These days I don’t mind a trip to the Dentist at all, especially when I go for a check-up and get told everything is fine. That’s always a relief as I feel I have been getting my comeuppance for having not looked after my teeth when I was a young adult. I have my fair share of fillings, fillings which have been replaced and a crown.
I think my Dentist must have made a note of our conversation a few years ago as each time I get asked how my blogging and healthy lifestyle is going. This is always so frustrating as she is such a nice person to chat with and she’s quite interesting to listen to. The frustrating thing is with the conversation being so one-sided (all I can manage with her fingers and things in my mouth is the off “a-ah” or a “mmmmm” in various pitches).
She did say how nice and clean my teeth were and recommended I still saw the hygienist two or three times a year. She went onto explain that apart from having a nice white smile and all the little bits in between my teeth thoroughly cleaned, it does benefit my overall health. Apparently the bacteria in our mouths are linked to other health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and so on.
While my last Dentist was a cyclist, my latest Dentist is a skier and is in pretty good shape it seems. She once told me how she has a work-out at home most mornings before brushing her teeth and setting out to work. I like the way she connects everything up, like the benefits of good oral hygiene being far reaching into other parts of our bodies.
She checks my jaw joint, asking me to move my jaw around while she feels the joint just in front of my ears. She feels all around my neck, under my jaw and my cheeks for any bumps. Then she has a good look around in my mouth, under my tongue and everywhere just to make sure there’s nothing untoward going on.
I do like all this. It makes me feel as if I’ve had a bit of an MOT on my body. Well, that’s all very good but I’m not completely out of the woods yet. On Monday I’m having to go to Moorfields Eye Hospital as my eyesight is a bit problematic (and I put this down to stress) followed by the Doctor on Tuesday for another chat about blood pressure and juicing machines.
I like having a good relationship with the people looking after me, something I’ve not really been able to achieve before through being such an infrequent visitor. I certainly appreciate having a Dentist and Doctor (at last!) who I can feel comfortable with and where they have a positive approach themselves. Perhaps a medical professional is more likely to treat you well if they know you, can have a good dialogue with and avoid the machine-like approach they have been known to take. Just as in my work life where I’m continuously working on my upward management skills, managing my Doctor and Dentist is beneficial and, at long last, I’m achieving this. Hurrah!
Related My Dentist is also a cyclist
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