I have rolls of floss everywhere - bathrooms, bedroom, desk, purse. You never know when you'll want to floss! (What?) I had developed gaps that allowed food to get trapped, but after the Invisalign treatment those are mostly gone.
Suzi, I live in Charlottesville VA. Nice little university town. Good hospitals, good schools (I hear), gorgeous mountains.
Same, Sue. I don't think I could use the picks becuase actually feeling my teeth with my fingertips is an important part of my process.
I have to use tape rather than floss or my tightly packed and possibly sharp teeth will rip the floss to shreds that get stuck and it's just bad all around. So I buy Glide tape by the case and keep it stashed all over. I had a terrible orthodontist and now have gaps between some teeth and not-enough-gap-for-floss between others.
Sue, I love the dental floss picks.
I love the ones designed for back teeth, with the floss perpendicular to the handle. I can casually floss at my desk in about a minute (I face a corner, so my co-workers would have to work to watch what I'm doing)
I had to go in for implants last week and it was the absolute worst. Ghastly. But I do really like my dentist.
Oh no! That is not a pleasant procedure.
I'm very excited about this new teeth-related trend in Natter, because all I do is think about my teeth now. It is crazy how the space between my teeth is changing with the Invisalign. I mean, it started with the ortho filing some extra space in two places (which was super creepy), but they are all somehow now further apart.
I have a dumb question: If you take reasonably good care of your teeth and see a dentist twice a year, will your teeth probably remain mostly OK for the rest of your life? Or are bad things happening to your teeth inevitable?
I suppose it depends on how long you live, and some luck. My 82 year old stepfather, who is a retired dentist, has mostly okay teeth. My 75 year old FIL had to have some ugly gum work done, but he has okay teeth otherwise.
I am guessing that the better your teeth are at 15, the better they'll be at 45, and the better they'll be at 75. I have one crown, which I got at 38, which goes all the way back to a cavity I had as an early teen (which was filled, but was large, and eventually the tooth broke.) So some of it is cumulative.
Like many things a lot of the teeth stuff is genetic.