The last few visits to the dentist have been a bit worrying.
I've been paying for private dental checks for years, without any problems. I have never had a filling in my life, my teeth are still long and strong. Year in year out, my dentist gives me a clean bill of health, the hygienist gives me a polish, and I skip out feeling good about my fangs.
However, over the last few years I have had gum recession -- nothing close to major bone or tooth loss yet, but certainly far too rapid for comfort, especially considering my age. With this in mind I have also been paying attention to the fact that my teeth have been moving a bit since, hmm, maybe 2001/2 on. My front left tooth has shifted backwards leaving my front teeth set at a slightly crooked angle. I have noticed this over the years, but it seems to be more pronounced now than ever. Whether this is paranoia or fact is hard to tell just by photographs.
I know this happens with age, and I had a lot of orthondontal work in my teens which probably accounts for the later rearrangement. But it's annoying and alarming because 1) I have regularly gone to the dentist once and sometimes twice a year, 2) I have always vigorously brushed twice every day all of my life, however drunk or hungover and 3) after all that pain and shame in my teens, I was left with gorgeous, straight, symmetrical ivories at the age of 17 and now they are all a bit jumbled again. My once-proud grin has basically gone. I'm fairly vain (Luke would say, extremely) so I'm pained by this development. Also, I do not want it to get any worse. You are, to a certain extent, at the mercy of genetics. But I have never (until now) flossed, I had terrible brushing technique for years (thrashing away with hard brushes) and have smoked a fair amount, so obviously none of these things helped.
I'm slightly pissed off with my dentist for not really noticing the recession until recently, as I assume it has been in motion for many years. Being ignorant of gingivitis until the last few visits and until the sudden surge of adverts on TV flogging toothpaste designed to combat gum disease (Cordosyl, for example, which alarmingly features a beautiful female model with a missing front tooth), I actually thought that the blood I was spitting out was a sign of my thorough cleaning routine.
Anyway, I am obsessed with teeth at the moment. I keep looking at other peoples gnashers and comparing them with my own, now corrupted, set. I have gone from pride to shame in a matter of months. I appear to have grown British Teeth under the gaze of my expensive dentist, who displays photographs of his extravegant safari trips in his surgery room.
I've been paying for private dental checks for years, without any problems. I have never had a filling in my life, my teeth are still long and strong. Year in year out, my dentist gives me a clean bill of health, the hygienist gives me a polish, and I skip out feeling good about my fangs.
However, over the last few years I have had gum recession -- nothing close to major bone or tooth loss yet, but certainly far too rapid for comfort, especially considering my age. With this in mind I have also been paying attention to the fact that my teeth have been moving a bit since, hmm, maybe 2001/2 on. My front left tooth has shifted backwards leaving my front teeth set at a slightly crooked angle. I have noticed this over the years, but it seems to be more pronounced now than ever. Whether this is paranoia or fact is hard to tell just by photographs.
I know this happens with age, and I had a lot of orthondontal work in my teens which probably accounts for the later rearrangement. But it's annoying and alarming because 1) I have regularly gone to the dentist once and sometimes twice a year, 2) I have always vigorously brushed twice every day all of my life, however drunk or hungover and 3) after all that pain and shame in my teens, I was left with gorgeous, straight, symmetrical ivories at the age of 17 and now they are all a bit jumbled again. My once-proud grin has basically gone. I'm fairly vain (Luke would say, extremely) so I'm pained by this development. Also, I do not want it to get any worse. You are, to a certain extent, at the mercy of genetics. But I have never (until now) flossed, I had terrible brushing technique for years (thrashing away with hard brushes) and have smoked a fair amount, so obviously none of these things helped.
I'm slightly pissed off with my dentist for not really noticing the recession until recently, as I assume it has been in motion for many years. Being ignorant of gingivitis until the last few visits and until the sudden surge of adverts on TV flogging toothpaste designed to combat gum disease (Cordosyl, for example, which alarmingly features a beautiful female model with a missing front tooth), I actually thought that the blood I was spitting out was a sign of my thorough cleaning routine.
Anyway, I am obsessed with teeth at the moment. I keep looking at other peoples gnashers and comparing them with my own, now corrupted, set. I have gone from pride to shame in a matter of months. I appear to have grown British Teeth under the gaze of my expensive dentist, who displays photographs of his extravegant safari trips in his surgery room.
Last edited:
