Here's a scene：a village where the sun always shines, crops always grow and your friends drop by to sweep your yard to the sound of guitar music．Animals do what they are told, there is no disease, and lendin' folks a helpin'hand makes you richer and wiser．Welcome to FarmVille－Current population 69m and rising fast．

　　“It reminds me of my childhood, ”says one player, Lia Curran, 37, a nurse from London．“Right now I'm growing wheat and flowers．I've got a small garden, and I'm raising some chickens and some cows．I like having the animals．It's relaxing．” Curran's animals, however, is nothing more than a collection of cartoons．FarmVille is an online computer game built into the social networking site Facebook and is described by its players as “addictive”．Launched last June by Zynga Game Network, FarmVille now has many players－more than the population of the UK．The players are largely women over the age of 35．

　　FarmVille unites the worlds of social networking and gaming．Players are given a ground with six fields, “cash”, a few seeds and a plough and have to build up wealth, skills and neighbors to create bigger, better, richer farms．Inviting your online friends to play means you earn more and get free gifts；you rise rapidly through the first levels but, once hooked, have to work harder and harder with no final level or goal in sight．

　　“Games like this draw people into a fantasy world that's separate from real life where there are no issues, and where things are simple and controllable, ” Brian Dudley says．In November, he opened the UK's first computer games addiction clinic, treating online gamers who stayed at the keyboard for up to eight hours a day－“the tip of the iceberg”, he says．Two weeks ago, a group of US players launched a class action against Zynga and Facebook．“Most, if not all, of the online advertisements presented through Zynga are scams(骗局), ”the lawsuit states．“The advertisements are highly misleading and often result in users ordering goods or services that they do not want or need．”

　　According to Nick O'neill from the social media site All Facebook, Zynga is making ＄500, 000(￡304, 000)a day, from its Facebook games, in turn spending some ＄50m(￡30m)a year on Facebook ads．

　　If all that weren't enough, FarmVille doesn't even function like a proper farm：in FarmVille, wheat grows in two days－in real life, it takes months．But play continues nevertheless．

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　　The more I learn about how your oral health can affect your overall health, the more of a brushing fanatic(狂热者)I am．But it wasn’t always that way．As a kid, I resisted tooth-brushing at bedtime－what a bore!I remember my mom asking if I’d brushed my teeth．I’d say yes and she’d say “Let me smell your breath,” so she could confirm it with a smell of Crest．But I’d learned just to take a bite of toothpaste right from the tube, without even making contact with a brush．What a stupid mistake!Soon my teeth were full of holes－something I’ve regretted ever since．

　　In those days we weren’t much into preventive care at either the dentist or doctor．That wasn’t part of the way of thinking of my parents’ generation, who grew up during the Great Depression．We didn’t know how important it could be, either．"So much of dental care is reactionary．”says Mark Helpin, head of dentistry at Temple University．“Parents will bring their children in only if there’s a problem．”

　　Medical research has shown the dangers of tooth decay(蛀牙)and gum disease, including heart disease, low birth weight in babies, dangerous and even deadly infections and now maybe Alzheimer’s disease(老年痴呆)．There’s no longer any excuse to avoid regular dental checkups and careful oral maintenance－especially with young kids to get them started on the right path．It’s important to establish a relationship with a dentist the same way you would with a pediatrician．

　　The Alzheimer’s news is especially alarming．We reported back in January on a study at the University of Kentucky that found a preliminary link between tooth loss and dementia．Now there’s further evidence, thanks to a study presented last week at the Alzheimer's Association 2008 International Conference in Chicago．While this study in no way proves that gum disease causes Alzheimer’s, it’s pretty clear that the inflammation and immune response to these harmful bacteria aren’t good!

　　It takes less than a minute to brush your teeth．It takes two minutes to do a thorough job of brushing your teeth．If doing those two things twice a day may save me from mental disease later, I’m never going to miss these small tasks again－and neither should you．

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