A Surprise Dentist Adventure
Good morning friends! Today I have coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts, and a muffin! Which I quite regret, actually. Sweet food early in the morning makes my tummy sad, and yet I keep eating it. This is why french toast and chocolate chip pancakes are a thing, they’re sweet, but also have actual substance to them, not just sugar, so they don’t make my tummy sad. Anyway, I got a chocolate muffin and it was a bad call.
Anyway, so you know how I told you all I’d spend the day probably snuggling cats and playing Animal Crossing? I was wrong. Instead I did a grown-up thing and actually called the dentist. I’ve been over due for my teeth cleaning for like a year now. I was in that weird space where you try to decide if it’s worth switching or not. My dentist is an hour away, but if I only go twice a year and I drive up to see my parents anyway, it’s not a big deal. However, my husband has a dentist he likes who is like five minutes from us, which would be super convenient. The problem with switching, for me, is that my parents only have one dental insurance card, which I did copy at one point, but I lost that paper somewhere in the move. Plus the idea of calling new people is super intimidating, even though I’ve done it at least twice now.
Bunny train aside, I finally decided that I was going to be a big kid and look up my dentist’s number and give them a call and just have done with it. I’ve been having some weird jaw aches so I figured it was probably time. So I called and they asked if I was already a patient with them, which I am, and then asked if I could come in that afternoon. Not what I was expecting, but after reflecting on my current status, my husband working late and the car at my disposal, I decided that I could, in fact, make a 3:10 pm appointment that afternoon. So I did.
I drove up to my parents place to hang out for a while because waiting around the house made me too anxious. Mostly about being on time, but the whole going to the dentist after skipping a few cleanings did not go well for me last time, so I was a little scared of what they might find this time. So I hung out with some cats and chatted with my mom until it was time to head over. Here’s the other thing about my dentist’s office, all of the assistants are super nice. I don’t remember ever getting my teeth cleaned there by someone who wasn’t very pleasant. I used to see the same person every time, but she left, I guess, and since then I’ve had a different person each time, but they’re all very nice, and I like that.
So my very nice dental assistant took me back and set me up in the chair and looked at my x-rays, which are apparently way out of date. They still had my wisdom teeth in them and everything. Apparently I all of my x-rays were due to be retaken, but the insurance would only pay for one at set per visit. So after I told her about the whole jaw pain thing they decided I should get the big one redone first. She took me across the hall to the x-ray room where I stood with my head in the big rotatey thing that swivels around you and did my best not to fidget. It’s super awkward when your teeth super don’t match up because they want you to bite the little straw thing and the little indent for your teeth is meant for people who do not have an overbite.
That awkwardness aside, things went really well. The lady cleaning my teeth was very good about not asking those awkward questions that you can’t answer because your mouth is full of fingers and that scrapey tool. She did comment on my teeth quite a bit. Mostly to tell me that they didn’t look so bad, considering how long I’d gone without a cleaning. Which is nice, I guess, if you like hearing about your teeth. She did keep asking if my teeth felt clean or better while she was working, which I feel like is a weird thing to ask while they’re doing it. It’s not like I was feeling my teeth every time she paused. Also, the polish stuff they use is the worst. I’m sure it’s somehow important to the whole cleaning process, but it is the absolute worst and I hate it.
Once that was done I did have to wait like fifteen minutes for the dentist to actually come and see me. I have mixed feelings about my dentist. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy, he’s always pretty friendly, but I just don’t think I’m super fond of him. I don’t know what it is, but seeing him always gives me this ‘meh’ sort of feeling. Like I can’t say I ever enjoy interacting with him. Anyway, he couldn’t find anything wrong with my mouth or teeth or jaw that would be causing my random jaw aches. He asked a bunch of questions and seemed a little miffed that he couldn’t figure it out, and kind of like it was my fault he couldn’t figure it out. I mean, I told him I thought it might possibly be a sinus thing, since I just got over a cold, but I wanted to rule out a dental issue anyway. Still, I think he was really expecting to come in and be like ‘Well there’s your problem” and be done. The nurse, on the other hand, seemed as if she just genuinely wanted to help with my problem and felt bad that they couldn’t do anything.
So that was my dental adventure. In six months I’ll be doing it all over again, except then I’ll be expecting it. As strange as it was to suddenly have a dentist appointment, I’m actually really glad I was able to just go and get it done without having to set up an appointment for a later date. I have a tendency to fret about things like that and just getting it done and out of the way makes me feel so much better. Now I can move on and worry about other things that are probably also fine, as you do. Have a lovely day, my friends.
‹ Distractable Purps Adventures in Science! ›