How to Brush One's Teeth

How to Brush One's Teeth,
Or: A Guide for the Thorough Cleansing of the Ingestive Orifice of Toothed Entities

This guide, hacked and compiled by Callista “Cally!” R. Womick on 8 Jan 2011, is intended for the use and/or amusement of self-aware, physical beings with visual capabilities and/or the capacity to extract and comprehend information from a typed document that would like instruction on the proper methodology for the cleaning of the oral structures known as teeth. The content of this guide is meant to apply solely to the teeth of human beings (Homo sapiens), but identical or similar procedures may be applied also to the teeth of a great many other versions of being.

For the purposes of this guide, the following definitions are to be assumed for all uses of the terms:

dirty:   having developed a noticeable film due to the growth and activity of bacteria; an unpleasant odor may also be present
grip: to hold firmly, but not so firmly as to cause damage to either the subject or object of gripping.
problem: a situation innately negative and/or capable of producing negative or undesirable results. To mitigate, see solution.
proximate: within arm’s reach, as it applies to the individual reach of your own arm(s) or comparable appendages at the ends of which are hands and/or comparable gripping mechanisms.
teeth:   a set of hard structures located in the ingestive orifice of many carbon-based life forms which serve the purpose of biting, rending, and grinding objects intended for ingestion with or without the intention of deriving nutritive benefit.
recognize: to become aware of; to understand; to know.
sink:    a tub, bowl, basin, or other concave structure equipped with a drain at its base and at least one tap capable of producing a variable flow of water, the flow and/or temperature of which is controlled by the use of a knob, button, handle, or other interactive device.
solution: a series of steps, actions, and/or processes intended to negate and/or decrease the effect of a problem.
toothbrush: any one of several variations on a theme of non-organically occurring tools consisting of handles with dimensions of approximately 1.7 x 17.5cm x 1.6cm studded on one surface of one end (usually the surface with the broader face; for a length of approximately 3.5cm) with compact organic or inorganic bristles and generally marketed for mass consumption as such.
toothpaste: any of several variations on a theme on organic and inorganic pastes, creams, gels, and suspensions believed to have properties including but not limited to the whitening of tooth enamel, the eradication of bacteria, the prevention of bacteria, and the elimination of undesirable odor of the mouth and generally marketed for mass consumption as such.

1.      Have an awareness of self as a spiritual, emotional, and/or (at the minimum) physical entity.

2.      Possess teeth.

3.      Possess teeth that are dirty.

a.       If your teeth are not dirty, wait an amount of time between 1 (one) standard hour and 24 (twenty-four) standard hours before reassessing the situation.

4.      Recognize that your teeth are dirty.

5.      Determine that possessing dirty teeth is a problem.

6.      Determine to fix the problem of having dirty teeth.

7.      Be or become aware of the processes involved in brushing teeth.

8.      Determine that brushing your teeth is a solution to the problem of having dirty teeth.

9.      Determine that brushing your teeth is the best available solution to having dirty teeth.
(For alternatives, see How to Lose a Fist Fight, Or: A Guide for Complete Failure in a Situation of One-on-One Combat with Emphasis on Ways in Which to Lose Life and Limb, Chapter 6: How to Take Shots to the Mouth for Maximum Tooth Loss; How to Die, Or: A Guide for Forgoing All One’s Mortal Obligations through the Forfeit of One’s Life; and Lysol: The Only Antibacterial Agent You’ll Ever Need.)

10.  Determine to brush your teeth.

11.  Possess toothpaste and/or (at bare minimum) a toothbrush.  

a.       If a toothbrush is not possessed, acquire one.

12.  If the toothbrush and/or toothpaste are present and proximate in the same temporal and physical plain as you, manipulate your dominant hand or comparable gripping mechanism of choice to enable yourself to physically move the toothbrush and/or toothpaste through time and space.

a.       If you do not possess a hand or comparable gripping mechanism, attempt to locate a conscious, mobile, friendly entity that does and communicate to him/her/it that you need and intend to brush your teeth and inquire as to whether it would be possible to use his/her/its hand or comparable gripping mechanism to do so.

                                                  i.      If you are unable to locate a conscious, mobile, friendly entity, wait until you are able to do so.

