Do You Bother To Care For Your Teeth?
How was your Xmas yesterday, my lovely people? I ate way too much but I’m psyched to burn it all off by going shopping on Boxing Day. I don’t know if this a tradition in other countries but the sales are massive on 26th Dec in Australia. The husband and I tend not to buy specific Xmas presents for each other but we always enjoy a splurge at the shops together the day after Xmas as a gift to ourselves…
Right, so today’s Beauty Debate is more “health”-centric. I was inspired to write this post because I’d been facing gum disease on and off this year (borne out of pure laziness) and I recalled an ex-colleague I had years ago in Singapore who was an ex-model. She was willowy and her features were lovely but she had….really bad teeth.
And not because they were crooked — they were straight, but her teeth were grey and you could see multiple black and silver fillings further back in her mouth when she laughed. She was also a heavy smoker and I remember I had this conversation with her about her teeth problems. She had to get a root canal job done and she was in a lot of pain and as a young woman in her 20s (I was probably 22), it was so alien to have serious teeth problems.
I asked her, “What is the cause of your teeth problems?” and she laughed sheepishly, “BAAAAD teeth hygiene? Bacteria? Have you ever had a filling done?” Me and another youthful 20-something co-worker glanced at each other in bewilderment and said, “No.” She was incredulous and I brushed it off as one of those “generation gap” things and thought that being in her early 40s, perhaps she’d grown up in Singapore when there was no fluoride in the water.
I feel like cracking up everytime I think of this conversation, because my dears, I really don’t think fluoride is the issue here. In fact, this colleague did wash her mouth with fluoridated water (Singapore was the first Asian country to fluoridate its water in 1956) since she was a wee one.
You know what it is? Just not cleaning your teeth properly. After too many a time bleeding into the sink, I decided to floss consistently and use a mouth wash after brushing. It really works – try it. Bleeding gums are not normal and it would lead to horrible dental problems later on in life. It’s not that I have terrible teeth problems now but your smile is definitely prettier with healthy gums and plaque-free teeth. I’ve also had friends who had severe dental problems tell me that you would be a convert once you’ve had a painful procedure done and prevention is truly the cure. *Hops off soap box now*
I had braces as a teenager as well so it would be a pity if I didn’t care for them and they all fell out or had to be ruined by fillings. I’m not the best at caring for my teeth but the story of my ex-colleague is one of those random life snippets that I never forget – haha! And I’ll leave you with a Japlish saying I nicked from a dental clinic ad at a train station, “The most beautiful is smile”…
So dear friends, is caring for your teeth important to you or something that falls by the wayside?
Update: No Boxing Day shopping till later — the husband is busy with work so we’ll go another day. Not feeling too sad because the sales do last a few days.
Photo credit: here
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Boxing Day shopping!!
Is it just me or did you notice many a few Japanese having gold tooth/teeth? I caught a glimpse of that gold sparkle when they smile…hmmm. Maybe gold tooth is stronger?? It’s jus not common in SIN, isn’t it? I floss very night too…I never like going to the dentist!
definitely important……..my mum makes us gurgle when we were younger with salt water at times to “kill” bacteria …hahaha, though this is used with mouthwash now but I do still prefer salt water at time.
I still brush my teeth after lunch at work and rinse my mouth after coke/tea/coffee…. especially for myself whose teeth do show up when I smile and no braces done when I was younger. Clean teeth is the least I can do to make up my crooked teeth
@Agnes: Yeah black, silver, gold fillings are so common in Japan…even very pretty lasses with straight teeth would have had some work done… You are right, it’s not common in Singapore for younger folks (for our parents’ generation maybe). I think think they have white fillings now so it’s not obvious. I rem teeth brushing sessions in primary school after recess with regular toothpaste and that weird red/purple tablet or paste that shows up plaque.
@xuan: you have very good teeth cleaning habits! I think salt water is an easy option if you don’t have mouthwash! Kills the germs! The husband does that when he has a sore throat coming on…
I worked in public health once upon a time and was really amazed/horrified to learn all the /overall/ health problems you can have from just bad oral hygiene. Short version, nasty bacteria in your mouth gets into your bloodstream and it’s all downhill from there… So keep ‘em clean!
I’ve had a chronic tooth grinding problem since I was young. I grind my teeth every night without fail, no one knows why, my only solution is to wear a mouth guard. Sometimes I forget, or don’t want to, etc, but I must! These are the only teeth I have, and if I grind them down I’m SOL.
Sorry, but no. According to my dentist, mouth washs don’t do much harm, but they don’t really do much at all. And root canal procedures don’t have to be painful, says some research on the internet. I had a painful one, but that was because the dentist really didn’t do a very good job.
Also, while for some people, it’s just bad hygiene that causes the problems, for others it’s things like the pH of their own saliva that makes their teeth vulnerable. I get caries no matter what I do, and flossing is the horror for me because the gaps between my teeth are so narrow.
I get that you meant well with this post, but it just comes across as uninformed and, sorry, arrogant.
Very important, maybe the most important thing in beauty. Seriously! More important than makeup. My teeth are just average teeth with a few fillings, but I do care a lot about my teeth. Twice a year I go to my dentist. I do not smoke, I floss every day, and brush them, of course, at least twice a day. Beautiful smile is more appealing than any makeup.
P.S. Yeah, there are some sales in the USA, but you can always find sales in the US, haha! In Europe (at least in Western Europe) 26th of December is still a holiday, so everything is closed.
@Jordan: Yeah I have heard that if you don’t clean your mouth/teeth, you could get sick. Indeed, we have only one set of teeth and it is precious!
@Julia: I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. I had no intention to be arrogant and this post is really just about my own experience with teeth hygiene. Sorry you feel this way.
@Sandra: When I moved to Japan, I didn’t go to the dentist for four years…horrible, I know. Didn’t discover anything bad but when I finally did go to one, I was told to floss everyday because of gum disease which is advice I know is something I should follow but sometimes laziness does get me! I’ll be doing some shopping today… looking forward to it…:)
This is an interesting post. I’m commenting because I am someone who is proof that what you are saying has merit. I clean my teeth twice a day but hate to floss. I now do it daily after having a molar (not wisdom tooth but its neighbour) removed. The saga with that began Xmas Day 2010 when i woke up to what felt like a hammer had smashed the R side of my face. I think my teeth would be so much better if I had flossed as a child and teen! But all I can do is make positive changes now. (I feel a bit guilty too as I’ve been blessed with straight teeth – so I should’ve always taken better care!)
Dental pain is up there as one of the worst forms of pain peeps – trust me!
Ps. Hope you are enjoying your travels in Australia and keeping cool. I’m in Adelaide; you have probably not travelled out this way before?
Hi Sarah, oh dear that sounds like quite an ordeal you went through. I’m enjoying Sydney very much and luckily my husband and I are coming back really soon! Lots of family related stuff
I’ve actually been to Adelaide once before nine years ago. It was also my first trip to Sydney and visited Orange (my FIL’s home town) too. I feel fortunate to have been able to travel to different parts of Australia but I’ve not been to Darwin or the Northern Territories or Tasmania yet.