Hygienist wins over patient

Ever seen that commercial several years back that shows a Kindergarten teacher with her children gathered around her in circle time. She asks them questions: "What color is the sky?" They answer "Blue!" She asks them, "What color is the grass?" They answer "Green!" She asks "What color are my teeth?" hoping for the answer of "white." She was completely thrown off-guard when the children came up with responses like--"beige", "ecru", "mother-of-pearl". It makes me laugh every time I think about it.

For the past couple of years I've actually had that nagging feeling that my teeth are yellowing and need to be whitened. I just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. It's not exactly on my priority list, let alone the HIGH priority list. Do I try doing something myself or do I get it professionally done? I haven't researched a thing about it. I just don't want my kids calling my teeth color "ecru".

Today I went in for my second six-month cleaning and check-up with the dentist whose office is right next door to Jared's. And who just happened to move into our ward two Sundays ago!

I'll admit, right up front, I'm not the perfect dental patient. Far from it in fact, which is why I hate going to the dentist. One more reminder where I fail in life is just not pleasant. I got my first cavity at the age of 25 and I cried. Yes, I cried. The other cavities I have are my "graduate school cavities." We had no medical or dental coverage for the four years Jared spent getting his masters degrees and while I am SO grateful we didn't have any major oral issues during that time, it was a complete drag to my pride to get more than a handful of little cavities all over my mouth a few months AFTER getting dental insurance. *sigh*

I sat in the chair this morning and of course, it was the check-up for the bite wing x-rays. The gal who put the first gag-reflex-checker in my mouth said, "Wow, you have beautiful teeth." I was more than surprised by her comment. Certainly she wasn't talking about the color of my yellowing teeth. It couldn't be the shape of my teeth either. I think they're a little big myself. Hoping for some more feedback I asked, "Really?" She said, "Oh yes, they are nice and white. Do you bleach them?" Stunned, I told her I didn't whiten them and that I was actually thinking of doing so. Then she said more as a statement than a question, "You don't drink coffee do you." I shook my head no. She said, "We can always tell who does. Your teeth are very pretty." That totally made my day.

She continued to rack up the points with me with her genuineness. Later, when the dentist came in to do the exam, we were discussing how his wife is due to have her third baby any day now and her past deliveries. I mentioned that with four kids, I've had four VERY different deliveries. This same gal gasped. "You've had FOUR kids??" I told her I had. She gawked at me, flipped through my chart to find my birth date and said, "Huh, you're my age. Wow--you don't look like you've had four kids." As I was leaning back for the exam, I told her I really hoped that would help me out when I'm in my 50s. She said, "Seriously, I thought you were 23...25 at the most." After which I mumbled, "I wuv woo" while the dentist was checking my teeth. That totally made my YEAR! As I was leaving, she said she meant every word of it. I told her she was now my favorite ;)