THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
night. One time, we went too far, and I couldn’t fill up the tank before getting back home. I was sweating as my mom got ready to take me to school in the morning. She turned the key, saw that the tank was almost empty, and muttered, “Your father told me this would be good on gas ...” JAMES: ‘WISH I HAD A GRAPPLE GUN’ One night, I snuck out to see a girl. My room was on the second floor, and my parents had noise sensors that went off every time a door opened or closed. I popped out the screen on my window, figuring I could find a way out from the roof. The only option was to jump to an adjacent tree that was just out of reach. I went back to my room, grabbed a belt, and tried to use it as a whip, like Indiana Jones. It didn’t grab the branch tightly enough, though. I ended up with three bruised ribs and a sprained ankle, and I was grounded for a month. REBECCA: ‘SNEAKING IN’ Sneaking out was never my forte, but sneaking people in sure was.There was an entry to my basement from the garage, so I would leave the back door to the garage unlocked, and my friends could slip in. One night, we had the bright idea to sneak in some boys. After one of them tripped and knocked over our canned food collection, my parents came running downstairs. When my dad took two steps toward his gun safe, the boys high-tailed it out of there.
Trying to slip out a window after Mom and Dad have gone to sleep is nothing new; kids have been trying to sneak out since the invention of houses. These three stories are sure
to bring back memories of your own clandestine adventures and close calls!
JESSICA: ‘GRAND THEFTMINIVAN’ My parents’ 1985 Ford Aerostar was something of a hot commodity because you could pack seven crazy teenagers in it and go for the best joyrides. As my parents were getting ready for bed, I’d run our air compressor to pretend I was pumping my bike tires, but I was actually using the noise to disguise the sound of the garage door opener. Once they were asleep, I’d pick up my friends, and we’d see how far we could make it in one
A Word From
Kalie and Caryn
maintaining and treating it. Because of the pockets that form beneath the gums when bone loss occurs, it’s difficult to maintain the condition with just home care.The buildup that occurs beneath the gums when four or more teeth are affected has to be maintained through more frequent professional deep cleanings.
In our last column, you learned about Scaling and Root Planing 1–3, the professional cleaning that occurs
when one to three teeth in a quadrant show buildup. When four or more teeth in a quadrant are affected by periodontal disease, we continue to do deep cleanings with an emphasis on bone-loss maintenance. Similar to Scaling and Root Planing 1–3, when four or more teeth in a quadrant are affected, we’ll continue with deep cleanings, going below the gums to remove hardened buildup and bacteria. We use a laser to go under the gums, kill the bacteria, and promote a healthier environment within the mouth.This step helps take some of the diseased tissue off the gums so new tissue can thrive. Once bone loss is established in four teeth or more in a quadrant, we monitor the disease by making reservations with a patient every 3–4 months. At this stage, we are not preventing disease so much as we are
When we see people who’ve skipped a few cleanings, it’s not uncommon for them to need a deep cleaning to get back to a healthy state. Unless it’s evolved to the point when four or more
teeth in a quadrant are affected, there’s still the possibility of getting back to health.That’s why it’s so important to come in for your regularly scheduled reservations. In next month’s column, we’ll share more about perio-maintenance and what home care and professional care look like at that stage.
–Kalie and Caryn
2 | Elkins Dental
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