Taking the Jaws Off of Life

I was visiting the Dentist's office this week for my 6 month cleaning and check-up. Besides the Soft Rock and Pop music which makes me want to puke, going to the Dentist for me is a fairly perfunctory affair. No drills or shots usually. I have one cavity and age 52 that is pretty good. I have hard teeth. Must be the same reason I have a hard head.

Ever since the 1970's, going to the Dentist has only been to clean the choppers. I miss the spittoons and don't dig that sucker of saliva instrument because the grit the Hygienist uses to clean the teeth doesn't clear up well with the sucking action. Better to spew it from my mouth.

I never follow the typical every six-month protocol for X-Rays. I learned during my visit that I am either going to have to comply with the X-Ray protocol or switch Dentists. The office has a rule that all patients must get X-Rays at least once every three years. Oh well, I fought the good fight. I just don't like the idea of radiation being beamed through my skull. I absorbed a lot of radiation when I was a kid because I was accident-prone and reckless. Always at the hospital for breaking something.

After the cleaning this week, the Dentist came by to do his thing. He always does a little scraping. He mentioned again that it looks like I grind my teeth and clench my jaw a lot. He stated that as I get older, my jaw--like any piece of mechanical equipment--is going to wear out if I continue to clench my jaw. Then, it is Gerber-Time with mushy peas.

I think I got in the habit of clenching when I was a Senior in high school. I was dealing with a lot of psychic disjunction and confusion and I thought clenching my teeth was a way to fight through adversity, a perpetual biting of the bullet.

When I was about 11, I was at Fort Ticonderoga and saw musket balls with teeth marks on display from Revolutionary War surgery. So, I think I believed that life was a war and I was wounded. Bite baby, bite. The Dentist had tried to sell me a glorified mouthpiece $ 150 last time I visited. I declined. But, it did make me think this time as to whether I could get in the habit of keeping my teeth and jaw unclenched while keeping my mouth closed.

So, all week, I have been mindful of the this. I tend to get dull headaches in the right side of my brain due to the lingering effects of Cerebral Palsy. Rather than drilling down on the pain, I am going to other way with it. Keeping my jaws open but my mouth closed. The headaches just kind of free float but they do seem to be decreasing in intensity. So, I wonder if the clenching of the teeth and jaw has actually been the cause of the headaches rather than the cure.

It is interesting that the Bible contains a lot of paradoxical teaching, like losing one's life to find it. To bring Division and Peace. So, taking my Jaws off of life might be a way to create and more open-ended approach to trouble. Rather than doubling-down, let it dissipate. As it is said, we don't have to attend every fight we are invited to. Lay it down and keep it open.

Something to ponder...