I went to see a Dental Hygienist on Tuesday

[MARGOsBeenPlayingWithMyNooNoo]

It HURT!

My toes curled, my knuckles were white, I almost crushed my glasses.

I apologised for being such a wimp.

And when I rinsed, the sink was full of blood!

So I asked when she said to book another appointment in 6 months if I would end up with teeth like Simon Cowells if I kept up with the appointments. She asked me if I really wanted teeth like his. I think it would be nice to be able to walk up my garden path at night without the aid of a torch and reduce my carbon footprint.

Anyway, it cost me £41 - my teeth do look whiter than before.

Last time I saw my hygienist (sp?), she checked my face for blood splashes before I left! She is lovely, but my meetings with her a bloodbath.

I am being very good and brushing extra carefully and using super-duper mouthwash in the hope I won't have to go again for a while

I am purposefully avoiding telling my dh about my appointment as he has to make an appointment too.

Actually I may go with him and WATCH.

What does a hygienist actually do that creates a bloodbath? I've never been to one.

Or what do they do that the dentist doesn't?

scrape tartar (sp) super super clean teeth.

And she taught me how to floss

if you use Teepees to floss once daily and brush properly, the hygenist visits are a pleasure

Aero - they remove tartar

Are they interdental brushes Dinny?

yes, they are sooo fab

brush eat tooth front, back and top with an electric toothbrush for 3 seconds on each surface, then do the Teepee sic times back and forth - my teeth are in such good conditon since I started doing this once a day and a normal clean (3 secs on each surface) once a day.

brush EACH tooth - doh

Oh - my dentist does that for me. Can be a bloodbath sometimes when she gets her little sandblaster thing out!! Well, it feels like a sandblaster anyway. I hate having tartar scraped. But dentist herself is lovely.

Mine has a water gun thing that does everything. No scary scraping. i love going. She told me she is always seeing doddery olf folk with tartar encrusted dentures and constantly has to resist the urge to put them in a half Nelson and whip offending gnashers out.

think you only have the scraping and accompanying build-up if build-up is bad, don't you?

gums shouldn't bleed at all when prodded etc if they are healthy

argh, dental hygienists, argh!
no, they do a good job but it can hurt like stink if you have any kind of sensitive teeth or gum disease.
Gum disease leads to the bleeding. They attack dodgy bits of your gum to help the tissues, apparently. And remove tartar/ plaque, which can sometimes be right down to the gum line so the metal pick they use can nick the diseased tissues.

FLOSSING is the key to pain prevention - I have to use satin tape as normal floss gets stuck between my teeth (which are too close together). Flossing is great - interdental brushes/sticks are also great. EVERYONE should floss.

God, i couldn't live without flossing. Not doing it would feel like having no clean knickers.

yeah, my bottom ones are so close together, only pink Teepees will do!

I have tape somewhere, I found it a PITA with thread.

get interdentals, I can't use tape very well at all

tEEPEES??
qUE?

I love my hygenist, and dentist. I only get a tiny bit of tartar between two teeth that are snaggly - I spend at least 10 minutes brushing my teeth every night - then I floss and then I use a good mouthwash.

I want my teeth to last my whole life, as I like them!

If you've ever wondered why you should floss, just smell the floss strip afterwards!!! (TMI) [barf emoticon]

these, Moondog

Oh, I do floss - regularly. Dh doesn't though - bleugh.

Thanks.Er..another example of the triumph of marketing over common sense? Over £3 for 10! Jaysus!

they last a while though, MD

and save a fortune at the hygenist!

I think I have to pay more every time I go to the hygienist - the price seems to go up every 6m! And I can't believe the rate of increase on white fillings as well; and dentists claim they are badly off.

I had a root filling done by an entodontist the other week, 2 hours and cost £500!!!! . She did a great job but still - that's more than most lawyers charge!

NO WAY!!! My God, am sticking with NHS dentist like fury!