                                                ii.      If the located entity does not understand your communication, attempt again within the range of your available modes of communication and a composite time frame equal to the sum of a complete circuit of each mode of attempted communication.

1.      If after the range of time equal to the sum of a complete circuit of each mode of attempted communication successful communication has not been achieved, abandon attempts to communicate with this entity and return to step 12.a, exclusive of the entity with whom it has not been possible to communicate successfully.

                                              iii.      If the located entity understands your communication and assents, proceed through the following steps substituting all references to “your hand or comparable gripping mechanism” with “his/her/its hand or comparable gripping mechanism.”

                                              iv.      If the located entity understands your communication and dissents, return to step 12.a, exclusive of the dissenting entity.

b.      If you possess toothbrush and/or toothpaste but they are not present in the same temporal and physical plain as you, adjust your physical location until this is no longer the case.

                                                  i.      If it is not possible to adjust your physical location at this time, wait until it is possible.

c.       If another physical item precludes the use of your dominate hand (or comparable gripping mechanism of choice) to physically move the toothbrush and/or toothpaste through time and space, substitute another hand or comparable gripping mechanism.

                                                  i.      If another hand or comparable gripping mechanism is not available, discard a preoccupying possession to enable yourself to use either your dominate hand or a comparable gripping mechanism to physically move the toothbrush and/or toothpaste through time and space.

1.      If you are unable to discard a preoccupying possession at this time, wait until you are able to do so.

13.  If necessary, move yourself and the toothbrush and/or toothpaste to a sanitary, non-organic source of running water to which you legally, customarily, and/or circumstantially have access. Ideally, this water source will possess a mechanism for the sanitary and legal disposal of wastewater and possess all the characteristics of a sink.  

14.  Place your toothbrush on the edge of the sink, countertop, or comparable proximate sanitary surface.

15.  Should you possess toothpaste, grip it with your non-dominant hand or comparable gripping mechanism of choice.

a.       If you do not possess toothpaste, move directly to step number 21 (twenty-one).

b.      If the opening of your toothpaste container is regulated with a screw-on cap, grip the cap with your dominant hand and rotate it counter-clockwise until the cap and the container are separated.

                                                  i.      Place the cap on the edge of the sink, countertop, or comparable proximate sanitary surface and proceed to step number 16 (sixteen).

c.       If the opening of your toothpaste container is regulated with a hinged cap, grip the upper section of the hinged mechanism with your non-dominant hand and exert force perpendicular to the line of contact between the two sections of the hinged mechanism upon the protruding section surface which comes into contact with the lower section of the hinged mechanism until the upper section is transformed between -60 (negative sixty) and -90 (negative ninety) degrees.

d.      If the lid of your toothpaste container does not match any of the above-mentioned, refer to the instructions included in its original packaging for guidance in the process of opening the container and dispensing toothpaste.

16.  With your dominate hand or comparable gripping mechanism of choice, grip your toothbrush by the end opposite that from which the bristles protrude, with the handle approximately parallel and the bristles approximately perpendicular to the ground.

17.  Without altering the grading or rotation of your toothbrush, use your dominant hand or comparable gripping mechanism, and all local appendages (and components thereof) necessary for motion, to move it through space along the shortest available path the final destination of which will have its bristles located in approximately the same x- and z- coordinates as the open hole through which the toothpaste container will dispense its contents and approximately 2 (two) centimeters lower than the y-coordinate of the same hole.

18.  With your non-dominant hand or comparable gripping mechanism which holds the toothpaste container, gently squeeze the container (or follow applicable instructions for dispensing toothpaste specific to your individual toothpaste container) until a volume of toothpaste roughly equivalent to that of two standard peas (approximately 0.4cm³ [four tenths of a centimeter cubed]) is expelled.

19.  Move your toothbrush straight upward until the majority of the expelled toothpaste has been transferred from the opening of the toothpaste container to the bristles of the toothbrush.

20.  Place the toothpaste container on the edge of the sink, countertop, or comparable proximate sanitary surface.

21.  Rotate the toothbrush handle 90 (ninety) degrees counterclockwise in the z plane.

22.  Simultaneously curl back your lips and move your dominant hand or comparable gripping mechanism, and all local appendages (and components thereof) necessary for motion, to move your toothbrush through space in the shortest available path the final destination of which will have its bristle end located such that the x- and y-coordinates of your front teeth are approximately equivalent to those of the bristled end of the toothbrush while the z-coordinate is increased by just enough to allow the toothbrush bristles to rest against the ventral surface of your foremost teeth.

