Since retiring I have had to change my dentist because I cannot afford to pay the fee to go privately anymore and my last visit was in March. Luckily, a new dentist has started up only twenty minutes walk away and they were taking new NHS patients so I duly trotted along last month and registered. They made an appointment for me to see the dentist for a check-up a couple of days later and afterwards, she recommended that I see the hygienist so I made the appointment but there was a couple of weeks wait.
Today I attended my appointment and the hygienist turned out to be a young dark haired man with very dark mysterious eyes. He introduced himself as Hosay (Jose). I am not sure if he was Spanish or from a South American country but his accent was very heavy.
He looked into my mouth and then breathed "Higham going to geev you a deep clean" and then proceeded to scrape away at my teeth humming quietly to himself as he worked. Now I'm not really a fan of any dentist or hygienist but I am terrified of having either false teeth or badly stained dirty looking teeth and that's why I religiously turn up on time for all my dental appointments.
After a few minutes my clasped hands were getting tighter across my middle and he stopped and asked me if I was alright. I told him I was and then he said "You haf tartar everywhere so if I hurt you just lift your hand". I nodded and he carried on scraping and humming and every so often muttered "Tartar everywhere". Eventually he finished and asked me to rinse and while I was doing this he asked me what sort of toothbrush I used, did I floss and did I use a mouthwash. I said that I used an electric toothbrush and yes, I did floss and occasionally used interdental brushes but not mouthwash (remembering that I emptied a half bottle down the drain last week because it had been on the bathroom shelf untouched for about six months).
"Don't waste your money on mouthwash" he said, "Just use toothpaste and water. There eez no need for mouthwash". Then he told me that my cleaning was very good even in the difficult areas but the reason he had given me a deep clean was because the tartar was just below the gum line. He went on to explain that this may only need to be done once a year and just a general scrape and clean in six months time.
When I got home I looked in the mirror and there is certainly a big difference. I know too many people my age and older who believe that going to the hygienist only damages the teeth and so consequently their teeth don't look very nice and I certainly wouldn't want them in my mouth!
Good grief you'll be down that dentists every month then if he's giving you personal treatment like that! Poor man doesn't know what he's let himself in for!
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