Tooth and Consequences

At my regular dental cleaning six months ago, the hygienist was asking me in that polite but very pointed way whether I drink a lot of soda. Apparently, the enamel on my lower teeth was pretty worn down. Yes, I admitted, I drank quite a bit of it.

So between that and just a general thought that a tiny bit less high fructose corn syrup in my diet would be a good thing, I decided to cut back. Not cut entirely by any means. But the afternoon soda at work? Not necessary. The one or two every evening? That could easily be zero or one. And while I wasn't really strict about this or anything, I was definitely able to cut my soda consumption down to somewhere less than half what it was before.

But I do find water pretty flavorless. I want a taste to whatever it is I'm drinking. So in place of the soda, I started to drink a fair amount more tea -- trying not to sweeten it so much as to render the whole conversion moot.

Well folks, this is a no win scenario here. Because instead, about five weeks ago or so, I first notice this rather disgusting stain on one of my lower front teeth. It was looking positively British, if you subscribe to all those bad teeth clichés. I recently went in to the dentist for my latest cleaning and check-up, and find out this is a consequence of the tea. (It apparently could have been red wine also, were I the sort of person to indulge in that.)

I didn't get that "you really shouldn't do that" type of scolding from the hygienist this time that I did over the soda the time before. So I guess if I'm willing to endure a lot more scraping noises upon my appointments, this tea thing seems to meet with professional approval more than a Pepsi habit. (Hmmm... that last sentence really benefited from the fact that I prefer Pepsi, not Coke.)

Anyway, I'm frustrated that my choices seem to be rotting teeth, grungy teeth, or a lack of flavor. Is the cosmic message here "don't even bother"??