Mouth

I stopped in for my dental checkup today. My dentist is the coolest. So get this. I sit down in the waiting room to decide between Highlights Magazine and a two month old copy of People. When, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. Those large type letters we all love to see in the mailbox every month. No, not Playboy -- T-R-I-A-T-H-L-E-T-E. My dentist had last month's copy of Triathlete magazine just sitting out in the bin waitng for a tired weekend warrior to come by. I had made it through about 1 article when they called me back.

The first, thing Mary says: "Wow! You look terrific! What have you been doing?" Mary has worked with me for years - she only sees my twice a year and having lost 50 lbs really threw her. She's finished the Danskin and is a marathon'er. She pulled up my pictures to show the doctor. Oh yeah, the doctor is training for the Danskin with the IronChicks! And, another doctor has finished 2 Ironman races. The coolest dentists I tell ya!!

I, once again, came away with a clean mouth - no cavities. Ever. The doctor even asked if I had already had my cleaning when she looked at the 'ol choppers. I hadn't. Afterward, they even invited me to go around and kiss everyone in the office. Ok, not really.

I asked the doctor about the effect of Gatorade, Powerade, Gu, etc. on teeth. Turns out it's bad. But, not as bad as chlorine. She said she saw an olympic swimmer one time with almost no enamel left on their teeth. The chlorine had worn it away. She recommended 2 things: 1) Never drink sports drinks unless it is for a specific purpose like training or recovery. The sugar will kill your teeth. 2) Brush your teeth with floride rich toothpaste in the evenings after swimming or taking in a large amount of Gatorade. There is a good floride-rich toothpaste you can ask for at the pharmacy - or you can get your dentist to give you tube during a checkup.

Coolest I tell ya!

See ya out there...