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Friday, January 2, 2009

363 Days of Flossing

It is with unhappiness that I inform you that I fell short on my 2008 New Year's resolution which was to floss my teeth every day. I missed two days. And I know exactly which two days they were, too: June 9 and 10, 2008. We were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and it was the last two nights of our trip to Yellowstone.

The weather looked like this. . .


And this. . .


Yes, remember with me fondly. It was June. It was our summer vacation. It snowed every day.

Anyway, the last two nights of our trip we were staying at a KOA outside Jackson Hole. Nice little cabins, but no running water. So at bedtime, after consuming my weight in s'mores, I slogged off to the bathroom with all of my toiletries. . .except for my dental floss. And then when I got back to the cabin I couldn't be bothered to take the floss and go back to the bathroom and take care of business. And the thought of flossing and then not washing my hands or rinsing my mouth was just too much for my snow-clogged brain to handle.

That explains the first night of failure to floss. The second night? Probably just utter defeat at the weather and freezing cold temperatures. Maybe I hoped it was too cold for plaque to form on my teeth. But my dentist will make that call when I go for a checkup next week.

Wouldn't it be ironic if, in this year of flossing faithfully, I had a cavity? I can't bear the thought. I must do better next year. Or maybe if I do have a cavity after all this work, I should just quit altogether in outright rebellion. That would be so smart.

3 comments:

Kristie said...

OK, here's my confession: I don't floss. Ever. For any reason. Unless there's a big hunk of something stuck in my teeth, it just ain't happening. In the interest of fair disclosure, I am forthright about this with every new dentist I get each time we move. On the first visit, I lay it on the line: "Hello, my name is Kristie. I do not floss. I will not floss. Nothing you can do or say will change that, and I refuse to feel guilty about it, so don't even try. Accept it, clean my teeth, and let's move on." Thankfully, all hygeniests seem to appreciate my honesty.

I did have one dentist tell me one time: "You don't have to floss your teeth. Only the ones you want to keep."

Har-dee-har-har. What a jerk. I quit going to him ... could you have guessed that? :)

Lauren said...

I'm more like Kristie, only without the lack of guilt. I try to floss regularly, but end up just flossing often enough to keep it painful. That's probably worse, isn't it? One thing I know for sure: I will never have a year when I can name the days I didn't floss. Never.

Oh, and hey, my kids are going to school. And why don't you have a Facebook page? or do you...?

jean said...

I don't floss, either, and haven't had a cavity since my early 20s (knock on wood!). While I admire your discipline, I have to say that your lack of cavities is probably somewhat genetic...I don't think very many of us Garvin cousins have had many cavities - but braces would be a totally different story...