In praise of the dental clinic

What could it be? All that fat and protein in the Modified Atkins Diet? The once a day brushing, and not even every day at that? The lack of flossing? 

Whatever it is, C.'s teeth aced their dental exam today. Again. And I received kudos for brushing them. 

Actually, my bet is our Dr. Barman's toothbrush deserves all the credit. I know I've touted it before but, honestly, no toothbrush compares with it (and, no, we don't own shares in the company). I've never figured out why it's marketed so sparsely.

The dental hygienist's service was very inexpensive and the dentist's exam was entirely free. (Nobody there was sure why. "Maybe a sale?" the hygienist guessed.)

This is a clinic connected to an institution for adults with disabilities that caters exclusively to our city's population with disabilities. And it is the only one to do so without anesthetizing the patients. The body restraint covering C. does the job instead (see lower photo), but we could probably have managed without it because C. was amazingly calm and compliant.

I wondered momentarily today why we bother with C.'s teeth? After all, her diet is entirely soft and the only things she chews are shirt collars.when she's thirsty or hungry. 

Then I remembered recent studies that have linked dental and gum problems to heart disease and cancer. And healthy teeth are so much prettier too.

I concluded it was time, effort and a small sum of money well spent.