23.  Exerting an amount of pressure sufficient to maintain contact between the toothbrush bristles and your teeth but not so great as to cause pain and/or damage to the surrounding soft tissues, manipulate the toothbrush left and right along the x axis in small increments, gradually moving left along the upper row of teeth.

24.  Reverse the directionality of step 23 (twenty-three) to backtrack along the path of already-brushed teeth and visit the semi-section of the upper row of teeth not yet visited.

25.  Open your mouth to allow an approximately 3 (three) inch high gap between the bottoms of your top row of teeth and the tops of your bottom row of teeth.

26.  For each visible plane of tooth surfaces, adjust the location of the toothbrush bristles to perpendicular to the plane and repeat the processes of step 23.

a.       During this process it may occur that an excess amount of saliva accrues; in this event, pause the brushing process to expectorate into the sink or comparable waste water receptacle, then resume the brushing process where it was paused.

27.  Once each visible surface of each tooth has been brushed at least once, move your non-dominate hand or comparable gripping mechanism to the knob, button, handle, or other interactive device capable of producing a variable flow of water and manipulate it to produce a stream of water, ideally with a temperature within the range of 40 (forty) and 85 (eighty-five) degrees Fahrenheit.

28.  Move your dominate hand or comparable gripping mechanism to transform the bristle-end of the toothbrush into the flow of water and hold it there until all visible evidence of toothpaste and/or masticated particles have been washed away.

29.  Simultaneously place the toothbrush on the edge of the sink, countertop, or comparable proximate sanitary surface and move your non-dominate hand or comparable gripping mechanism to the knob, button, handle, or other interactive device of producing a variable flow of water and manipulate it to discontinue the stream of water.

30.  Expectorate.

a.       Repeat until the residual flavor and/or texture of the toothpaste in your mouth is barely perceivable.

b.      If necessary, reinstate the flow of water from the sink tap and utilize it to rinse toothpaste residue from your mouth.

31.  If you used toothpaste, grip its container with your non-dominant hand or comparable gripping mechanism of choice.

a.       If you did not use toothpaste, move directly to step number 32 (thirty-two).

b.      If the opening of your toothpaste container is regulated with a screw-on cap, grip the cap with your dominant hand and rotate it clockwise until the cap and the container are rejoined.

c.       If the opening of your toothpaste container is regulated with a hinged cap, exert force perpendicular to the line of contact between the two sections of the hinged mechanism upon the far surface of the section which is capable of motion until the upper and lower sections reconnect and lock into the closed position.

d.      If the lid of your toothpaste container does not match any of the above-mentioned, refer to the instructions included in its original packaging for guidance in the process of closing the container.

32.  Reverse the steps followed to procure your toothbrush and/or toothpaste.

33.  If another entity aided in the process of brushing your teeth, thank him/her/it.

34.  Enjoy.

Turning wordsmith smooth surely sighs surely smiles surely-
schorn smiles, singular glance-glint skip lip smiles!
Shower sounds soft silent night-out lunar light out,
stranger sleepfall supplanted.

soft, soft, soft skinshine stanzas
straying staying saying, delaying.

