"Fixing a Hole"

I hate my teeth.  I have always hated my teeth.  Always! 

I don't spend my life brushing, flossing, polishing, cleaning, etc., but I do brush a couple of times a day and floss fairly frequently.  I even sometimes use a flouride rinse.  And I get cleanings twice a year!  Despite my care,  they aren't a pretty sparkling white.  They are small.  My mouth is small and there's no room to manuever.  (Pediatric instruments have to be used!)  They are a little crooked.  They are sensitive to cold.   They have spaces where they shouldn't have spaces.  They aren't particularly strong or healthy.  They aren't even.  They collect tartar and plaque like some people collect recipes!  More often than not, there seems to be a need for "fixing a hole!"    And so they need constant attention it seems.  And the worst part of it, is that its not just my attention they need.  Oh no!  They require a....dunh, dunh, dunh....Dentist!

May I just say, it case you haven't figured  it out, that for me going to the dentist ranks right at the bottom of my "things I don't want to do" list, along with having a baby and jumping out of an airplane!    I work myself into a tizzy over having to go to the dentist.   By the time of the appointment, I am a wreck from the anticipation of whatever torture the dentist will inflict upon me this time!

Of course, my head keeps trying to remember that I have survived before.  Doesn't help too much.  My gut knows!!  There's a long, long way between survival and no pain!

Unfortunately, I am of the age that had dental experiences before the development of high speed drills, or lidocaine prior to  injections.  Headphones, TV, movies, music, etc. weren't even on the horizon.  That's right, back in the dark ages of dentistry, when the height of technology was "rinse and spit"!!

I have tried hard over the years to act like a grown up, but unfortunately that's really hard for me.  You see, for me dental pain (especially hitting a nerve), is the absolute worst pain I have ever felt!  Bar none!  I'm a wuss with a very low pain threshhold.  I quiver, I cry, I tense up, I cry some more, and I want to run out of there at the speed of light.  I hate it. 

Of course, to be fair, Its gotten better.  I finally found a dentist (a FEMALE dentist, I might add) that understands about pain and is all in favor of using sufficient Nitrous Oxide to keep me in the chair long enough to complete what needs doing!  That helps a LOT.  I don't go to sleep of course, but I do get pretty relaxed, so for the most part I tolerate the work fairly well....for a wuss.

I went to the dentist yesterday.  I was there from 1:15 to about 2:30 p.m.  Obviously I survived.  (My dentist truly is a  gem!)  Unfortunately the injection of Novocaine didn't numb my jaw enough.  So I had to have another!  That was not fair!!  I've never needed two before!   Once the second shot kicked in I couldn't feel a thing....nothing at all.  So between the numbing and the Nitrous, she was able to finish up fairly quickly.  Once the Nitrous was gone from my system, I felt an enormous sense of relief.  The hole was fixed!! Yay!  It was over.  I could leave.  My stomach didn't hurt anymore.  I didn't feel nervous anymore. I was free! 

After a couple of hours  I realized I was hungry and I went to have something to eat.    BIG MISTAKE!  I realized that even after 2 1/2 hours my cheek, my lips (top and bottom) and my whole lower jaw was dead!  Not just mostly dead, but compeletely and totally dead as a doornail dead!  My speech was distorted.  My smile was crooked.  (I looked like I'd had a stroke!) I couldn't open my mouth all the way.  I couldn't feel temperatures.  I dribbled while trying to drink from a straw!   And I couldn't feel the difference between the food  and my cheek when chewing!!  Those 2 shots of Novocaine did me in and did not completely wear off until almost 7:30 p.m.!!! 

So yeah, I hate my teeth.  I have always hated my teeth.  Really!