Terminal Lance #129 “Dental Hygiene at the Depot”

I think one of the magical things that is true of the Marine Corps–and the military in general–is the great diversity of people you will meet during your enlistment (or commission). From all of the deepest, darkest and terrifying depths of the backwoods of the South to the greatest of the northern cities, Marines from all reaches are suddenly thrust together in the commonality of a platoon. Some Marines have practiced good dental hygiene their entire lives, as a result of regular dental attention to their oral cavity. Others, unfortunately, may not be as privileged, and as a result enter the Marine Corps with an empty dental record, whilst leaving with extensive care done.

I’m not going to lie, I was one of the latter. I grew up rather poor, I can’t recall any point in my life growing up that I had regular access to dental care. Actually, until I enlisted, the last time I went to the dentist was at the age of 4. As an inevitable result, I ended up having a decent amount of work done when I arrived at MCRD San Diego in 2006. My smile was never as bad as our friend here, to be sure (I brush regularly of course), but lets just say I had about 15 years of dental work done in about a 2 week span.