cutedoc

Me, Myself and I : a thousand watts smile

“Ouch, that really hurts” as I told myself upon waking in the middle of the night, and now I feel what my patients feel when they complain about how painful their teeth could be and would want to pull them out that very moment. That particular tooth was restored several years back, I think I was in elementary then, the dentist used an amalgam filling material to plugged up the cavity.

Now, “do I floss my teeth?” sure do, “how often would that be?” Hmmm, twice or thrice a week, and whenever a food traps in between my teeth, silly me, as I teach my patients to floss their teeth at least once to twice a day, flossing isn’t synonymous to sawing, you don’t saw over your gums, instead you let the dental floss pass towards the contour of the tooth, sweeping away any food debris, should it bleed, your doing it improperly, remember that the essence of flossing is to protect the gums and not harm them. “How?” simply get a floss about a foot long, hold them tight as you let the floss enter in between your teeth, from here sawing action is allowable, but after the floss reaches beneath the contact area, just positioned your floss on the surface of the tooth, and gently move it along the outline of your tooth, then the tooth adjacent to it, by this time food debris would already be dislodged, so slowly pull out the dental floss and proceed to the next tooth. Yes, that simple.

What’s the proper way of brushing then? “This is so elementary, you get your toothbrush, slather toothpaste on it, then you brush your teeth and rinse it off after.” That’s it? “yes, that’s basically it”

Well here is a more proper, simple and hassle free of doing it correctly, first use a Soft Toothbrush, put a pea sized toothpaste on it and start brushing, make your front teeth contact and with your brush, do an up and down stroke, much more like a sweeping action to cleanse your front teeth, then proceed with the back teeth, with a circular motion, and not, I repeat, not on a forward backward movement, be gentle and don’t press the toothbrush against your teeth hardly, you need not rush, then brush all the surface of your teeth, including the back side of your front teeth.

“Are we done yet?” I guess not, afterwards clean your tongue with a good swipe of your toothbrush, don’t forget to gargle and rinse off your toothbrush.

Tooth brushing is an art, “how in the world would it be an ART?” simple, how can you flash a thousand watts smile with a dirty teeth? The smile of Mona Lisa puzzled brilliant minds and geniuses all over the world, “but the portrait never showed Mona’s teeth?” precisely my point, what more if she does… You see if Mr. L, painted her teeth, philosopher might even argue to if her teeth were real of fakes? If real, had she went through orthodontic treatment? “braces weren’t a fad then.” It isn’t but vanity is…

“so what makes vanity and teeth parallel?” people often say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, the hair is the crowning glory, but what about the teeth? the smile? “with good set of teeth you end up in a TV commercial.” So what happens to the lead actor after flashing those pearly whites? Attracts, charms and enchant others right. “A tagline would be more appropriate.” Smile is the reflection of what’s pristine within.

Post script : I undergone a root canal treatment to take away that throbbing pain, have my impacted third molar removed, and I now floss my teeth at least once a day.

- cutedoc -

i had a long vacation with this blog, i had second thoughts if i wanted to open myself in public, anyhow i will resume blogging with matters regarding oral hygiene, health and life. enjoy =)