The secret's out!

Whoever discovered that plaque was revealed by a little pink tablet, a disclosure tablet, was pretty inventive.

Bottom line, passing POH's for me are difficult and this tablet proves it. It took me 4 attempts to pass my first POH requirement, finally with a 97.3% plaque-free score. This was music to my ears. After trial and error, I eventually felt like I got the necessary recipe for a plaque-free mouth. With the help of Mrs. Diaz during my third attempt of POH round 1, I was able to go home with the disposable mirror and disclosure tablets that she gave me to see exactly where I was missing. This was very helpful to me and I appreciate her assistance.

I have a significant loss of sensation on my mandible due to trigeminal nerve damage as a result of orthognathic surgery. I am unable to get a good feel for what I'm achieving with my toothbrush or floss. The sensations I feel are variable and at times almost undescribable. So this means that I must pay close attention to what exactly I'm doing. To give me a better chance at passing sooner than later, I purchased an Oral-B powered toothbrush, which includes a pressure sensor. This notifies me when I'm pressing too hard at my gingiva.

Prior to my acquiring this toothbrush equipped with the pressure sensor, I was actually causing recession of my gums since I was brushing with too much force. I also have changed my floss to a woven floss. The thickness of this floss allows me to confidently cover more surface area of the interproximal areas, especially in the posterior teeth where I cannot easily see where my floss is going. I'm sure that it is difficult for many people to imagine what this loss of sensation feels like and I never really understood the full extent to what exactly nerves do for you before this happened to me. Since my surgery, May 2008, I've experienced a plethora of sensations and had to adapt to them all and this is just another thing. Regardless of the difficulties, I wouldn't change having the procedure done for the world.

POH's continue to remain a challenge for me, as I did not successfully achieve 90% plaque-free score on the second round of POH's last week. I will try again November 9th and embrace the opportunity of working towards a plaque-free mouth.