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rabidsamfanI never used to be afraid of going to the dentist. I wasn't thrilled at the prospect, but I wasn't afraid of it either. I have teeth (as one of the random dentists I have visited over the years told me) that won't bother me much right up until the day they fall out.
This is not a particularly good thing, as it means they don't bother me when I neglect them. But sooner or later, the fillings give up and fall out. Which one did, Wednesday night.
Now I'd spent two days being dizzy off and on, which I'd blamed on my cheap shoes but the dizzy spells stopped after the filling was gone. According to the hero of this piece, that was unrelated -- and he might be right. Before now I've always gotten the silver/mercury amalgam fillings, and been fairly sanguine about them, but the dizziness has me reconsidering. (Although it may be a nocebo effect, it's a darn odd one when the symptom vanishes and then I discover the filling is gone.) We discussed it as he gave me the white fillings -- or he did, my mouth being occupied -- and he said the ADA is disgusted because they think the safety record for amalgam is fine. But the white ones (made of quarts and resin) aren't that much more expensive. Just trickier to put in because you've got to keep things dry. He said he mostly uses the amalgam with small people who will lose the teeth anyway in a few years, because babies just don't cooperate and the silver can cope with a little dampness.
Any whos and hows, Wednesday night I stopped into CVS (which is a drugstore) and picked up a little tub of "Refilit", which is a kind of do-it-yourself temporary filling, meant to help you survive until you can get to the dentist. Works, too. Then Thursday I called Human Resources to find out what kind of dental insurance my union has, and then the Massachusetts Public Employees people to make sure which plan I had in particular. The gal at MPE gave me names of two dentists near my house, and said by way of being nice to the poor panicked person on the phone that one of her co-workers went to the guy who was nearest to me.
So I called, got an appointment for 10 this morning, picked softish foods, and tried not to think about it.
Last night, naturally, I had a nightmare about missing the appointment and then running desperately over to find the dentist wearing my completely inadequate notion of sleep attire.
This morning I nearly did miss the appointment, because I was reading stuff on the internet and got distracted. But fortunately, it really is a five minute walk, and I noticed I was lollygagging with fifteen minutes grace. I dived into clothes and went over.
By the time I got there I was feeling a little apprehensive. I answered the receptionists questions, filled out the "new patient" forms, with the exception of the blanket "we can tell anyone about your health" form. (No, I don't sign something saying I've agreed to the privacy policy when I haven't read the privacy policy...) Then I sat and did Kakuro puzzles till I was called.
They took x-rays. Dental x-rays are EVIL. The plates always cut my mouth, and they were teaching a new kid, so the plates had to be positioned more than once and by the time we got done with that I was genuinely unhappy. The nice dental assistant chatted to me about allergies (she can't eat apples, I can't eat carrots or mint... do you know how many dentrifices have mint in dentist's offices?)until I calmed down. Then the dentist came in, filled my cheek with novocaine before I realized he was doing more than just taking a look, and I went and burst into tears at him because I'm afraid of choking. (Like I said, I didn't used to be afraid of dentists...) He gave me advice (breathe through your nose) gave me kleenex, and let me calm down while the novocaine took effect, having looked inside and realized that I had two cavities, not just one, that the refilit had filled up.
Then he came back and chatted at me while he very quickly and efficiently drilled out the temp-stuff and put in the new fillings. I only had to raise my hand for panicking three times... It was all over amazingly quickly. In fact, it wasn't until I tried to sit up properly that I realized that I was shaking like a leaf.
I've got an appointment for a cleaning/checkup in July. I'm not quite as scared as I was before, but I am still going to have to kick myself to go over there.
*sigh*
You know, if my mom didn't say that dentures were just as much of a pain in the patoot...
This is not a particularly good thing, as it means they don't bother me when I neglect them. But sooner or later, the fillings give up and fall out. Which one did, Wednesday night.
Now I'd spent two days being dizzy off and on, which I'd blamed on my cheap shoes but the dizzy spells stopped after the filling was gone. According to the hero of this piece, that was unrelated -- and he might be right. Before now I've always gotten the silver/mercury amalgam fillings, and been fairly sanguine about them, but the dizziness has me reconsidering. (Although it may be a nocebo effect, it's a darn odd one when the symptom vanishes and then I discover the filling is gone.) We discussed it as he gave me the white fillings -- or he did, my mouth being occupied -- and he said the ADA is disgusted because they think the safety record for amalgam is fine. But the white ones (made of quarts and resin) aren't that much more expensive. Just trickier to put in because you've got to keep things dry. He said he mostly uses the amalgam with small people who will lose the teeth anyway in a few years, because babies just don't cooperate and the silver can cope with a little dampness.
Any whos and hows, Wednesday night I stopped into CVS (which is a drugstore) and picked up a little tub of "Refilit", which is a kind of do-it-yourself temporary filling, meant to help you survive until you can get to the dentist. Works, too. Then Thursday I called Human Resources to find out what kind of dental insurance my union has, and then the Massachusetts Public Employees people to make sure which plan I had in particular. The gal at MPE gave me names of two dentists near my house, and said by way of being nice to the poor panicked person on the phone that one of her co-workers went to the guy who was nearest to me.
So I called, got an appointment for 10 this morning, picked softish foods, and tried not to think about it.
Last night, naturally, I had a nightmare about missing the appointment and then running desperately over to find the dentist wearing my completely inadequate notion of sleep attire.
This morning I nearly did miss the appointment, because I was reading stuff on the internet and got distracted. But fortunately, it really is a five minute walk, and I noticed I was lollygagging with fifteen minutes grace. I dived into clothes and went over.
By the time I got there I was feeling a little apprehensive. I answered the receptionists questions, filled out the "new patient" forms, with the exception of the blanket "we can tell anyone about your health" form. (No, I don't sign something saying I've agreed to the privacy policy when I haven't read the privacy policy...) Then I sat and did Kakuro puzzles till I was called.
They took x-rays. Dental x-rays are EVIL. The plates always cut my mouth, and they were teaching a new kid, so the plates had to be positioned more than once and by the time we got done with that I was genuinely unhappy. The nice dental assistant chatted to me about allergies (she can't eat apples, I can't eat carrots or mint... do you know how many dentrifices have mint in dentist's offices?)until I calmed down. Then the dentist came in, filled my cheek with novocaine before I realized he was doing more than just taking a look, and I went and burst into tears at him because I'm afraid of choking. (Like I said, I didn't used to be afraid of dentists...) He gave me advice (breathe through your nose) gave me kleenex, and let me calm down while the novocaine took effect, having looked inside and realized that I had two cavities, not just one, that the refilit had filled up.
Then he came back and chatted at me while he very quickly and efficiently drilled out the temp-stuff and put in the new fillings. I only had to raise my hand for panicking three times... It was all over amazingly quickly. In fact, it wasn't until I tried to sit up properly that I realized that I was shaking like a leaf.
I've got an appointment for a cleaning/checkup in July. I'm not quite as scared as I was before, but I am still going to have to kick myself to go over there.
*sigh*
You know, if my mom didn't say that dentures were just as much of a pain in the patoot...
