...farewell...

Yesterday the dental hygenist who was getting ready to work on my teeth said that I had to take out my tongue ring. I have had it over seven years, and had never taken it out, even for the dentist. I went along with her, and she insisted that I would still be able to get it back in.
She took the full set of x-rays...didn't get it back...the doctor did his exam...didn't get it back...she spent an hour cleaning and flossing my teeth all the while lecturing me on how I should really floss, and had I heard that tongue rings can cause severe damage to one's teeth...got it back after all of that. She shooed me into the bathroom to put it back in. I could only get it partway in...the top hole had already healed. Sigh.
I had been considering taking it out, but I wanted it to be my decision. Ah well. If I had cared more I suppose I would have put up a fuss, and not taken it out in the first place. So...no more tongue ring. I keep feeling for it, and am surprised when it is not there. My tongue misses it...though now it can curl into a taco shape again.

The hygenist also said after she had finished throughly scraping the plaque from my teeth, "How much coffee do you drink?"
Oh great I thought...you want to take my coffee away too?! "Not more than a cup a day, if even that" I replied.
"Are there a lot of grounds in your coffee?"
"No (puzzled)"
"Well I found some black powdery looking stuff just underneath your gumline. Do you know what it could be?"
Just then the lightbulb clicked on. It was the monkey brand tooth powder that my mom...uh, I mean Santa...left in Jeremy's stocking. It's an Ayurvedic tooth powder from India, and it is indeed very black, and I had used it just before I went there...must not have rinsed well. I told her about it, and her face kind of twisted into semi-disgust, then she asked in a very condescending manner, "Does it have flouride in it?"
"No."
"You really shouldn't probably use it then. Is there any reason you are?"
"It's refreshing!"
"Hmmm."


I like my dentist a lot. I'm just not so sure about that hygenist.