Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth,
And spotted the dangers beneath
All the toffees I chewed,
And the sweet sticky food.
Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth.
My mother, she told me no end,
‘If you got a tooth, you got a friend.’
I was young then, and careless,
My toothbrush was hairless,
I never had much time to spend.
Oh I showed them the toothpaste all right,
I flashed it about late at night,
But up-and-down brushin’
And pokin’ and fussin’
Didn’t seem worth the time – I could bite!
Exctract from Oh I Wished I’d looked after me teeth by Pam Ayers.
Taken from the The Works: The Classic Collection 2008.
When I was a child I remember watching Opportunity Knocks with my mum when Pam Ayres came on and recited her poem, Oh, I Wish I’d Looked After Me Teeth. Even back then I hated my teeth, and I hated my mum’s teeth even more because she didn’t have any. She was brought up during the war when toothpaste was rare and gum disease abundant. If you were unfortunate to suffer gum disease then your teeth were taken out and you were given false ones. This happened to mum when she was only nineteen years old!
I wasn’t happy with my teeth because they were crooked, but not crooked enough for a brace, and the enamel was already damaged. Mum said it was because of all the Penicillin I’d taken for my constant ear and throat infections. In those days it was not sugar free. As I grew up I hated showing my teeth and rarely smiled properly for photos. I tried all sorts to get them looking whiter, even bleaching with a home kit, but nothing worked. Then one day, my dentist, the lovely Gino, asked me if I’d like him to ‘do something’ to make my teeth nicer. I said yes, of course, and wondered why I hadn’t been asked this before at the dentist? A few weeks later all my front teeth were covered with veneers, they were made to look straighter and for the first time ever I was happy to see my own smile.
Nearly ten years later and I’ve had most of my five veneers replaced at least once, and two of them have been replaced with full crowns. I’m still fairly happy to smile.
Sadly, my gums have suffered too. I’ve had five children and although I managed the first two unscathed, the other three caused me gum problems during pregnancy and I have lost two of my back teeth.
So I’m not a perfect example of how your teeth should be, I’ve had plenty of problems and my nicer teeth are ‘fake’
The advice I give my children is to clean their teeth regularly, visit the dentist regularly and report any bleeding or sore gums. We usually have around four or five tubes of toothpaste in our house so there is something to suit everyone because even in the same family our teeth are not the same.
To make teeth cleaning fun for the littlies we have a little song we brush to, it goes to the tune of the Okey Cokey.
Put your toothbrush in, your toothbrush out
In out, in out, brush it all about
First you do the front and then you do the sides
Then spit the toothpaste out.
We sing it twice, once with toothpaste, once with water.
I have been trying out Oral B Pro-Expert Premium Gum Protection toothpaste for the last couple of weeks. I do still occasionally have problems with my gums so anything that can help prevent that is welcome. I like the taste of Oral B Pro-Expert Premium Gum Protection, it is not too strong, just a mild minty flavour, it leaves a tingly fresh feeling in your mouth. For adults and Children over 12 years it claims to prevent and reduce gum problems in just four weeks of regular use.
All thoughts and opinions are my own, and so are (most of) my teeth. You can find dental implant prices here.
Beautiful smiles and fun to be reminded of that poem. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.
its good