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So, for these past few months, I had, without really thinking about it, been going fluoride free. For most of my life I'd just use the little sample tubes the dentist hands out every visit, and gotten remarks like "excellent, healthy teeth" and I went 21 years with no cavities or any real oral health issues.

For the past few months I've been using burt's bees all natural toothpaste, which does not have any fluoride in it. I think they made a fluoride containing version, but I didn't bother switching to it, since I already had the big tube.

This month, less than a week after my 21st, I had a dentists check-up, and low and behold, despite my actually improving flossing regiment, I had two small cavities in my back molars, facing eachother.

Now I'm going to have to get them to drill in from the surface of my teeth and fill it so it doesn't spread down to the root. Oh joy, shall I get the white fillings, with the shorter lifespan and the toxic plasticizers, or the ones that break down over time into elemental mercury and make your mouth taste like metal?

I wasn't even really sucked into this whole "fluoride is big government water poisoning" debate, because honestly I think that's whack. I just wanted to avoid sucralose and weird industrial preservatives.

I've asked about having the mercury removed but at this point it's better left in. It's a bit like asbestos. Asbestos is fine as long as you don't disturb it. The fillings are in there and taking them out (my dentist pretty much did all my molars) would be more dangerous than leaving them in. I might get them removed way down the road and replaced with gold or something.