Living in world where going to the dentist is both a privilege and a burden is one of the great ironies of life. Frankly, we love our appearance just as we love our teeth. But deep inside, many people have doubts if brushing their teeth really does the job of maintaining a great smile through the course of their lives. A lot of people believe that the appearance, luster and durability of the teeth are inherited, not earned. A growing number of individuals, through the hype of the “debunking through the help of the internet” phenomena, believe in the pretense that getting composite fillings are not required to have a future-proof set of teeth; moreover, with the concept of “overmaintenance”, the 21st century has made people even more unreliable with their daily rituals, including brushing their teeth.

A recently held poll in the United Kingdom suggested a staggering decline in the number of people who brush and floss on a daily basis. The two minutes` time to be spent on brushing our teeth, as suggested by dentists, is not being followed anymore and people who brush their teeth are doing it in less than 30 seconds – not very effective if you ask us.

By “brushing off” dentists’ advice, people are becoming more prone to serious dental health issues. Little do people know that maintaining a good oral regimen can increase the average lifespan to 20 years. The awareness campaigns on television seem to have little to no effect on the mindset of people when it comes to brushing their teeth. Or are we just missing something? If you notice, the adverts being aired on TV do not specify a time range of at least two minutes on brushing our teeth. And if you pay attention even more, all of the actors have really, really white teeth – not a very great way to please the 80% of viewers who have imperfect, yellowish teeth. If you’d ask us, more “realistic” campaigns should be aired – and they shouldn’t use actors who underwent an insanely thorough bleaching experience. To get people to pay attention and not just listen to professional advice, one should be use a realistic approach that uses naturally whitened teeth and not teeth that look like they just got out of the laboratory.

Going back to the subject of why people tend to eat at a burger joint instead of going to the dentist. We’ll give you the top three reasons (besides dental fear) on why people don’t just have the nerve to go to the dentist:

1.) Pride – pride is an awfully destructive human feeling. Pride comes in two forms: vanity and ignorance. Unluckily for men, who do the most damage to the teeth, ignorance comes in first. Men have mastered the art of “do-it-yourself” techniques that almost instantaneously boosts their pride even more when they encounter any health issues. By abstaining from doing what they previously did, like eating sweet and acidic foods, a majority of the male population think that any problem will go away. Well, for a fact, it won’t go away, more so if the problem has already penetrated in the inner regions of the tooth, say the dentin or the pulp.

As they experts say: eat your pride or else it will eat you.

2.) Money Constraints – as we’ve said earlier, going to the dentist is both a privilege and a luxury. And money is no small issue. For a third world country, going to the dentist may mean shaving off a week’s amount of pay just to pay for dental expenses on a single visit. Money is also so important to people who live frugal lives that the idea of going to the dentist is often their last resort. And right now, in the 21st century, there’s a mentality that has just set in: spending more money on useless things to impress your friends. In that case, you won’t impress anyone with your gadgets if your teeth repelled them before they even get to see your toys.

That being said, to avoid outrageously high dental expenses, do the basics. Brush and floss your teeth regularly and eat less of the bad stuff. Doing those simple things might save you thousands of dollars in dental bills the next time you get an appointment.

3.) Time Constraints – we’re not living in the industrial period, but little do we know that we overwork ourselves on a daily basis. Thanks to the internet, an additional 6 hours of our lives gets dedicated to things we shouldn’t even be doing in the first place. This is also a reason why adolescents and young adults are having a hard time maintaining their dental health: they would rather go to party, play games at home or socialize with their friends on Facebook than go visit the dentist.

Going to the dentist may sound like a time waster but looking at our activities, there’s no better time waster than doing the things we love: spending countless hours chatting and gaming for no apparent benefit at all. We’re not mad or anything, but the population needs to wake up. Health comes first. Health will always come first.