flossing my teeth

most of my childhood was w.out health/ dental insurance (i think it's something like 33% of Korean Americans in CA are uninsured compared to 15% of all Californians). perhaps only because of Highlights Magazine and those cheap flat green/ lime lollipops do I have vague memories of going to the dentist in 1st grade. after then, the next time i went to the dentist was sophomore year of high school. i got a root canal. on the drive home my dad kept saying, "be careful not to chew the inside of your cheek". i had no idea what that meant but it sounded soooooo intriguing. being the crazy person that i am, i went a head and did it anyway. 2 hours later, i was in lots of unnecessary pain.

but i digress.

3 weeks ago, for the first time in my 27 years, i started flossing my teeth. 3 weeks ago I went to the dentist after 3 years of avoiding the dentist. turns out my teeth are super healthy (actually, i think i have super teeth even though i chew on ice, bite plastic pen caps in half, and chew on things i'm not supposed to chew on: "no braces? reallly? so straight" "upper and lower jaws are per0fectly aligned." "nice arch" "wow, you can open your jaw really wide. if anyone ever hits you in the face with a baseball bat, you'll still have good range of motion in your jaws! yup, no worries about jaw problems for you!" yes, my dentist really said that). anyhoo, my gums are not so great due to the absence of flossing.

i like my new dentist so much, i decided that i would finally floss. for 3 weeks, i flossed every single night. but in the last 2 nights have been so tired i just went straight to bed. fast forward to 10 minutes ago when i flossed for the first time in 2 days. SERIOUSLY DISGUSTING. b/c i started flossing right after i got my teeth cleaned, i only saw build up w/in a 24 hour period. 72 hours of build up is nasty. i can't believe I have gone so long w/out flossing. NEVER AGAIN.

that is all.