Teeth and My Terrifying Experience

"Alright, please rinse your mouth."

"…Okay."

As I swish the water and spit it out, what comes out with it is a sigh and regret.

It is always regret.

Hello.
I am Kuitaro.

This time, since there was a #ForGoodTeeth contest, I decided to write this as a way to practice my writing.

Teeth and My Terrifying Experience

That was one morning during summer vacation when I was in the lower grades of elementary school, staying at my grandparents' house as I did every year.
I discovered that the teeth that should have been in a mouth were sitting on the bathroom sink, gums and all.
I immediately felt that I had seen something I shouldn't have.

Usually, by the time I woke up, they would have already been tucked away inside a mouth.
There were teeth there that I had never seen before.

To my young self at the time, it was honestly creepy.
The full dentures sitting in the toothbrush cup in the washroom.
It looked like a molted shell of a mouth.

Scary things at my grandparents' house.
The large Buddhist altar.The portrait of an ancestor.The drop toilet.And now, these full dentures have joined the ranks today.

It was a kind of summer vacation horror experience where I encountered dentures for the first time.
Speaking of summer, it's ghost story season. It's perfect.

In terms of vividness, it's number one by far.

What happened to the gums?
What happens to the inside of the mouth?
It's terrifying.

My mother often told me,
"If you don't brush your teeth properly, you'll end up with full dentures like Grandma!"
It's a threat. I don't want that.

Does the inside of your mouth become hollow?

That was the line she always used whenever I wanted sweets or was lazy about brushing my teeth.
Even if I brushed my teeth with all my might, remembering those full dentures on the sink, I would inevitably get cavities.
Every time I go to the dentist, I think,

"What if I end up with full dentures like Grandma..."
Dentists are scary, and dentures are scary.



Well, time has passed, and I have become a full-grown adult.
I had known for a long time that those weren't real gums or a molted shell of a mouth, and I also understood that cavities don't immediately mean full dentures.
From around the time of the Polident and Toughdent commercials, I realized that dentures aren't that scary, nor are they something that must be hidden.

Currently, I have opportunities to handle various patients' dentures at work, and I even find myself impressed by things like name-engraved ones.
I've gotten completely used to it.

But even now, when I see dentures, I sometimes vividly remember the feelings I had that summer day when I first encountered them.


Things you can do for good teeth
Daily brushing, regular dental checkups.
I want to pledge eternal love to my own teeth and spend the rest of my life with them.

Amen☆彡

Today is November 8th (Good Teeth Day). I was going to post this as is, but upon re-reading it, I felt anxious that there was nothing useful in it, so I found a helpful tool created by the Japan Dental Association.
I like check sheets; they are perfect for quietly facing the problems with my own teeth and trying to improve them in private.
Please feel free to use them as a reference as well.
For now, I'm going to buy a tuft brush on my way home today.