One of my obsessions: Teeth

I really love going to the Dentist. Or I should say I love going to My Dentist. This is how I feel after I leave my appointment this morning:

I love the scraping sound as they're getting off all that plague that the toothbrush just can't get, and I really really love the polish. I like the squeaky clean feeling of your mouth when you leave.

I guess this weird obsession came when I had braces. I'm guessing maybe one of the two readers I have would know what I'm talking about. Every month or so, you go back to get the wires tightened, and they clean your teeth. You get the colors changed, and they clean your teeth. You go in for a check-up, where they do absolutely nothing... but... clean your teeth. And every time, I loved it. I got used to all the different gadgets sounds and weird functions, to where it doesn't bother me. (Getting cavities filled is a whole different story! I hate that drill!!)

And now, years later, I can tell when the hygienist does a poor job (as in my last dentist) and breezes through and hardly scrapes anything. Some might find that a joy, that they are in and out and maybe "no report is a good report" but not me. If you're cleaning for less than 15 mins, you're doing a poor job, and you're probably missing something big.

I only had 2 bad reports today, both of which I already knew. I grind my teeth, and I brush too hard. I think I like that scrape your teeth off feeling of those metal tools too much, and the toothbrush is a poor substitute. I brush with a vengeance, in all directions, until I "feel" like they're clean. "Feel" meaning that they never feel that dentist clean, but I sure try with the toothbrush, and pretty much wear out every toothbrush within 2 months. The grinding teeth thing is pretty much giving me flat, herbivorous dinosaur teeth.

John and I bought these Crest electric toothbrushes once, and they're supposed to be better for your teeth in that they do all the work for you, you just move it around your mouth. Supposedly, these $5 brushes get into spaces that the "normal" plain Jane non-motorized, $2.00 brush can not. John's lasted 6 months (like it's supposed to), and mine lasted only 2 months because I pushed on the brush too hard, constantly. I never felt like it was cleaning good enough.


So, here's what my teeth will probably look like when I'm older, says my hygienist: