The Tooth Dentist

Over the span of my lifetime, I have heard a few people say, "I got to go to the tooth dentist."

Now, I don't know what other kind of dentist there is, but they were none too happy to be going there. I don't blame 'em, I never have liked it either.

When Daughter was entering puberty, a dental tech told her she'd have to have braces. That was news to me, as no dentist had ever said so.

Well, the dental tech was wrong. The dentist overheard the remark, and the tech got a dressing down. Then the dentist turned to me and said, "She will never have to have braces. Let me show you." She flipped on the x-ray box thingie and said, "See? She has your teeth. No braces."

Hmmmm. Fine by me.

Last time I had a check up, I had  no cavities.

For me, that's like saying I haven't aged in twenty years (shut up).

My teeth are nice looking, but my molars have always been easy to break off. Let's just say I have all caps back there now.

Daughter, on the other hand, has never had a cavity. I take credit for a lot of that, having washed her gums before she had teeth, brushed her "tooth", and starting flossing when she had two teeth.

I did the fluoride drops for her until she was age two, which they now say is VERY BAD. But then they were saying it was VERY GOOD.

You do the best  you can at the time.

My great-grandfather got a toothache when he was eighty-three.

He decided he better go to the dentist, because it was paining him bad.

On his very first trip to the dentist, he had an abscess. The dentist gave him antibiotics and told him to come back in ten days to have the tooth pulled, which he did.

Somehow or other they talked Papa into having an exam. That's hard to believe, since Papa was a pretty frugal (stingy) fella. But he had a complete exam, which found him cavity free.

At eighty-three.

As far as I know, he never returned to the dentist and died at eighty-seven with all his teeth, sans the one that was pulled, all cavity free.

Must be nice.

Maybe Daughter really got Papa's teeth, instead of mine.

He wasn't using them anymore, anyway.