Dentistry - Tumblr Posts
As with many animals, a bird’s age and health can be roughly determined by the condition of their teeth and beak. Above, a Royal Tern appears to be of a rather advanced age, having lost all of their regular chewing teeth and showing some extensive scratching on the beak exterior. Fortunately for this bird, most of their prey can be swallowed whole with no ill effect.
Surgery
going in for minor dental surgery tomorrow night. woohoo!
it needs doing. this tooth is causing me all kinds of grief; pain, smells, sinus infections... pretty gross. so its all gonna end tomorrow, hopefully not in a mortal sense. i'm okay with dentists and needles and all, so i'm not that nervous (pray for me).
...so, do you ever have moments when you're flossing your teeth, feel something slip and feel the instant panic set in that you accidentally pulled out an adult tooth
Sometimes accessibility is using an electric toothbrush
One of the best things I did for my chronic pain and ADHD was buy an electric toothbrush with a timer and an app.
This is gonna sound nuts but hear me out.
I've been repeatedly cracking jokes to my dentist, physio and therapist that that my life would be so much easier if I didn't have to stand up for two minutes while brushing twice a day (and end up skipping it because my body hurts too much - followed by getting anxious about not brushing), and my therapist had a stroke of genius (I wish I'd thought of this) and said "well, why don't you try an electric toothbrush?"
I have a crippling fear of the dentist (something about having vampire fangs and various impactions from 9-14 years, braces for 4 years, having eight might be more teeth pulled and ongoing jaw pain from early teens will do that to a bitch - also seriously? does anyone like the dentist? shout out if you do but I cannot relate) and he knows that I get overly anxious and obsessive about brushing my teeth well to avoid the dentist and fillings as much as possible. So, I listened and used my disability funding. It took a lot of back and forth to justify spending that much on a toothbrush, and I wouldn't had I not had the funding
But wowow, has it changed sm. It's easier to sit down to brush my teeth when I'm not having to put so much effort into it and my teeth feel cleaner. I'm doing a better job for the same amount of time and effort - anyone with chronic pain and fatigue understands how precious those things are... and the best bit? The app it turns the whole fiasco into a game (as long as sending notifications to remind to replace my toothbrush head and to brush). I look forward to cleaning my teeth to see if I can do better than I did yesterday. It's insane that something so simple as having a "brushing score" can hack the ADHD braincell into wanting to do it.
I dissed the app so much "why does a toothbrush ever need to be Bluetooth" I said, and now I laugh and smile to myself knowing it seriously helps.
...plus, my teeth got whiter? maybe that's the consistency from wanting to, or maybe it's the brushing, or some combination there of, but I'm not complaining!
I'm using the same amount of time and less effort, and getting a better outcome.
Sometimes accessibility doesn't look like ramps and mobility aids (though that's SO important too!), sometimes it's making things easier by finding routes that streamline your everyday routine, and being kind to yourself and allowing yourself the grace to let change, remembering that yesterday or last year's 100% may not be today's :)
Love you all 💕