Green Chi Tuesdays here today absolutely miserable as I have had some pretty painful dental work done today. I have always prided myself on my teeth. In fact…they are the ONE part of my body I don’t complain about. I’ve never had braces, my teeth are perfectly straight, I make sure I keep them nice and white (but not crazy white…I don’t want to blind people under black lights!) and I’ve always kept up on my dental visits. Until recently that is.
I was laid off a while back and lost my insurance and took a while to get it back. Just before my layoff I had a spot on the farthest back molar we were going to keep an eye on. Well, needless to say finding a new job pushed this little to-do right out of my head and a few missed dental cleanings later it has now developed into a bad patch of tooth decay requiring a half crown along with a similar case on the tooth right above it. Apparently this is my "hard to reach" area when brushing and I’ll need one of those flip top heads the Reach toothbrush cartoon guy used to have in their ads.
Having always taken such good care of my teeth I not only naively thought this could never happen to me but I also never bothered to know what those mysterious words like crown, bridge or root canal ever even meant. Much to my chagrin I’ve now discovered the meaning of just what a half crown really is and all I can say is I NEVER want to experience that kind of pain and torture EVER again.
Dental appointment recap…cozily settle down in my dentists chair and flip on Celebrity Rehab on the flat screen in front of me. I figure they’re in for a much more painful hour than I am…I was WRONG. Prepare to make some dental impressions. Doesn’t sound so bad right? DOUBLE WRONG. Sit gagging and almost puking for three minutes as the oooey gooey material I’m biting into slides down my throat and catches an ever increasing pool of my own saliva. Suddenly, unbeknown to me the doctor starts numbing ALL over the side of my mouth. Why? I thought this was just a simple impression appointment so they could make my crowns. CRAZY WRONG. This is the point where they bring out a bone crushing drill and begin filing away at half of your tooth to get out all the decay! They were LITERALLY drilling the tooth RIGHT out of my head! The sound, OH GOD, the sound was just earth shattering. Nails on a chalkboard to the billionth power!
This went on for at least a half hour to get both teeth. Then THREE more impressions each accompanied by simultaneous stomach retching and I thought I was done. NOPE. They have to put on temporary crowns to cover the now half missing molars until the real one’s can be placed in three weeks. At this point I’ve been in the chair nearly two hours, the anesthetic is beginning to wear off and I’m hyper aware of exactly what is going on and how exposed my tooth’s nerves are. He has to dry the tooth off completely to get the temporary to stay in place and he BLASTS the tooth with COLD AIR from the pump.
I screamed like a 5 year old girl and tears began POURING down the sides of my eyes. To put this in perspective I have actually broken bones and not even winced. I can take pain and I’m not a wussy about it. This was not pain. This way PAYBACK for any possible sin I may have done in all my past lives because only God himself could unleash this kind of biblical retribution upon me. And I haven’t even had the actual half crowns in yet.
Needless to say ladies and gents…all those bedtimes as a child when your Mommie told you to brush and floss and you just ran your toothbrush under the water, all those late nights out dancing and partying and you just flop into bed without brushing like a good girl, all those endless mug full’s of super sweet Starbucks Mocha Frappuchinos…every last one of them will come back to haunt you under the dentists drill if you don’t start taking care of your teeth NOW! It’s boring, I know and a pain in the butt. Who want’s to start listening to the teachings of your youth NOW when you’re all grown up and independent and don’t need Mommie reminding you to "brush or you’ll be sorry!" You do…that’s who. Trust me.
From a Green Chi aspect I must say I have never found a natural toothpaste that I’m completely satisfied with. However, if you are really looking to save some money and go hard core natural I can recommend you make your own toothpaste out of a few simple ingredients. Baking soda is one of the most non-abrasive cleansers out there and unlike commercial toothpastes, it breaks down so far that it can actually penetrate the tooth’s enamel crevices and remove food and stains and whiten naturally. The taste, however, is a little TOO natural for me. Blech. But if you are determined simply mix the following ingredients and brush away!
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide
- 1 drop organic peppermint oil
My dad growing up used to use this and he never had a problem with the taste and had beautiful teeth. I’ve never been able to make the leap but many do so for those of you who are really looking to go natural I say give it a try. For the rest of us I implore you…as trite as it sounds PLEASE brush after every meal and sweets, for the love of GOD floss every day and get your tochas to the dentist for cleanings every six months. An ounce of prevention is worth the piles of money and pain it’ll cost you to fix it later. I’m getting off my soapbox now, swollen and sore but maybe just a little bit wiser and much more willing to take excellent care of my toofers!
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Ok now I'm scared…
Thank you for writing this cautionary tale. I floss maybe every other day, but now I definitely want to amp that up!