I hate the dentist. I mean, I hate going to the dentist. My dentist is actually very nice and so is the hygienist. I don't mind getting a cleaning, but everything else is just torture.
I got my first filling when I was only eight or nine years old. I've had a cleaning where I felt like I had been beaten up afterwards. I've had lots of fillings and my first root canal two years ago. The root canal was the last time I had been to the dentist. I think that it was so traumatic that I couldn't bear to go back.
There had been a cavity under an old silver filling, probably one of the ones I got when I was a kid, and I happened to be pregnant when they discovered it. Dental stuff when you are pregnant is not good. X-rays are risky and you can't get the good/strong pain meds. It was difficult to recline on my back during the procedure. They had to put a temporary filling in and I had to come back to get a permanent one a few months later, after I had the baby.
About 10 years ago one of my wisdom teeth decided to grow. It's about 3/4 of the way in and it's now causing problems with the molar that it's next to. There is a massive pocket in between them and food gets stuck in there and then my tooth gets sore and for the first time last week I got a blister on my gum. I was sure that I needed another root canal, but it turns out I need to get that wisdom tooth out. I'm not sure which is worse.
I turned three different colors when the dentist told me I really, finally, had to have the wisdom tooth pulled. The thought of someone pulling something out of my mouth just really freaks me out. The dentist was like, "It's no big deal, just a little local, we just push around the edges and ease it out." And I'm like, "NO WAY!!! I need to be SEDATED!!! PLEASE knock me out. I don't want to be aware of any easing, or pulling, or tugging, or WHATEVER!!" And even now, as I'm writing that, I feel uneasy. It's just so wrong.
What is it with dentist visits anyway? Do dentists really have the highest rate of suicides? Why do I hate it so much? Why do I resist going every 6 months for regular cleanings? Why do I only sporadically floss? Why does it feel like some dentists have taken advantage of me? Why is it so expensive and it's never covered by health insurance?
There are so many things that I dislike. The burning smell. The sound. The frequency with which I have had to have work done. The guilt that I always feel for never being able to do enough to prevent the problems. I've even been told that I have been brushing TOO HARD. I mean, I can't get it right!! Not enough, too hard, do this, do that. And still, I get a cavity.
And now they laid on the guilt about my kids. I have not been giving them fluoride drops. We don't have fluoride in our water. We use fluoride tooth paste, but apparently that is not enough. Milo brushes twice a day, we are teaching Quinn to brush too, I am constantly saying, "Did you brush your teeth?" And AGAIN. It's not enough. Or at least, it's one opinion. Some think that consuming flouride is not good for children. Arg. Another controversial parenting decision.
No other thing in my life gives me this much grief or stress. Is it easy for everyone else? And what about genetics, are my teeth just prone to cavities? Are there really people who never brush and never get cavities? It's just too much to think about. Most of the time I just try not to think about it, but that's how two years can go by in between visits.
So, I guess this might fall under the heading "too much information", but I just had to write about it. What's up with your teeth? Do you floss every single day? Do you go to the dentist every six months for a cleaning? Am I just a bad patient?