Comments on: Whitened Sepulchers

By: piny

piny — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 16:56:02 +0000

Thank you! I’ve been trying to find it ever since zuzu made a reference to it! (“teeth” and “class” didn’t give google much to go on.) I’ll post about it. I’ve got some other thoughts about what I would and would not feel ashamed of; I’ll put those up, too.

By: a nut

a nut — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 01:18:48 +0000

Read this article and tell me what you think. I found it some time ago, as you can see, but it's very good. It's often been known that poverty = poor oral health care. I have a faculty member who goes out to at-risk urban schools to do dental clinics and such. It's really hard to watch so many little kids with rotting teeth.

By: SarahM

SarahM — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 20:51:20 +0000

Y’all, just start living with someone who’s obsessive about dental hygiene, and pretty soon the guilt will get you flossing too, and then poof! No more lectures from the dentist, much less scraping with the gnarly poky instruments…bliss.

The point about equating clean-looking, even teeth with moral quality is interesting, since people with money can pay to have all their ‘sins’ fixed (hey, I did when I got dental insurance) while people without money/dental insurance, even with the best self-care, can’t necessarily have the same ‘look’ or meet the same ‘standard.’

By: Alicia

Alicia — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 19:14:23 +0000

i finally got “scared straight” when my dentist did this thing where she measures your gum pockets, and mine were all, erm, not right. and when i said ‘is there anything i can do to fix that” she kinda shrugged said “use a soft toothbrush so you don’t jack up the newly exposed bits and floss’ and then moved on.

i also got hte reach flosser which is SO AWESOME. makes flossing fast and too easy for me to say ‘i’ll just do that later’ (i also tried a wierd electric flosser and i highly recommend against it. evil dagger thingy)

By: Marksman2000

Marksman2000 — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:45:09 +0000

Unless you have generous parents, going to college is hell on your teeth. I’ve been looking into several graduate programs around the country, and a few have medical/dental insurance.

Gosh, someone finally figured out that people shouldn’t suffer needlessly just because they’ve taken time from working to pursue an education. Enlightment.

By: zuzu

zuzu — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:17:21 +0000

Or, “Is it safe?”

By: Heliologue

Heliologue — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:12:54 +0000

At least the dentist didn’t take one look and say “The horror! The horror!”

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 16:18:42 +0000

The best dental experience I had was when I lived in Hawaii. My dentist was on the 20th floor of an office building overlooking Ala Moana beach in Waikiki. Nothing like a panoramic view of the South Pacific to get your mind off a root canal…

By: Deborah

Deborah — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:17:24 +0000

You know, I had been thinking of blogging about how people use flossing as shorthand for moral goodness. As in, “Please God, I’ll floss!” or “I don’t understand why this is happening to me. I treat my children well. I floss every day.”

By: C-Bird

C-Bird — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 11:39:17 +0000

I was born without enamel and I have acidic saliva because I smoke, so my teeeth literally just fall out…randomly… and it is disgusting, but there is nothing I can do about it. I’ve spent over $20,000 on crowns and veneers and root canals (this is WITH insurance) simply because people are judgemental assholes who decide if you have bad teeth that you have bad hygeine or have no character. Not bitter or anything. Assholes.