The MSWK Journal
Plain talk about teeth, gums and the small habits around them, written for people who have been brushing for fifty years and would like it to feel better.
Why your gums feel sore after 50, and it's not how you brush
Your gums have started to feel tender after brushing, and nobody warned you that this would happen. Maybe it's a dull ache along the gumline in the morning. Maybe it's that one spot on the lower left that...
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The morning breath that doesn't leave after breakfast
You brush in the morning, you have your coffee, and by ten o'clock your mouth already feels stale again. There is gum in your purse and...
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If you take blood pressure pills, your mouth has changed
Since you started the pills, your mouth has been dry, and nobody at the doctor's office mentioned that this would happen. There is a glass of...
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If your toothbrush turns pink, read this
There is a little pink in the sink when you spit, and the tips of your toothbrush are stained the same color. It has been like...
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Cold water shouldn't hurt
A sip of cold water hits one tooth like a small electric shock, and for a second you lose track of what you were saying. You...
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Long in the tooth: the gumline nobody warned you about
Your teeth look longer than they used to, and you are not imagining it. Maybe you felt it with your tongue, a small ridge near the...
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Why dental bills explode after 60
You went in for a cleaning and came out with an estimate that has a comma in it. Maybe it was a crown on a back...
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There's plastic in your mouth right now
Twice a day, for as long as you can remember, you have put a piece of plastic in your mouth and rubbed it against your teeth....
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We did the math on every toothbrush you've thrown away since 1985
Every plastic toothbrush you have thrown away since 1985 is, in all likelihood, still a toothbrush. It is in a landfill somewhere, bristles and all. We...
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What's really in the tube
You have squeezed the same kind of toothpaste onto a brush for fifty years and never read the back of the tube. Most of us haven't....
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The one question to ask before buying another electric toothbrush
You are standing in the drugstore aisle again, looking at a wall of electric toothbrushes, because the last one did not make your gums feel any...
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The 7,000-year-old toothbrush
Every few years someone hands you a new way to clean your teeth, and your mouth does not feel any better for it. A brush with...
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What the first 30 days with a miswak are really like
You have looked at the miswak page a few times now, and before you spend $13.95 on three sticks you would like to know what you...
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One thing in your purse that replaces three things in your bathroom
Your bathroom counter has a toothbrush on a charging stand, a pack of replacement heads in the drawer, and a cord that never sits right, and...
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Why you wake up with a bad taste in your mouth
You wake up, and before you have opened your eyes you can taste it: your mouth is dry and sour, and the first thing you want...
