Day 116: Handy-Flosser Hell

I’ve been avoiding this topic because your first thought is going to be, “Oh, puhleeze!”  But it’s an issue that warrants the smallest notice, and we do have 249 more days to go, after all. 

I think I jinxed myself.  As soon as I mentioned Placker’s Whitening Flossers and how they saved my flossing routine from utter ruination, suddenly no store in Shreveport carries them anymore.  What is up with that?!!!

I caved and bought the other hook-shaped flossers.  The ones that look like a capital P.  I hate them.  I hate them so much, I stopped flossing for a short period of time.  Stopped altogether.  Yeah, that’ll show those floss makers, huh?

The point is that I nearly hurt myself with the P flossers.  I want my Y-shaped flossers back.  I did find them on drugstore.com, but I haven’t come to terms with adding shipping charges to such a wee-little purchase.  But it’s a price I may have to pay for the benefit of my gums.  I had to admit to my hygienist a couple of weeks ago that I had fallen off the flossing wagon.  And now, I’m steadily trying to climb back on.

So if you live in Shreveport, and you happen to see Plackers Whitening Flossers around town, let me know.    Otherwise, I’ll be forced to skip the back teeth forever.

Day 3: A Smile Worth Showing

As I face the computer monitor this morning – early – while munching away on my Raisin Bran (Post has the best ingredients, if you’re interested) my head is spinning with all the things I want to change. But I also recognize that there are some pretty basic things that need to change before I can really give full attention to what I want to change. I hope you will bear with me while I deal with the mundane.

I recall the sign in a dentist’s office that read, “You don’t have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep!” While I have always been proud of my teeth, thanks to the late but still cherished Dr. Cope, I have not always been a good flosser. (Don’t judge! Have you ever looked at me and thought, “Yeesh! That chic seriously needs to floss!”??? Then I rest my case.) I always found it to be a rather hasslesome task: winding the floss around my fingers, cutting off the circulation in the index finger just for the effort of reaching the back teeth. And I have a very small mouth, so it’s doubly difficult to reach everywhere. I would floss, mind you, but not with any degree of regularity.  But a year ago I decided to change. After one of my regular dental cleanings, I decided to floss every night until the next cleaning. For six months, I was a flossing ROCK STAR. I found these cool mini-flossers in the grocery store. No more winding string around my fingers or deciding what flavor and wax level to buy. Dr. Plackers Whitening flossers came to my rescue at minimal cost. I asked my hygienist, Sharon, if she noticed a difference at my next visit, and she answered, “I haven’t had to scrape much, have I? Of course I noticed!!!” I beamed with pride.

Within the month following that checkup, I was attacked by the shingles virus, which set up shop in the nerve running above my upper left bicuspid. For the next five months, flossing was painful to the point of tears, so I minimized my efforts. I’d floss about twice a week on average – not quite the “beaming with pride” effort, but an effort nonetheless. And, as is the nature of habit, once flossing became more bearable I was too comfortable with the new routine to change.

Until today. Today I return to the habit of flossing daily. The best way for me to accomplish this is to brush and floss with the kids before their bedtime. That way, they have my example to follow, and I have the added health benefit of establishing 8:00 as my cut-off time for consuming anything other than water. I imagine it will be just a short while before not flossing is simply out of the question. And that’s something to smile about!

Inspiration for the Day: “What lies before us, and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson