Cavity Update

I went to the dentist to have my cleaning and my two cavities filled.

First off, I hate the dentist. I hate the scraping that goes on inside my mouth. I am always sure that the hygienist is actually scraping off large portions of my teeth. When the dentist comes in and tells me I have a receding gum line, I want to tell him it's the hygienist's fault: she scraped it all off a few moments before he walked through the door.

But today it was mostly painless. Again, there were a few changes. Remember how, halfway through the cleaning, someone handed you a dixie cup of water or listerine so you could rinse and spit? Well, there are are no little sinks or toilet bowls in this office. The water is sprayed into your mouth for you, and then suctioned out for you, even during the filling process. It's probably because they don't have to clean the sinks this way, but I like to think it's to spare me the bother of doing anything myself.

And my cavities were taken care of. I was nervous - I have only had this done once before, remember, and it was a very tiny one. It turns out that one of the ones I had this time was also very small, and the one shot of novocaine took care of both. I felt nothing, and the scariest part was when I opened my eyes and saw little flecks of wet and tooth enamel shooting out of my mouth like carbonation from a soda. And the most painful part was the stupid game show they had on the TV. In the cavity filling room. I didn't watch, but I could hear it over the buzzing.

So... this was nothing. I still consider myself lucky, and I am, I know. I've had good luck with my set of teeth, and I hope it stays that way. Because I don't want to do this again.