composite nightmares

on tuesday, i went home to have my tooth fixed and it was pretty rough.  although my grandpa was able to reconstruct the tooth using composite goo (saving me from needing an immediate crown and sparing me from ever needing a root canal), the news was still all fairly mixed.  apparently, none of my composite fillings are permanent (which, to my grandpa's credit, i've been told over and over my entire life - but never truly understood the gravity of until this week), meaning that all the many cavities i've had (and all the ones i may have in the future) are essentially gaping wounds covered in band-aids.  a composite lasts for a maximum of eight to ten years, meaning that i am now a dentist's dream, as i will have to have near-constant composite upkeep.  the non-permanence of this really upsets me.  it's one thing to have a ton of cavities and another entirely to never been able to permanently knock them out.  so, although i've been living just fine (with the exception of the broken tooth, obviously) with composite fillings for years and years, i feel like now i'm painfully aware of how shitty it is to have them.  what's worse is that my grandpa told me dentists are shying away from putting silver alloy fillings in anyone's mouth, allergy or no, precisely because filling a tooth with a composite means having a life-long customer - which is a little disgusting.  

there is a glimmer of hope, however.  my teeth may be able to re-mineralize enamel eaten away by cavities, and now the plan is for me to use all the fluoride products i can get my hands on - meaning prescription fluoride toothpaste (like the kind they force upon children during dental appointments), fluoride mouthwash and fluoride gum.

sadly, it will probably take much more than a metric ton of fluoride to make me feel less humiliated about having, at 22, worse teeth than my grandparents (well, one set, anyway).