Don't forget to floss

Dentistry student Tesia Rolle is a spoken word artist. (Bruce Bottomley Photo)

You’re at the dentist. You’re in the chair, leaning back and staring at the ceiling tiles, waiting for the question.

“So, have you flossed?” asks the dental hygienist with a steely look in her eye that says, ‘I’ve seen your mouth and I already know the answer.’

“I got to thinking,” remarks Tesia Rolle, a spoken word artist and dentistry student. “Flossing is a little like friendship; if you don’t take care and pay attention, you end up with problems. It’s like the friend who’s always been there for you through thick and thin. But if you ignore that friend, they’ll fade out of your life and when you do need them, they’re gone.

“It’s like when you don’t floss, if you don’t take care, you’re going to end up with serious problems in your mouth.”

Ms. Rolle started writing and performing with the encouragement of Shauntay Grant, now the Poet Laureate for Halifax. Growing up in the St. Margaret’s Bay area and in the Bahamas, Ms. Rolle’s writing has a current of social consciousness and explores issues facing black Nova Scotians.

But her poetry has definitely evolved since she was accepted into the dentistry program two years ago. Even with her demanding studies, she’s made an effort to keep writing. “Sometimes when I’m stuck, you deal with what’s in your head at the moment and try to get back into that creative space.”

Thus, "Forget Me Not," the poem about dental floss and a neglected relationship, and another inspired by her Biomaterials exam in which she relates the stress-strain properties of dental materials to the give-and-take of friendship.

A member of the spoken word collective Word Iz Bond, Ms. Rolle takes part in the once-a-month series, Speak! The evening of spoken word performance and music takes place the third Thursday of the month in the Company House, 2202 Gottingen St. Other members of the collective include Amanda “Joi N Payne” Carvery, Ardath Whynacht, El Jones, and Reed “iZrEal” Jones.

“Dentistry becomes all encompassing, so it makes me lift up my head and get that mental break,” she explains.