Healthy gums don’t bleed, and are not painful to floss at all.
I’m in my 30s and only recently learned flossing technique and got my gums healthy. Flossing used to take so long and always involved a lot of bleeding no matter how delicate I was.
These days I’m absolute savage with floss and interdental brushes and never have any blood or pain.
Once you get your gums healthy you’ll be disgusted at yourself for ever not flossing. The amount of disgusting I can floss out on an almost daily basis is insane.
Plus you’re breath will not smell gross anymore.
It’s worth committing to the habit of flossing. Trust me.
“Take care of your teeth” is my go-to “old person’s advice to young people.” Once you realize that dentists can’t really “fix” (as in permanently fix) most problems with your teeth (that you get one set for your whole life), that 5-10 minutes a day to take care of them doesn’t seem like so much.
Seriously, once you have a cavity, there’s a pretty good chance that tooth will eventually become a crown or implant. Once a tooth cracks, it will eventually get worse and have to go. Dentistry is mostly preventative, and for the most part they can really only apply a band-aid to serious problems.
Oh dear. How do I make my 13yo understand that, who doesn’t seem to care?
Show them this video and tell them this is what happens when you neglect your teeths. https://libreddit.domain.glass/r/popping/comments/py6qlw/teeth_cleaning_i_feel_this_was_the_most/
Nearly nobody will get a mouth that bad if they at least care to look at their teeths from time to time and have a basic hygiene, both dietary and oral.
But to at least get them interested, this video does the work really well.
(The video shows removal of a massive plaque of tartar. So I don’t recommend anyone uncomfortable, with looking at the inside of mouths and with seeing some bleeding, to watch this video)
Show them pictures or videos of a root canal.
Seriously please go to the dentist and take care of your teeth. My parents stopped taking me to the dentist when I was 16 and I didn’t return till I was 30. I had developed a massive anxiety over it and couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror because I was terrified to look into my mouth. I got off relatively lucky but for the love of God go to the dentist
This comment hit hard, I know that feeling of looking in the mirror and being afraid to open my mouth. I went yesterday for the first time in over 10 years. I felt so much shame and anxiety, I didn’t sleep well for 2 nights leading up to the visit, but boy do I feel better now. Considering it had been so long the news wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, and it was not as painful as i thought it would be (my last visit was not pleasant) Now that i’m over that hump, i’ll be going back much more frequently and will be more diligent with my oral hygene. I wish I had done it sooner. Seriously, for those in a similar situation, just go to the dentist and set things right before it’s too late.
Awesome job mate. I went through a similar stage with my depression. It takes courage to pull yourself out of situations like that so make sure you appreciate yourself.
The best 3D printer we know of is biology. Until we can grow a new tooth from some science broth, prevention is imperative. Even once we do, it’ll take a while to catch up to nature.
That and for the price to come down to where mere mortals and/or folks with decent dental insurance can afford it!
Pretty exciting though japanese researchers are doing human trials for medicine that blocks a protein that blocks a 3rd set of teeth from growing in, if that goes well we will probably have better teeth for longer time at least.
Totally agreed. I got this advice to “Take care of your teeth” when I was 20. My professor just said “You’ll never regret it.” I took that to heart. Why wouldn’t I do something I’ll never regret!?