Routine Maintenance: Beyond Dental Cleanings

We use the word "maintenance" when we talk about periodontal management visits. People outside of dentistry and dental hygiene do routine maintenance checks on their cars to keep them running well, and regular physicals to check up on our bodies.

It's also a good idea to perform routine check-ins with our minds and hearts to see if we're keeping on track with what we want to do and create with our lives. Since February is coming to a close, and many of you have established goals or resolutions for 2009, now is a great maintenance point.

Here are 10 areas of inquiry:

1. Am I asking for what I need? Do I act as my own advocate?

2. What do I want?

3. Am I taking good care of myself?

a) Check in with the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual aspects of your life.

b) Have you scheduled or made time for your "routine medical visits?" Eyes, physical blood work/metabolic screenings, mammogram, prostate screening (if applicable)

c) Find at least one thing you like about your body. Write it down. Tomorrow, find another.

d) Get rid of all the clothes that you don't like or that make you uncomfortable.

4. Is there something I need to do that I haven't done? What's in the way?

5. Am I resisting something? Not follow-up with someone? Is my "to do" pile building?

a) The things we resist most often can provide the greatest opportunity for growth.

6. Am I holding onto something I need to let go of?

a) Letting go can be difficult. But it's the only way to move forward.

7. Am I repeating old patterns? Do the same problems or situations show up wearing different clothes? If so, it might be time to dig deep into the bottom of this closet.

a) Why continue to do the same thing and expect different results?

8. Is there something for me to learn here?

a) When we resist, hold on, and repeat harmful or unsatisfying patterns, there's almost always a life lesson underneath.

9. Am I at peace with people, places, and things in my life?

10. Am I having fun?

Kristine A. Hodsdon RDH, BS
Director, RDH eVillage