Cavities and the Irony of Life

So...yesterday I went to the dentist (which I hate with a passion might I add) for my regular six- month check-up (yeah, I'm so good and on the ball)...it was absolutely horrible.

First of all, they treat you like you're a little kid who sits in your closet eating candy all day...which isn't the case. They always talk gently to you as if they don't want to hurt your feelings by showing that they know how bad the state of your teeth and gums are and that they think its your fault (which they do). I brush and floss just like they tell me, I wear my night gaurd to the chagrin of my husband, I do all the things they say to do and yet...I still have a cavity and... it's ALL my fault.

The dentist's office, for me, is one of the only places I truly feel the need to justify myself, or my teeth, which, in a sense, is still justifying myself...hmmm...ponder. If they find the evil cavity, I want to make sure they know that it wasn't my fault, and that I'm not the little kid sitting in the closet eating candy to rot my teeth all day. It's quite hopeless though because they don't believe you, and the more your talk about how well you take care of your teeth, the more they remind you of all the tartar buildup and plaque they found while poking and prodding around with sharp devices in your mouth, which clearly proves you wrong.

See, I think that plaque and tartar are natural things, and that God made it so that by drinking water and eating crunchy food, we would naturally clean our teeth. I know that modern dentistry would claim otherwise, but hey, this is my blog and I can say what I want. I guess, its just one of those things that reminds me of the irony of life, culture, conditioning...the fact that we are supposed to do so many things to be appropriate and hygenic that are totally outside of our natural human condition, and that even when we do those things and meet those standards, the end result is still, well....a cavity.

So, moral of the story is that sometimes even when we do all the "right" things wrong things still happen, which is why we should all give each other a break. There really is no formula for success and perfect teeth in life. It's easy to judge each other and say "you should have...", but the truth is, reality does not always meet our expectations and we better get used to that and try to find some beauty in the moments of "wrongness" or we will always hate ourselves and feel like we're just not good enough. So...yeah.

Take the cavity out of your own tooth, before your instruct your brother or sister to brush or floss.

True words of wisdom...and ironic when you think about it, which I hope you will.