I had an appointment with the dental hygienist first thing this morning.  By 8:30 am, I was stretched out in the chair, paper bib protecting my shirt and my tender mouth open and vulnerable to sharp, pointy probes and other instruments of torture cleaning.

The first thing the hygienist did was scrape some plaque and smear it on the slide so she could examine it under the microscope and look for active, evil bacteria.  She shares this with me via a tv monitor. 

Thanks very much, but I prefer watching Good Morning America at that hour instead of spinning rods, spirochetes, and other squiggly things jumping around spasmodically.  In.  My.  Mouth.

Rationally, I've always known that various types of bacteria live in our bodies.  Heck, gagillions of millions of the microscopic suckers inhabit the world.  How do germaphobes function??

It's different when you don't actually SEE them.  This morning I was face to face with them but, thank God, there were blessedly few to be seen.  All the intense brushing, daily flossing, and daily irrigating with jet propulsion water and PerioGuard does the trick!

Still... I got to thinking.  Even with my diligent home care and deep cleaning four times a year, I can't completely rid my mouth of bacteria.

And what about the rest of the world?

Specifically, what about the next guy that I kiss??? 

When kissing, two people do more than swap spit... they're mingling bacteria.

What a realization to have before 9 am.

Got Perioguard?

 

 

After spending 12 years living with a germophobe, I know waaaaay too much about bacteria. My ex had a battery powered ultraviolet light (like you see on CSI) and he would draw the shades, turn off all the light, and check for bacteria. Rubber gloves and chlorine bleach were biggies in our house.
If he saw my home now, he'd be in the fetal position.