What Bulimia Does To Your Teeth

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

I went to a new dentist the other day. I hate going to the dentist, but I especially hate new ones. I hate the smell of the dental office, I hate the routine of taking images of my teeth, and I hate that a new dentist will explore my mouth for the first time, looking for any flaws they may be able to cash in on. What I hate more than almost anything though, is when the new dentist, with hands in my mouth, exclaims, “your teeth are very worn for someone your age.”

My teeth are warn in a specific way because I used to make myself throw up. Not every day, but often enough. For about three years, I vacillated between throwing up consistently and not. I would starve myself for awhile, then inevitably binge, then stick my toothbrush far enough down my throat that I’d throw up. I got pretty good at it, too. It’s gross, I know. It was lonely too, and wrong in a way I knew was obvious but couldn’t stop. I was like a rich kid who can’t help themselves from stealing. My eating disorder was an addiction and I didn’t really care how gross it was.

But my body suffered in a lot of ways, and one way that I didn’t really think about at the time, was my teeth. I didn’t see a dentist for a few years in college, and when I finally tracked down one that would take my crappy insurance, I had a lot of problems…