Recently I had the joy of having some dental work done, my first crown. For the price I paid for that crown, it should have diamonds and rubies and sit on my head, not in my mouth! Anyway, upon leaving the office, the dentist instructed me to gargle with salt for the next 3 days to prevent any infection. When the time came to do my salt rinse, I decided not to take the salt shaker from the kitchen table since it would remain in the bathroom for three days.  Instead, I grabbed a salt shaker from the cupboard which we use for picnics. I headed to the bathroom, poured some salt in a cup of warm water and began to rinse my mouth and gargle. I spit out the first mouthful with skepticism. I picked up the salt shaker and examined the label.  Hmmm. . .let me try again. I took a second swig of my salt water and started to rinse my mouth.  But again after a few seconds…nothing. I spit it out. I must not have added enough salt. That’s the problem. So I poured more salt in my cup and stirred really well.  Finally I was ready for a good salt rinse. I sipped, swished, gargled, spit.  Nothing. . .again.  I checked the container a second time. It clearly said “salt” on the container. I poured some in my hand.  It looked like salt and felt like salt. But it did not taste like salt. My salt had lost its saltiness!

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