Being someone who still has all his original teeth, and has never even had a cavity, I never used to understand why some people possess such a paralyzing fear of the dentist. I actually quite liked them. I always found them to be intelligent, friendly and clean - very admirable qualities in a person. However, recently I have noticed a darker dimension that lies beneath the pristine minty whiteness of the dental profession...
I better not build this up too much, it's actually not as sinister as I'm making it sound. Basically, since moving to Melbourne, I've been going to this foreign guy who looks like he's straight out of year 10, and who is constantly telling me I need to floss every day. Now, for a moment let's overlook my redneck Hobart upbringing, the fact I don't trust blokes whose names end in "-oski" scraping away inside my mouth, and my bias towards medical professionals who are actually experienced. Flossing every day is a struggle for me...
I just never got into the habit of flossing as a kid. My olds never made me do it. All I did was brush morning and night, and the school dentist always seemed impressed with the state of my mouth. The result: 28-year-old Radspank can't see the point, and isn't looking forward to learning new tricks. They say to form a habit for good, you need to do it for at least 28 days. Don't ask why, it just seems to be the magic number. Problem is, my efforts to become a flosser have only ever lasted 4 or 5 days at a time tops.
Why is it so hard to make flossing part of my daily routine? Well, there's no single, easy answer, but I thought of a few clues:
- I wasn't brought up to floss as a kid, and mum and dad never did it
- It hurts. Especially to start with. After not doing it for months, my Serbian (or whatever)-trained dentist did it for me while I was stuck in the chair. It left my mouth feeling sore and just wrong. Even the next day, the residual pain successfully deterred me from flossing a second time
- It involves blood. Ewwww, some might say. But it's true - for the first few days your gums bleed so much that you're left looking like a dodgy b-grade horror movie villain.
- It takes time. I leave it till just before bed and am always too stuffed to care, so I just don't bother.
- It takes discipline. A concept I haven't really had any kind of grasp on since my uni days
If you're a dentist and reading this, perhaps you are tearing clumps of your own hair out in frustration. After all, there must surely be benefits to flossing. Prevention of gingivitis for starters. Less plaque, therefore reduced chance of cavities, therefore reduced chance of extractions, therefore reduced chance of serious dental surgery and nasty complications such as endocarditis and death...
To paraphrase Romans 6:23:
"For the wages of not flossing is death, but the gift of oral hygeine is eternal dental life in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Sounds ridiculous, but maybe there's something to this.
Some of these things remind me a bit of my own spiritual life.
Is it possible that Christianity is indeed like flossing?!?!
- The Great dental physician himself, God, knows what is best for us, and we have the opportunity to accept his advice, or ignore it
- Starting out with Jesus involves pain - the agony of turning from sin
- Being a Christian involves forming new habits and disciplines of prayer and bible reading etc.. which don't often come naturally
- Apparently, most people get saved before they turn 18 - after that age it's a lot less common and maybe more difficult to get into.
- Having parents who set a Godly example can make Christian habits easier to form
- There's blood involved. Jesus made life possible through the shedding of blood!
- Following Jesus won't happen unless we make it a priority. In fact, it demands all of us - our time, effort, gifts etc..
- The costs of following Jesus can blind us to the benefits of fulfillment and eternal life
- Jesus, like my own dentist, probably spoke incomprehensively in some weird language other than english too!
I like it. Even though it seems like a slender thread to hang a sermon on, in my opinion flossing really does hold many deep theological insights!
Cheers - Nath
