Look, Mom - no cavities!

I feel the need to brag a little bit. I had my six-month dental cleaning yesterday and had no cavities. But what's really impressive is that I've NEVER had a cavity. Not one. No fillings either.

Which means that if I can make it to my next cleaning in six months cavity-free, I can proudly claim to have no cavities at age thirty, ahem, twenty-nine. I consider that a pretty impressive feat! But do you think cavities are inevitable? I mean, how long can this continue, right?

From age seven to sixteen, I had some kind of metal in my mouth at all times. My teeth were a real train wreck and needed lots of help. I had expanders, retainers (front and bottom), lip bumpers, head gears (oh so attractive) and braces. I still have a permanent bottom retainer today. I guess I adopted good brushing habits from hearing my orthodontist preach to me enough times about how important it is.

However ... I don't floss. Ever. Gross, I know. There's just something about watching food particles fly out of my mouth and stick to my mirror that makes me cringe. I usually floss the morning of my dental cleaning (like I really expect that to fool them?), and when I'm in the chair I vow to the hygienist that I'll do a better job, but by the next day, I'm over it. The hygienists always comment on what beautiful teeth I have, but when they start the dreaded plaque scraping, my sensitive gums bleed and my whole mouth turns into a horror film.

But if I want to shoot for the Guinness World Record of Oldest Person to be Cavity-Free, then I really need to get serious about this whole flossing thing. Kent flosses almost every night and puts me to shame. Should I tape a reminder to my bathroom mirror? Put floss on my pillow every morning so that I can't go to sleep without flossing? How do you hold yourself accountable for things that you HATE doing?