it's worst on the lower incisors, to the point that one of them is going to get crushed and just fall out, eventually. i don't seem to have extra teeth, but they're completely out of line at the top, as well, in an arrangement that you'd normally associate with extra teeth. on the bottom, the canines are both shifting directly inwards, which is just destroying those little incisors.
i've looked into how to fix this, and it sounds like the cure is worse than the disease, especially at my age, and especially especially in the presence of osteopenia. i'd have to dissolve the bone in the jaw and rebuild it. that's not actually feasible.
but, i've been slowly realizing that i can't brush them anymore, either. it's not that bad in the front, but i'm noticing what is probably the first actual plaque buildup that i've ever had in my life on the inside, and i can't seem to stop it. i've tried rolling up toilet paper and trying to kind of polish it off, and it seemed like it was working, but it wasn't. i've tried flipping the toothbrush over perpendicular to the teeth, and the head is still too big.
if i could find a small enough brush, that would probably do it, but where - and at what expense?
rather, i think i'm going to pull the trigger on a waterpik system when the check gets here (and it had better get here by tuesday at the latest). the basic physics of the shape of the teeth, due to being crushed, is that they're now curved and therefore unreachable with a brush. maybe there's some other answer, but i don't think there is one - i'm going to have to spray them down, instead.
i've mused about genetic approaches to trying to fix my gums, but that's not going to fix that one incisor, which i'm just waiting to fall out. i'll have to bring it up with the dentist in september - is it better to pull a crushed tooth like that, to try to save the rest of them?