1 Yes: Lower risk. Keep documentation tight and stay consistent.

• 2–4 Yes: Moderate risk. The claim may already be drifting off course.

• 5+ Yes: High risk. Early missteps may be shaping the outcome.

What to do next: Simple decision tree

Start here:

1. A) If you answered Yes to signing anything

1. Stop signing new paperwork.

2. Gather copies of everything you signed or were sent.

3. Write a simple timeline: date, time, location, what happened, who saw it.

4. Get legal guidance before any further statements or forms.

1. B) If you answered Yes to a recorded statement

1. Do not do a second statement “to clarify.”

2. Request a copy or transcript if available.

3. Write down what you remember saying while it is still fresh.

4. Focus on medical documentation and facts, not explanations.

1. C) If you answered Yes to delayed care or limited documentation

1. Book a follow-up appointment and describe symptoms clearly.

2. Keep a daily log for 14 days: pain, mobility, sleep, tasks you cannot do.

3. Save all work schedules, travel records, and incident communications.

4. Identify witnesses and write down how to contact them.

1. D) If you answered Yes to “this is just workers’ comp”

1. Treat that as a prompt to ask deeper questions about maritime options.

2. Collect vessel or jobsite details: employer, contractors, vessel name if relevant.

3. Preserve photos if you have them, including equipment and surroundings.

4. Get counsel familiar with maritime and offshore injury law.

Gee is urging offshore workers and families to run the self-check today, then take simple steps to protect accuracy and documentation before the situation hardens into a record that is difficult to fix.

Run the self-check today and share it with a friend, coworker, or family member who works offshore.

About William Gee

William Gee is a prominent trial lawyer based in Lafayette, Louisiana. He is the Managing Partner of William Gee Law Firm and focuses on products liability, offshore and maritime injury cases, and serious car and truck collisions. He earned his J.D. from Tulane University Law School and studied economics and philosophy at Emory University. He led a legal team that obtained a $117 million jury verdict, the largest in Louisiana history for an injury case.

• Dr. David Tabaroki of Queens, New York, shares a simple personal standard designed to improve trust, safety, and long-term outcomes.

New York, US, 25th February 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, Dr. David Tabaroki, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and practice owner based in Queens, New York, is encouraging individuals to adopt a simple personal decision standard he calls the Three Checks Standard: Pause, Verify, Commit.

The approach is built for everyday moments that quietly shape outcomes, including financial choices, privacy habits, career moves, and health routines. The goal is not perfection. It is consistency.

Tabaroki’s professional life has been shaped by long training, repeatable systems, and sustained execution. After immigrating to New York at age 12, he earned full scholarships to Yeshiva University and NYU, graduated in the top 5 percent of his dental class with honors, completed four years of oral and maxillofacial surgery training at Montefiore University Hospital, and went on to build and lead three practices: Queens Blvd Oral Surgery, Jamaica Estates Oral Surgery, and Gramercy Dental Group.

He says the same mindset that supports clinical precision and long-term practice growth can also improve how people handle everyday decisions.

“Success means building something that lasts,” said Dr. Tabaroki.
“I treat each day like it matters. Small decisions add up over 20 years,” he said.
“In surgery, precision is everything. In business, systems matter,” he said.
“I expanded carefully. Each new location had to meet the same standard as the first,” he said.

The Three Checks Standard

The Three Checks Standard is meant to be used in any decision that carries consequences, even small ones.

1. Pause
   Stop for 10 seconds before you click, pay, sign, post, or commit. The pause creates space for judgment.

2. Verify
   Confirm the basics. Identify what is true, what is assumed, and what is missing. Verify the source, the cost, and the next step.

3. Commit
   Choose a clear action and write it down. If it is a purchase, set a limit. If it is a habit, set a time. If it is a conversation, set a goal.

Four “Basics Ignored” Stats (Scenario-Based)

The numbers below are simple scenarios that show how small misses can snowball over a year.

1. High-interest drift
   A $5,000 balance at 24% APR costs about $1,200 in interest over 12 months if it stays unpaid (5,000 × 0.24).

2. Subscription creep
   Five subscriptions at $14.99 per month add up to $899.40 per year (5 × 14.99 × 12).

3. Privacy shortcut cost
   If a password reset and account recovery takes 2 hours, and you do it 6 times a year, that is 12 hours lost to avoidable clean-up (2 × 6).

4. Health habit mismatch
   Skipping a 20-minute walk three times per week equals 52 hours of missed movement per year (20 minutes × 3 × 52 = 3,120 minutes).

30-Day Implementation Plan

Week 1: Set the baseline
Milestone: Use the Three Checks Standard once per day.
Actions:

• Write the three steps on a note and keep it visible.

• Choose one “high-risk zone” to focus on (money, privacy, health, learning, or career).

• Track each use with a simple tick mark.

Week 2: Add one system
Milestone: Build one repeatable system around your high-risk zone.
Actions:

• Money: set one spending rule (example: no purchases over $100 without a 24-hour pause).

• Privacy: change passwords for your top three accounts and turn on two-factor authentication.

• Health: schedule three short sessions for movement or meal prep.

• Learning: block 30 minutes twice a week for skill-building.

• Career: review one opportunity using a written checklist before saying yes.

Week 3: Raise the difficulty
Milestone: Apply the standard to one decision you normally rush.
Actions:

• Pick one situation you tend to do on autopilot.

• Use Pause, Verify, Commit with a written “why” in one sentence.

• If it involves another person, confirm details in writing.

Week 4: Make it automatic
Milestone: Use the standard five days in a row with no reminders.
Actions:

• Keep the checklist in your phone notes.

• Review your week in 10 minutes on Sunday.

• Keep what works, cut what does not, and lock in one rule for the next month.

One-Page Personal Checklist

Use this checklist before you click, buy, sign, share, schedule, or commit.

Pause

• I will wait 10 seconds before I act.

• I can explain what I am about to do in one sentence.

• I am not doing this because I feel rushed, pressured, or distracted.

Verify

• Source: I know who this is from and how to confirm it.

• Cost: I know the full cost (money, time, and attention).

• Risk: I know the worst reasonable outcome if this goes wrong.

• Alternatives: I can name one other option.

• Timeline: I know the deadline, and it is real.

Commit

• I am choosing one clear next step.

• I will write down the decision and the reason.

• I set a limit (budget cap, time cap, or scope cap).

• I set a follow-up date to review results.

Dr. Tabaroki is encouraging individuals to adopt the Three Checks Standard for 30 days and to share the checklist with a friend, colleague, or family member. The goal is simple: fewer rushed decisions, fewer preventable clean-ups, and steadier outcomes over time.

About Dr. David Tabaroki

Dr. David Tabaroki is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon based in Queens, New York. Born in Tehran, Iran, he immigrated to New York at age 12, earned full scholarships to Yeshiva University and NYU, graduated in the top 5 percent of his dental class, and completed four years of oral and maxillofacial surgery training at Montefiore University Hospital. He is the owner of Queens Blvd Oral Surgery, Jamaica Estates Oral Surgery, and Gramercy Dental Group.