Top: All of the lights all of the lights…sing it like Kanye
Bottom: Weapons of mass tartar destruction; the real worker bees-the scrapers-aren’t pictured here.
Be honest, is that title throwing you off, are you wondering what prompted this? Well I’ll tell you, today I visited the dentist for my check-up and cleaning. I was reminded that I’m supposed to have this appointment every 6 months, apparently I’m lagging 14 months behind. My dentist tried to guilt me for this transgression, but euphoric from my pearly whites (despite coffee, cigarettes, and wine) her ‘suggestion’ landed like a foam brick especially since she literally spent five minutes (that may be too generous) examining me and my x-rays. The true unsung hero of every dental visit is the hygienist. Why? Because they do the dirty work, and not the theoretical ‘dirty work’ but straight up Dirty Jobs dirty work.
Today’s hygienist Marlena is a 20 year veteran of the biz, she told me so while poking around in my mouth measuring ‘pockets’, clarifying the most effective way to floss and brush, and even cautioning against using any toothbrush with medium to hard bristles-apparently the softer the bristle the better because we’re supposed to brush on our gums. Look, I had no idea I was supposed to really spend time brushing my gums. I have pretty good hygiene but absoultely hate flossing because some of my back teeth are close together so I end up hurting myself in the process. The best part about my visit is that I’m still a no-cavity lifer…30 odd years into my life and still no cavities? This from a chick who ate Sweet Tarts and Nerds everyday after middle school and high school. I’m just glad to be a good student when it comes to my dental visits…it feels good since I loathe the dreaded GYN visit -a horrifyingly necessary evil, and my general practicioner visit-there are always discussions about weight & cholesterol and thanks to my family history my doctor (I do like and appreciate her) always goes deep with the preventative care much to my chagrin -remember that colonoscopy post? If no, have a look at the link below…I just re-read it and had a nice hee-haw!
Back to giving props to the dental hygienist, Ms. Marlena was awesome today (she even offered me sunglasses to wear while she worked due to the bright lights), she was gentle and thorough and THAT, my friends, is why I love my dental office (Padonia Dental in Timonium). Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this is my first time working with Marlena, she was actually subbing for my usual hygienist Miriam (I think that’s her name-not sure since I’m not there every 6 months like I should be). I’ve had three different hygienists work magic on my teeth and gums and absolutely none have been careless with their work AND they’ve never suggested I have a scaling (that deep tartar treasure hunt) just to raise money for their office, which is huge. I know I’ve had one legitimate scaling in my life, to rebound from a childhood with minimal dental care since there was no dental insurance, but the other times have been questionable. So yeah, if you ask me what doctor do I enjoy seeing the most, I’m going to say screw doctors, I heart my dental hygienist, because I feel just as fabulous as I do when I go to the hair salon. My teeth look and feel like white lacquer (not Ross from Friends scary glow-in-the-dark white, remember that episode? one of my faves); I’m still feeling fabulous and will probably actually follow through on flossing… at least for tonight.
Colonoscopy Flashback: http://cijasquips.tumblr.com/post/12859755134/i-need-some-guacamole
Cija's Quips 