Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Oooh!!!
Oooh!!! And don't get that twisted with the kind of "Oh" that Ciara and Omarion are singing about these days. Oooh! That really hurts! is what I'm talking about.
I had a dentist appointment today, and no, unfortunately it wasn't my routine half year check-up. Last time I had one of those, back in January, the dentist declared that some of my sealant came off and uncovered a tiny cavity. I was a bit bummed; I hadn't had a cavity in some ten years. But I comforted myself in the fact that it was tiny, and the doctor said it used to be covered by sealant--so it wasn't something new.
So I showed up for my tiny cavity procedure today all cool and nonchalant. Whatever, tiny cavity. My memory of getting fillings didn't strike me as too painful. The assistant to the dentists opened the door to the waiting room and mumbled my name. "Yep!" I got up and walked right up to her. She greeted me with a frown, though, and that's when my confidence started to wane.
Flashback to second grade, that assistant frowned at me as if I was a naughty little boy for having a cavity. She told me to sit on the patient chair, reclined it back, and announced, "I'll get started with the topical before the novocaine."
"What?!?" I blurted. I thought I heard correctly, but that jargon didn't sound too good. She repeated tritely, stuck a Q-tip type thing up against my gums, and left the cubicle.
I tried to stay calm, but I couldn't help it; my heart started to beat hard in my chest. Topical?! Novocaine?! I wasn't sure what those things meant, but they really didn't sound good. I tried to think back ten years to my last cavity, and I couldn't unearth any memory of those terms... The Q-tip topical started to make my gums tingle. Uuuhh....
This was supposed to be a small cavity, I told myself, so it can't be too bad. It can't! The dentist rolled into the cubicle and started making small talk about the snow and the weather and wanting it to be spring already. I tried to smile and mutter some sensible responses, but it was a bit of a struggle with a cotton-stick stuck up my mouth. The dentist removed it, and said, "Ok, let's get that novocaine in there." He hovered his head over my face, and I knew that was my queue to open wide.
The dentist stuck some tool up my mouth and next thing I knew a needle penetrated my gums. Oooh!!! Was not expecting that!!! My eyes opened wide, and I made tight fists with my hands. The needle pushed in deeper and deeper up my gums. Oh man, oh man. Since when did a TINY CAVITY require a nasty shot?!?
The dentist left me in my shock and misery and told me he'd be back in a few minutes. I felt my gums and cheek start to tingle and get all numb. All right, I reckoned, it can't get any worse than that. But of course, you probably know that I wouldn't be writing that if it didn't get worse...
The dentist and his assistant came back to the cubicle dressed like they were heading to war or something. They wore these blue masks covering their noses and mouths and these black-framed glasses covering half their faces. Uh-oh. I felt like I was in some cheap Sci-Fi film, with two aliens peering down on me curiously and preparing to dissect.
The dentist (lol, okay this is the 4th paragraph in a row I'm starting with "the dentist," anyway...) moved his head down closer to mine and I knew to open my mouth again. In went some metal tool and next I hear a drill go off IN MY MOUTH. It made that high-pitched, fast, spinning noise, and then the dentist brought it up against my tooth and suddenly I felt bits of tooth shavings fly across my mouth. Uuugh, since when did this become part of the deal of filling a TINY cavity?!? The drilling went on for a few minutes, long enough I was almost grateful for that shot.
Well, I survived the ordeal, but there's this nasty silver-gray dot in the back of my mouth. So ugly. Well at least no one can see it unless they're inspecting my mouth in a way they shouldn't be. Now excuse me while I go brush my teeth. LOL
I had a dentist appointment today, and no, unfortunately it wasn't my routine half year check-up. Last time I had one of those, back in January, the dentist declared that some of my sealant came off and uncovered a tiny cavity. I was a bit bummed; I hadn't had a cavity in some ten years. But I comforted myself in the fact that it was tiny, and the doctor said it used to be covered by sealant--so it wasn't something new.
So I showed up for my tiny cavity procedure today all cool and nonchalant. Whatever, tiny cavity. My memory of getting fillings didn't strike me as too painful. The assistant to the dentists opened the door to the waiting room and mumbled my name. "Yep!" I got up and walked right up to her. She greeted me with a frown, though, and that's when my confidence started to wane.
Flashback to second grade, that assistant frowned at me as if I was a naughty little boy for having a cavity. She told me to sit on the patient chair, reclined it back, and announced, "I'll get started with the topical before the novocaine."
"What?!?" I blurted. I thought I heard correctly, but that jargon didn't sound too good. She repeated tritely, stuck a Q-tip type thing up against my gums, and left the cubicle.
I tried to stay calm, but I couldn't help it; my heart started to beat hard in my chest. Topical?! Novocaine?! I wasn't sure what those things meant, but they really didn't sound good. I tried to think back ten years to my last cavity, and I couldn't unearth any memory of those terms... The Q-tip topical started to make my gums tingle. Uuuhh....
This was supposed to be a small cavity, I told myself, so it can't be too bad. It can't! The dentist rolled into the cubicle and started making small talk about the snow and the weather and wanting it to be spring already. I tried to smile and mutter some sensible responses, but it was a bit of a struggle with a cotton-stick stuck up my mouth. The dentist removed it, and said, "Ok, let's get that novocaine in there." He hovered his head over my face, and I knew that was my queue to open wide.
The dentist stuck some tool up my mouth and next thing I knew a needle penetrated my gums. Oooh!!! Was not expecting that!!! My eyes opened wide, and I made tight fists with my hands. The needle pushed in deeper and deeper up my gums. Oh man, oh man. Since when did a TINY CAVITY require a nasty shot?!?
The dentist left me in my shock and misery and told me he'd be back in a few minutes. I felt my gums and cheek start to tingle and get all numb. All right, I reckoned, it can't get any worse than that. But of course, you probably know that I wouldn't be writing that if it didn't get worse...
The dentist and his assistant came back to the cubicle dressed like they were heading to war or something. They wore these blue masks covering their noses and mouths and these black-framed glasses covering half their faces. Uh-oh. I felt like I was in some cheap Sci-Fi film, with two aliens peering down on me curiously and preparing to dissect.
The dentist (lol, okay this is the 4th paragraph in a row I'm starting with "the dentist," anyway...) moved his head down closer to mine and I knew to open my mouth again. In went some metal tool and next I hear a drill go off IN MY MOUTH. It made that high-pitched, fast, spinning noise, and then the dentist brought it up against my tooth and suddenly I felt bits of tooth shavings fly across my mouth. Uuugh, since when did this become part of the deal of filling a TINY cavity?!? The drilling went on for a few minutes, long enough I was almost grateful for that shot.
Well, I survived the ordeal, but there's this nasty silver-gray dot in the back of my mouth. So ugly. Well at least no one can see it unless they're inspecting my mouth in a way they shouldn't be. Now excuse me while I go brush my teeth. LOL
