Boosting dental health

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

A nuclear war. A devastating earthquake. Severe floods. England winning the football World Cup. A dental appointment. The mere thought of certain events occurring can make many of us shudder.

What is the tooth behind good dental health?

Handling the tooth

So it was with some trepidation that I faced the last of those traumas listed, self-inflicted as it was, having organised a check-up with my dentist for the first time since May 2022. Is an almost two-year gap a long time to leave between dental visits? In any case, for such matters, I generally operate a policy of, 'If it all seems fine and there's no pain, then it is fine'.

I booked this appointment chiefly for aesthetic reasons. Indeed, it's rarely been because of pain that I've sought oral care. The majority of my visits have emanated from issues with the false front tooth I've had to live with since I was 14. Teenage discos in Ireland can be — or at least they used to be — tetchy, tooth-damaging affairs.

What often happens, though, is that when I go to my dentist to just get something tidied up with the false tooth, she finds an exigency or two elsewhere.

'Oh Brendan, have you not felt any pain back here?'
'Eh, no. Well, I hadn't until you started digging and drilling at it.'

Dentist knows best.

Thus, it was quite surprising when on this latest visit she asked me if I had been seeing someone else — another dentist, that is, in his/her professional capacity only.

'So used had I become to the need for consecutive visits, it was a bit of an awkward goodbye.'

She seemed taken aback by the lack of pressing needs inside my mouth. I assured her of my fidelity to her. As referred to previously, I don't exactly seek out extra-dental affairs.

So having done what I wanted her to do — maintenance on the false tooth-and-a-half — off I went with no return appointment needed.

In fact, so used had I become to the need for consecutive visits, it was a bit of an awkward goodbye.

'So, when will I see you again?'
'You'll know when the time comes.'

And that was that.

One cynical way to view it is like an under-fire football manager getting the backing of the board of directors. 'We have full confidence in the gaffer to get through this.' Gaffer gets sacked the next day.

Something similar could happen with my receipt of a clean bill of dental health. 'You can't handle the tooth!' Quite!

No dental dictator

More positively, I have been thinking about what might be at play if it is indeed the case that my teeth and gums are in better shape these days.

One potential factor is intermittent fasting. I have been more conscious about snacking, grazing if you will, over the last 18 months or so, to the point where I try to regularly go at least 16 hours without ingesting food. I'm guessing the mouth, as it is believed to be so for other parts of the body, gets some benefit from not being under constant bombardment by having to break down foreign substances.

I've also been trying to drink more water and less beer. Without really keeping a strict tab on it, I'm not sure how successful I've been on this front. All the same, I think my booze consumption has fallen compared to a few years ago.

Then there have been my attempts to cut back on starchy carbohydrates and certain, more sugary fruits. OK, some may say the vitamin benefits from the fruits outweigh any potential tooth damage. That may be so, but the vitamins found in many of them can be sourced elsewhere, from various vegetables, for example.

Another small change I've introduced of late has been the use of a bit of bicarbonate of soda when brushing with my regular toothpaste. I started doing this after reading about the potential harms of many of the chemicals in standard toothpaste. OK, I haven't cut out toothpaste altogether but I use a smaller amount now when brushing. I did, though, experiment for a while with lemon and vinegar as toothpaste alternatives, in addition to the bicarbonate of soda.

One thing that I don't do and never really have done is flossing. Yes, I'm not a flosser. To some tooth tyrants, such neglect is a mortal sin. To each their own, I say. I'm not a dental dictator.

All I'm trying to figure out here is what were the factors that may have led to my apparent improvement in oral hygiene over the last couple of years or so.

And I know full well that I can't be complacent. This could all, um, blow up inside my face at any time.
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Foreign teething difficulties

There's a scene in the Godfather Part II movie where a sick Hyman Roth, in Havana, is being seen by a Cuban doctor who only speaks Spanish. 

Before leaving, the doctor gives his instructions as to what Roth should do to recuperate. As this is being relayed in English to Roth he says he wants his doctor flown in from the US as he doesn't trust one 'who can't speak English.'

The tooth is ... ... not in Wrong Way's mouth anyway.

It was, perhaps, a tad unfair to the Cuban doctor, he was probably competent enough. (After all, it wasn't Roth's bad health that eventually killed him but a bullet.)

Fictitious as that episode is, this is very often how people feel when dealing with medical professionals (and others) who don't speak their native tongue. The fears or lack of confidence may be unfounded yet the prejudice is hard to put to one side.

Personally, for most of my time in Bogotá, I'd managed to avoid such encounters. However, in recent months this has changed a little. A long-standing dental issue i.e. having a false front tooth for over a decade-and-a-half, has required attention for the first time in years.

The results of the dentists'/orthodontists' advice or labour I've had thus far have been — bar one — underwhelming.

Leaving aside the experience of the first dentist who didn't even wear gloves when inspecting my mouth with his hands, most of the others consulted immediately offered the most expensive option available without a thought given to cheaper alternatives.

Indeed. (Image from cartoonstock.com.)

Basically, we're referring to an implant with the accompanying surgery required for it.

OK, I'm obviously no expert in this but what had worked well for five years, a relatively cheap Maryland bridge, would be fine again. Or failing that — and for reasons I don't comprehend some of the dentists have said it's not an option — a standard denture would do the trick for now.

Also, it has to be stated that, unlike Mr Roth, my Spanish is good enough to both explain my situation and understand, more or less, what I'm being told. And I don't — or at least didn't at the start — have a negative opinion of these guys. All this apparent subterfuge must be because I'm not from these shores.

The whole experience has certainly made one question the mantra, which usually comes from North Americans, that dentistry standards in Colombia are exceptionally high.

A reason, maybe, for such a viewpoint is that the gringos are really screwed over back home when it comes to this line of work.

Regardless of that, it might be time to call for my own native English-speaking dentist. Mother tongue knows best.
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