John Phillip Bogulski & Tarrah Lee Curtis

I understand as a grown man I should understand dental hygiene by now, but the truth is I don’t think I really do. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got the concept down. Teeth, like our bodies, must be cleaned. Toothpaste is the soap of teeth. And then there’s floss which reaches those hard to reach places you tooth brush can’t reach. I think I heard that on a commercial once. Again, makes sense in theory.

But here’s the issue: gums. I do not understand how the same procedures for teeth also benefit the gums. Those things are so different from each other. One is hard. One is spongey. And while brushing the teeth and flossing between makes sense, what the hell is it doing to the gums? It seems nonsensical. After all it’s toothpaste, not gum paste. Sure, it’s designed to protect your whole mouth, but if every trip to the dentist has any indication, I am not treating my gums well at all. Even though I’m brushing my gums (which again is a dumb concept), subconsciously I must not be putting in the right effort.

I think I was never taught really how to actually brush and floss. I was just told to do it. So I did. And while I could ask the dentist or google a tutorial, this seems like something that I should just understand. And it makes me wonder how many other people don’t fully understand what they are doing when they are brushing and flossing, just that they are supposed to. This seems like the most basic thing, but at the end of the day I don’t remember how I was taught to brush and floss as a kid. (I don’t think my mom actually put much emphasis on flossing though because I am truly horrible about my frequency of doing it.) And then it just becomes a norm. Everyone brushes their teeth so theoretically we must know how, but who actually remembers what they were told when they were taught? Maybe dentists usually explain more thoroughly, but they haven’t to me.

Now because of lack of dental insurance, I haven’t been to the dentist in 2 years. That’s something I obviously need to figure out, but the fact that I don’t truly know what I’m doing dentally truly has me terrified. But nothing can be without a point. So this whole meandering topic is leading to this: my plan to be better at brushing. And I have googled brushing and flossing, I do think I’m doing it right in theory. I think it’s just the lack of understanding of how it actually works, especially with the gums. I’m going to first try to change my mindset when brushing and flossing. Instead of treating my gums like an afterthought. I’m going to mentally focus energy on making them better. Then whenever I finally go to a dentist they will say I have the most perfect teeth ever. It’s worth a shot.