Yes, Doc: I Have a Dirty Mouth!

Winnie Yu

All my life I've been told I have nice teeth. Sure, I've had a few cavities, but for the most part, my teeth are white and straight.

On a recent dental visit, though, a hygienist -- whom I'll refer to as Terri here -- went at my teeth like a janitor scrubbing limescale stains from a toilet bowl. "You have a ton of plaque," she told me. "And these stains are horrible."

Suddenly, I felt very small and ugly, as if I'd just been sucker-punched by the playground bully. The overhead lamp got too bright, the dental chair too big. I was mortified.

Moments like these make me dread the dentist. It's not the painful drills or the unpleasant tastes that I dislike. It's the psychological damage that can be inflicted with a single comment. It had previously crossed my mind that my recent coffee addiction may have been damaging my teeth, but I never expected this reaction from a hygienist. And the more I thought of it, the more I wondered: Did she really have to make that disgusted face? Don't we all have gunk on our teeth now and then -- not to mention a ton of lurking bacteria? Was my mouth that much dirtier than the next patient's? I wasn't a bad person because I had plaque! Was I?!

As I drowned in my emotional fallout, I wanted answers, not guilt. "What should I do?" I sheepishly asked Terri. She suggested what I suspected: Give up coffee and tea and see if it makes a difference.

So just like that, I quit. (Being beautiful was more important than being caffeinated.) It wasn't easy, and a few months later, I did start drinking an occasional cup with friends. But of course, I brushed and flossed as well as I always have. Yet slowly, as my teeth resumed their natural brightness, my attitude began to change too: I decided that what my hygienist thought about me just didn't matter. So what if she had to scrape a little harder, or made another comment about stains or plaque? It was her job to clean it. It didn't mean I was a bad person, just that I had more plaque that day.

In the end, there's always going to be one person whose tactless comment can undo the kind encouragement of decades' worth of nice dentists and hygienists. (OK, there was another one, years ago, who told me the wear on my teeth looked like that of a 70-year-old's. Gee, thanks.) But deciding to care less about a judgmental person -- dentist, hygienist or otherwise -- does wonders for your attitude.

Sure enough, on my next visit, Terri marveled at how much cleaner my teeth looked when I gave her a big, relaxed smile. The overhead lamp had lost its glare, and I nestled in for my cleaning.

Winnie Yu is a freelance writer who frequently writes about health and nutrition.

HEALTH & WELLNESS ...

Health - Yes, Doc: I Have a Dirty Mouth!