Flossing My Teeth

"My adult patients who get braces become my best patients," my dentist told me. "They take very good care of their teeth."

And for good reason I thought. I was getting braces in part because I was well aware that I wasn't going to be growing any new teeth. Something I wish my kids could understand a little better.

When I asked him how long it would take and how often I would be coming in for appointments, he said that I would come once a month and they would take off the wire and then let me floss.

I can only floss once a month? I thought. How will I get to be a better patient? Instead of flossing once a day, now I only have to floss once a month?

"You can come in between appointments if you have something big coming up to get the buildup off," he continued.

Buildup? I thought. Gross.

When he left the room, my hygenist clarified. It was actually possible to floss with braces on. It was more like sewing she said.

Having never had braces and not being a student of brace anatomy, I tried to wrap my brain around how you would do that. But, I really don't have extra brain capacity right now since I am living under the influence of children, so I told myself not to worry about how to do it since they would show me when I got my braces on.

After the dentist installed my appliances (aka. he put my braces on), he handed me a packet of stuff to help me keep my teeth clean. Inside, he say there was a plastic needle that would fit between the teeth. After threading the needle with floss, I was to...well...sew that floss through my teeth.

Having learned how to sew at an early age, I was excited to try it out.

When night came, I pulled out the plastic needle, threaded it and tried to push the needle through my teeth. Some of my teeth it slid through. But most of my teeth it would not slide through. The wire was too close to the gum line. The eye of the needle was too wide. To understand what I mean, you need to realize that the needle itself was flat and thin, but the eye was wide enough that a great grandma could thread it without the use of her spectacles. And that was the problem. It wouldn't fit between the gum and the wire.

I tried several times, and each time I failed and went to bed. I decided that I would need to go buy the floss that has a stiff end attached at one end.

But I am living under the influence of 5 children who are out of school for the summer. I find I keep my sanity longer if I wait to take them to the store with me when I have enough energy, or wake up early and go to the store by myself (which also means I need to have extra energy).

I heard a story once about the man who invented the sewing machine. He had been working on designing a sewing machine for a while without luck. One night he had a dream. In his dream, the needle had an eye on the opposite end of the needle. Instead of pulling the needle through the fabric, the needle in his dream pushed the thread through the fabric. It was the missing piece of information that allowed him to invent a sewing machine.

About a week after I got my braces, I was just going to bed after trying to floss and failing. Surely the dentist would have already run into this problem. Why would it not work for me? What am I doing tomorrow? Can I run to the store early in the morning? Maybe I should just buy a water pick like my dentist suggested.

As I closed my eyes, my brain was toying with the problem when inspiration hit. I could see what I was missing.

I jumped out of bed and threaded that needle one more time. This time instead of pushing the needle between my teeth, I pushed it between the wire and my teeth. Viola! I could now floss my teeth.

And, I am happy to report, I am on my way to becoming a better dental patient.

That is if you don't count the days I don't have the energy at bedtime.