by Darian

Created on: June 24, 2008

The most important you can do for your teeth is to have regular check ups. How many times have you heard this? Believe me, it's true. When I was a kid, I was passed around a lot. Sometimes I didn't even have a toothbrush where I was staying at the time. My first visit to a dentist was when I was 12 years old. I was living at my mother's house at the time. I had a toothache. This tooth had hurt me for weeks and in the last couple of days it had become unbearable.

I got up for school, but I didn't go. Instead, I went to a friends house and sat there until time to go home. My tooth hurt so bad, I couldn't go to school. My friend lived in the opposite direction of the school. When I was walking home that afternoon, my mother saw me. She knew I had cut school.

I was in tears with both embarrassed from being caught and from the pain. She was very mad at me. "I can't go to school, my tooth hurts too bad." I moaned and whined about the pain until my mother got tired of listening to me. She told me to find a dentist if I could. I walked about four blocks to the dentist's office. This dentist didn't even have a receptionist. The first thing I did was lie to him. Already, I have cut school and lied and I have just began my article. I told the dentist if he could fix my tooth, my mother would pay him later. He pulled it. It was a horrible experience. My gums were barley numbed, I felt almost everything he was doing. I think he knew he wasn't going to get paid. He didn't even ask for my mother's name. It was kind of him to take care of me, even if he was the worst dentist I have ever been to. I owed him five dollars. I walked the four blocks back home, spitting out blood and praying no one saw me.

I bought a tooth brush and I used the thing faithfully. I was doing good until I had my first child. A tooth started to become sensitive. I wasn't about to go through that pain again. I went to the dentist before it began to hurt , he pulled it. We didn't have a lot of money and my dental trips were after each child, to have a tooth pulled.

On one of my visits to the dentist, he told me I should take care of my teeth. I do take care of them. I brush four times a day, sometimes more. Oh, there is so much more to caring for your teth than brushing. I began regular visits. I had fillings done. I had cleanings. I had root canals and caps and whitening.

My dental care should have started years earlier. I realized that far too late. Many of my teeth couldn't be saved. Today I have a tooth ache. I also have a bit of a heart ache. The dentist just told me he has to pull two more of my teeth. The bone has deteriorated. I hate the thought of losing more teeth. I wish I had known how to important regular check ups were years ago. Too late now. I suppose everyone is going to get cavities at some time in their life. What I didn't know was, I didn't have to wait until the tooth hurt before I had it taken care of. By the time a tooth is causing pain, it might be too late to save it. Regular check ups are a prevention. The dentist sometimes spots a cavity we don't even know we have.

Learn more about this author, Darian.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.