Hristo's FI Journal

[Hristo Botev]

Are you asking bc you are not aware of the benefits of flossing or bc you think there is some conspiracy by “Big Floss” to make up those benefits?

[mathiverse]

I'm curious too. I'm aware of the theoretical benefits of flossing and I do so everyday and have for a few years. But, in practice, there were few, maybe even zero (my memory is vague on the matter), signs of change once I started flossing daily.

[jacob]

How can you tell flossing has paid off?

You (or rather your dentist) can run an A/B study over those who floss regularly and those who don't. The visible difference takes a few decades to manifest. (Gums bleeding more easily is more immediate. If you're very good at it, your gums will never bleed, even when the dentist is picking at them.)

The idiom about being "long in the tooth" figuratively means being old but it literally is due to gum lines that have receded (this is permanent, like a ratchet) due to inflammation thus making the teeth appear longer (and feel more sensitive to cold or warm food). Ultimately, it can get so bad that the teeth get loose and have to be taken out. Note the difference between the dental habits of different generations and their prevalence of dentures.

[Biscuits and Gravy]

I thought “long in the tooth” was equine related because their teeth grow as they age.

[mathiverse]

Ah, maybe I wasn't as aware of the benefits of flossing as I thought. That explains it. That also explains why I didn't notice a difference after I began the practice. I started long before gum recession would make itself apparent.

[delay]

That's an interesting remark about flossing, I just finished the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. It shows skulls in ancient graves have perfect teeth. Back when the book was written there were still native tribes with little contact with modern society. The author travelled around the world and examined their teeth, and found them in perfect condition, even though they don't brush or floss. He noticed that when Eskimo's switch from their native diet to supermarket food their teeth deteriorate quickly. The author settled on the explanation that what you eat influences tooth health.

I find that when I eat hard food, like carrots, some apples or baguettes, I get stronger gums.

[zbigi]

I've been eating at least two apples a day most of my adult life. Probably one carrot a day on average as well. My dental hygiene is poor by current standards (I've been brushing teeth only once a day most of my life, and I've never flossed), and yet I'm 42 and never had a cavity. My gums are also in good shape I guess (no bleeding ever), except for some recession on a couple of teeth that was probably caused by bad brushing technique when I was young (that's how the dentist diagnosed it). So I'm a bit scepitcal on necessity of all the dental hygiene routines that are currently prescribed, esp. given the research that native people have perfect tooth while following zero hygiene. The research on efficacy of dental prevention is done on people who follow modern (terrible) diets and have plenty of teeth problems. I don't know of any research that would pertain to people who eat reasonably.

[fiby41]

The author settled on the explanation that what you eat influences tooth health.

Does how you eat it also matter? Like biting into an entire apple, carrot or sugarcane verses having it sliced, chopped or crushed respectively?

@jacob what is the minimum interval required between two posts? I got the "You cannot make another post so soon after your last." error.

[delay]

Does how you eat it also matter? Like biting into an entire apple, carrot or sugarcane verses having it sliced, chopped or crushed respectively?

The book suggests the teeth themselves are maintained and repaired by nutrients that are often missing from modern food. As far as I recall it never discusses how people eat.

[Lemur]

Ancient people did not deal with added sugars in their diets. I'm guessing that explains it in regards to not seeing as much tooth decay as modern peoples.

[delay]

Ancient people did not deal with added sugars in their diets. I'm guessing that explains it in regards to not seeing as much tooth decay as modern peoples.

Natural fruits like oranges contain lots of sugar. Yet fruit eating primitive tribes are not affected by caries until they switch to a modern diet with white floor, refined sugar and canned goods. So the book's theory is that we lack nutrients to build healthy teeth.

The book mentioned an island where trader ships stopped coming after the islanders' produce went down in price. The natives switched back to their natural diet and their teeth started to repair. Children born after the traders left had healthy teeth.

[Hristo Botev]

I'm really unmotivated to work today given that the rest of my office and most of my clients are on vacation this week and so it's all backburner stuff and inbox triage that I should be working on. So . . . , an update I guess as I procrastinate.

This weekend I set up for DD the social media accounts that have become obligatory for aspiring college athletes. Oh how far I've come in my thinking on such things; the world seems to be getting simultaneously less black and white and more black and white for me. DD of course still does not have a phone capable of accessing those social media accounts.

