This morning I was going through my usual routine for taking care of my teeth. Brushing, flossing, then swishing around some mouth wash. Over my years of life I have had just a few cavities that needed to be filled, and I have two crowns due to the fact that I still have a couple baby teeth. It’s a genetic thing. The baby teeth never had adult teeth under them. In recent years my dentist has said that it looks like I will be able to keep my baby teeth my whole life even though it is rare.
This morning I thought about oral care. I brush my teeth at least twice a day, occasionally three times a day, with a toothpaste with fluoride, and once I got into my 40s I made flossing a priority too. I also drink water that is cleaned well, and often is fluoridated. Sometimes it is bottled or sometimes right out of the tap.
As a child I remember my grandparents both having false teeth. My grandmother wore hers all the time, but my grandfather did not. I think they bothered him. I remember sitting at the kitchen table and grandpa not wearing his teeth, talking in a way that was difficult for my young self to understand. I also remember him soaking his teeth in a glass to clean them. My grandparents teeth were pulled out because they lived at a time when there was not fluoride in toothpastes or in drinking water. Dental care was minimal.
Wow. We have come a long way!
I am blessed to have good teeth, but I had help because in my childhood years Crest toothpaste had fluoride in it. In fact, I looked it up. Crest started adding fluoride in 1956, the year I was born. A few years later, the American Dental Association, a group of dentists and dental researchers, was created to give clinical guidelines, to do oral health research, and to give their ‘seal of approval’ on products safe and helpful for good care. Now I can buy lots of brands of toothpaste that contain flavoring, whiteners, and more.
Why am I telling you this?
Here in the US we have the American Dental Association, and we have all kinds of federal health organizations that require companies to meet quality standards. We have federally funded research labs. We pay experts to continue to improve products we all use. We also have important watchdogs. We rely on hard working citizens, and their expertise, to help take care of our health.
In the past two weeks we have seen federal government employees, non-political men and women, people who are dedicated, some specialists in their fields, fired for the simple reason that Trump and his people want to reduce money spent on them. It is happening very fast so we don’t know the full effect of these firings or we don’t know how their absence will hurt all of our wellness. But, I have to wonder….
Will the saving of money this way backfire as Americans have less safeguards in place? Less improvements in care? Less people doing the work to keep us safe?
I also find it interesting that the ones fired are supposedly the ‘new hires’ and yet, without taking time to know who they are, they are just simply let go. Are they younger? Perhaps people starting out in a career? Are they the ‘next generation’ who should be continuing the work? Are they the least paid since they are new? We don’t know yet. But it makes me wonder and worry about the future.
My good teeth is one example of how I am fortunate enough to live in a place that has valued health care. Yes, it still costs – sometimes a lot. And, that’s a whole ‘ other discussion. (Don’t get me started on taking big business out of medical insurance, and equal health care for all).
I sincerely hope we will not see a decline in maintaining the excellence of health care, and really in the quality control in many aspects of American life, due to the rapid firings and closings that are going on now. At what point will we see that saving money may be too detrimental to the well being of people? And, do the leaders of our country now (Trump, Musk) care about that? How do they measure success? Who are they really working for?
I am not blind to the fact there is some fleecing (ill-use of funds), and some people trying to ‘beat the system.’ We certainly have wasted money within the thousands of federal organizations in the country. But, the ‘willy nilly’ firings, and the quick stoppage of work, is not the way to find the abuses. Shutting down computers during the night and employees coming in to work in the next morning with no access is simply wrong. It’s detrimental to us all.
So, I don’t know… maybe get your health screenings now. Buy products while we have safeguards in place. Order food cooked well done just in case. oh, and stock up on items that will be heavily tariffed.
We might all be on our own a lot more soon.
The Trump administration is working fast on purpose, and they are slashing where ever they want to without regard of who will hurt.
You might want to get to the dentist.
Marla’s Musings 