FLOSSING: The OTHER "F" Word

Right, so dental hygiene and all that good, gummy stuff (sorry) has been on mind a lot lately. Even before The Dreaded Dentist Appt, I had resolved to floss every day (at least my teeth would look pretty - even if the kiddos would be reduced to years of eating with their gums) and have been doing so with flourish, especially after that $515 dental bill we got smacked with last week.



All on credit, btw -- way to start that Debt Diet, huh? We rock! (By the way, if certain people at certain companies could get their certain heads out of their certain asses and get our 2008 Medical Flex card to us, that'd certainly be great.)



But back to the F word. Ryan is all about flossing, enjoying it more for the joy of viewing the nasty crap that she pulls out than for the actual health benefits, but whatever gets you to Jesus, am I right?



Jax, on the other hand? Jax sees a mere glint of white string and clamps a vise grip over his mouth, runs screaming into his room, hides under his table curled up in a ball and screams, "No string! No string!"



Yes, the child who's head could stand in for a wrecking ball is completely unraveled by floss. This is also the kid who had his entire dental appointment conducted under the train table at the dentist's office, while she climbed down there with him, flashlight and all.



I'm not taking no for an answer, though. She already sees red in his gums around his two top teeth, which conveniently turn into each other and make brushing a moot point. I run him down, put him in a scissor hold, clamp his arms with my knees and go to town. 2 seconds later and it's over, but at what cost??? Looks like we'll make up for the $500 savings in fillings and caps with the cost of therapy that he'll surely need to undergo in the future.



I'm starting to think George Washington had the right idea...