#fr this is such bullshit im so cold and so tired and everything hurts

[coridallasmultipass]

Washing your teeth 3 times a day is the MAXIMUN. The more you brush the worse. Brush twice with toothpaste that has fluoride (which is the chemical that makes your teeth stronger), three times max if you really need it, and only floss once a day (also hurts you if you do it too much). I mean yeah genetics 100% will screw you over, but good habits might make it a little better.

Sorry this got vent-y, I'm tired lol.

I HAVE to temporarily brush and floss after EVERYthing I eat due to wearing plastic teeth aligners. (If I eat or drink anything but water, it would be worse to keep that food/drink trapped in between the aligners and my teeth). I'm about 5 months in on treatment, but I have no idea how much longer it will take. I've gone through so much floss and toothpaste, got a divorce with my appetite, and have not experienced any relief from tooth and jaw pain (it's a jaw specialist that's doing my aligners for jaw pain). It's miserable, and trust that I do not enjoy being unable to eat or drink when I want to, and it's so stressful to have to plan my day around access to a suitable sink and the hook that can remove the trays from my mouth (which is also painful, but also anxiety-inducing because if I lose it, or need it when I'm out of the house... it would be a disaster). I'm not flossing and brushing 2-4x a day because I want to, or feel that it's necessary in a normal situation.

That said, I did go to the dentist and they said the new issue is probably the filling on that tooth with a couple solutions: 1) a coarse texture that got left on the filling could be causing irritation so the dentist scraped that smoother on the spot, 2) the filling got put too close to the root and is irritating it there which would mean needing a root canal treatment but not yet, 3) other infection somewhere in that area - so now I'm on antibiotics and waiting to see if the combo of fixing the texture and antibiotics solves the problem. Otherwise, I get sent to the root specialist. Also, I gotta put salt water all over that spot in my mouth, which is very unpleasant.

(And it's not the tray, I have already been wearing this set for 2 weeks which is when I'm supposed to change them, but fuck it, I'm waiting an extra week until I know my hurty tooth is gonna chill tf out.)

My issue now, on top of everything else life is throwing at me, is that the antibiotics are to be taken once every 6 hours, and I have to stay awake/upright for an hour after taking it. It's currently 3am and I'm waiting to take the med, sit for an hour, and try to sleep at 430am, only to wake right back up at 930am. And it's antibiotics, so I have to commit to this bullshit until the course is done. (I'm also immunosuppressed, so I am very concerned about infection anywhere near my face.) I feel so worn down already, I have so many other active health problems. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't exercise, like what can I even fucking do? How am I supposed to heal like this??

Anyway, so that's the deal with brushing my teeth that much.