One of the things someone with a significant visual impairment must adapt to is the routine activity of putting toothpaste on a toothbrush. I have no depth perception and holding the brush and tube close to my eyes doesn’t help. Some mornings, if I am feeling lucky, I will attempt it. Other times I will do what I was taught at the Feinbloom Low Vision Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: I will squirt the toothpaste into my mouth.
Try it. It’s a weird thing to do and after 12 years it still is a strange experience each time I point and squeeze. Figuring out the proper pressure that will result in just the right amount of toothpaste hitting its target is a work in progress. It has been a continuing education, usually earning me a D. The criteria for that grade, by the way, in my mind anyway, is if it actually gets in my mouth and not down the front of me.
Learning how to do things in a different way at middle age has been very interesting. Like you, I was shown how to do daily oral maintenance at a very young age. Then one day I opened my eyes and an act as simple and familiar as brushing my teeth changed. Life can be a wild ride for some of us. I keep smiling as much as I can. All the more reason to keep the teeth looking good.
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