Then It Hit Me

A week ago I went to the dentist for a routine cleaning.  Somewhere during the process, my hygienist, whom I have been going to for over 15 years, asked me if I was thinking about getting invisaligns.  I immediately said no.  I had said no many times before.  No, no braces of any kind for me.  My teeth aren't that bad. Plus, like I have been saying for 15 years, I am too old for that nonsense.  My teeth will last me until I don't need them any more, crooked or not.

My hygienist is alway cheerful and rarely daunted.  She said to me that if I ever change my mind, let her know.  She thought I would be happy for straight teeth...even at my age.  We laughed, because she and I are the same age.

So we finished up with the scraping and polishing and deep flossing and flouride treatment.  And all the while, I kept thinking.  I thought, "Maybe it would be nice to have straight white teeth and who cares how old I am?"  And of course invisaligns are clear and most folks would never know I had them on.

Then I began to think about that one tooth on the lower front, that was sticking out behind the rest.  And how my two front teeth up top kind of overlapped.  I thought to myself that maybe it was not such a bad thing to want straight teeth.  And so, even though I had said no to the hygienist, when the dentist himself came in, I found myself asking about invisaligns, etc.

The dentist told me that my teeth, in fact my whole oral hygiene and health would improve dramatically.  In fact I would keep my teeth longer and not be as prone to certain orally generated diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.  Having read this in various publications, I knew there was probably some truth to it.  "Okay, Doctor, how about it?"

So today I began the process of getting fitted for invisaligns.  Expensive, yes.  And my insurance pays zilch for orthodontics.  Maybe it paid more while I was working, but not now.  But I do have a medical savings plan, so, I thought, why not?

It was while I was sitting in the chair having the molds made and pictures taken and x-rays done, it hit me: I am not getting any younger.  Okay, I already knew that.  And this year as 60 approaches, I figure, why not treat myself to something that is for me and will make me not just smile, but smile more broadly?  And then I thought I could make this process that will take about a year more or less, a time to self-improve, you know, spruce up the old temple of God here.
And so it has begun.  I am going to do it.  It hit me too that had I done this ten, twenty, thirty years ago...well...who knows?  But I also wonder if when it hit me, it knocked something loose, like a screw or something.  But it really doesn't matter.  Its not botox or face lifts or even coloring my hair.  It is a permanent change to permanently improve my health.  And this could be just the beginning.  And even if a bus hits me tomorrow, I might as well doing something to liven things up, just in case it doesn't.