Toothbrushing for Dummies
Last week I went to the dentist for the 6th time in 6 months. That may sound a bit excessive but I hadn't been for 10 years previously, so it's not that bad. Visit #1 was X-Rays and a plan of attack. Visits #2-5 were numbing up my mouth one quadrant at a time and cleaning and repairing everything inthat section (not really any new cavaties, they just wanted to replace the fillings and sealent I already had because technology has improved a lot in the last 10 years). Visit #6 was my first cleaning post-work.
It seems every time I go now they add a new must-have dental-hygeine product to the list, and at the rate I'm going I may need a special suitcase just for toothbrushes et al by the end of the year.
The first three visits I was immune from their product-pushing.
Visit #1: The dental assistant knew I was fearful of the amount of work that would have to be done to my teeth over the next few months, so that was not the time to push product.
Visit #2: The nastiest section of cleaning and repairing to be done, so they took mercy on me.
Visit #3: The hygenist almost had me in tears at one point. They were working on the upper right side that evening, and the novacaine made the entire right side of my face numb (including my eye and the tip of my nose). The hygenist got the cleaning done more rapidly than expected, and wanted to numb me up to start working on the lower left side of my face. When half of the tip of your nose is numb and you're going to have to drive home in 45 minutes the last thing you want them to do is numb you up even more. Boys always freak out when girls are near tears, so I think I threw him off his game that night.
But since visit #4 it's been something new every time:
Visit #4: Dental Floss. But not just any dental floss. It's this funky, thick floss that's actually like two strands of floss twisted together. I'm actually more likely to floss with this stuff than I am with the old-school stuff the dentist used to recommend. You can actually feel it get between your teeth and grab all the stuff that floss is supposed to be flossing.
Visit #5: Sonicare toothbrush. If you don't own one of these you need to go out and buy one today. You can by the "cheapest" model they have (around $80 when I bought mine on sale at Target, and I'm told they also sell them at Costco), but they really are worth every penny. There's a spot on the front of my bottom teeth that likes to collect tartar. You can watch it grow there. Some had accumulated before I went and bought a Sonicare. When I started using it, the tartar went away. As long as I use the Sonicare it stays gone. The lack of dental work on those two teeth alone will pay for the darn thing in my book.
Both of these recommendations I could get behind. Everyone needs to brush and floss, and these tools will help me do that better. But this last time it started to get ridiculous.
Visit #6: Tooth Space Poker. That's not the official name, but I don't know what you're supposed to call it. Apparently, I'm a mouth-breather and that causes tartar to grow on my teeth more quickly than if I were a nose-breather (who knew?). Therefore, I'm supposed to take this weird thing and use it to floss between my teeth in addition to the regular floss. Only, I don't do it for all my teeth, because if you do it on you front teeth it will create weird gaps in your teeth that will look funny, so I am just supposed to do it between my back teeth.
Thus far no one in my dentist's office has led me astray. They've even been nice enough to NOT lecture me about the fact that I need to go to the dentist more than once every 10 years. I THINK I'm going to trust them on this one, but now I'm really curious what they're going to tell me is an essential tool for dental health when I go to visit them in October. Stay tuned.
It seems every time I go now they add a new must-have dental-hygeine product to the list, and at the rate I'm going I may need a special suitcase just for toothbrushes et al by the end of the year.
The first three visits I was immune from their product-pushing.
Visit #1: The dental assistant knew I was fearful of the amount of work that would have to be done to my teeth over the next few months, so that was not the time to push product.
Visit #2: The nastiest section of cleaning and repairing to be done, so they took mercy on me.
Visit #3: The hygenist almost had me in tears at one point. They were working on the upper right side that evening, and the novacaine made the entire right side of my face numb (including my eye and the tip of my nose). The hygenist got the cleaning done more rapidly than expected, and wanted to numb me up to start working on the lower left side of my face. When half of the tip of your nose is numb and you're going to have to drive home in 45 minutes the last thing you want them to do is numb you up even more. Boys always freak out when girls are near tears, so I think I threw him off his game that night.
But since visit #4 it's been something new every time:
Visit #4: Dental Floss. But not just any dental floss. It's this funky, thick floss that's actually like two strands of floss twisted together. I'm actually more likely to floss with this stuff than I am with the old-school stuff the dentist used to recommend. You can actually feel it get between your teeth and grab all the stuff that floss is supposed to be flossing.
Visit #5: Sonicare toothbrush. If you don't own one of these you need to go out and buy one today. You can by the "cheapest" model they have (around $80 when I bought mine on sale at Target, and I'm told they also sell them at Costco), but they really are worth every penny. There's a spot on the front of my bottom teeth that likes to collect tartar. You can watch it grow there. Some had accumulated before I went and bought a Sonicare. When I started using it, the tartar went away. As long as I use the Sonicare it stays gone. The lack of dental work on those two teeth alone will pay for the darn thing in my book.
Both of these recommendations I could get behind. Everyone needs to brush and floss, and these tools will help me do that better. But this last time it started to get ridiculous.
Visit #6: Tooth Space Poker. That's not the official name, but I don't know what you're supposed to call it. Apparently, I'm a mouth-breather and that causes tartar to grow on my teeth more quickly than if I were a nose-breather (who knew?). Therefore, I'm supposed to take this weird thing and use it to floss between my teeth in addition to the regular floss. Only, I don't do it for all my teeth, because if you do it on you front teeth it will create weird gaps in your teeth that will look funny, so I am just supposed to do it between my back teeth.
Thus far no one in my dentist's office has led me astray. They've even been nice enough to NOT lecture me about the fact that I need to go to the dentist more than once every 10 years. I THINK I'm going to trust them on this one, but now I'm really curious what they're going to tell me is an essential tool for dental health when I go to visit them in October. Stay tuned.
posted by Swankette at 11:26 PM
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Does kissing help?
--Breast Gambier
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