well, as we get up close and personal with the slime that resides between our teeth. We drag it out smudged onto a thread that squeezes between our teeth. Alas, I have run out of excuses! It used to be that flossing was sort of messy and somewhat uncomfortable (wrapping thread about your fingers and then pulling it tight so the circulation is cut off seems an odd practice). Flossing adds time to my daily preparation cycle that I did not have. After sleeping so late because I stayed up too late, every minute is important…but no doubt soon I will be well rested and turning in earlier (thanks to future Life Change #21: I stay up too late), I will have more time to floss…it is remarkable how everything is interrelated…or maybe it is predictable…anyway, I find it sort of fascinating.Flossing is one of those habits that took an invention--or at least, a leap of faith. I can see rubbing on the teeth to clean off the scum…the “sweaters” as I have heard it called. American Indians used Manzanita leaves or something like that, and at the very least, a finger or small bit of cloth could be used…but floss…someone had to think that one up. I am going to ram thread into the gap between my teeth and see if there is anything there I should take out. I am going to do this between all of my teeth, and surely the first time it was done, the result was bleeding gums…how could anyone recognize this had therapeutic value? Creative dentists, I suppose.
I remember sitting in the dentist chair and reading that rather funny and at the same time horrific warning….”You don’t have to floss all your teeth! Just the ones you want to keep”. It was written on some chart showing you how to brush or floss and it sort of suggested that maybe there were other people who do not floss daily.
I have considered the alternative, and I guess I am not too keen on keeping my teeth in a glass of water by the bedside if I can avoid it. I remember there was just such a glass on either nightstand of my grandparents’ house. The water and the curvature of the glass made the teeth look strangely oversized. Monster teeth. I really do not want monster teeth.
I am a stop and start kind of “flosser”…I will floss for a few days, then miss a few, then floss a few….maybe 25-35% of the time I ram that waxy thread between my teeth, and the rest of the time, I simply don’t get to it. My dentist frowns and says, sort of patiently, and sort of irritated, “You really do need to floss EVERYDAY”. Pangs of guilt. I cannot even suggest a defense. I am a lazy fool, who is still sorting out which teeth he wants to keep.
Now of course, they have these little pre threaded loops that fit on a handle and make the wrapping around the fingers part unnecessary. It also makes angling the floss to get between the teeth easier (for me anyway), and it is certainly easier to throw away (the old floss seemed to sort of want to stay attached to your fingers and often wound up half in and half out of the wastebasket). But now, the little loop unsnaps and we drop it into the trash, perhaps insignificant, but I wonder how much more plastic will enter the waste stream because of these little loops of plastic…all in the name of my convenience. I consider reusing these little loops…and then take a look at the stuff that resides on the floss after I use it. Suddenly, the waste stream seems a better spot for this stuff…perhaps they will invent reusable loops that I can put my own floss on.
Flossing is one of those things that if you do every day, it seems to lose the sense of drama. A daily flosser (and I know folks who do it each time they brush…two or three times a day!) will have almost know reside on the floss…I know this because when I floss a lot, I note that the floss stays pretty clean….but the occasional flosser…now they get a lot of residue…they can really see they are doing some good. You just want to keep that from your nose….there is no joy in smelling that!
The one odd market niche is all the kinds of floss they make…waxed or unwaxed? You tell me, do I want wax? I don’t even know what the wax is for. Mint or plain? (mint seems ok, but really I am not trying to taste this stuff), but the greatest invention in the annals of floss is this sort of “teflon floss” that glides easily in between each tooth…not sure what took so long, but I frankly can’t imagine why they still make the other stuff….brand loyalty? Hard to muster much loyalty to waxy white thread in a plastic box?
I always wonder whether it is best to floss before brushing, thereby assuring a lot of grungy stuff on the stringy device, or if it is best to brush first and remove, (hopefully) all but the most clingy grime. I am typically someone who likes the gratification of seeing results, like mowing the lawn when the grass is quite long, but in the case of flossing, I really don’t need to see “that”. A leftover bit of food, maybe some plaque and tartar, and whatever else resides in our mouth. I really don’t even want to search for a name. I know it is slimy and does not smell good.
Some foods demand use of floss. Corn on the cob and barbecue ribs often produces compelling need for floss. Celery seems to have floss built into it, though I have never heard if it is good (or bad) for the teeth. Apples act as a sort of natural toothbrush/floss as well.
So, after not flossing in a week or so, today I begin the journey of being a daily flosser. I have set aside the time, and developed the mind set.
Update on Previous Life Changes:
As we passed through the holiday season and into the new year, I feel a bit like a ball rolling along that comes upon a gradual uphill climb....progress is bound to slow, and, perhaps stop altogether--for me it surely did. I seem to have lost enthusiasm at times for various “changes”. Swearing, as I predicted seems only marginally improved. I pretty much have mastered the toilet seat thing, and I feel at peace with low fat milk, brown sugar, and green tea. As the weather has cooled, my water intake has slipped---I really have to work at this-- and sometimes I don’t.
No comments:
Post a Comment