Monday, April 7, 2008

Cavities Are Just A Conspiracy

I hate going to the dentist. Apparently, I had two small cavities that they wanted to "fix." These cavities never bothered me. In fact, until my dentist told me about them, I had no clue that they were there. My mouth worked just fine and I was completely pain free. Problem? I think not!

Oh well, I decided to believe the dental office anyway and showed up for my appointment today. Having two cavities drilled is definately no fun (these were my very first cavities ever!). But to make it even worse, they would not give me a full dose of anesthesia because I'm pregnant. "Better safe than sorry," the dental assistant told me. "Oh great. Well, I'm gonna be sorry in a couple minutes," was my bitter reply.

That anesthetic shot that they did give me, I felt every second of it. Oh man, feeling that long needle dig deep into my gums...my legs shot straight out from that dentist chair (I really wanted to give the assistant a nice big kick). I wanted to cry like a baby and run away already.

The rest of the procedure wasn't so bad considering that my low dose of anesthesia was wearing off towards the end, ouch, ouch, ouch. The worst part was hearing the drill in my mouth, feeling it vibrations through my gums and seeing drilled-off flecks of my teeth come flying out of my mouth. Ew. How could someone do this for a living? How could you wake up one day and decide- I want to drill holes in peoples heads, for the rest of my life!

Hours after the procedure, my teeth hurt and my gums were still sore.

The point is: before I went to the dentist, I was pain free and problem free. After going to the dentist, I was a mess.

I've been going to this same dentist since my very first dental check up. Nothing about the office has changed. All the same people work there too. This means that I'm entrusting my precious mouth to 60 year old ladies with sharp objects. The thing I always remember most about the place is the lighting- because dental patients end up spending a lot of time looking at the ceilings. I'm so grateful for that intricate circular pattern on the light fixtures that I can make into animals and people and crazy optical ollusion designs, otherwise I would have to pay attention to THE PAIN.

When I got home and told my husband about my experience with my cavities, he told me, "I hope you learned your lesson."

"What lesson? Don't get pregnant?"

"No, not to eat so much sweets!"

"Does this mean I shouldn't have eaten that bag of Skittles on my drive home?"

Yup, my mouth was still partially numb and I was probably chewing off the flesh of my cheeks, but I REALLY wanted that bag of Skittles buried deep in my purse...

1 comment:

KG said...

I hate HATE HATE HATE the dentist. I know I have to go and I even got dental insurance so I have no excuse. But that doesnt' mean I'm going willingly!