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So what are you doing to my gums?
Matt and I have volunteered to help the acquaintance of a friend with her last semester in dental hygiene. We're her guinea pigs and final exam, which is really interesting. We qualified because Matt has never been to the dentist and I've only ever been once. She needed some volunteers that needed work done, heh.
So I went for the second time this morning, although it didn't seem to me that anything different happened than last time. She tested the depths of my pockets (owie) and the general status and health of my teeth and gums. Although this time, she put this purple-blue stuff on my teeth that made all my plaque glow. That was funny. It brushed right out, so no going to work looking like a freak. I looked like a blue-mouthed alien.
On the negative side, both Matt and I have pretty significant plaque and tartar build up. I have a few (like four) small cavities. Not sure about Matt yet. She'll tell him today, I think.
On the positive side, considering our dental care history, our teeth are in amazingly good shape. And we're getting a free cleaning. Well, actually, better than that, even. She's going to pay us for our time, so we're getting paid to have all the preliminary stuff done, like analysis, x-rays and the cleaning. If I have some teeth that call for it, she's going to do, uh, some kind of protective shellacking thing (I forgot what she called it) on them, too. Basically, they don't do any actual repairs, like fillings, caps, root canals, wisdom teeth removal, etc. They do all the analyzing for those and all the preventative things that we need.
I'm scheduled for two more visits, where she will take care of the x-rays and cleaning. What I imagine they will find in the x-rays is that I probably should have my wisdom teeth out. Most people need them removed, and I don't expect to be an exception. Matt, however, is an exception, I bet. All four of his wisdom teeth have already fully grown in with no crowding or whatever.
Anyway, it's really odd having someone poke at my gums and such. It doesn't actually hurt per se, but there is a lil discomfort and nasty bleeding taste. To be honest, I am actually looking forward to having all this done. :) I bug her through out the whole process with tons of questions, and she's really patient, even excited to answer them, so I'm picking up quite a bit of information.
I wonder how many people leave the dentist fully intending to floss but quit after a few weeks? I sure am getting the impression that I should floss. ;) Here's to hoping I'll stick with it...
So I went for the second time this morning, although it didn't seem to me that anything different happened than last time. She tested the depths of my pockets (owie) and the general status and health of my teeth and gums. Although this time, she put this purple-blue stuff on my teeth that made all my plaque glow. That was funny. It brushed right out, so no going to work looking like a freak. I looked like a blue-mouthed alien.
On the negative side, both Matt and I have pretty significant plaque and tartar build up. I have a few (like four) small cavities. Not sure about Matt yet. She'll tell him today, I think.
On the positive side, considering our dental care history, our teeth are in amazingly good shape. And we're getting a free cleaning. Well, actually, better than that, even. She's going to pay us for our time, so we're getting paid to have all the preliminary stuff done, like analysis, x-rays and the cleaning. If I have some teeth that call for it, she's going to do, uh, some kind of protective shellacking thing (I forgot what she called it) on them, too. Basically, they don't do any actual repairs, like fillings, caps, root canals, wisdom teeth removal, etc. They do all the analyzing for those and all the preventative things that we need.
I'm scheduled for two more visits, where she will take care of the x-rays and cleaning. What I imagine they will find in the x-rays is that I probably should have my wisdom teeth out. Most people need them removed, and I don't expect to be an exception. Matt, however, is an exception, I bet. All four of his wisdom teeth have already fully grown in with no crowding or whatever.
Anyway, it's really odd having someone poke at my gums and such. It doesn't actually hurt per se, but there is a lil discomfort and nasty bleeding taste. To be honest, I am actually looking forward to having all this done. :) I bug her through out the whole process with tons of questions, and she's really patient, even excited to answer them, so I'm picking up quite a bit of information.
I wonder how many people leave the dentist fully intending to floss but quit after a few weeks? I sure am getting the impression that I should floss. ;) Here's to hoping I'll stick with it...
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