Get serious about your teeth.

Let me just start off by saying that my dad is a dentist. He would always say to his patients, "You can either brush and floss and YOU go on vacation or don't brush and floss and I go on vacation." Get it. It is pretty simple. Brush for about 3 minutes and floss every night and you should have pretty darn good oral conditions. Why is that so hard to do? Or am I the only one.

Don't be grossed out just yet. I brush every single night and almost every morning (remember, I am a mom and sometimes we remember as we are driving in the car to start our day.) I floss maybe 9 times a year. That is sad. I spent almost 3 years in braces and I need to take my teeth seriously. Especially when it comes to teaching my kids.

Just like in my house growing up, we do not have soda or sugar cereals. My dad, the dentist, had an incredible sweet tooth but he knew those two things would create real problems with our health and our teeth. He also made sure that we brushed our teeth and got our teeth cleaned. He never hounded us to follow a specific protocol but we knew what our teeth needed.

What a lot of people don't know is that your gums are usually the first sign of health problems. All health problems. You can tell a lot about a persons stress level and sleep deprivation all through the gums. I often tell my daughter that she needs to brush her teeth otherwise her teeth will fall out and she won't be able to eat anymore candy. This might be harsh but it works and I know how important healthy habits are.

So here is the deal, my daughter is 3 1/2 and she has had her teeth cleaned twice. I get my teeth cleaned every six months. You need to make your teeth and your kids teeth a priority. Don't wait until the ache to go in and see the dentist, make it a habit and a part of your regular check-up. Start this with your kids, make sure they don't skip too many brushings and always be there to go over their work, maybe adding a swipe or two with the brush. We only get one set of teeth and like my dad said it can either be you or your dentist that gets that vacation. Make it you!