Tooth or Dare

You know those little reminder postcards you get in the mail from your dentist every six months? Here's a little piece of advice. Don't ignore them. You'll be amazed at how quickly six months can turn into two and a half years. And when that happens, you will undoubtedly find yourself more intimately acquainted with that silver instrument of plaque-scraping torture than you could ever have imagined.

At first I told myself I was saving money. No one really needed their teeth cleaned twice a year. That was a total scam perpetuated by your dentist and Crest toothpaste. Armed with my electric toothbrush, I was sure I could pocket the extra $100 I would save and use it for something really important like my People magazine subscription. So I waited. And waited. Two appointments, several shots of Novocaine and one session of scaling (if you don't know what that is, I'm happy for you) later, I can safely say those 125 issues of People magazine weren't worth it, (with the possible exception of the Sexiest Man Alive Ryan Reynolds issue).

So, today, a mere six months and three days after my last cleaning, I reluctantly leaned back and opened wide. Twenty minutes later, I was the owner of a shiny, blue toothbrush and a brand new pack of dental floss - a product I now actually use. More importantly, I learned something that I should have figured out a whole lot earlier in my life.

People really do need to have their teeth cleaned twice a year.