Be Your Own Dentist

Hello there. I'm so glad you could join me today. I know you've been feeling a lot of stress and frustration lately. So I'm happy you've decided to take some time to relax and to reset. You won't need anything special for this exercise other than your body, your breath, and a pair of stainless steel slip-joint pliers that you can set to the side for now. So, find a comfortable place to sit and let's begin by taking a full, deep, nourishing breath in and a long, relaxing exhale out. As you gently close the eyes, continuing to breathe deeply and consciously, allowing your lungs to fill up to thеir capacity as you scan your body for tension. Starting at the crown of the hеad and working slowly down the body, simply notice where there might be some residual tightness left over from the stress of your day. Relax the jaw, shrug the shoulders, rotate the torso gently from side to side, and imagine that you are dusting off the noise of your busy, active life. Inhaling through the nose, exhaling out the mouth. It's natural for the mind to wander while we do this. And while our thoughts will certainly drift and scatter, we need only notice and not be discouraged that the mind is not calm or clear. I like to imagine each train of thought as a rambunctious toddler with dirty feet running into the forest. I smile gently and let them go, but I don't chase after them into the woods because I know they will be eaten or murdered and that makes me sad. Bringing our attention once again back to the natural rhythm of our breath, let's dive into the focus of this meditation: the mouth. As we open wide and close a few times to stretch out the jaw muscles, we can reflect on just how much traffic this busy section of the body has to deal with every day. We are often told not to touch our face, so I invite you to be a little bit bad and go ahead and firmly dig into the lower jawline with your fingertips. Massaging in a circular pattern, traveling from under the ears and towards the chin. Isn't it funny how something so simply can feel so...delicious? Inhaling through the nose, exhaling out the mouth. Now, grab the pair of pliers and open wide, like you are about to eat a very large and very tasty submarine sandwich. Quickly locate one of your top back molars with your tongue—it doesn't matter which side. Then, carefully direct the pliers inside the mouth until you can feel a firm and steady grip on that molar. Take a few very deep breaths in and out through the mouth, drying out any moisture on the enamel of the tooth so that the jaws of the pliers can enjoy a sure and steady grip. Now as you take a long, full inhalation, tighten your grip on the handle as much as you can and, while you exhale, wrench the pliers with all the force you can summon up and away and down, and repeat this until you hear the crunch of the bone as it breaks and separates from the spongy flesh of the gums. You'll likely notice an unfamiliar sensation, one that you might describe as excruciating, but don't let that disturb you from the task at hand. Continue to breathe deliberately in and out through the mouth, tightening the grip on the handle and wrenching, tugging, and twisting the pliers on the exhale until the molar is set free. Working our way from left to right in a steady, deliberate fashion, notice the throbbing of the nerves as they pulse and quiver over the coppery pool of blood filling up inside the mouth. A casual tilt of the head will empty you out so we can reinsert the pliers with a nice, strong grip as we work on the next tooth. You'll quickly notice how different the shapes of our teeth are and you'll naturally need to adjust your technique as you move from molars to premolars or bicuspids to canines and incisors, which can be so darn slippery. It might be hard to focus at this point as shock is likely to set in. Please, be patient. Take all the time you need and remember to come back to the deep, rhythmic assurance of the breath; inhaling, exhaling, inhale, exhale, in and out, in and out.