Photo by Benyamin Bohlouli on Unsplash

Dental Care is more than just brushing our teeth. In a world where many parents sacrifice their personal appointments for their kiddos, skipping the dentist shouldn't be one. Dentists can point out issues that might give you problems down the road, clean away plaque and gum disease, and even treat those pesky cavitities before they wake you up at 3 AM on a Friday. 

My own dental care over the years has been difficult. I've not been blessed with a great mouth of teeth. I've had my fair share of cavities, crowns, and even braces (complete with a mouth expander..ouch) over the years. Then, don't forget the extractions. I had an extraction of an upper tooth before braces, making room for teeth to actually straighten out so they weren't so close. I've had root canals, and most recently today, a molar extraction.

If you notice something is wrong with your teeth, don't wait until it's too late! Over the summer, the same crown fell off twice (fixed each time) and then once again in January. It felt weird, but I didn't think much of it til it popped a couple days later. Another trip to visit my favorite dentist and I learn the tooth needs to come out. It no longer is a viable tooth to have a crown over it because the decay means there's little tooth left for a crown to hold onto. 

Did you know that when you have decay, the tooth essentially dies? The roots within our gums pump blood through veins that make us able to feel and taste, without pain. Yet, if we have too much decay, that's led to infection, the dentist recommends a root canal.

This isn't always solely because of sugar though! Sometimes poor or difficult dental care leads to decay as well.  In my case, that specific molar was incredibly hard to reach and I often had problems flossing. That meant that gum disease developed due to the lack of flossing. I also have a horrible gag reflux, that, especially in the mornings, makes it difficult to fully brush my teeth well. All the factors combined meant a root canal.

One a tooth has a canal, it needs protection. Usually the protection (a filling or crown) helps it out for a while, but sometimes, in my case, the protection continues to fail. Teeth grinders like me often have problems with crowns. All this lead to a tooth extraction today.

So, I've been fulfilling my tummy with liquidy type foods that aren't hot (smoothies, lukewarm soup, water, etc). The anethesia has finally worn off and some pain is setting it, but its not horribly bad yet. We will see tomorrow :)

All this to say, don't neglect your health! No matter if it's dental care or that dermatologist appt you keep pushing off because the kids schhedules keep changing, get them scheduled and get there. You want to try to prevent issues before they actually happen!

The next steps for me, after recovering from the financial impacts of the crowns, is to figure out the teeth-grinding thing and probably get a night retainer. Which, again, gag reflex, so that will be interesting!

Take this is a reminder to brush and floss however your dentist recommends! There's a lot of gadgets out there that help us keep up with our dental care now :) 

What healthcare appointments do you always book and which ones do you often avoid making?