Taking care of those pearly whites

I had my twice a year routine dental cleaning done Tuesday morning. It got me thinking about how fortunate we are today to be able to take such good care of our teeth. My mother had a full upper set of dentures and partial lower dentures before I was born. It was very common for people of previous generations to have dentures. I’m sure my mother had dentures because when she was growing up they were too poor to see a dentist until it was too late to do anything but pull the tooth. My father must have been blessed with very strong teeth because as far as I know, he never once saw a dentist and had every tooth still intact when he died. His teeth were stained from coffee and cigarettes but still there and functional. I, on the other hand, have always been rather fanatical about taking care of my teeth—regular brushing & flossing and twice a year cleaning. I am convinced that good dental health promotes general good health. We are fortunate also to have dental insurance to help defray the cost of maintaining those pearly whites. (Speaking of which, I detest bleached white teeth.)