I just got back from what was probably the easiest dentist appointment of my life. I’ve been scared into taking much better care of my teeth in the last 6 months.

In the spring, one area of my mouth was feeling achy, but I couldn’t pin it down. I finally went to the dentist and he found a monster cavity between my teeth which led to multiple visits and replacing a whole bunch of fillings. It was pretty painful for a while. The replacements were cool ceramic tooth-colored ones rather than the ugly silver ones though and you can’t even tell they’re there.

Anyway since then I’ve been afraid to repeat that experience, so I’ve been more conscious about taking care of my teeth. I love my electric toothbrush and it does a great job, but it’s almost too mindless. I used to read while I brushed my teeth, but I found that I would forget to move it around to different areas of my mouth, so no I try to concentrate on brushing for 4 minutes a day. One problem it creates is that it can rub your gums too much and there are a couple spots where my gums have receeded a little because I let it brush too much there.

My biggest problem was flossing. I hated doing it. I tried buying an electric flosser, but it didn’t really work. It can’t actually get all the way between your teeth. I bought a Glide floss holder and that did work. It gives you a lot more leverage than trying to use your fingers and it’s got an easy dispenser. Now the only problem was getting myself to use it regularly. I found the problem was that when I’m about to go to bed, I’m too tired to floss, nevermind brush and rinse. So I had the idea to leave the flosser in the living room. Anne really hates listening to me floss while we’re watching TV, but I think she’d hate it more if my teeth were all rotting away. I now floss pretty regularly and easily. Ta da!

The hygenist and dentist were impressed. Not much picking at all, except for a few spots that I tend to forget. I was also happy that my dentist didn’t seem to know about my previous rant about dentistry and his Porsche.

Afterwards I treated myself to a Jamba Juice. I used to run to the nearest conveience store and buy a ton of candy immediately after I went to the dentist, but I think I’m over that now.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with myself. My teeth may actually outlive me.