My take on the world of oral hygiene. (The title
is a reference to the fact that dentists have the highest suicide rate of any
profession; at least it is commonly assumed so)
So I’m sitting here in the dentist office hearing
the whirring brushes, drills and whatever. Actually I hope it’s not drills
because the dentist is out here in the waiting room.. Anyways I sit here and
have time to ponder Oral hygiene. With the exception of people with lots of
problems in a certain area people don’t have doctors for specific parts of their
body. I don’t have a foot, hand, ear, throat, or intestine doctor. I do have
an eye doctor, but that is because I do
have a problem in that area.
I have never had a cavity, and I never wore anything to adjust the shape of my teeth. I got lucky. So why do I have a mouth doctor? When I was having some dandruff problems I went to a skin doctor (yes I know it’s called a dermatologist and my eye doctor is an optimologist). But my general practitioner has never sent me to the dentist (come to think of it I need to get a new one of those because my last doctors appointment was to a pediatrician …. a kids doctor). Why is this? My only conclusion is that, if we can’t eat we die. We can eat and get nutrition without good teeth though. I’ve seen people with awful teeth. Pointing every direction, more brown that white; they were quite alive looking to me.
My take on this is most likely skewed because I’ve never had anything major done with my mouth. Never had a cavity, and wisdom teeth look like they will stay in. The only that I’ve ever had with a dentist (besides christmas dinner with my dentist uncle) is a small repair done to a front tooth that was chipped when I was about 10. And if you hadn’t know it was chipped at the time most people wouldn’t have noticed. In between the last paragraph and this one I sat in the chair and had my teeth cleaned, x-rayed and flossed. I feel about the same and I’m not going to need any extra work (as usual). My parents paid for the appointment (at least the insurance they work to get did, at some point in my life they didn’t have dental though and they paid for it) and I really don’t know if I’ve gained anything from it. Well that was my exploratory rant for the day. Have fun at your next dentist appointment and don’t be scared and be nice to the poor man or woman, they don’t need any extra stress.
I have never had a cavity, and I never wore anything to adjust the shape of my teeth. I got lucky. So why do I have a mouth doctor? When I was having some dandruff problems I went to a skin doctor (yes I know it’s called a dermatologist and my eye doctor is an optimologist). But my general practitioner has never sent me to the dentist (come to think of it I need to get a new one of those because my last doctors appointment was to a pediatrician …. a kids doctor). Why is this? My only conclusion is that, if we can’t eat we die. We can eat and get nutrition without good teeth though. I’ve seen people with awful teeth. Pointing every direction, more brown that white; they were quite alive looking to me.
My take on this is most likely skewed because I’ve never had anything major done with my mouth. Never had a cavity, and wisdom teeth look like they will stay in. The only that I’ve ever had with a dentist (besides christmas dinner with my dentist uncle) is a small repair done to a front tooth that was chipped when I was about 10. And if you hadn’t know it was chipped at the time most people wouldn’t have noticed. In between the last paragraph and this one I sat in the chair and had my teeth cleaned, x-rayed and flossed. I feel about the same and I’m not going to need any extra work (as usual). My parents paid for the appointment (at least the insurance they work to get did, at some point in my life they didn’t have dental though and they paid for it) and I really don’t know if I’ve gained anything from it. Well that was my exploratory rant for the day. Have fun at your next dentist appointment and don’t be scared and be nice to the poor man or woman, they don’t need any extra stress.
I'm Trevin Ward, I'm a Political Science Student at Iowa State University in Ames, IA.