Waterboarding and barley /// EDIT No, tomatoes.
Dentist appt coming up this afternoon. I was getting a little nervous, and then bopped myself upside the head for getting nervous. Lately the twice-yearly appointment is annoying and tiresome but NOT painful. No drilling needed in the last year or so.

Then this little feature from the dental association popped up in a newsfeed, with a rather surprising survey. About half of all Americans hate the idea of flossing, and would rather clean a toilet or wait in a long checkout line than floss.

They didn't ask the most relevant question. Would you rather spend an hour being waterboarded by a rubber dam in the dentist chair, or would you rather spend 30 seconds flossing?

Must admit, though, the correlation isn't very good.

I started flossing around age 30 after seeing a newspaper article explaining how flossing works. It breaks up bacteria colonies, which quickly own all of your mouth's real estate if allowed to establish a foothold.

Even though I was doing all the right things, the hygienist still found persistent inflammation and the dentist still found holes to fill ... until last year. I can tell the difference internally as well; no more bad taste in the morning.

What finally made the difference? I think it's barley. When I switched from sophisticated pre-eaten food to fresh cooked, I decided to use barley as the base. Back in the hippie '70s when I was doing the same home-cooked routine, I used rice as the base because it was cool and Ahimsa and Boddhisatva and shit. Rice might have aligned my chakras, but it didn't help my teeth.

Barley, when not overcooked, has a little 'scrubber' in the middle of each grain. I can feel it scraping gums and tongue and teeth.

Might not be the real reason, but it's a plausible hypothesis. ... Later ... After reading this discussion, I'm inclined to think tomatoes are a better hypothesis. Vitamin C seems to be crucial in preventing mouth infections. I was definitely short on C before changing diet.

= = = = =

After the appt: Still no problems. Hygienist said to dentist: "His home care is getting better." Hmph. My home care hasn't changed in 35 years, but my diet has. Constants and variables.

Labels: TMI, Zero Problems

  ¶ 12:52 PM