Going to the dentist

 

As an adult, I do not mind going to the dentist.  It has taken me decades to be able to say that.  When I was a child, I absolutely hated going.  I did not hate my dentist, Dr. Gibson, but I hated what he did. It was not his fault; he was simply doing his job.  I just hated having cavities filled and I had plenty of them.  Tooth care, unfortunately, was not something my parents were incredibly strict about.  But the sight of that needle to numb me up completely terrified me.  Once I had a cavity filled without any Novocain simply because I was afraid of the needle. It was not fun, but I made it through. 

Now, I don't mind it at all.  And now they numb the area of the shot before giving the shot, so it all works out.  What I hate these days when I go to the dentist is coming out with one less tooth than I had when I went in.  It has happened to me several times now.  While I do take much better care of my teeth than I did as a kid, all of those years of not taking care of them like I should have caught up with me.  I brush, I floss, I rinse.  While I know all I am doing right now is preventative care and slowing the process down, I feel better about myself for trying my best to take care of my teeth.  Or take care of what's left of them.

Do not get me wrong, I still have the majority of my teeth.  And for what I have put them through, they are still in decent shape.  But I still get nervous going to the dentist when I know there is an issue going on in my mouth.  Today's appointment is only for a cleaning.  However, I have been having extreme sensitivity to cold and hot on two of my back teeth.  My fear is that my dentist, who I really like, will tell me they need to come out.  I am tired of that being the "go-to" answer for my dental problems.  I hope that after I explain to him what is going on that he will at least try to solve the issue without using the word "extraction". 

I have about an hour before my appointment this morning, so we shall see how it goes. On the bright side, if they do have to come out, at least I will not weigh as much as when I went into the office LOL  Ah, well. So ends another escapade in adulting.  Wish me luck!