Friday, April 03, 2009

Adventures in Dentistry

I got Hannah and myself in to see the dentist for some way overdue check-ups, and he referred her to an orthodontist. We went in for the initial x-rays and impressions but have to wait until next time for the photos. I am pretty sure they are going to put her in braces, but we won’t know the full extent until her next appointment during Easter break. She seemed ok with the idea at first, but she had a minor freak-out about it one day when we were arguing about her study habits, so I don’t know how she is going to handle the up-coming consult. Please cross your fingers for her.

My check-up went about the same as always: x-rays, which always pinch my gums and hurt more than any other dental work short of dental surgery; more appointments set for a cleaning and a few cavities. At the cleaning, I started to wonder how long the hygienist could leave her fingers in my mouth before my saliva would start to dissolve them. It’s the first step in digestion, you know. John has been giving me a hard time about that ever since, especially after my revelation at an earlier visit.

At the first filling appointment, I got an old amalgam filling drilled out and a new composite filling put in. It looks really good—you’d never even know it wasn’t my tooth. That was on a molar, and everything went normally. The dentist offered me a shot, but the sound of the drill bothers me more than the actual drilling, and a shot won’t help that, so I said no. He said most women say no. Then I had an appointment to fix some cavities on my front teeth (well, one front and the one next to it to the side—I don’t know tooth names). I thought I was going to get the top of my head pulled off. At one point, there were 4 hands, multiple tools, and maybe a foot up in there. It was crowded! My jaw is still a bit sore up where it hinges, but my teeth look good, so that’s a mercy.

My dentist gave me instructions on a slightly more complicated method of brushing and a prescription for a special toothbrush. It looks like a tiny bottle brush, and I shove it between my molars instead of flossing back there. I had no idea there was so much space between them! So now my dental hygiene routine is ridiculously long. If you have been wondering where I’ve been, probably cleaning my teeth.

Ps. When the dentist handed me a mirror to look at my teeth, I also noticed that an amazingly long hair was sticking out of my nose. I don't normally patrol my nose, I just wait until my immediate family members make some kind of horrified comment before taking any kind of nose-action, but this was bad. And of course, the dentist had been staring into my mouth and ostensibly also up my nose for about an hour, minus the 10 minutes he disappeared and no one knew where he went. *sigh*

6 comments:

Yoda said...

LOL... is it an age thing? I've got some kind of weird dental thing going on too. However, my molars are so close together, I can barely get the floss in there. As it turns out, I actually *do* have a small mouth, no matter what you may have heard. ;)

redfox1218 said...

I am so afraid that the dentist is going to tell me that my teeth are going to fall out of my head. *sigh* Must make appt. Ugh.

Nee S. said...

I forgot to mention that all this was motivated in part by my mother recently having her teeth pulled and getting dentures. There may be a genetic element to it, but a dentist told my grandmother when my mom was growing up that it was likely she would have problems with her teeth later due to the lack of minerals/fluoride in the local drinking water. Anyhow, that sent the master procrastinator looking for the dentist's phone number!

Yoda said...

Great. Now I will spend another sleepless night bathed in sweat. Thanks.

Nee S. said...

My mom was born in Centralia, Illinois, so the mineralization problem may have stemmed from there. I didn't mean to cause a panic!

Yoda said...

LOL... I was just referencing that one of my stress dreams is my teeth just crumbling to nothingness in my mouth. Ah, good times.