Went to the dentist today for the first time in several years.
Which got me thinking. My parents always used to try to get me to brush my teeth by telling me all the bad things that would happen to my teeth if I didn’t. Showing me their crowns, or talking about how I won’t taste anything with dentures, or pointing to my great grandmother and saying “she still has all her teeth.” Some people manage to brush persistently with this type of motivation, either because they’re extremely foresighted, or are just type A’s in general.
But you know what, all of that doesn’t really matter. I claim that kids don’t really understand the future anyways. Rather, what does matter, is that dental treatment is _expensive_. And even after insurance, if you have anything more than a few fillings, it’s still a lot of cheddar.
What you need to tell kids is that, hey if you don’t brush your teeth, you’ll be _broke_, and not even have grillz to show for all the money you’ve spent paying for your life of sin. Tell them, you’ll give them $100 each time they come back from the dentist with no cavities. In the end, that’ll still be cheaper than paying for fillings.