Pearly Whites Drama

My annual visit to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned Wednesday turned into a major ordeal. Let me preface the rest of this post by saying that I hate the dentist. I hate that they always tell me I don't floss enough, I hate that they make me hold my mouth open for so long, and I hate that I get a different hygienist every time I go. That aside, I know it is important to have my teeth cleaned, so I go every 6-months to have it done.

Prior to moving to Bloomington, I have always had a simple visit to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. However, since moving to Bloomington a little over three years ago, it has been nothing but trouble. I experienced my first cavity ever two years ago! It was a horrible experience getting it filled with me balling in the dental chair. Then, they kept telling me the grooves in my teeth are very deep and I was getting a lot of decay. So, I had sealants put on last May. Well, when I went in to get my teeth cleaned this week, it turns out part of my sealant on tooth 30 had fallen out. Super.

It had to be fixed - they could already see a little decay (no cavity thankfully) and needed to get out the other part of the sealant to re-do everything on that one tooth. So, my options from the dentist were:

1. Receive Novocaine shot to fix one tooth. This would mean I would have to endure the shot and be numb for 5-6 hours.
2. Let her drill out the spot without any drugs, which she assured would be done very quickly and that some people don't even feel any pain.

So, knowing I had to go back to work and deal with meetings and conference calls, I chose option 2. I couldn't have a half-numb mouth all day. Boy, was that a bad idea!! She drilled and I jumped out of the chair at least once. It was the most painful thing ever. She kept hitting the nerve and apologizing. She also said that it appears I have sensitive teeth based on how I react to them poking in my mouth. Really?!? (I wanted to say check my chart lady and see that I use Sensodyne and the reason I didn't even feel the problem with the sealant is that hot and cold is always painful on my teeth, but I have learned to live with it. Also, this is the driving force behind why I don't have a problem with room temperature pop.) Anyway, I made it through and they fixed my sealant. Of course, I wasn't charged for the repair since it should have lasted longer than 4 months. Gee, thanks.