Context: I am an 18 year old that never used to brush his teeth as a kid (because I was never told to because I have fairly old timey parents.) Also because I was stupid. Anyways as you would imagine, not brushing my teeth lead to cavities. As of now I have 10 fillings, that number isn’t going to increase, mark my words. Anyways, I struggle daily with my conscious essentially telling me that I have trash teeth and that I’ll probably have dentures by the time I’m 40, which isn’t the case at all. The rational side of me essentially says, things could be way worse and that my teeth aren’t as bad as I think they are.

Over time I’m coping with the fact that I’ll never have perfect teeth, and that’s okay. We’re all gonna end up in the same place anyway. I keep things like these in mind:

~Just like cars, computers, etc… Humans are no different, we require maintenance, don’t be ashamed about requiring maintenance. (This one really sings to me because I’m a programmer!)

~Regardless as to whether or not you have perfect teeth or not, some freak accident may occur and you can end up losing teeth anyway. Decay isn’t the only problem that teeth fall victim to. I can be walking one day and trip over my own feet and shatter both my front teeth, everything’s temporary and teeth are no different.

~The whole thing about being stuck in a cycle regarding replacing fillings as they get older, etc. Regardless your teeth are going to require maintenance whether it be a cleaning, a filling, or a root canal. Even then, restorations tend to last longer than they’re made out to. Anecdotally, my sister has had some of her fillings since she was essentially a teenager, she’s almost 40. How long a restoration lasts is completely variable, 5 – 10 years average doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case for you. Your restorations can and will last a long time if you take good care of them and if they were done impeccably.

~People have it way worse out there. Some people may fret over having a tooth extracted, I know I would be really depressed about it. But seriously, there’s people getting their limbs amputated and what not. Teeth are nothing compared to your arms and legs. Dental implants are at a point where they’re literally like your real teeth. Prosthetics are far from that point.

~No one cares that you have dental work done, literally no one is peeking around the inside of your mouth except your dentist. Tons of people have fillings and dental work is nowhere near uncommon. Your teeth are meant for eating. If someone wants to shame you for something that you use for eating, then they’re probably stupid anyway.

~People literally shave down their teeth for cosmetic work.

Anyways yea, I doubt any of this means anything to anyone here but I felt like sharing it anyway. Back to programming with me.