3-4-3, 3-4-4
Ya know the numbers that the dentist and hygenist use to describe how deep your gum “pockets” are right before they lecture you about flossing? I heard a lot of 3s and 4s at my cleaning appointment today. Stupid hormones are making my mouth (and therefore my moral character) look even worse than usual. Lying on my back, feet up and head down, for the procedure today was excruciating! Jeez.
January 25, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I hear ya. I’ve never had a cavity, so my whole life I’ve heard dentists and hygienists exclaiming over my beautiful teeth. A few years ago a hygienist remarked out of nowhere that I’ll probably need surgery on my gums because they’re receeding so badly. My last hygienist told me I have the gums of a person in their 60s.
I’ve never flossed, so it’s my own fault (and because I had braces, the dentist said), but it’s weird after 26 years or so of “perfect!” to leap immediately to “awful! You need surgery!” *pout*
Will your gums go back to normal post-partum?
January 25, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I hope so, but it’s all to do with hormones and it could last well into nursing or six months beyond, the hygenist said today. Same thing happened with Lucas and so I suppose it’s survivable. I was back to hearing 2s and 3s before I got pregnant again.
I never had braces, so it was a shock last year (?) when my dentist, who is also my uncle, asked me when we were going to put braces on my teeth. I asked, why? He proceeded to point out all the flaws in my smile and bite that I’d never noticed before. Now I see them every time I look in the mirror. Alas, I don’t have a spare $5K lying around these days.
I envy your teeth and FCL’s gums.
January 25, 2007 at 7:02 pm
P.S. I have receding gums, too. I brush too hard, apparently, but it feels good to brush hard!
January 25, 2007 at 9:05 pm
I’m drunk and I totally love you and lj.
January 25, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I’m with you there. I like the hard brushing! And I don’t floss. Well. I’m a panic-based flosser; I floss for the four weeks before my dentist appointment. I’ve been with the same dentist since ’93. I wonder why he hasn’t figured out I’m not going to floss after 14 years. I guess it’s his job.
It must be weird to be upside down with your body how it is right now. Oi.
January 26, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I know exactly how hard it is to quit smoking. It is exactly as hard as it is to START FLOSSING.
-Mitch Hedberg
I am now a flossing maniac. Why? They started saying things like “root planing” Now I know what a root is, and I know what a plane looks like… I don’t want a plane in my mouth. Scrape, scrape, scrape.