Dental Hygiene
Jun. 23rd, 2017 03:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
practicalcatWell, apparently I've been Doing It Wrong.
My health insurance this year turns out to cover two cleaning and a set of x-rays. If you are reading this in the future where we have universal healthcare that includes dental coverage: yeah, we don't have that yet. Which is weird, because your teeth do in fact have an impact on your health?
Anyway, I made someone at the insurance company find an in-network dentist for me, because I don't trust their website after it sent me to an out-of-network doctor, and after about a week and a half of putting it off because overthinking leads to phone anxiety, I finally got in touch with them. And they were all "hey, we have a free slot in 45 minutes, can you make that?" and I was all "yes, this is a thing I will put on pants for" and toodled my way over. I got bored waiting for the elevator (...it happens) and tried the stairs, but entry into the dentist's office from the stairwell was locked, so I went back down and took the elevator. Filled out some forms and got called back for x-rays, during which I only drooled on myself a little and the dental assistant told me that this particular office was big into working with patients regarding their on-going care. Awesome.
Then, you know, pretty standard dental visit. I sat in a chair waiting for the hygienist and wondered why they never put mirrors on the ceilings so you can see what they're doing in your mouth, only to realize that most people...don't actually want to see that. I do, because I am frequently curious about things, and it's not like I can talk when someone has their hands and various implements in my mouth, but most people don't. Plus I probably wouldn't be able to make anything out anyway, because near-sightedness. Eventually the hygienist showed up and we chatted a bit while she input my information into the computer.
But then the magic started happening, because she actually took the time to explain things to me? Like, it wasn't all jargon-y and so on; she got me a hand mirror and pointed out the yellowy stuff on my teeth and explained that I'm one of those people who just has really aggressive plaque, so I need to be very diligent about flossing every night and flossing correctly. So she showed me how I should be flossing and then explained it, and apparently the point of flossing is to scrape the floss up and down the side of the tooth, not just to wedge it into the pocket around the tooth to dislodge anything that might have gotten in there.
Oops.
Also, apparently "brushing your teeth" means mostly "brushing along the base of the teeth near the gum line" rather than, you know, brushing the shit out of your teeth. And you need to do it for two full minutes at least.
So that was a learning experience. After she scraped all the gross-ass nasty plaque/tartar off of my teeth and used the fancy brush with the gritty fancy toothpaste, she actually asked me if the one rinse I did was sufficient or if I needed another one. Which was really cool, because the one rinse never seems to get all of the gritty. Then she probed my gums for gingivitis and bleeding (moderate on both) and visually ID'd my fillings from college, explaining everything to me along the way. Which again, AWESOME. She didn't get into too much detail, understandably, knowing what words mean which surfaces of which teeth isn't really relevant, but I like things being explained to me!
Then the dentist rolled up and confirmed no cavities (YAY!) and did a quick check for oral cancers (also none, VERY YAY) and we chatted a bit before he rolled off to do his dentist-y business.
Then. THEN.
My "gift bag" fuckin' included some print-outs with my dental 'report card' and what I, specifically, should be doing with my teeth.
Holy crap. I have WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. I am a read-write learner, I LOVE written instructions! Especially written instructions that include explanations, which these do.
My main problem was pretty much heavy plaque, which I'll take considering that it's been two years since my last cleaning (hiiiiiiiiiii Canadian healthcare!) and I apparently don't know how to floss OR brush my teeth. The plaque and the gingivitis should resolve themselves as a result of doing those things right. Also I should be swapping out my toothbrush heads every 3 months or so instead of "whenever I run out of toothpaste", and making sure to actually use that fluoride rinse I bought (though apparently I can immediately put my mouthguard and retainer in after rinsing, even if I rinsed those out with water first).
You know that nice, clean feeling you have after a dentist visit that you lose as soon as you put anything in your mouth? Apparently when you're doing oral hygiene right, you can duplicate that feeling at home. I mean, okay, it's only been 36 hours or so, but that's three teeth-brushings and mouth-washings and two flossings and my teeth still feel nice and slick.
Imma get my hands on some of those "disclosing tablets" or whatever they're called and start checking up on my plaque. Fuck you, plaque, THIS MOUTH IS NOT FOR YOUR PARTYING.
...Though I'll admit, it took way too long for me to figure out that you can use mouthwash to rinse toothpaste froth out of your mouth instead of water, thus making use of all the fluoride you just brushed in there.
And then I went and used the free car wash coupon I got from my last maintenance appointment, and stuck a Sailor Moon decal on the bumper. 'Cause I'm an ADULT.
