::Nanuenymous::

...and here we go, another year down in our books.

I was watching Rachael Ray with Taylor Swift being her guest the other day. She was asked about her resolution, and to my surprise, she told the audience that her resolution is first, to be grateful. She put it this way "..be grateful more than any other things in your life". I beamed to myself and went "uh huh". It is interesting to have the same perspective about life in 2011 with someone you adore so much. And a guy named Neil (among the audience) stood up, asking her what would she be doing if all else fail. And she went on telling them all that she wants to write books. I nodded.

Tay, why are we so similahhh?
Anyways, enough about how swift that Taylor is (no pun intended), my issue today is about oral health. Straying quite distant from my intro, I know.
One of my mini resolutions is to floss everyday. EVERY-DAY. I started off flossing every day, then I got all sluggish and went for every-other-day flossing. Then, by the end of 2010, I flossed ~2 to 3times (max) per week. If I travel, I don't floss. True story. In case you're all grossed out and wondered about my other dental regiments, no, I still brush my teeth 2x a day, accompanied by Listerine after. ALWAYS. But I don't really floss each time. Gross still? Apologies, readers. I just don't have the time for the entire brush-and-floss-and-Listerine routine. It takes about 5-10 minutes of my sink time. Bad habit.

Here's what you're missing out if you don't floss everyday. Food you consumed can get trapped in between your teeth and at the same time, thousands to millions of bacteria inhabit your mouth, right? What these bacteria do is they'll have a feast on all of the food you left between your teeth. Basically, your mouth is their home and your leftover, the trapped food has now become their food. Ungrateful uninvited guests, these culprit then let out acid as a result of their feasting and the bad news is, that acid can eat out your tooth enamel, causing cavities! As if that wasn't bad enough, the bacteria also give out sulfur (gas) that causes bad breath! Uh huh.

Eventually, the food gets hardened, and that condition is termed tartar.(I can sometimes see tartar in others' mouth. Scary). Tartar can no longer gets removed by your daily oral tools. It can only be removed by your dentists, which is why, seeing your dentist every 6 months is crucial! Subsequently, these tartar can accumulate between your teeth and induces gingivitis. Gingivitis is practically a term used to describe condition in which your gum becomes tender and bleed whenever you brush your teeth. When I didn't frequent flossing a few years back, my gum bled every time I brushed my teeth. No joke. Ever since I started flossing, my gum never bled. It takes about 2 to 3 weeks of daily flossing to see the result, though. Try this. You'll be amazed.

If you've no idea what floss is, shame on you. Here it is:


And here are the other dental tools that I own.



As you can see, I'm pretty much obsessed with whitening products. Well yeah. I want white teeth, betches. ALSO, I forgot to mention the core importance of brushing your tongue. Most of you probably have never heard of brushing tongue. 90% of the bacteria that causes bad breath reside on your tongue. Getting rid of it is paramount to improving your breath, which is why I always buy toothbrush with tongue-brush behind its head. Below is the example of a toothbrush with the tongue-brush.



You can also find a separate tongue-brush too at the market but I always resort for a 2-in-1, handy toothbrush like the one I have above. Easy on the pocket too.
Canadian Dental Association also recommends flossing once per day, and Malaysian Dental Association recommends flossing ..... I don't know, I couldn't find it up on their website. Govt agencies, take note!

Back in Malaysia, it's a must for me to visit my dentist as per recommended. A few days before I flew to Canada, I made an appointment. When I got home over the summer, I scheduled for another appointment to get my tartar removed. I'm tacky like that. Plus, I don't want to miss out free dental care courtesy of Ayah's company. Since I haven't been back for 3 years, that's also the duration I had miss seeing the dentist. Gross? Yeah. Dentist charges over here is over and beyond the rooftop. Well not quite 3 years...
Last year in April '10, my gum hurt because my last baby tooth was peeking out, it burned the hell out of my gum so I had to go see the dentist. Here in Canada. Got my condition fixed and also, got my tartar removed. When the doctor asked me when was the last time I made a visit, I shamelessly admitted that it was 1 and a half year ago. (Which was back in 08). Boy did he scold me like no one's business! After what seemed to me like a one hour of pain and misery and countless shot of advices by what sounded to me like a Russian dentist, he charged me CAD411. That's equivalent to RM1300. They didn't even do hardcore surgery or anything like that. I just had my tartar removed! If surgeries were done, it would've been CAD1000++++. That's a whole lot of plus signs right there. I meant that with the slightest exaggeration. It IS that brutal.

So, ladies and gents, if you don't or never flossed in your life, you're not too late. I think you should take a huge step this year and floss your teeth. Not only it reduces the risk of cavities, it can also prevents bad breath, and gingivitis (inflamed gums). Good oral practices can also reduces the risk of cardiac diseases via blockage of the viruses entrance through your blood streams and studies have confirmed this finding.

Also in 2011, I planned to get my teeth whitened and for the next allowance, I'm splurging on these babies:

It claimed to have the ability to whitens your teeth in said time (which I can't really tell from the picture). I've used it before and it improved the shades of my teeth a few notch lighter but it left me with sensitive teeth after you've finished the entire box so I had to discontinue using it. I felt as though the strip sort of like eat up the surface of my teeth because of the extreme sensitivity I felt after but I guess it's just my teeth. It's quite expensive but anything for a prettier self, right? I can't do plastic surgeries so improving what God had given me is the way to go.

It's sooo hard to keep up with daily flossing, I must say. That's why I ended up doing it 2 or 3 times per week before this, when you're supposed to do it every day. But with violent daily self-forcing, I managed to floss everyday this year so far, Alhamdulillah. If you're unattractive like me, at least own a killer smile, alright?
Not pretty but smells nice, checked. Not pretty but can cook (above par, I must say), checked. Not pretty but have white set of teeth and fresh breath, checked. HAHA. Now that's pretty pathetic, Nanue evaluating herself.

HAHA sorry I just needed some attention. That's all. Lovelies, say hello to a healthier oral care this 2011!