once every 21 years

I’ll admit it; I have taken *terrible* care of my teeth. Nonetheless, I’ve been extremely lucky on the dental front.

As a child, it was easy for me to go to the dentist, despite the 12 hour trip to get to my appointment. My granddaddy was my dentist and that worked out quite well for me.

As I went off to college and grad school after my grandfather passed away, I haphazardly saw my parents’ dentist in Texas. As I wasn’t seeing the dentist often, I truly slacked off in my daily brushing and flossing. It was in those years that I had my very first filling (and had my wisdom teeth pulled, ouch).

Dentists and doctors scare me. I know they will scold me. I don’t know when they are telling the truth or even scam me. Or possibly not have a clue about what they are saying. Honestly, I hate taking the cat to the vet as much as I hate taking my car to the repair shop. I don’t know enough to make good, informed choices, and I’m putting my trust in people that I don’t know very well.

After we moved to Georgia (I don’t think I saw a dentist the whole time we lived in Maryland), we finally went to a dentist that we found near our home. And, alas it brought validation to my fears, it was a quack dentist. Who insisted we needed special rinses. And, worse, broke my filling. After that, I refused to go to a dentist for years. (Stupid to NOT go instead of finding one that I could trust, but I wasn’t ready for more harm to be done while searching.)

By the time we found a highly recommended dentist whose practice I love, the damage had been done. My broken filling had led to further decay in my ONE cavity.

Ever since, I have been going to the dentist every six months like clockwork. Cleanings and exams as recommended.

But, still, I’m not as disciplined as I should be about brushing and flossing. I have months where I floss at least once every day. But sometimes I slack off.And, apparently, my brushing hasn’t been good enough. Because today, a tiny, tiny cavity was found at my cleaning.

However, I have to say, two cavities in 42 years? I consider myself lucky. Very lucky. If only I could maintain that frequency forever.

my dentist

me and my graddaddy