The Importance of Dental Care

Last Tuesday I was eating lunch at work.

Thrilling, right?

While eating my chicken, a small piece of bone had gone unnoticed and was not very happy about that, so with a vengeance fit for a bloodthirsty army, it sneak attacked one of my molars, shooting pain into my cheek and up into the rest of my face. Or simply put, I bit into it... Ow. Needless to say me being me, I cried and cried but tried to work through it. About an hour or two later I still could not stop so I asked my boss for the number to our insurance, but she didn't have it so I got the number to HR.

After an hour on the phone with them and the dentist I got the okay to leave early and headed to my emergency appointment. Turns out I had a very very bad cavity that needed a root canal and the molar behind it was indeed cracked. Both need crowns. $1800 plus later, I have had my root canal and crown extension (did I mention it was a really bad cavity?) but I have to have temporary crowns, stitches, an antibiotic, two different pain medications, and a special mouthwash to use for three weeks while I heal before I get the actual crowns.

Now I take good care of my teeth. I brush twice a day, use mouthwash, and occasionally floss. I say I occasionally because my molars are so close together I break glide floss between them. Dentists have suggested braces to fix the spacing. My point is, you can take great care of your teeth but still have to get major dental work done. Cavities and teeth issues not only affect your smile, but it affects your weight and health as well. I work normal business hours which is when the dentist is open, and being a contracted employee, time off is a joke, but I have learned a few things from this:
1. Make the time. As someone who can't, I'm finding that it's better to do whatever you can to get your ass down there than not. Because ow. Having the dentist drill into your jaw so they can put a piece of fake tooth in your mouth so the actual crown has something to sit on... Yeah. Not fun. It freaking hurts even with anesthetic
2. Sometimes it isn't your fault. Genetics can play a big role, as does things like breathing through your mouth. Just do what you can in terms of prevention
3. You will never realize the emotional attachment you have to your teeth until they are reduced to tiny nubs in your mouth
4. Sitting in the dentist's office waiting, they had these nifty screens that were very informative. Bad teeth can lead/attribute to weight gain or loss, heart disease, diabetes, and a number of other medical conditions
5. I really really miss working out. I have to wait to heal before I can go to the gym again. It's been a week and I am so bored and feel so gross. My limited diet as set by the dentist of soft foods is not helping. So many foods I want to eat, like zucchini and carrots, are not soft

So if you don't want your weight loss and weight maintenance, or even your wallet, thrown out of whack, GO TO THE DENTIST!

Food sucks

The foods I eat have a bigger impact on me than I thought.

Obviously they make me fat. I have been reading a lot about how PCOS and the foods I eat affect my body. And maybe this is related to that, but that is not what I am talking about.

This week I wouldn't say I've fallen off the wagon, I still have been going to the gym and playing kickball, I still have been counting calories, but I have been allowing myself more junk this week.

And I hate myself.


I'm not talking about hating myself for allowing myself to do so. I have still stayed relatively close if not under my calorie range- except today. I mean I physically feel terrible. Sick. I feel this genuine sense of self loathing. I feel no hope, I've been short tempered, I feel alone, that nothing and no one loves me. My cat would rather spend her time with my sister. I feel as though I am a bum. I'm unbelievable broke, I'm this failure who can't even afford to get a car, I still haven't finished school, the only men who seem to want me are men old enough to be my grandfather (this is not an exaggeration, a man at work who was that old asked me on a date)...

In other words I am miserably depressed this week. All because of the food I ate. And I'm realizing as delicious as a lot of this food is, it's not worth it. I know that being in your twenties is hard. It's a confusing time globally, I am so lucky for what I do have, I will get out of debt, and maybe it's not in the time frame I want, but I will get a car and I pray my friends will tolerate me in the meantime. Boys my age do want me, I just have to be patient. I am amazed at what a night and day difference it has been from this food.


Never again. The splurges aren't worth the hurt.

But I stick by statement about my cat. She really does prefer my sister