Unrelated: Given that I'm starting to recognize some of the benefits of the consistent, habitual practices I've incorporated into my daily routine (viewtopic.php?p=290973#p290973), I've recently started incorporating praying the "lite" version of the Liturgy of the Hours--i.e., the morning prayer (lauds) and the evening prayer (vespers), which is the baseline expectation of the permanent deaconate (https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teach ... l%20Church.). I'm considering the permanent deaconate as the days when we'll be empty nesters is starting to come into sight, so I figured it can't hurt to get a little more intentional in my daily prayer practice, apart from simply our family's tradition of nighttime prayers and prayers before meals. I'm using the iBreviary app; and although it took some research to figure out how all this works, I'm starting to get the hang of it. My experience thus far (only a week in) is that it is a good practice to keep Christ as a centerpiece of my life. Also, the psalms--which are the centerpiece of the LotH and are not something I've immersed myself in before beyond their incorporation into Mass--are truly beautiful. There's something really wonderful about the unifying aspect of praying the same prayers at the same times as the Church the world over.

So the daily routine during the workweek is now:

5:15-6:15: Wake up and take the dog for a brisk 5K walk
6:15-6:30: Lauds
6:30-6:45: Lectio Divina
6:45-7:45: Heavy lifting reading ("Great Books," theology, history)
7:45-8: Shower
8-4: Work
4-4:15: Vespers
4:15-9:15: Family time (dinner, games, TV, kids' extracurriculars); light reading; weightlifting MWF

Also, writing out that schedule reminds me how much I love not having a work commute.

ETA: The Liturgy of the Hours was prompted a couple weekends ago when DD and I, traveling back from a travel soccer thing, were talking about the John Senior book I'm reading, and about his schedule for an ideal boys' boarding school, and talking about how that compared to life in the middle ages and also the daily routine for monks living under the Rule of St. Benedict. And DD was saying how much she would love that sort of life, where life and culture was truly centered around God--feast days, praying the hours prompted by the parish bells, etc.--and how much easier it must have been to be a saint then than now, where everything about modern life and "culture" seems purposely designed to draw you away from God. Anyway, it was a good conversation. I learn a lot from DD; she is very thoughtful and deliberate in her speech--she's very different in me in that respect in that I am usually way too quick to say things out loud.

[delay]

Thanks for your journal update! The Liturgy of the Hours sounds interesting. I remember Lauds and Vespers from the Brother Cadfael books. What introduction for saying these prayers can you recommend?

[Hristo Botev]

Thanks for your journal update! The Liturgy of the Hours sounds interesting. I remember Lauds and Vespers from the Brother Cadfael books. What introduction for saying these prayers can you recommend?

This was helpful for me in getting started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INtzt6Ib2aA

[delay]

This was helpful for me in getting started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INtzt6Ib2aA

Thanks! I found some actual prayers to say at https://divineoffice.org. Going to give it a try with two prayers a day!

[Hristo Botev]

I'm going to go ahead and put this confession right here so that (hopefully) I remember it whenever I get the expensive toy bug again, but we just got an offer on our boat that we bought (very) used 2 years ago, and if the sale goes through (knock on wood), we will have spent over $14,000 for maybe 5 trips out on the water, NOT counting gas, insurance, registration, boat storage, and various other (expensive) random items like buying various parts for maintenance, cleaning, etc. (which I don't even want to think about adding up).

Specifically, we bought the boat for $26K; we are selling it (hopefully) for $21,500, with the broker taking a $4,000 commission (that's over 18%!); and we spent over $1,800 on a boat detail. We'd have been better off doing one of those boat membership things, which would have gotten us nicer boats and not involved any of the cleaning, maintenance, storage, etc. issues that come with owning a boat.

Ugh. Good riddance.

With the boat (knock on wood) and travel camper sold, hopefully we as a family have finally learned our lesson about expensive toys.

[suomalainen]

Two happiest days of a boat owner's life! Mazel tov!

[Hristo Botev]

The shed project is now complete (the inside, at least). Finished the shoffice a few months ago and have now completed the shop part of the shed, which has become my new happy place.


Speaking of the shoffice, I bought myself a new toy; it's a testament to how much of a desk jockey I am that I'm giddy about this keyboard--it's an absolute pleasure to type with.

[jacob]

Blue cherry?

[Hristo Botev]

Blue cherry?

Yes sir.

Honestly, this is probably only something I can do because I work from home. If I had this keyboard back at the office the paralegal across the hall from me would probably take a hammer to it eventually.