The way they grew up and the experiences they seen are a mystery but once in a blue moon our parents would casually let their childhood memories slip.
Growing up I noticed my parent’s teeth were black. I always thought it was because they immigrated to the U.S. from Changchun, a small auto city in Northwest China, which can be comparable to the Detroit of China. And because they grew up during the Cultural Revolution, a time where a loaf of bread was a luxury and meat was seen as a holiday treat. Both of our parents rarely talk about their childhood. The way they grew up and the experiences they seen are a mystery but once in a blue moon our parents would casually let their childhood memories slip.
One morning over breakfast my Father surprised us sharing the reason why most Chinese people of his generation have Black teeth. It turns out that brushing wasn’t the issue. The true underlying reason for this generational phenomenon was from a factor of two things:
- Candy:
During the Cultural Revolution a piece of candy was a luxury. During dinners, a single grain of leftover rice would result in a stern scolding of: BU YAO LANG FEI, like a pan flash PTSD episode back to their starvation days. They were lucky though. When our Grandpa would go into big cities like Beijing, he was able to buy candy and other treats that most people couldn’t afford. He was able to bring my Father something most children growing up in Changchun did not have the luxury to experience. And that was the problem. Candy was so rare in China it wasn’t known that it rots teeth. People would eat handfuls of the delicious morsels and go right to bed. It would give any modern dentist an aneurysm and even children would know better. But that’s how China worked back then.
- Tetracycline:
It’s common to take antibiotics when you’re sick and our father was no different. During our dad’s generation Tetracycline was probably the most result effective and economically efficient antibiotics to take when sick. Today, it can be comparable to Aspirin or Advil. Widespread and easily accessible. Although this drug was commonly used in China, it was actually banned in the U.S. This is mainly because:
“Children younger than 8 years old should not take this medicine. Using tetracycline during pregnancy could harm the unborn baby or cause permanent tooth discoloration later in the baby’s life”
While most people see bad teeth as a result of poverty or malnutrition, it was quite the opposite in China. People in the countryside who had no electricity, running water, or a lick of education turned out with the best teeth. They never had a chance to take Tetracycline or even taste a piece of candy and escaped with a set of pearly whites.
It’s not out of the ordinary for parent’s behaviors to pass down to their children and it is no exception to us either. From a young age our dad emphasized the importance of oral hygiene. We were taught to brush our teeth for at least three minutes and to always floss after brushing. Like all children, it was difficult for both of us at that time to understand the reason for our dad’s behavior, viewing them as lectures because dad is just being…Dad. With so much energy packed into a little being we couldn’t stay still while brushing our teeth, always walking in and out of rooms and, when we first started flossing, our gums bled and it seemed counterintuitive. Why is flossing an important step to our oral care when all it does is self sabotage? However, now that we are older and learned about our Dad’s own journey, we come to understand the reasons behind our dad’s teachings. Now, we are happy to brush for longer than three minutes and take care of our teeth with a renewed sense of appreciation.
