Sage - Means Wisdom and Teeth

As a birthday present I thought I'd ahem, treat, myself to a visit to the hygienist. It isn't free, it's fecking costly.

I went two weeks ago and for the princely sum of £50 (my birthday, I'm worth it..) I was told I had advanced gum disease. Had my dentist given me an injection to numb the gum? She could do a general clean but I'd have to come back for a deep clean.

One major cause of my gum disease was stress, the other, she said, was that I wasn't using my toothbrush properly. You've got to hold it at a 90 degree angle to your gum and brush in little circles, one tooth at a time, front, back and under. "Do you ever clean your back teeth?" she asked and suggested I get an electric toothbrush. I entered a competition for one of those a while back...

I was well pissed off with my dentist as I booked another appointment for today. I'd just seen him, he could see that I had gum disease. Why he couldn't write that in the note for the hygienist, get me prepped for a deep clean...

Another £50 today. Three shifts at the pub if I snatched cash in hand...

GO to your hygienist. Clean your gums. Do Not Be Afraid. I didn't have the injection today, I had a gel. It was uncomfortable but I kept repeating 'this is a clean, they are cleaning, cleaning, healing, cleaning' in my mind as I flexed my feet with each sensitive zing.

The documentary I watched of children in poverty, the parents barely had teeth in their mouths.

They don't clean our teeth as a matter of course anymore. "Is it too beneath the dentist to do that?" I asked the hygienist and she laughed. It's not funny though is it. Preventative care. Instead in we all go to get our teeth extracted because we can't afford to stop our gums bleeding.

SAGE - It's a medicinal mouthwash for gums. It's an effective medicinal mouthwash for gums.
Put a few leaves in some boiling water. Let it cool down, rinse your mouth with it. You can drink it as a tea too if you like. The problem is finding the leaves. Big Tesco's sell it but nowhere else I've been so far.

SAGE means Wise.

We need the wisdom to take of ourselves and what we have. It's not easy, I'm not going to pretend it is. Some people are great at taking care of themselves.

Brilliant. I want to be like you.

They've booked me another appointment for three months time. A wreck my gums but with implants £2000 a pop, I really can't afford to lose any more teeth.

Can you?