The Dentist

I have a fear of dentists. I was going to say an irrational fear, but really, it's perfectly rational.

When I was about 12, I was chewing on a Now and Later taffy thing, and broke one of my molars. My mom took me to this nice, pediatric dentist to have it fixed. What I wish he would have said was, "This is beyond my ability. Let me send you to another dentist, so this is a good experience." What he did, was drill...for three hours.

This guy didn't use one of those mouth guard things. I can still taste and feel the drilled tooth in my mouth. I can smell the smoke from the drill. Then, toward the end of my horrible experience, the novocaine started to wear off. He would hit certain places that would practically send me through the roof in pain. I remember him having me hold an accupressure point on my earlobe to lessen the pain some.

That guy is since out of business under somewhat shady circumstances.

In addition to that experience, I have a really weird reaction to fluoride - it makes the muscles in the front of my neck get sore because I clinch my teeth really hard in my sleep. Try telling a dentist that you want as little fluoride as possible when you have bad teeth. They more often than not try to get me to do a rinse with the toxic stuff at home.

Fast-forward to today. I have a dentist appointment. I now see what I think is the best dentist in the city, who is a friend of the family and goes to church with us. Dentists are still not my favorite.