Day 88 (The Dentist)

So, right after Sweden my next German Course started, so Joern and I have been doing a lot of running around!  Here were the day's highlights:

1. Began my next German course.*
2. Went to the gym.
3. Had my first German dentist appointment.**
4. Did all of my homework.

*It was so great to see many of my old classmates there with me!  I also got to meet lots of new people as well.  It's a slightly bigger class, but I can tell that we have a lot to learn!

**So, here is a key difference between many Americans and many Europeans.  Americans love teeth.  We love brushing, flossing, whitening, straightening, and everything else you could do with teeth.  We have deep personal relationships with our dentists and hygienists (as a kid, a glowing report from the dentist was right up there with a good report card).  We have at least 50 different varieties of floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash, excluding those toothpick things for in between meals.  We have the wisp.  Teeth should be straight, plaque-free and always white.  Can teeth that are not straight and white be healthy?  The Americans reading this will be giving this question a lot of thought, and are probably skeptical.  Here's the thing: the answer- against our upbringing- is yes.  People all over the world have teeth that are not perfectly straight or chemically whitened.  Many simply brush and floss.  This is not all that noticeable or weird, it simply is.  People here just don't love teeth the way we do.  Keeping this in mind, I was unsure of what to expect at our first dentist appointment.  Essentially the dentist came in, poked around in there a bit, and declared my teeth and gums healthy (as if I would let Dr. Kao down!).  She noticed that my bottom gums were inflamed and we figured out it was from my over-the-counter bite guard.  So she suggested a new toothpaste and a custom bite guard, and were there any questions?  I was crestfallen.  Where was the scraping?  What flavors did they have for the little grindy thing?  Who would floss me?  Apparently, these answers could only be had if we were willing to pay, as that was a "cosmetic procedure."  What?!  I was estimating the cost of a flight to America every six months and almost didn't hear her mention that the bite guard was completely covered by insurance.  This would have cost around $800-1,000 last I checked.  So now I'm not sure what to think.  Here, making my teeth pretty is expensive, but the piece of plastic to keep them safe is part of my insurance.  In the meantime, I'm hoping my supply of Altoids and 3D WhiteStrips lasts.