Rinse and spit. How many times have you heard those words from a dentist? Unfortunately, I have listened to them more than most.

From the time I had my permanent teeth until eight years ago, my teeth have been a pain in the tuchus. The baby teeth came and left normally leaving me a small fortune from the tooth fairy. I believe it was distributed at 25 cents a tooth. It wasn’t too many years later when my younger brother and I became familiar with dental appointments and spending time in “the chair.”