Lesson learned.

This past summer, I picked up a bad habit of opening cans of beer or soda with my front teeth. I didn't do to try to impress anyone or make me look tough, I did it because my sissy fingers wouldn't fit under the little tab. And the more I tried, the more my fingers hurt.
My wife didn't take to this new can opening trick. She scolded me like I was a 10 yr old every time I did it. I told her each time that my front teeth were strong, and not to worry about it.

Today I had my second annual dentist check up. Before I went, Jen told me I should check with the dentist to see what he thought of my can opening techinique.

The dentist appointment went well. There is a spot on a couple of my teeth that he seemed interested in, but he said we'll check those in a year to see how they're doing. Otherwise, he scraped, picked, gouged and cleaned with regular mint tooth paste (I dig the bubblegum flavor).

When he was all done, he asked if I had any questions. Perfect opportunity!! I started off by asking him, if a young guy like me has strong rooted front teeth. He agreed, but had a puzzled look on his face. "Are you concerned about your teeth?" he asked. I responded, "well, sometimes when I have trouble opening a beer can with my fingers, I use my front teeth to open the can, and my wife says its not good for me to do." I wasn't sure if he was mad or about to crack up, but he replied with "well, we really don't like to hear that your using your teeth for anything but eating." He then discussed (studying the x-rays of my two front teeth) that, although I have strong rooted teeth (pointing with his pen at the roots), breaking them would cause serious pain and more problems then I'd want to deal with. He closed with "It's ok to drink beer, but just don't open them with your front teeth."

I kind of felt like a dork afterwards, so I stuck around to chat it up with him and the nurse/secretary so they'd see I wasn't an absolute screw off and drop me as a patient. Luckily they scheduled another appointment in six months, so I think I'm safe there.

Next I just need to have a discussion with Jen about the finances, because the only time I drink canned beer, is when I'm broke. So, with a few more $ thrown my way each month, I can afford bottled beer all the time and never have to worry about opening a can of beer again!! :)