The View from Room 3324

I sleep in a bed where the infirm have lain.
People come to this building to die every day;
I know them in whispers, but also out loud,
"Adult code blue," shouts a voice 'bove the crowd.
From the floor to the ceiling, the walls to the drawers,
everything's muted, everything's pure.
There are no signs of living, no scuffs anywhere
to show that before me lungs have breathed in this air
which is always a-buzz with false lights and machines;
they're muffled by day, but roar when I dream.
I'm alone in this room, save a plant on a shelf
which I scouted, and purchased, and brought here myself.
'Neath the sink there is poison disguised as free food;
it's probably coating the gray baseboards, too.
It feeds roving rodents and gives them their ends;
it kills every insect- it robs me of friends.
'Tween these walls I've seen one face that wasn't like mine:
'twas that of a beetle. Black. Shiny. Divine.
I needed to see it, for its presence allayed
my distrust of a place that can't even sustain
the life of a creature so hardy and small
that it feeds on refuse and resides in a wall.
I stared at the walls and they stared blankly back
so I took up my pen and crayons to distract
my ears from the droning, my eyes from the glare,
and my nose from offensively clean-smelling air.
My fingers have worked words of far-away lands
over and over, 'til my tongue understands
how to say "mirror", "hot", "soap", and "the door"
in Arabic, Spanish, and metaphor.
To each measured meal I add my own spice
of colored creation - imagination - life.
From the stroke of my hand and the edge of my mind
have come to be chickens and children and chimes.
I've visited ghettos, I've looked down on Earth,
I've consoled the downtrodden, I've reveled in mirth.
Truth be told, though I'm stuck here and seldom may leave,
it's not nearly as horrid as you may believe.
In three weeks I've done more than many still free
and I've digested more dreams than many who sleep.
So, friend, do not worry that I feel I'm alone
for I've my mind, and the Web, and books, and my phone.
Sure, ill people come here each day and some die,
but many also come here to bring forth new life.

Some things just taste like poetry:
their flavors caress the tongue and
mingle with the breath. They race
through my veins and make every
sense perceive art.
For me, one of these things is
mozzarella cheese.

Love yourself, because

This is a revised and expanded version of the thoughts inspired by Kirstyn M. Harmon, my dear friend and ally. If you would like to see where it all started, the thoughts of hers that ignited thoughts of mine and what I had to say in the beginning before the light was nearly as bright, read her blog "Real versus Fake." Also, thanks to Davis Goodnight for encouraging late night/early morning productive thought and Caroline Schmitt for putting the spark in my head. No less thanks to all you other wonderful, beautiful people that I know.

From the theological standpoint: God made man in his image, right? So altering your appearance in any way would be worse than "touching up" the Mona Lisa. Worse, because we're divine self-portraits. I'm not advocating such extreem measures as never cutting one's hair or fingernails, there's hygeine involved, but cosmetic proceedures such as liposuction and collagen injections should never be undertaken. Not only do they involve health risks, but they're unneccesary. You're beautiful the way you are, and this is why.

From a humanist view: It really depends on who you want to be. If you want to be just another Barbie or Ken with no feature to distinguish you from the next overdone, underfed Joe or Jane in line at the gasoline pump, then by all means skip that meal! buy that blush! work those abs! get that surgery! But if you want a face and figure that won't blur into the margins of any lineup of your peers, then embrace every inch of your natural self from your complexion to your thighs. If you have self-respect, others will see it and in turn respect you. You're beautiful the way you are, and this is why.

From a materialistic assessment: Coin collectors. You probably know at least one. Ask him or her if a flaw in the minting process doesn't make currency more valuable. Don't fanatics worldwide scamper to gain possession of the nickel with the buffalo that has only three legs? The penny with the double-impression of Lincoln's profile? Why, then, should you settle for some pillar of perfection that is so over-scaled that achieving its summit is virtually meaningless? Ask your collector whether a coin with indelible grime and grit is worth as much in mint condition. You know that answer already. Why, then, devaluate yourself with proceedures like permanent makeup and laser hair removal? You're beautiful the way you are, and this is why.

From a moralist's take: Each day we add 265,000 babies, lose 75,000 acres of rainforest, add 46,000 acres of desert, lose 71 million topns of topsoil, add 15 million tons of carbon, and lose about 70 species. Every three seconds a child dies of poverty. Every six seconds tobacco use causes someone's death. Every fifteen seconds a woman is beaten. Every thirty seconds someone is hit by a drunk driver. And you want to spend $3,500 on a forehead lift? $5,000 on an eyelid tuck? $10,000 on liposuction? I suppose that if you want to be the master of your own appearance in a world otherwise filled with chaos, then your priorities are perfectly in order, otherwise... You are beautiful the way you are, and this is why.

From an artistic angle: Look at the statue Venus di Milo. Michelangelo's David. Peci's Reclining Male Nude. Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe or Femme nue se coiffant. Any of the works of Vermeer. Of Lisa Yuskavage. Hell, look at most of the people you pass on the street! Are human beings not beautiful enough on their own, without plastic, ink, powder, and pills? The masters thought so. I think so. Don't you?

I love myself, and you, and everyone, for who we are without the makeup and pretense. Please try to do the same.