At the Dentist

I'm a cavity-free kid. That's not the point of this post, but I like not having to have a power drill attack my teeth.

I had gotten some x-rays done and was waiting for the hygienist to clean my teeth. She was stuck answering a million questions from some old lady who, from the sound of it, had no idea what a tooth was. A boy was taken into the exam area next to mine. It's all pretty open, architecturally speaking, so I could hear the x-ray technician talking to him. He was probably in his early teens. Maybe younger. I've never been able to judge age very well. I hear this conversation:

Technician: Now you had a route canal, right?
Kid: Yeah.
Tech: Has it been hurting you at all?
Kid: No. Sometimes it hurts if I don't brush my teeth for awhile, but then I brush them and it doesn't hurt anymore.
Tech: How long is awhile?
Kid: Um, like three days.
Tech: Three days?! You go three days without brushing your teeth?
Kid: Well, sometimes I lose it and (intelligible teenage mumbling)
Tech: You lose what, your toothbrush?
Kid: Yeah.
Tech: You don't keep it in the bathroom?
Kid: Yeah I do but (more intelligible teenage mumbling)

The tech did the whole dentist thing and asked about flossing and told him how he should brush and floss at least once a day, but preferably twice. Then she came over to my area and got these pictorial guides to brushing and flossing to give to the kid. She shot me a smirk.

Me: Did he say three days?
Tech: Yeah.
Me: Wow.

Okay, that's just gross. If I didn't brush my teeth twice a day, I would feel like they were just going to jump out of my mouth to go find a cleaner place to live. And logically speaking, if something hurts when you don't brush your teeth, then stops hurting when you brush, wouldn't you put two and two together and brush daily? I guess math isn't his strong suit. Along with oral hygiene.