Dental disaster

No matter how hard you try to do the things that will be of most benefit to you, there is always something that can go awry. As an avid student of nutrition and natural foods, I endeavour to eat food that has the most beneficial effect on the body. Pomegranates are supposed to keep your arteries clear, so naturally they are at the top end of the affordability scale, as well as being seasonal. I bought the dried arils to add to plain yoghurt and was happily munching my way through this chewy snack when I bit on something really hard. I spat it out before it could do any damage, thinking it must be a particularly hard pip, and on closer inspection, saw that the damage had already been done. There lay half a molar!

I can only say how grateful I am that it wasn't a front tooth and I will try and fix it with that special toothpaste for sensitive teeth which I am told works very well by making a coating over the exposed area. My fear of dentists goes back a long way and they are always a last resort. I went for a check up only a year ago and was told there was absolutely nothing wrong and could come back in ten years' time! That was patently not true, as I have suspected for a while that the tooth was cracked anyway.

I have years of experience of living with a half tooth! When I was about 8 years old, I was running in the garden and tripped on a step and knocked about a third off one of my front upper right tooth. In those days there was no such thing as cosmetic dentistry, or at least it didn't figure in my life, and it never occurred to me to be in the slightest bit worried about my appearance. All I remember is that I grew up with a space big enough to fit a straw through. I thought it was quite fun!

When I left school, my mother must have decided that I couldn't go out into the corporate world with half a front tooth and I had it fixed with a porcelain implant, which I have now had for nearly 40 years. That is amazing - it still looks like new - I should throw a party for it!

Having lived half my life at that stage without a complete tooth, I walked around grinning like someone who has had their braces removed, and I was so upset when absolutely nobody noticed that I had had my tooth fixed!

This proves that looks are not important and that personality is all that matters (lol!). So take heart, all who have less than perfect gnashers - they are your personality!