CC had a check-up in London just before she came over to stay for good. It was incredibly difficult to find an NHS dentist and they wouldn't take her on unless she took out Denplan insurance. When she had a problem with inflamed and bleeding gums she was given a mouthwash which stained her teeth.
The same problem reared its ugly head again and so I made an appointment at our local surgery. She was given a form to fill in and a prescription for an x-ray but when they rang to ask if we could change the dental appointment to 8 o'clock this morning there was no time to arrange it.
CC is not at all nervous about seeing dentists: unlike her mum. As long as I can remember I have had a very strong aversion to any dentists' tools coming anywhere near my mouth and as soon as I was old enough to take a stand I would say "OK, you can look but you mustn't touch."
How I ever put up with having a wisdom tooth out I'll never know but it was a bit loose anyway so it came out quite easily. The worst part was all the bleeding afterwards. Then there was the time when I bit the dentist's finger. . . .
Anyway, CC and I were greeted by the dentist at 8 sharp and we sat down to explain the problem. Then she invited CC to take the chair and began her examination.
To our surprise she took a swab to put under the microscope and called us over to have a look.
She pointed out tiny moving bacteria, just a few of them, darting across the screen.
"That's what's causing your trouble." she explained.
It seems that people who are not prone to decaying teeth often have a tendency to house these little beasties which cause bone 'loss' and consequent receding gums. The bacteria responsible for caries prevent these from reproducing.
What's more a tendency to nurture this kind of bacteria runs in families. Oh dear. My mum had very few problems with caries but she did have receding gums and, in the past, dentists have told me I had similar problems. But they didn't make any suggestions or do anything about it.
Not so with CC's new dentist. She has given her orders to use a special toothpaste which must never, under any circumstances be used in conjunction with any other toothpaste. Then she has a special pokey thing to push between all her teeth every night before rinsing with a mouthwash which matches the toothpaste.
"It will make your gums bleed for the first week or so but it will be alright after that."
Worst of all, she has a course of antibiotics for ten days. When we collected them from the chemist she said,
"Did the dentist warn you that it is absolutely forbidden to have any alcohol with these tablets? Not even other medicines containing alcohol."
Our faces fell. It is Jay's birthday next week and we were planning a celebratory meal - with champagne.
