Another Reason to Floss

Today I went to a new dentist. Fearing an abscess tooth, I was relieved to learn that it was just a mild infection. Infection, as it turns out, brought on by stress. Or so, the dentist explained. He said that when our bodies overstress, one of the first signs is visible in a person's gums (especially one who doesn't floss all that much). Who knew?

So he asked me, "What's going on in your life right now?" So I told him about my work and responsibilities, what's going on in my personal life, and anything else I could think of. Afterward he said, "Yeah, looks like you have lots of stress." Needless to say, I was stunned. Holistic care from a dentist?

He explained that when a person stresses out, the membranes in their mouth don't fight infection well. And, since I obviously haven't flossed in awhile, that only exacerbates the problem. He then gave me a speech about proper dental hygiene and went about cleaning my teeth. He explained that as long as I have stress, my gums will be in danger of infection but proper dental hygiene will ensure nothing bad happens. He then wrote a prescription for antibiotics (after all, I do have an infection), recommended I purchase a Sonicare toothbrush, which he said is the best invention ever for dental care (I guess the commerical is right about dentists recommending it) and then scheduled me for a more intense dental cleaning.

I left the office amazed (and thankful). It's amazing what one learns from a dentist!