Not the only one

In 1997, I got my first 'real' world job as a court reporter.  With that came 'real' insurance, which included dental insurance.  I had been to a dentist off and on in the years prior to 1997 and all during my childhood.  My teeth had always looked nice and I was often told I had good, strong teeth, but I always had trouble with cavities.  I admit I like sugar and chocolate so it wasn't too surprising that my teeth would suffer because of that.

My very first visit to my new dentist after obtaining my new job and insurance was interesting to say the least.  The dentist was a female and I thought that would be just great, not that I had had any problems or conflicts with male dentists, but she was just a little older than myself and I thought it would be nice.  After the hygienist cleaned my teeth, the dentist came in to check out my teeth and commented right away that I had a "yuck mouth."  I laughed at that comment because I wasn't quite sure what else I was supposed to do.  To say I was embarrassed was an understatement.  And so it began, countless trips to the dentist to fill all of these cavities in my yuck mouth.

Suffering from morning sickness with both children didn't help the condition of my teeth either.  I didn't realize how much that would affect them.  But each time I visited the dentist after having my kids, they commented on how badly my teeth had suffered from all the vomiting.  Wonderful.

I've had teeth pulled, crowns, a root canal, my wisdom teeth cut out (that is another story in itself).  I recall vividly one particular appointment when I was getting a crown or they were starting one or something.  It wasn't my first go-round with a crown, so I knew what was coming and wasn't looking forward to it.

It had become my experience that if the average person needed one shot, I needed three...and I am not joking.  This particular occasion after getting the first shot and waiting the usual time to see if it was going to be enough, I asked for more, I could still feel them prodding around on the pre-test.  Okay, so I get another shot.  I wait.  Dentist comes in and says she's ready.  I tell her that I think I still need more numbing stuff.  She laughs and says, oh, good grief, you don't either.  She starts her work and I about come off the table.

I kid you not, I literally jumped up off the table at one point and she tells me in a rather stern voice that I was being ridiculous and I needed to settle down, it did not hurt.  I was completely taken aback and she stopped what she was doing and I sat up and said, "Look, I have had two children, one with an epidural, the last one without.  I can take a lot of pain, but you are killing me."  I don't know if I convinced her or not, but they gave me more numbing stuff.  It wasn't long after that, I found myself a new dentist.

I told the new place on the phone straight-up that I suffered from what I jokingly called Dental Anxiety (although now I realize there really is such a thing).  They said that would not be a problem for them, and we made our appointments.  At my very first visit, the dentist took me into his office, sat me down and talked to me about my fears, my past experiences, what he would do for me, how I needed to communicate with him about pain, etc.  It was wonderful.  Although I was somewhat embarrassed having to admit all of this, he took me seriously.  I can honestly say that personally I have yet to have a bad experience with this office. 

Last November when my cousin "Danielle" and I were driving to another cousin's birthday party, we got to sharing stories about our dental nightmares.  I never knew it until then, but she also suffers from severe dental anxiety.  We just laughed and laughed as we compared our experiences.  It was comforting (to me anyway) to know I was not the only one.