for the first time in my life, i got to the end of a dental floss box. !! This has never happened. I was so excited. When I heard that rattle of the empty box, I was like “omgosh. What. What?! Wow!” and I wanted to show someone.

A few reasons why I’ve never know this joy:
I have a genetic tooth defect. Two actually. One leaves me minus two permanent teeth. So at 26 years old, I still have baby teeth holding on for their dear little lives. They look really lame next to my real molars. But they won’t fall out. Because there is nothing pushing them out. For this reason, I have gaps in my teeth. For this reason, I never saw a lot of point in flossing. Generally, I stick to the food groups of chips, cookies, and coffee, so I’m not tearing off chunks of raw flesh or anything so meaty that it would be big enough to get stuck in those spaces. So. No flossy, right?
Well my dentist doesnt really agree. But…hey. That might be a good resolution actually. To embrace flossing. It does feel pretty good….when it doesn’t make me mouth bleed. I was discussing this with my BFF Ryann, and you know that feeling when you use a Q-tip, and its just amazing? That’s an eargasm. Same thing with floss sometimes. Like when you dislodge that popcorn kernal that had been held hostage in your molars for hours since that matinee…or when you peel off that shell of a pinto bean. That feels like success sometimes. Alright, maybe I’ll like flossing.

Second defect – a natural lack of enamel. My teeth are disappearing on me, and there is nothing I can do about it, so why bother flossing if I’m going to get me some gorgeous dentures later in life anyway?

Teaching junior high, I see a LOT of braces come and go. Kids are so funny when they go to the ortho and come back and flash those pearly whites. They all squeal and say “ohhh its so sliiimy!!” and they all look instantly cuter. I never had braces but always kinda wanted them. I love imitating kids that wear braces, with that “hshsheeee” suck in the saliva sound they have to make at the end of every sentence, and flecks of spittle flying every where when they talk. Sometimes its fun to take a Capri Sun straw and wrap it into my top shelf of teeth and pretend.

good times.