I am sitting at the dentist with my 9yo boy and we are an hour into his third procedure to rebuild his two front teeth after a slip at home ended in this:
The first procedure was create a temporary cap while the dentist assessed whether the root of the tooth was damaged. After two weeks the first rebuilding procedure took place and a couple of hours later my son had a rebuilt tooth.
We are here now getting the second tooth done in the hope that these new teeth, which he will present to every person he interacts with for the rest of his life, will sit his face into adulthood.
I am reminded that I spend my day working with people's spines, something that allows them the movement to go and interact with people every day of their lives. The spine, like the teeth, must be looked after diligently if we want it to last or entire lives, as there is very little offered in the way of a spinal 'denture' should we need it later in life.
If we treated our teeth as we do our spine, we might only clean our teeth when they are sore, or bleeding, and we may only seek treatment when one of them 'falls out'. I live working on happy, healthy people. Dentists do too. We ask would much prefer to do general check ups that go smoothly and avoid lengthy, painful, and often expensive procedures.
Please look after your teeth. Please look after your spine.