For the first time in a long time...

... my gums bled when I was flossing :(

When I was younger, my mom used to take us to the dentist. My brother and I still to this day laugh about how we would have to lie to him and say we were leaving school early to go to lunch. He HATED the dentist. I, on the other hand, never really had a problem with it.

At some point we stopped going with my mom and I think there was an embarrassingly long lag before I took the initiative to make an appointment and go myself. Even with a few years of no professional dental care, on my first self-made visit, I was 100% cavity free! While my teeth are FAR from perfect, I took pride in my lack of cavities.

At some point I was forced to switch dentists. The one I was seeing before was a pediatric dentist and he had to break the news to me when I was about 21, that he wouldn't be able to squeeze me into his brightly colored kids chairs any longer. I was bummed.

When I went to my new dentist, I remember walking in and getting the standard x-rays and cleaning from the hygienist. Then the doctor came in to check things and go over my x-rays with me. I said something a long the lines of "I've never had a cavity before - if I do this time, I'm never coming back to you". He chuckled and turned on that oh-so-terrible light behind the x-ray. What came next? you guessed it... he told me it looked like I would never be coming back. I was soooo crushed! Then he continued and said it was a 'flossing cavity'. I was confused and pressed for more answers - "what's a flossing cavity?" Basically, it's from a lack of flossing and was actually in between two teeth - not your standard molar cavity.

In my head I began a whole line of self defense. How could I have a flossing cavity? Didn't he realize I was one of the ten people in my dorm building that owned their own floss? That I was one of maybe three that actually used it? Isn't there a section on their chart where the hygienist notes "gums didn't bleed during cleaning - she must floss!". Was he aware that I take care of my teeth? That I am one of the seven people in the world who get a little giddy at the thought of a good old-fashioned cleaning?? Surely he was not aware. But there it was - clear as day on an x-ray that I had MY FIRST CAVITY. Of course, I was so certain I'd never get another cavity again that I paid the extra money for a "tooth colored" filling. It would blend right in with the rest of my pearly whites and be forgotten about.

Fast forward to today... while rooting through the medicine cabinet I saw it sitting there. My floss that I'm pretty sure hasn't been moved since the last time Ryan and I made the trek up to the dentist. The floss that I once took so much pride in! The floss, that made me once question "did they switch the x-rays?". Left to gather dust.

It's just another one of those things that often times gets put into the "tomorrow" pile. After brushing with Jude (he brushes too), I'm faced with a decision "put Jude down and floss" or "worry about it tomorrow". As with most questions like this... Jude always wins.