When I saw this contest announcement on the homepage of IB, I was instantly transported years back to my school days when two of my precious teeth ( both in either side of lower jaw ) were pulled out quite mercilessly by the neighbourhood dentist whom I used to fear a lot, thinking him to be a dreadful monster. The first time I had my tooth pulled out was when I quite young, hardly 8 years or so, and the 2nd time, I was around 13. Both the times, because my teeth had gotten rotten due to my over indulgence to anything sweet, be it chocolates/mithaiyas. I'd literally scream my lungs out if my mom didn't buy me my regular toffees that I suckled throughout the day.
"ND, remember to brush your teeth before going to bed," my mom would remind me, which I'd conveniently choose to forget. Why to brush at night, since it'd be morning in a few hours anyways. So, I'd think lazily that the morning brush was good enough! My teeth would sting in pain sometimes, but I'd ignore the warning signs thinking that it'd get better and eat some more sweets. As they say 'ignorance is bliss'!
So, no wonder I got big black holes in them in no time, that widened and pained a lot, until they had to be pulled out as there was no cure for them. So, I have two gaps in both the sides of my lower jaws as a painful memory of my unrecoverable loss of both tooth.
Did I learn any lesson from it? Yes, a big one. The moral I learnt was, don't ever take your teeth for granted. While you may pamper yourself with great tasty food/sweets throughout the day, your teeth needs to be pampered as well by regular cleaning and flossing. Brush them 2-3 times with a good, trusted toothpaste & brush, so that no bacteria/germ can ever settle and make their home in between the teeth. Love and take care of your teeth, they'll serve you faithfully for long.
In between, I had become quite paranoid and fastidious about my teeth, so much that I often had some strange recurring nightmares of all my teeth falling out. Is that a warning sign of something untoward happening in the foreseeable future? I don't know. But, being a little superstitious, specially since I see the same dream quite often, I take it as a warning sign enough.
I'm extra careful and have chosen Colgate as my trusted tooth weapon for quite some time now. I've used from most of their brands, be it the general one or Active Salt. And this particular new product from their brand, i.e Colgate Total 'pro-gum' which is meant to protect the gums looks quite interesting - "Two out of every three Indians suffer from gum problems and are unaware of it. Blood can be the sign of bigger gum problems like gingivitis, receding gums or even tooth loss if left untreated. One should not ignore the warning signs your body gives you!"
The moral of the story thus, is, protecting teeth is not enough, protecting the gums is equally important too as it is the gums that ultimately holds the teeth in place, ensuring the confident smile!
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ReplyDeletethanks Nilu and welcome to blogosphere! Sure will visit ur blog, looks interesting, take care n cheers :-)
DeleteGood narration dear! One should really not ignore warning signs! Good luck :)
ReplyDeletethanks bushra, and u r right!
Deletevery nyc!!
ReplyDeletethanks dear :-)
DeleteThanks a lot for detailed explanation. I completely agree with you , human body is like a machine which requires regular maintenance but people are not so much bothered about it and their health.Maintenance of teeth is included in this necessary exercise everyone should follow. Its not so difficult either, i mean visiting dentist in every three to four months.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!! thanks @Majaal
DeleteI agree with you, we only live once and we have to take care of our body in a right way.
ReplyDeleteyeah..u r right! :-)
DeleteThings we ignore during our childhood, becomes a big pain when we grow up. Nice read.All the best for the contest.
ReplyDeleteDo read my post for the same :)
http://reveringthoughts.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/story-about-ignoring-the-warning-signs/
thanks :-)
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