The Irreversible Consequences of Life
As usual, my first words are going to be "Gee golly, I haven't posted in a really long time." There, now that that's out of the way, let me get on with the rest of this post.
At some point in the past decade I was informed by a dentist that I brush my teeth too hard. I don't think I was suddenly brushing too hard, I think one of my dentists just finally decided to point it out. So, I brushed too hard and as a result the gums on my teeth have been pushed back exposing the root. Yes, that is as bad as it sounds. The end result is that I have really sensitive teeth. I mean, expose your root and see if you aren't just a little sensitive about it.
What sucks is that there really isn't much of a fix for that. I've heard there's expensive surgery or basically just living with it. Now, the dentist I had when I live in Chicago (he was in Hoffman Estates I believe) was awesome and he did have a way to help me with it. He was great all around though. Seriously, everything about him and his practice made him the best dentist to which I've ever gone. His staff was nice, the hygienist had nice boobs she seemed to always be pressing into me, she was also very nice and talked cheerfully and even removed the dentistry crap from my mouth when she asked a question so we could have an actual conversation. The dentist was a pro; he was gentle, and he never seemed rushed. He actually took more than 18 seconds to talk to me. Hence, he told me about the brushing too hard. So the treatment he used was to give me fluoride treatments (which, he did not charge me for.) That's the same treatment you remember as a kid where they would fill those comically over sized horseshoe trays with goo and jam them into your mouth. Still, those did the trick. He's the only one that did that. Others give me prescription toothpaste I'm too afraid to use because it basically says, "Swallow one drop and you won't leave the toilet for days." Yeah. You put it in your mouth, you brush with it, then you spit it out just like any other toothpaste. But there's no rinsing. Hence my paranoia about swallowing it. Still, I use it when I'm brave or my teeth are bothering me.
In the end, what pisses me off about all this is that there's no going back. There's no way to warn young me to not do what I did. There's no healing from it. This is just the example I chose, but the older you get, the more you realize how many irreversible things you've done to yourself that have really screwed things up. I'm not talking about the obvious stuff you learn in health class: smoking, unprotected sex, cocaine, playing with mercury, heavy drinking, etc... (Not all of which apply to me!!) I'm talking about the things you didn't know were bad till it was too late. Like the brushing too hard. Like ... well, I can't think of something else. I thought I had one, but it escapes me. There's a lot of stuff though that we just don't know better until it's too late. I hate that. I feel so cheated. Some day someone really does need to write an instruction manual for life.
At some point in the past decade I was informed by a dentist that I brush my teeth too hard. I don't think I was suddenly brushing too hard, I think one of my dentists just finally decided to point it out. So, I brushed too hard and as a result the gums on my teeth have been pushed back exposing the root. Yes, that is as bad as it sounds. The end result is that I have really sensitive teeth. I mean, expose your root and see if you aren't just a little sensitive about it.
What sucks is that there really isn't much of a fix for that. I've heard there's expensive surgery or basically just living with it. Now, the dentist I had when I live in Chicago (he was in Hoffman Estates I believe) was awesome and he did have a way to help me with it. He was great all around though. Seriously, everything about him and his practice made him the best dentist to which I've ever gone. His staff was nice, the hygienist had nice boobs she seemed to always be pressing into me, she was also very nice and talked cheerfully and even removed the dentistry crap from my mouth when she asked a question so we could have an actual conversation. The dentist was a pro; he was gentle, and he never seemed rushed. He actually took more than 18 seconds to talk to me. Hence, he told me about the brushing too hard. So the treatment he used was to give me fluoride treatments (which, he did not charge me for.) That's the same treatment you remember as a kid where they would fill those comically over sized horseshoe trays with goo and jam them into your mouth. Still, those did the trick. He's the only one that did that. Others give me prescription toothpaste I'm too afraid to use because it basically says, "Swallow one drop and you won't leave the toilet for days." Yeah. You put it in your mouth, you brush with it, then you spit it out just like any other toothpaste. But there's no rinsing. Hence my paranoia about swallowing it. Still, I use it when I'm brave or my teeth are bothering me.
In the end, what pisses me off about all this is that there's no going back. There's no way to warn young me to not do what I did. There's no healing from it. This is just the example I chose, but the older you get, the more you realize how many irreversible things you've done to yourself that have really screwed things up. I'm not talking about the obvious stuff you learn in health class: smoking, unprotected sex, cocaine, playing with mercury, heavy drinking, etc... (Not all of which apply to me!!) I'm talking about the things you didn't know were bad till it was too late. Like the brushing too hard. Like ... well, I can't think of something else. I thought I had one, but it escapes me. There's a lot of stuff though that we just don't know better until it's too late. I hate that. I feel so cheated. Some day someone really does need to write an instruction manual for life.