My health insurance this year turns out to cover two cleaning and a set of x-rays. If you are reading this in the future where we have universal healthcare that includes dental coverage: yeah, we don't have that yet. Which is weird, because your teeth do in fact have an impact on your health?
Anyway, I made someone at the insurance company find an in-network dentist for me, because I don't trust their website after it sent me to an out-of-network doctor, and after about a week and a half of putting it off because overthinking leads to phone anxiety, I finally got in touch with them. And they were all "hey, we have a free slot in 45 minutes, can you make that?" and I was all "yes, this is a thing I will put on pants for" and toodled my way over. I got bored waiting for the elevator (...it happens) and tried the stairs, but entry into the dentist's office from the stairwell was locked, so I went back down and took the elevator. Filled out some forms and got called back for x-rays, during which I only drooled on myself a little and the dental assistant told me that this particular office was big into working with patients regarding their on-going care. Awesome.
Then, you know, pretty standard dental visit. I sat in a chair waiting for the hygienist and wondered why they never put mirrors on the ceilings so you can see what they're doing in your mouth, only to realize that most people...don't actually want to see that. I do, because I am frequently curious about things, and it's not like I can talk when someone has their hands and various implements in my mouth, but most people don't. Plus I probably wouldn't be able to make anything out anyway, because near-sightedness. Eventually the hygienist showed up and we chatted a bit while she input my information into the computer.
But then the magic started happening, because she actually took the time to explain things to me? Like, it wasn't all jargon-y and so on; she got me a hand mirror and pointed out the yellowy stuff on my teeth and explained that I'm one of those people who just has really aggressive plaque, so I need to be very diligent about flossing every night and flossing correctly. So she showed me how I should be flossing and then explained it, and apparently the point of flossing is to scrape the floss up and down the side of the tooth, not just to wedge it into the pocket around the tooth to dislodge anything that might have gotten in there.
Oops.
Also, apparently "brushing your teeth" means mostly "brushing along the base of the teeth near the gum line" rather than, you know, brushing the shit out of your teeth. And you need to do it for two full minutes at least.
So that was a learning experience. After she scraped all the gross-ass nasty plaque/tartar off of my teeth and used the fancy brush with the gritty fancy toothpaste, she actually asked me if the one rinse I did was sufficient or if I needed another one. Which was really cool, because the one rinse never seems to get all of the gritty. Then she probed my gums for gingivitis and bleeding (moderate on both) and visually ID'd my fillings from college, explaining everything to me along the way. Which again, AWESOME. She didn't get into too much detail, understandably, knowing what words mean which surfaces of which teeth isn't really relevant, but I like things being explained to me!
Then the dentist rolled up and confirmed no cavities (YAY!) and did a quick check for oral cancers (also none, VERY YAY) and we chatted a bit before he rolled off to do his dentist-y business.
Then. THEN.
My "gift bag" fuckin' included some print-outs with my dental 'report card' and what I, specifically, should be doing with my teeth.
Holy crap. I have WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. I am a read-write learner, I LOVE written instructions! Especially written instructions that include explanations, which these do.
My main problem was pretty much heavy plaque, which I'll take considering that it's been two years since my last cleaning (hiiiiiiiiiii Canadian healthcare!) and I apparently don't know how to floss OR brush my teeth. The plaque and the gingivitis should resolve themselves as a result of doing those things right. Also I should be swapping out my toothbrush heads every 3 months or so instead of "whenever I run out of toothpaste", and making sure to actually use that fluoride rinse I bought (though apparently I can immediately put my mouthguard and retainer in after rinsing, even if I rinsed those out with water first).
You know that nice, clean feeling you have after a dentist visit that you lose as soon as you put anything in your mouth? Apparently when you're doing oral hygiene right, you can duplicate that feeling at home. I mean, okay, it's only been 36 hours or so, but that's three teeth-brushings and mouth-washings and two flossings and my teeth still feel nice and slick.
Imma get my hands on some of those "disclosing tablets" or whatever they're called and start checking up on my plaque. Fuck you, plaque, THIS MOUTH IS NOT FOR YOUR PARTYING.
...Though I'll admit, it took way too long for me to figure out that you can use mouthwash to rinse toothpaste froth out of your mouth instead of water, thus making use of all the fluoride you just brushed in there.
And then I went and used the free car wash coupon I got from my last maintenance appointment, and stuck a Sailor Moon decal on the bumper. 'Cause I'm an ADULT.
