The Need For Teeth

I had five children within eight years.  If you do the math, I was pregnant for almost 50% of my late 20s and early 30s.  The idea of going to a dentist appointment under the nausea and discomfort of a baby-invaded body was not very appealing.  After the fifth child was born I was too tired, too broke or too distracted to make a dentist appointment for myself.  I did what typical mothers do, I made appointments every six months for my kids but never for myself.  I dreaded going to the dentist because I knew my neglect was going to cost me considerably in time, pain and money.  The inevitable happened and a few years ago I got an exceedingly bad toothache.  Aside from the obvious tooth in question, there was thousands more dollars’ worth of dental work to be done.  The dentist suggested a priority list so things wouldn’t more get out of hand then they already were.  Plan in hand, my dentist changed, my insurance changed and my priority list was sidelined and renegotiated over and over.

While it’s still a hot mess, now that my youngest is almost in high school I’m finally getting that priority list straightened out.  I had an incredible wave of gratitude sweep over me this week as I finally addressed one of the most annoying tooth issues.  It took years to get the ball rolling and it will take another year or two to finally get it all done.  How ironic, or maybe it’s providential, that my long list of dental work is happening during my year of mindful eating.

Definition:  Eat (verb)  eet  1.  To consume food; to take a meal.  2.  To take into the mouth and chew for nourishment; to chew and swallow.  3.  To consume by or as if devouring gradually; wear away; corrode.  4.  To make (a hole, passage, etc) as by gnawing or corrosion.  5.  To ravage or devastate.  6. To use up, especially wastefully; consume (often follow by up).

For years I have been mindfully eating and not even realizing it.  I have carefully selected foods based on how my teeth could handle them.  Fragile and jagged molars made me pause through each meal and snack.  I calculated consumption based on how likely a crunchy or chewy item could snap a temporary filling.  In public places I had to think about how convenient it would be when I needed to excuse myself to the washroom and select from the variety of dental floss from my purse.  My children were getting in the habit of grabbing a toothpick for me at the end of meals.   I missed a 4th of July parade because of major oral surgery the day before.  I spent a three day work conference not enjoying the fantastic meals that wholesalers wine and dine us with and instead stuck with soup and mashed potatoes because I had stitches in my gums.

If you learn nothing else from my experience, learn this……go to the dentist.  Go often.

I am finally reaching a point where my food selection does not have to be based on my chopper’s ability to disintegrate it to a digestible mush.  I can begin to nourish myself with whatever I please.  The practical process of eating is something I can release and start embracing the nurturing aspect of a meal.

I’m grateful that I have had this awareness of how mindful I have been.  I had been putting an awful lot of consideration into what, where and how I’ve been eating for years.  Now I can change the criteria of food consumption based on much more.  Instead of asking myself if my tooth might break, I can ask myself deeper questions as to why I choose to eat what I eat.  I can ponder what I’m really feeding.  Is it fear or abundant love?  Am I nourishing a life with Divine purpose or gluttonous irreverence?  All are good questions, and they have nothing to do with teeth!

You can read more of Beth's blog, The Road To Faith on her website, www.theroadtofaith.com or follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/theroadtofaith