Counting my cavities

Apologies for the really icky title, but that is something that I really did earlier this afternoon. A chipped tooth which I managed to avoid for almost a year has turned worse over the course of the week. Faced with the possibility of having a tooth fall off while in the middle of a very busy meeting with clients, I finally hauled my ass to the neighborhood dentist. I was hoping she could just patch the errant tooth with a quick fix of “pasta” — but you know, a year of neglecting a problematic tooth has a way of coming back and biting you in the ass when you least expect it.

After a quick check and oral prophylaxis, I was informed by the friendly dentist that yes, I have 13 cavities, badly in need of new filling; she has to extract two of my teeth which was badly damaged by years of misuse and the clincher: I had to undergo root canal operation for the errant front tooth–which, unfortunately can no longer be saved by just mere filling. No thanks to me being lazy and for foregoing the dentist visit for one and half years.

Quite honestly, we were not raised by our parents to be conscious about our dental health. I was born to a family who had to work hard just for a taste of simple luxuries: with bills, education, basic utilities and other expenses, having our personal dentist is far from my parents’ list of priorities. Not that I blame them, my parents are hardworking people and they try their best to provide us with what we need and sometimes, even what we want. It’s just what they earn as simple laborers is just enough to provide for our necessities, unfortunately not much for anything else–especially for medical and dental needs. Each time someone gets sick, my parents scramble to find money.

That’s why when we started earning money, my sister and I began buying life insurance, saving enough for medical emergencies and visiting the dentist each opportunity we got. I just got busy for one and half years hence my failure to see the dentist for my tooth and now I am paying dearly for the price.

After today’s check up with the dentist, I made a vow with the hubby to make sure that our kids will get proper dental attention as soon as they grow a tooth! The minute the goddamn tooth appears, wham—!I will that kid’s ass to the dentist’s chair the soonest opportunity I got!

So kids, don’t forget to have those cavities counted. A few months worth of neglect can save you eternity on a dentist chair (not a pretty sight when you have your mouth wide open and your cavities saying hello to the whole world).