A Taste of Dentistry

I'm not good at brushing my teeth.

I don't dislike doing it, I really don't, I'm just not good at it. I'm not good at remembering when to brush my teeth, or having it be on the front of my mind. Routines are only a recent development in my life, and up until this point...well...I've had the dental hygeine of a slow duck.


O_o


In case you didn't get that: ducks don't have teeth.

Now would be a good time to mention that if you have a mouth thing that you may not want to continue reading this.




Image from here.


When I was much much smaller my parents used to enforce tooth brushing. I had zero cavities in my baby teeth, and they stayed in my mouth longer than the average bear. (As it turns out, tooth brushing has no effect on how long baby teeth stay in your mouth, but at the time I thought it did.) As the years progressed mom went back to school and (quite suddenly) stopped caring about her previous job of homemaker. This allowed me to fake brushing my teeth (see: wet toothbrush and put it back), and then stop doing it all together.

At this age it was sheer laziness, mixed with a small dash of rebellion since I believed I was 'getting away' with something.

As my teeth began to rot and fill with cavities, my ADHD began to grow stronger and stronger. I developed the awareness that the cavities would stop if I brushed regularily, but would forget entire days of my life. Remembering to eat meals and get dressed became a priority in my life, quickly followed by school and school related stuffs.

Highschool brought (among more cavities) a desperate attempt to make my life 'routine'. This naive perception was foiled by the routine itself. Every time I would think that I should brush my teeth, it wouldn't be during the allotted time in the schedule. I would put it off under the assumption that I would get back to it later in the day.

It rarely happened.

I began dreading going to the dentist. No one understood that I wasn't purposely being disgusting. I knew of the importance of dental hygiene, I just couldn't do it.

Over the past year (with the help of Boyfriend) I have accomplished something that I have never been able to accomplish before. I now brush my teeth daily. Every so often  I will brush them more than once, but it is practically guaranteed to be at least daily. Shake'n'Bake does it as well.

Routine.

I am on my way to the dentist now. For the first time in over two years.

All I can hope is that the dentist understands. Because if they don't...it may be another couple of years before I try again...