Dental Woes

Baby pictures and updates will continue next week, but for today I thought I would share a lil’ something with y’all…

I was over confident.  Last year I had a dentist visit and was awash in praise for my good cleaning habits. Especially since I was preggers at the time. My dental hygienist told me I was doing such a good job flossing and I swear after hearing that, I felt so elated and proud that I didn’t hear anything else she said. It was like a Charlie Brown cartoon…wa wa wha whaa wha. I am doing great! Wa wha.

Well, fast forward to last week’s visit and imagine my surprise when the dentist told me I had 7 cavities, gingivitis, and filling and molar issues.

Say What??!

Shut your mouth and Sweet corn on the cob. Is there a camera somewhere? Y’all trying to prank me and put it on your website? Check that again please, you must be wrong because I have been a model patient.

Or was I?

Turns out I did quite a few things wrong! If I had been really paying attention last year I would have heard the hygienist tell me that because I was pregnant I was more susceptible to tooth issues. I would have heard that I have very sensitive teeth. I would have heard that I should probably take extra calcium. Further, there was a good month early on where instead of taking a full prenatal I only took folic acid. It helped with the nausea. I eventually went back to the full vitamin and assumed that would be fine. Then the very last month, I didn’t floss daily. It was more like four or five times a week because it hurt.  Everything hurt waiting for Savvy to arrive! I blocked that part from Cassidy. You get to a point where you are just tired and it hurts to blink, and you can’t put your socks on…who has the energy to floss EVERY night?

By then the damage was done. And according to the dentist it could have been worse and I should be thankful it wasn’t. 

Now I have put myself on a fierce regimen- brushing after every meal, including snacks, flossing twice daily and pulling out the tongue scraper. And while I do take a postnatal vitamin, I am throwing in extra calcium and Vitamin D too.  

“Oh what a smug fool I be!” was the thought playing in my head, in a full on Matt Smith Irish brogue imitation no less. Which if you haven’t heard, you should give him a call. It’s pretty darn cute.

 And these are costly mistakes too because insurance in America is screwy. For us when we were on the PPO almost all of our dental stuff was practically free, but it cost an arm and two legs to cover out of pocket stuff for the kids. On the HMO the kids are free, but dental stuff is not. Go figure.

Please take my tale as a warning and learn from my mistakes! I have been truly humbled and will forever be grateful for the lessons learned.  Especially as I sit in the chair remedying my mistakes in the next two visits taking place in March…