Spring is in the air (the snow is starting to melt). Soon all the seedlings will sprout and
new plants will crop up everywhere. If
only it were so easy with teeth. We only
get two sets. Most of the time, if
everything is normal, we grow a total of 20 primary teeth. These baby teeth are replaced between the
ages of five and twelve (on average) with adult teeth. New adult teeth also erupt distal to (further
towards the back of the mouth than) the full set of primary teeth. The total
number of permanent teeth, including wisdom teeth which erupt in adulthood, is
32. We do not get replacements for the “second
set.” Despite the fact that we call
adult teeth “the permanent dentition”, if we don’t take care of these adult
teeth they do not last for a lifetime. Neglect can lead to a lifetime of
restoring the damage with fillings, gum grafts, and replacement teeth (bridges,
implant crowns, and dentures.)
In my recent agricultural volunteer experiences, I have learned that growing plants is not effort-free. It is not simply waiting for new plants to crop up everywhere. In addition to planting seeds in containers, clearing and fertilizing the fields and planting the seedlings in the ground, keeping the plants well-watered, and weeding out the unwanted vegetation, the plants need pruning (removing extra leaves that are sapping nutrients and removing extra fruits that are too heavy for the plant), pests have to be kept away from the plants, the plants need to be protected from the weather, and the fruits need to be harvested, boxed, and sent to market. (Did you know that cauliflower gets sunburned [i.e. it turns brown] if it gets too much sun? The farmers need to bent the leaves over the head of the cauliflower daily to keep the cauliflower white.) Farmers don’t just plant the seeds and harvest the fruit.
People have to take care of their oral health with just as
much effort. We need to properly brush
and floss to remove bacteria from our teeth daily in order to prevent cavities
and gum disease. We can also use other
aids for cleaning our teeth like the Waterpik Dental Irrigator and ultrasonic
electric toothbrushes like the Philips Sonicare toothbrush. Many of us need to
use fluoride rinse daily to strengthen the enamel to resist decay and
discoloration. We can use special rinses to keep the gums healthy (examples are
The Natural Dentist Healthy Gums rinse, StellaLife VEGA rinse, warm salt water,
or a combination of hydrogen peroxide and water.) We need to visit our dentist
every 6 months to make sure that we are keeping the disease processes at
bay. If we are having issues, like
cleaning the crooked teeth, or having enough space for the adult teeth to erupt
properly, we need to visit the orthodontist to make the teeth easier to
clean. The orthodontist also puts the
teeth into their best positions to withstand the functional forces of chewing
and talking. If we have parafunctional
habits that put excessive forces on our teeth, we need to have the orthodontist
make acrylic devices to wear on our teeth at night to protect our teeth from
habits like grinding our teeth, leaning our tongue on our teeth. We also need
to break habits like chewing our shirtsleeves, sucking our fingers, or biting
our pens. Keeping teeth for a life-time is a lot of work!
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