Saturday, March 14, 2009

This Bites

I have to say at the outset that I hate teeth.

I suppose I like the actual fact of having them. They do lend themselves to things like smiling without causing your companion to recoil in horror and the successful, comfortable consumption of food.

I just hate the fact that you can’t simply brush them several (in my case, several million) times a day and be done with it.

Oh no. Because teeth have an unfortunate habit of doing things such as BREAKING.

BOO HOO HOO HOO

I broke a tooth this morning. It is not really visible unless I open wide and show you, which is pretty unlikely. And it doesn’t hurt, thank goodness. Hmmmm, why did the thought ‘for now’ just pop into my head?

But it feels creepy and ragged and worst of all, now I have to go to the dentist. And I have a dental phobia.

I have nothing against dentists per se. I think a lot of them are really nice people. I am so sorry they have the highest suicide rate of any profession. It is just I cannot bear having a stranger stick his fingers in my mouth.

Heck, I don’t want people I DO know sticking their fingers in my mouth.

My most recent dentist, we’ll call her Dr. Mengele, was a horror. I guess not from a capability standpoint, as all the work she did on me still stands. Stands? Lies? I don’t know, none of her stuff has broken.

But she was so MEAN!!! The most distressing thing was that she initially seems really nice. She acts pleasant and tells you what she going to do and how she is going to take care of you. Then you discover…she is evil incarnate.

Free Smiley Face Courtesy of www.FreeSmileys.org

Once your ass gets slapped in that chair, you’re all hers. The first thing she does is recline the seat ALL THE WAY BACK, so you are practically standing on your head. I don’t know why, but this triggers a panic sensation in me. So I would start to hyperventilate (but NEVER complain!!! I was brought up to allow myself to be subjected to any kind of torment any authority figure is meting out) and I would meekly and pitifully ask if I could be sat up a little. And she would snap “No”.

Free Smiley Face Courtesy of www.FreeSmileys.org


So my panic would continue until I was half sitting up anyway, unable to breathe. It interrupted her and let me tell you she would get PISSED.

This happened every single visit.

Then, you know how dentists always tell you to put up your hand if they are hurting you? Well, if I put up my hand, she pushed it down and kept working!!

Free Smiley Face Courtesy of www.FreeSmileys.org

Finally I resorted to being sedated while she did her thing. This is one of her marketing points, that you can have all your work done at once, easy peasy, no pain, no unpleasantness, nothing to be afraid of. I took one pill before I left the house (driven by someone else naturally), and then another when I got there. Problem was, the sedation wasn’t taking. I was supposed to be out like a light but I was still aware of much of what was going on, including pain, and her being mean to me!! She would snap at me if my mouth wasn’t open enough or if I made a sound.

She told me ahead of time I wouldn’t remember anything. Wrong, Nazi girl.

She gave me an extra pill. Still not enough. Then another one. Still not enough. Finally I was begging for nitrous. She told me there would be an extra charge. I moaned I didn’t care. But she refused.

Free Smiley Face Courtesy of www.FreeSmileys.org


Can we all say ‘nightmare’.

Once the work I paid her for was done I never went back. Every time I sat in the waiting room, I had watched these happy, dazed people stumble out, thanking her profusely, clearly unaware of the torture they had just been subjected to. I wanted to be one of those favored ignoramuses. No such luck. I still have flashbacks.

Although I do have a nice smile.

Big Grin Smiley

So now I have to find a new dentist, which I have been putting off for years a while.

Did I say I hate teeth?

6 comments:

Lin said...

Oh no! I think you need to find a new dentist! That doesn't sound like a good experience. We go to a friend, who happens to be a dentist--which is really weird, but he is so kind. I think you need to shop around a bit more.

Marie said...

What I really need to find is a way to never have to go to the dentist. lol

Since that is unlikely, I have been polling my friends trying to find the Mother Teresa of dentistry.

I'll also take the Jesus of dentistry, whichever I manage to find first.

That is my new minimum requirement; whoever touches my teeth has to be a combination of Mother Teresa and The Son of God.

Anonymous said...

Oh aargh! My kids think it's fun to see the dentist. I can't being them along to my appointments any more because I don't want them to see me panicking. I feel for you. In fact, I feel for you right down to my gums.

Jean said...

Okay I hate to go to the dentist also, and just reading this made me panic as I have a tooth that is need of some repair, oh hell why do we have to have our teeth fixed in the first place, why can't we just get something at Wal Mart and be done with it. LOL I'm sure I'll be putting it off for awhile as I really do panic having to hold my mouth open for such a long time, hate it hate it. :)
nice blog anyway.

Gina Alfani said...

OMG I can so relate to the torture of the dentist . . . not only the physical pain, but the pain of having to spend so much money for said torture.

Marie said...

Thanks for stopping by everyone!! Amazing how we can all relate!!

feefifoto: That is fantastic that we have a generation coming up that is ok with the dentist. Too bad I missed that one.

Jean: Exactly!! It should be like if you break a nail, a little dab of glue and you are all set.

Thanks for the compliment too!

Gina: All I can say is oy, oy, OY!!! I still haven't found a dentist. At least it still, knock on wood, doesn't hurt.