I went to the dentist recently and asked him about my teeth stains. In particular, there were two teeth that I was most concerned about. These weren’t your overall yellow tinging teeth stains mind you, but were more of a concentrated stain that was more prominently visible on the tooth.

Don’t ask me why but I’ve always been concerned about the health of my teeth. Whether it’s straight enough, white enough, or doggonit, good enough for me, I’ve been trying my best to keep it in good health.

So after a moment of pondering, my dentist asked me if I grind my teeth. I told him that I was told in the past that I do grind my teeth. It was as if he had a Eureka moment in that his “aha!” was a relief for him to be able to answer my question.

As I grind my teeth, I put a lot of pressure on my teeth, forcing my teeth to move inwards and outwards. Doing an excessive amount of this will eventually break down my enamel, exposing the inner layers of my teeth. As my teeth surface begins to roughen, stains more easily trap in these areas. These stains, even the dentist cannot always remove.

It is because of this that my teeth stain easily. That, and the fact that some people’s teeth are more prone to staining than others. I guess that makes me the unlucky one. I’ve tried those teeth whiteners as well to no avail. Those Crest Whitestrips and liquid-based whiteners don’t do anything for me except drain my wallet.

He suggested (again) that I get a custom fit mouth guard to keep me from doing further damage to my teeth. At roughly $360 a guard, I tried to hold back on this luxury purchase. I suppose it’s not so much a luxury any more than it is a necessity for me now.

Sooner or later, I’ll have to treat these damaged teeth and those expenses will likely be higher than a mere $360 mouth guard. I’ve seen those $30 mouth guards that they sell at pharmacies, and inquired about them before as well. I was told that some of them may do even more damage to your teeth since extraneous friction from these guards will wreak havoc on your gums and teeth.

To keep my teeth happy, I’ve also made it a point to cut back on my coffee and tea drinking. My one cup of coffee a day, and a couple cups of tea now and then will be no longer. I’ll relegate myself to a social coffee drinker, and keep my tea drinking to just after dinner—for some reason I can’t seem to not drink Japanese or Chinese tea after dinner.

So there you have it. Teeth stain. And that’s a fact. Now you know one of the reasons why some teeth stain more than others. Are you going to do anything about it?

No, I didn’t mean the Apple iPad, nor the Nintendo DSi XL. I meant, spring temperatures! Or more like summer temperatures! By the end of the week, it’s predicted to be around the low 20s (Celsius), which is a stark contrast to the low single digits we’ve been having the last couple of weeks. I’m excited to enjoy this weather, especially coming during a long weekend here in Canada. The Easter weekend couldn’t have come at a better time.

I’m sure many people may think of getting their BBQs out of storage as these temperatures will be perfect for such occasions. Sadly, I am BBQless, so I won’t be doing any of that. Nonethless, I plan to enjoy this weekend to the fullest.

Mind you, I do have some work to do… one of which includes doing my annual taxes. Urgh. How I dread doing such boring tasks. But I suppose somebody has to do it. Hopefully this year I will get some money back. Doubtful, though.

Another task that I’ve been putting on the back burner is making my own light modifiers for my speedlights. I’ve been meaning to do that for the longest time now. I finally made the first move, by buying some foam from the local art supply store. All I need to do now is to get that into shape, glue some velcro on it, and hope that it works as planned. It’s a pretty straightforward thing to do, but I just never bothered to get around to it.

I’m also in the market for some coloured gels for my speedlights. Anybody know where I can get some? I’m looking for some CTO tungsten and Window green fluorescent gels, big enough to cover my SB-600s.

And with this warm weather coming our way, hopefully I can get to some shooting outside for a change. Enough of this indoor shooting. It’s time to go on location!

I missed last week’s episodes of AI9 so I wasn’t aware that my first choice contestant was voted out. It’s actually quite sad since America never really saw what I saw in her. I still believe she has more talent than some of the remaining contestants, and with her unique styling, she can still go a long way. I’m hoping she’ll stick to her guns and continue on with what she knows best.

Now on to my second choice, Crystal. At the very least, at least I now know that Simon thinks she can win this entire season. My third choice, Didi, is still in the competition, which is great. I believe she still has a long way to go in order to survive and go till the end, but this week, she showed some guts, and felt that she knew more what she needed to do.

Ah… so long to Lilly…