I never used to but have become a nightly flosser the last few years. As a child we took turns going to the dentist so of course, we ended up with lots of cavities and a big fear of dentist. My teeth are soft so I have so many fillings and over the years they have had to be replaced by crowns. I have 8 porcelin (SP?) veneers in the front top that cost me a bundle 10 years ago. As an adult I have always visited the dentist every 6 months but hated the cleanings. I now floss nightly and use an electric tooth brush but I do have to be careful with it not hurting my gums. I have so much metal in my mouth that I now have what the Oral surgeon said is a low electrical current that keeps the lining of my mouth very sensitive. I have dry mouth and if the balance of potassium, calicum and iron get a little off, my mouth breaks out in sores. I have managed to keep it under control with Biotene rinse and when needed a script from the dentist. I think preventive care has made such a difference in dental health. We were pretty poor and like with doctors, you didn't go unless there was a problem. Nowadays, kids go before they even have all their baby teeth.

I have a custom made tray for whitening my teeth. I used to get the whitening solution from the dentist but found I could buy it on Amazon for much less. One time I ordered the extra strength variety and left it on for about an hour. I almost flipped when I took off the tray and looked in the mirror. I had bleached my gums in front totally white! Fortunately the pink color came back in about 20 minutes but I was afraid I would have to walk around looking like that. The whitening agent has peroxide in it. I use something called Opalescence. The extra strength is 35% peroxide. I don't think it's a good idea to use straight peroxide on your teeth for any length of time. Swooshing is okay. I remember that some people use it to treat gum disease, a cause of bad breath. Before I whiten my teeth I brush them with baking soda to get them extra clean. Another good time to whiten is right after they have been cleaned. For me, baking soda is too abrasive for every day use. My dentist does not recommend it. He does recommend rinsing with Listerine.

Well, go ahead and shoot me now, but I trust Purina where nutrition is concerned. I will admit I trusted it more when it was a St Louis, family owned company, pre-Nestle. But they do have a huge staff of veterinary nutritionists whom they work with very closely to develop nutritionally sound foods. These people have a minimum of an additional 3 years of training after veterinary school. They KNOW nutrition! I cannot imagine any company in today's "bottom line" world that would spend money on such things and then not follow them. Purina also manufacturers all but one of its products - it may do that now, too, as it was the only one that had problems when all the other dog food companies were in big trouble. I've fed PurinaOne Lamb & Rice since it was introduced nearly 20 years ago. My dogs have wonderful coats, clear eyes, good skin, small poops, and are just overall very healthy animals, thriving on this food. Why on earth would I change what I feed? A breeder friend told me about 25 years ago that she changed foods anytime she had a problem in her breeding program, hoping it would "fix" the problem. Of course, she did minimum testing which is probably why she had problems, but she was an old-fashioned breeder who believed purebred dog breeding was an "art", not a "science". In fact, it's BOTH!

I had a bad experience with a sadistic dentist as a child. No doubt his methods would get him arrested in current times. For example, he comes at you with a drill without telling you what he is doing., You scream, he puts his hand over your mouth and nose and tells you if you want to breathe you will do as he tells you and shut up. As you suffocate you nod in agreement. You are 10 years old. So although my dentist is a great guy and I see him 2x a year I still dread going. I get nervous for a full month before the appointment. s