take better care of my teeth

Since my dentist’s intervention (appointment), I have been flossing and brushing every day. I’ve been using my little two minute timer, which looks like a little pink hourglass. In fact, my boyfriend saw it sitting on my bathroom counter, and raised his eyebrows and asked if we needed to talk. I think he thought it had something to do with a pregnancy test.

Two minutes sounds a lot shorter than it is when it comes to brushing your teeth. When I tried it the first time, the muscles in the top of my right forearm started to hurt, and my mouth was so full of toothpaste foam, it looked like I had rabies.

My gums are starting to get used to regular flossing, and it doesn’t hurt or bleed much anymore.

Still have to get the wisdom teeth extracted…

I went to the dentist’s office today, and it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Dentistry has come a long way in the four years since the last time I went. (I thought it was two years, until I really thought about it—scary.)

They mapped my mouth on a computer, by examining each of my teeth one by one and then editing the “mouth” on the computer screen, so I could easily see which ones needed fillings or sealants, which ones are okay, etc.

They also checked my gums, and the bad news is that I’ll have to have my wisdom teeth extracted after all. I’ve made it to age 25 and kept them, but the risk of gum disease is too great now to keep them anymore. The gums right around those teeth are borderline diseased (not quite diseased?) and will only get worse, because they’re too far back in my mouth to be able to brush well. I’m sure it didn’t help that I didn’t see a dentist for 4 years. Oh well.

So, I tend to think I’ll find the dentist who tells me that I don’t have to floss everyday. But of course, no ethical dentist would do that, because the hard truth is—yes, you do have to floss every single day.

The dental assistant was the coolest lady, great to talk to, and she even hooked me up with a free teeth whitening, once I get my wisdom teeth out and update my fillings and sealants.

If you’re in Austin, I can recommend a great dentist’s office!

For Jan 17th… I hope this will motivate me to floss every day until then… and afterwards, too, I guess.

Got some new, minty state-of-the-art floss yesterday… now I just have to work up the nerve (and the bank account) to go to the dentist. I think the last time I went was in 2001. Scary…

My teeth don’t hurt, and I do brush them daily. I’m not the world’s best about flossing, but I’m working on that.