The Dentist.

I meant to write this entry last week when it actually happened, but here you go better late than never.  

It is a popular pasttime amongst Iyengar students to get dental work done here in India.   It's very inexpensive and as I suggested before, the medical care seems quite good here indeed.   So my December landlady Neena suggested a dentist and I finally visited the SMILE Clinic around the corner from Deep Bungalow Chowk (the intersection where I live).    There were none of the modern conveniences of American dentistry...no tvs in the ceiling, none of that.   The space, however, was clean and the staff friendly.   Kinda like a trip back in time...imagine your dentist's office in the early 1990s.   The basics are there, but there's no gizmos.

The Doctor was kind and the exam thorough.   He even wrote notes himself, if you can imagine.   My teeth are in good condition, my gums are receeding a bit and the diagnosis was "have you been taught how to brush your teeth?"   I told him that I thought so, but he could go ahead and tell me again.    Now THIS informaton is important.  This is what he had to say:

Brush the gum line gently towards the teeth.   As children most of us were taught to scrub the brush back and forth.   This causes gum recession later in life.   Instead, we should take a SOFT toothbrush, place it at the gum line and then slightly vibrate it as we stroke from the gum line towards the toothedge.    When I told the dentist that I use baking soda to brush my teeth, he replied that the substance we use for toothpaste doesn't much matter.   It's all about the stroke.  

To make the experience of brushing your teeth even more of a meditation---try switching hands every day.   Lemme tell you: this new stroke combined with using my opposite hand has made the entire situation comical.    The mirror that I look into as I practice this new process has suffered more spattering than it's probably ever seen before--looks like snow on your windshield after I'm finished.   After flossing, brushing the teeth and tongue,  try swirling around sesame oil in your mouth for at least two minutes (this builds gum strength according to the Ayuvedic people).   I'm diggin the results.

Happy Brushing.