Keep Your Mouth Clean and Avoid Trips To The Dentist

One of the most hated places in the world is most definitely the dentist office. Millions of Americans avoid going to the dentist like it’s the plaque. In fact, a statistic that I just completely made up right now suggests that 85 percent of adults in America do not go to the dentist the appropriate amount of times during the year. That being said, there are actually a lot of reasons why going to the dentist is critically important for people of all ages. I know that the only time in my life that I have regularly gone to the dentist is when I was younger, but I have heard that your teeth are more susceptible to damage and decay in your younger years. Not to mention, with baby teeth coming out and adult teeth coming in all the time, it makes sense that dentist trips are more important for those little ones. Anyways, it actually makes me very sad to know how many people are not regularly going to the dentist like they are supposed to. Dentists recommend taking a visit to their office at least twice a year (which is convenient because they probably just want your money). It has probably been at least 3 years or so since I have been to the dentist for a proper checkup, though I’m not including the time that I had to go get my wisdom teeth out; that’s a story for a whole other day!

Anyways, there are lots of reasons why you should be regularly going to the dentist if at all possible. The first reason why it is important is because of a thing called mouth cancer ( or oral cancer). That’s right, oral cancer is a huge issue in this country and it’s time that we talked about it. One thing that I will say about oral cancer is that it is pretty easy to prevent or care for if it is caught early enough in the cancer stages - that is why so many dentists suggest coming in to get things looked at. If you don’t catch mouth cancer soon enough when it starts to develop, it could already be too late. Do you want to die? I thought not.

That is why I suggest doing everything in your power to avoid getting mouth cancer, and that includes going to the dentist. Another reason that you should be going to the dentist is because a lot of dental hygienists will actually do some preventative work on your teeth and gums, which can also aid in the deterrent of developing some sort of oral cancer. Gum disease is also a huge issue, and one that can be quickly treated and cared for if it is caught early. Often these types of things are overlooked by regular people who do not have the dentists’ knowledge and trained eye to spot them.

Another thing that I want to talk about quickly before I wrap this up is people’s tendency to be scared of the dentist. Well, I want to go on the record right now and say that you have no reason to be scared of going to the dentist. Most dentists are actually super nice people and care a lot about making their patients feel as safe and comfortable as possible. 

The Time That I Got My Wisdom Teeth Taken Out

Like most people, I ended up needing to get my wisdom teeth taken out in my teenage years. I think most people either get their wisdom teeth taken out early or do not even have to worry about them as they do not come in. Anyways, I definitely had to get mine taken out at some point, because the dentist told my mom and I that I had 4 growing in - two on the top and two on the bottom. Therefore, it was important for me to find a good time to get my wisdom teeth taken out. Unfortunately for me, right when I scheduled my appointment for the spring of 2020, the COVID19 pandemic hit and I was forced to wait. Since the dental surgery placed canceled all their appointments for that period and closed down, I had no choice but to wait another year to get my wisdom teeth out. It was definitely annoying, but not a super big deal to me at the time.

Moving forward, a year later I found myself at the tail end of my junior year of college. I just finished the semester and was going to be moving down to Indianapolis for a summer internship. However, the problem was that I needed to get my wisdom teeth taken out in early May, right before I started my internship. I was pretty annoyed at the timeline of how everything worked out, and I found myself wishing that I could have just gotten them taken care of a year earlier. Well, no sense trying to dwell on what could have been. So on the morning of, my mom and I hopped in the car and drove to the surgery place about 50 minutes away.

When we got there I was starting to feel pretty nervous - I have had some minor surgeries in my lifetime, but I was still somewhat anxious to be put to sleep because I had not experienced it in a long time. That being said, I went in and got checked into the dental place while my mom waited in the car (COVID restrictions and all that). Well, they did some more x-rays on me and it turned out that within a year of waiting to get my wisdom teeth out, I had grown two more teeth!

The dentists told me that only 2% of the human population has more than 4 wisdom teeth, and I had 6! So needless to say I was pretty proud of myself for that one. Unfortunately for me, none of that mattered because they were about to be yanked out of me. I remember a lot of what happened going into surgery, and I would say that my memory of events is really clear even up until he put the sedative in my through an IV. I remember asking him if he was putting me to sleep with anesthesia, and he said yes. The next moments that I can remember are very blurry, but I only remember being in the car on the way home and then being at home on the couch. Everything else is just completely wiped from my memory. My mom said that I didn’t really do anything that funny when I was under anesthesia, just pretty confused about life.