My First Electric Oral-B Toothbrush: I Have Entered the Space Age

In a way it's kind of funny that I am a blogger and freelance writer who depends on the internet and technology for her very livelihood because in many ways I buck certain attempts at modernization.

• I have an iTouch but I use an antique MixMaster Junior with an broken handle because I love it.
• I have a laptop and a netbook but not a flatscreen TV or cable or even a digital converter box (though technically that can be lamed on cruddy reception)
• I salivate on cue at the idea of having a smartphone (without the monthly bills) but I prefer not to drive unless I have to and would rather not leave home 9 days out of 10 because my work is here and I love to work.

Until recently one of my feeble protests against "the man" was never having owned or used an electric toothbrush. My little brother had one, but the idea of having a little rotating stick in my mouth seemed overrated...odd. Of course, to my ancestors the idea of a daily shower probably sounded odd, so I'm not really sure what I was silently protesting.

I got past all of it the other day when I went in for the teeth cleaning I blogged about previously. Have I ever mentioned here that I have a small mouth (it is big in the ways that count!)? After I had my wisdom teeth cut out a couple of months and became borderline obsessive about dental hygiene, I had noticed that really getting in and around my second molars was difficult because the tooth brush would fit back there but didn't have much room to move back and forth.

A bit of scraping and picking later on Monday, when the dental hygienist suggested that I may have better results on those back teeth with an electric toothbrush, you had better believe I listened. I went to Hy-Vee after the Dentist and picked up the cheapest adult Oral-B electric toothbrush on the rack to see if I liked it, and I do.

I actually brush my teeth longer and feel like a lot more good goes on in the far reaches of my mouth than ever before. After this battery operated puppy gives out on me, I will probably invest in one with the changeable tips (or maybe this one does that...my husband opened up and tossed the package before I ever thought about reading it.)

At the end of the day, I find it amusing how quickly we adapt to and embrace technology in some parts of our life and shun it in others. I find it even more amazing that I do this considering I have been through the gamut of medical processes - genetic testing, 100+ X-Rays, an MRI, casts, splints, etc.

Yet I balked at the idea of an electric toothbrush

We humans are strange creatures.