#dental

Permanent teeth of the right side. Practical information about the teeth : a book for the people. 1879.

I have, for the last couple years, needed a good deal of dental work that I didn't have money for. Last year I broke a tooth and opted to get an implant and that ate up all my dental insurance for last year and this year as well as most of my CareCredit account.

(That tooth broke because I put off getting a crown because the insurance I had didn't cover it and then I changed insurance and neglected to get it done until, oops, it broke.)

So I've known I have a good number of cavities that need to be done but I was putting it off because I was quoted like $1500 to get it all done last year.

I'm getting some money as payout for my car accident from two years ago so I'm gonna have the money to throw at things so item one was going and getting all the dental stuff I need. So today I went for my cleaning and checkup.

And I now need a lot LESS work done, according to this new dentist I saw. He said, yes, you have several other small cavities in various places but they are actually recalcifying and fixing themselves.

They're WHAT?

So here's what I learned today. Cavities can fix themselves. If you change your diet or your oral hygiene and work on improving things, you can actually heal cavities.

And for the last year I've been really trying to work on things, after that tooth breaking scare which was terrifying. I've been using prescription high flouride toothpaste along with flouride mouthwash and being really obsessive about brushing before bed. I also quit drinking coffee which was the first thing the dentist mentioned that can affect it. (I quit due to stomach issues not dental ones but...)

So I just did a light googling and yeah this is a real thing. You can regrow and fill in cavities that are small. So I only need three fillings right now and they'll just monitor the other ones. And I got more RX paste and detailed advice on what still needs improvement.

I told my husband, who has always had terrible teeth (to the extent he now has upper dentures) and neither of us knew this was a thing. Which goes to show you how uneducated people are about dental health. I just always thought you either have to perfectly take care of teeth or once you get a cavity it will just get worse and worse until you get it filled or lose the tooth.

Honestly I think knowing you can UNDO a cavity with diet and care is much more encouragement to do those things, right? Like, okay I slipped and was negligent for a while but it does actually matter that I'm doing the right things now?

a/n: in honour of me FINALLY getting my braces after like forever. Sorry this isn’t proof read, just some fluff.

Unfortunately for you, you were getting braces. After waiting 5 years of saying yes then no and then rethinking everything, at the ripe age of 19 you FINALLY booked your appointment. To be honast you were scared you’d heard a lot of people saying it hurt really bad, and other stories of people getting power chains, rubber bands and expanders all at once. Even with these unfortunate circumstances at least you had Megumi. Currently you were both waiting in the waiting area in the orthodontist office.

“okay but like what if it hurts really bad and like I can’t eat at all EVER AGAIN” megumi traced slow circles on your hand eith his thumb.

“Thats not gonna happen. Braces hurt but not that bad. Plus you can take medication for the pain if it’s really bad” You think about it. I mean of course hes not wrong but still there was doubt.

“Y/n y/l/n, follow me this way” a nice lady, maybe in her 30’s, brunette and with a kind smile beckons you and Megumi to follow her into the other room. You smile at her and follow her into the. Megumi sits in the chair in the corner and you sit in the chair in the middle of the room.

“Have you thought of any colors you want? We have quite a few!” The lady hands you a pallets with diffeent color braces on it. “oh no i havnt looked, thank you” you whisper to Megumi asking him. “Look theres pink! But won’t that stain easily. Look theres black too but I don’t know if it’ll suit me….” Megumi nods as you weigh your options. “what about navy blue? It won’t stain and you’d look nice in it” Megumi makes eye contact. “Thats SUCH a GIOD idea baby.”

You close your eyes, you can feel them working and hear snips. Yiu accdenitalky yaar thr glue geez it’s sour. “Your all done have a feel around to see if anything is poking you” you feel around with your tounge. “No everything is fine, thank you”. The orthodontist smiles.

“I’ll go through hiw to brush and what you can and cant eat” the orthodontist explains everything even giving you a kit woth everything you need in it. “For the first 4 hours tou probably won’t feel pain but after thag it will start to hurt. I recommend soups and to have icecream. If it feels to painful medication cna help too. Well thats all, you can come back anytime if something feels uncomfortable!”. You smile at the orthodontist and wlak out with Megumi.

“It feels really weird. I don’t like them, I look so dumb with them on” you pout looking at the camera kf your phone.

“dumb? Why would you say that? I think they look cute in a dorky way” Megumi shrugs like it’s the most obvious thing. “Come on let’s get you home.”

Let’s hope these braces to hurt too bad and your teeth will be fixed after so long.