My Dental Arsenal
I gave Rupam’s booth a quick visit on Saturday and came home with some new material to work on.
On the first matter, Rupam simply gave me a thumbs up. A week or so ago, I’d noticed that our boy’s teeth were looking rather yellow. I must confess that I often question just how well we’re doing with his dental hygiene – does anybody else struggle with brushing a two and a half year old’s teeth ?! But the yellowish color was a new development. I decided to use baking soda. He tolerated it like a champ and sure enough, his teeth were back to gleaming white. I’m pretty sure that I’ve made the point before, that Rupam’s tooth soap doesn’t have anything abrasive in it. This is much better for our dental health on a daily basis but it means that we need to give our teeth a good scrub periodically – if we want them to be nice and white. I’ve been keeping up with my activated charcoal and now I’ve added in a little baking soda here and there. But tending to the same needs in my toddler’s mouth was a new thing. I feel like I might just be getting the hang of this. My kid on the other hand still hasn’t figured out how to avoid swallowing his tooth soap. But given it’s all natural ingredients, I don’t worry about that too much.
On the second matter, Rupam gave me yet another tooth brushing tip. I must confess that I’m beginning to love showing her my teeth because she always has something worthwhile to say and as a result I’m becoming quite the tooth brushing fanatic. On Saturday, she observed that I haven’t been doing a thorough enough job at my gum line. Her expert eyes (she’s looked at thousands of mouths over the years) detected a sort of cottage cheesy line of gunk along the tops and bottoms of my teeth and some inflammation on the neighboring gums – ick! This made sense to me because I worry about being too rough on my gums and having them recede, although I’ve come to understand that perhaps the receding has more to do with the fact that I clench my jaw while I sleep. Anyway, Rupam recommended a soft and steady scrubbing all along the gum line each brushing, with a soft bristle tooth brush. I’m also doing a better job of flossing everyday which I sometimes get slack with (for shame). And, of course, I’m feeling cleaner and happier to smile having implemented these new tips.
Several years ago now, I gave my approach to personal care some lengthy consideration and realized that I was slowly transitioning to a preventative model of care. To me this involves a consistent routine of engaging with my body: I keep tabs on what is happening and I respond with some sort of action. My current lessons in natural dental hygiene are one example of this. I love that there is always another detail to address, another improvement to be made. But the only way that I become aware of these incremental improvements to make is by visiting Rupam and having her look at my teeth. Once again, I’m feeling very grateful to know her!