Death and Dental Hygiene
I have been going to the same dentist for almost 30 years now. Some time after I began seeing him, in my early thirties, a young lifetime of marginal dental hygiene was starting to manifest itself. Whether it was inadequate brushing, a voracious sweet tooth, or a total disregard for flossing, it had become time to start making payments on a past debt. I usually was not in need of some urgent care, or facing some immediate dental emergency. My afflictions, although potentially serious, introduced themselves as gentlemen. Very gradually, they would make themselves known, and seemed willing to wait their turn until each one was sufficiently addressed and entertained, one at a time. Every year or so, about the time that my regular cleaning and checkup came due, when the question of whether I was experiencing any new pain or discomfort would inevitably come up – almost always, it had. And, after a careful examination, my dentist – as skilled an artisan in ...