On Flossing and the Formation of New Habits

Every time I open my mouth for a new person at the dentist's office, I hear the same four things, basically in the same order:

1. "Wow. You have great teeth." (Thanks.)
2. "Did you ever wear braces?" (No.)
3. "Do you bleach them?" (No.)
4. (Upon further examination) "You know you grind your teeth at night, right?" (Yes.)

The last time I went, in January, she added something new: "You have really got to start flossing every day."

Usually I ignore this kind of advice, because I really, really hate flossing. I've always hated it, have never been in the habit of doing it, and nothing bad has ever happened before, so why buck tradition? This time, though, for some unknown reason, the words sank in. Maybe it was the poster of advanced peridontal disease, or maybe I felt challenged by the suggestion that my perfect teeth may not be as perfect as they used to be. Maybe it was the fact that I just spent so much money having my dog's teeth cleaned and repaired. Or maybe I'm just growing humbler and more susceptible to suggestion in my old age.

Whatever – I decided to take her advice. I have flossed all of my teeth at least once a day every day since that last appointment.

This morning, as she was measuring the spaces between my teeth and gums (a series of 2's and 3's, which I understand are very good marks), she actually said to me:

"Well, you have some of the nicest teeth I've seen in a long time. No matter what else I see today [I had been quizzing her on what were the worst cases of decay she's ever seen], your mouth has already totally made my day."

My teeth and gums made my dentist's day! And to think, until three months ago I was hardly ever flossing at all.

So boring ... Writing about my teeth! But – here they are. I do kinda like 'em.

Anyway, the whole point of this entry is not to brag about my teeth, which I can't really take credit for (other than having kept them mostly pretty well brushed for several decades), but to announce that I have succeeded, in a very small way, in creating a new habit: daily flossing. Not only do I no longer hate flossing, but now that I'm used to it I actually enjoy and look forward to it. It's like a nice little massage for my gums, a part of the body that I have never paid much attention to before. And that's been a great bonus, too – I've discovered a whole new little pleasure zone I didn't know existed. Mmm ... the gums!

So yeah – one small but not unimportant new positive habit has been formed through daily practice, and that makes me happy.

What I'm working on now has to do with daily exercise, which I have totally neglected for more than a couple of months now. My entire body is basically back to ground zero in that department ... all the strength I gained over the last year has been lost, utterly. So I've started over.

More on this later.