My Tuesdays in February

Aw crap.

Went to the dentist yesterday, my third visit in the past 18 months. 
Before that, I took a 10-year break.  It's called living independently,
with no dental coverage.  That's just the way it is.

For 10 years, I had no problems with my teeth. Nothing. But when I finally had a
dental plan through work, my wife insisted I go back and see a dentist. My old
dentist, although still around, had a really nasty hygienist whom we nicknamed
'the Inquisitor' for amount of pain he put you through.  My gums would ache
for days afterward --but hey, I had clean teeth. But after 10 years, I had fears
as to how long my teeth would hurt afterward and made the decision to go
somewhere else.  Besides, 10 years of consuming coffee had begun to leave a
bit of a stain on one of my teeth and I'd always liked my smile beforehand (got
me into many a hotel room in Scotland after all). It wasn't too bad, but the
x-rays showed 3 cavities. I made another appointment and had all 3 fillings done
in one visit. My first mistake.  My second was my choice of dentists, an
older man.  He drilled too deep on one of the teeth, hitting the nerve and
caused all sorts of pain.  10 years with no pain, return to a dentist and
now there's PAIN!!!!  That tooth is still sensitive 18 months later. 
The other thing that had never happened before was the fillings continuously had
debris falling off of them for about 2 weeks afterward.  Very uncomfortable
feeling.

So, needless to say, I decided to wait for my next appointment.  My dental
plan only covers a regular check up every 9 months anyway, so I had an excuse to
delay it as long as possible, but then when my appointment got nearer, I came
down with a nasty head cold.  The last thing I wanted to do when my head
felt about 4 times larger than normal (and with my ego that's really saying
something) was go see the dentist.  I cancelled and it turned out I
couldn't get another appointment for 4 months.  Needless to say, I forgot
about it until my wife reminded me.  And, yes, I have another nasty head
cold dammit!

I went anyway and with the exception of one poke to get rid of a little stain in
front (a green stain --which means I'm taking too much iron --how do you cut
that?!!?!) everything seemed to be fine.  That is, until the dentist
arrived.

But it was a young woman who came over to shake my hand.  Apparently, she
bought the practice just last week and is taking over from the older dentist I
saw 18 months earlier.

so, she takes a look in my mouth and asks about the stain. It came off with a
little poking and prodding and polishing, but it was still something of
interest.  She then pointed out that I may have a couple of small cavities
and there's one filling that's partially broken and it looks like there's decay
underneath.  she wanted it checked 'just in case' and the hygienist broke
out the x-ray machine.

Sure enough, there's plenty of decay and I go in next week for a root
canal.  I've heard nothing but horror stories when it comes to root canals
(my wife had to have one about 4 years ago when the older dentist did some
fillings and one became infected.  She was in major pain for weeks with
that one.  I'm not looking forward to it, but something about this new
dentist makes me feel better.

See, with a new dentist comes new education and techniques.  Older dentists
mean old school ideas and not much in the way of progressive practices.  A
new dentist may just mean that it's going to be as bad and the fact that I'm
getting a root canal on a tooth that has never hurt also means that it won't
hurt as much.

But the thought of a root canal next Tuesday (and 2 fillings --dammit!!-- the
following Tuesday ) also meant I barely slept last night.

I'm lucky if I've had 9 hours' sleep this week.