Teeth Cleaning

I've always felt pretty lucky that my father insisted I always go to the dentist since I was little. I guess it started when he had a dentist pull out all my front teeth because they were rotten when I was 4 years old and went on from there. Then when my parents were ministers in Los Angeles my father daytimes during the week was an electrician or Electrical Contractor. So, when I needed dental work he traded dental work for electrical work for someone in our church that was a good dentist. So, I always had great dental work. Because my father started me out right I still have all my adult teeth but one and that one I replaced with an implant. However, I think implants are better for molars than for incisor teeth but that is just me, maybe. So, the left tooth on the upper jaw next to my canine on the inside towards my front teeth is an implant. Getting an implant can be kind of tricky because they screw usually a piece of titanium up into your jaw after they make a hole for it. So, you have a permanent piece of titanium up inside your jaw quite deep sort of like an artificial screwed in metal root or something. Mine has worked out okay after it stopped hurting after about 3 years of pain through various stages it has finally settled down okay into a useful incisor that is as strong or stronger than all my other front teeth.

Today I had to have my teeth cleaned by this time they wanted to go beneath my gums to scrape off plaque since they said that at 71 this could be a problem because gum disease is more prevalent at this age and beyond. So, if I take care of my teeth by scraping the roots maybe I might still have all my teeth at 80 or 90 years of age or even to 100 if I live that long or longer.

Mostly, I'm just amazed to have almost all my teeth at age 71. When I was growing up in the 1950s most people I knew had already lost most of their teeth by age 40 to 45 and had partial plates or plates tied to existing teeth in bridges and that kind of stuff. But, here I am at age 71 with all my own teeth but one implant in the front. Amazing!

It is amazing that I can have all my teeth still after what I saw growing up!