Tuesday, May 22, 2007

so, me and my bad self...

...sat ourselves down in a dental chair first thing this morning to get an ancient filling (one that's been causing me grief for several months now) replaced. I was nervous enough about this simple procedure, but was completely unprepared for The Dentist to tell me that, if I was interested, he had time to go ahead and also do that ROOT CANAL he mentioned yesterday - the one I'd need on another tooth that I didn't even know had problems until they showed up on the x-ray.

Gulp.

I was so nervous last night about the root canal, and about the very real possibility of losing the tooth, that I called my oldest friend ever (not oldest as in she's old, but oldest in that we grew up on the same street). She's a dedicated dental hygienist, and managed to settle down my neuroses considerably (so, if your reading this, C, you ROCK). I'd never had a root canal, but just knowing what it entails has always been enough to make me shudder in horror. Suffice it to say I lost a little sleep last night, wondering how long I'd have to wait in painful anticipation to get it done.

I was also planning to enjoy a little sedative or nitrous oxide aperitif when the big event happened, but since I was already in the chair with one side of my mouth numb, I figured what the heck. And you know what? It wasn't bad at all. In fact, the worst part of the whole procedure was feeling like my mouth was some kind of construction zone, with all the metal and latex and heavy equipment moving about in there. It'll probably feel sore at some point, I'm sure, though it's already been several hours and the filling is bugging me more than the root canal.

Of course, it didn't hurt that the dentist is a dead ringer for Joaquin Phoenix. I mean, if ya gotta have someone drilling away on your teeth...


(If you're reading this, Dr. O, you and your staff rock, too!) :-)

5 comments:

  1. I'd let Joaguin - or anyone that looks like him - give me a root canal ANY day. What a hottie!

    GAH -- I hate going to the dentist.

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  2. LOL, Marnie. Clearly, I'm no fan of dental visits, either, but I think I've figured out how to make my fortune: Start a referral service for celebrity look-alike dentists. Imagine looking up and seeing someone come at your gums with a needle - but wait! It's Orlando Bloom or (insert your favorite celeb here)! Suddenly, the experience turns into one you wouldn't mind repeating...

    :-)

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  3. Anonymous11:38 AM

    I also had a trip to the dentist (weird how I follow you around doing just what you do, isn't it?) but they wouldn't work on me since I forgot to take my "meds". I guess if you have a heart murmur, you can swallow your own blood and evil things happen. I get a return trip. Oh yeah.

    You are a very brave girl. Good for you!!

    Last dentist I had was a woman (she didn't look like a celebrity, but she was about as thin as Paris Hilton, even after having 4 kids) and I made some sort of feeble joke like, "Whatever you plan to do to me couldn't hurt as much as childbirth. Ha ha ha."

    She stopped.... with a sharp dagger needle tooth-probing metal item pointed at my eye.

    "You would not BELIEVE the amount of people who compare dental pain to childbirth."

    It was clear that I had touched a nerve with her. She seemed mortally offended that the two things were even in the same SENTENCE. She was kind of rough with me after that. I still don't understand why that would be SO upsetting to her.

    Because she thinks she's such a careful dentist that nothing hurts? Au contraire, mon frere.

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  4. Now, see, to me the comparison between childbirth and dental work is a completely logical one for women to make: Both involve a) much anticipation, and b) near strangers working in and around parts of our bodies that we can only see with a mirror.

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  5. Funny my dentist told me last week that I look like Joaguin I am older of course aging gracefully a little gray around the temples :)

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