My Pearly Whites

I am trying to eat a banana without biting my tongue or the inside of my cheek. That's right, I just had a cavity filled and my mouth is still numb. But this isn't a blog about me. I just wanted to say a big Thanks to my mom, the free dentist hygienist I grew up. Mom always made sure that we took good care of our teeth, not only with excellent hygiene but with other methods such as reminding us that “your teeth are not tools” and never allowing the dentist to fill our cavity holes with silver. Mom wanted our adult teeth to be exquisitely white.

As I sat wide-mouthed in the dentist chair today, the dentist was just chattin’ away about how the mercury in silver fillings could kill you. Then he paused and said “I don’t think I’m allowed to say that” and switched to chattin’ about how hatters in the olden days went mad from mercury. I would just grunt every so often to let him know that his captive audience was indeed paying attention.

So, thanks Mom, for not allowing us to get silver fillings. Crazy mercury could have seeped into our blood stream. And thanks for the braces, neck gear, retainers, lessons on how to brush and floss, timers to make sure we brushed long enough (one time we had a toothbrush that would sing a song for the length of time that we were supposed to brush), encouraging us to chew those little red plaque-disclosing tablets to see if we actually did brush our teeth, and teaching us to avoid foods like corn nuts, jaw breakers, now n’ laters, and laffy taffy to name a few. To this day, your children voluntarily avoid those foods. Why risk ruining a perfectly good set of teeth?

We try to follow the good dental habits established at an early age. Jason even used to carry floss in his pocket. Katrina always brushes right after eating. I keep a toothbrush and toothpaste in my office so I can brush after lunch. And Curtis likes to hold “tooth brushing” parties where all of the kids brush their teeth at the same time. Let me tell you, the pressure is on to see who can brush the longest!

Mom, here is a shout-out from your daughter with a numb mouth: “Fhank You”! I always get compliments from dentists about how beautiful my teeth are and I can only attribute you and your efforts.