Today was such a day! I mean to tell ya, I was sitting at my desk minding my own business, because that's what I do, you know; I mind my own business. I was sitting there, around 9:30 a.m., just thinking about what I was supposed to do that day, when a reminder text came in from my dentist. They do that up there; they remind you constantly that you made an appointment. They really want you to keep those appointments.
"Oh yeah," I said to myself, "I'm getting my teeth cleaned." I wanted not only to get my teeth cleaned, but also to discuss a certain spot in my upper gumline that felt as if air was getting into the nerve of tooth #9. That's right, I know how teeth are numbered in my head! I'm clever like that. I think I learned it in the 3rd grade or something, and I never dropped that odd and strange bit of information from my memory. It's in there. I won't ever not know how many teeth I had at one time. (The number has changed over the years.)
So, tooth #9, the front tooth on the left upper side, felt as if air was getting to it, and although it wasn't causing pain, it was noticeable and nagging. I decided to talk to Dr. Bauman about it after my hygienist, Cathy, had her fun with my teeth. Little did I know that Cathy knows just about as much as Dr. Bauman, and when he's busy with dental work, she essentially takes over and handles the tasks without the pay raise. She's every bit as intelligent and knowledgeable, so I let her tell me the gory details of what was happening. When Dr. Bauman came in and said the same thing she had said, I fist-bumped her and told her she needed to ask for a raise.
Well, turns out it wasn't a cavity, and it wasn't what I thought. It wasn't even tooth #9 giving me fits. It was the gumline between #9 and #10, as it was beginning to recede due to tartar buildup. Cathy took an X-ray and showed me. It was nasty - just nasty! You may not realize how important it is to have all your gums and hidden areas cleaned at least every two years. It had been more than that. I'm too embarrassed to actually say how many years it had been.
OK, now that I knew what it was, I decided to schedule an appointment. Lucky for me, Cathy tells me, their other hygienist, Gabby, had an opening at 3:00 today! Same day! Wow...OK, maybe that's good, I thought to myself. I'm already off work, I may as well make it a big, fat, fun-loving, scraping, pulling, sawing, pushing, drilling sort of day! Why the heck not? Let's do it. I scheduled the opening, and I went home. While I was home, I got another text reminding me that I had just made another appointment - as if I could forget.
I took several of my books to give to the ladies who work at the dental office because none of them realized I was an author. To be fair, even though I've been going there for over a decade, I hadn't really talked about my writing. I took four different books, and now they want more. OK, I can do that. They do such a good job - all of them! I can't give them up when I move. I'll have to make the long drive twice a year for my semi-annual visits. It's a must. I love them all.
So, 3:00 p.m. rolls around, and it's my turn once again to be the center of attention. This mouth required some heavy construction, which would necessitate the use of laughing gas. Sign me up. Don't even think I'm doing the deep scaling thing without the nose-mussle. Nope! It's turned up, and I want a little more Lidocaine than most people, too. I want my face to be NUMB when those shots hit my gums, and I want to be out of it when she starts the mechanized equipment. (She had a few toys to play with.)
I sat down at 3:08 p.m. and she was finished at 5:21 p.m. She did the upper and lower left side of my mouth -- two quads, and maybe 8 shots, I think. I stopped counting. One hurt, the others I was able to breathe through without too much agony. That nose gas, though, makes you wanna close your eyes and causes you to wonder if the people working on you can hear your thoughts. I was inside my head wondering that, then another thought hit me. I couldn't tell if I was awake or not. I wondered if I had my mouth open wide enough -- I did.
Believe it or not, I was able to tolerate the last bit without the nose piece, and because I was breathing real air again, my senses came back to me. Not my face nerves; no, they remained unfazed for another three hours, but I was able to suck down a soft pumpkin roll cake thing because it was sort of spiralled. You know what I'm talking about; the cream cheese thing. It was awesome. I'm living on Ibuphofen now, and will for the rest of the evening. I may substitute the last dose before bed for 5 or 6 children's 81mg chewable aspirin. The lidocaine and other drugs are wearing off, and I feel my nerves now.
The entire event, both the cleaning and the deep cleaning, only cost me $153.00 after insurance. What a deal! I was so happy about it, I scheduled the other half of my face to be scraped and mauled on 12/30 - you know, to celebrate the end of the year! Woo hoo!! Party at Dr. Bauman's place! I'd say bring your own booze because (a) I don't drink, and (b) my lips couldn't hold anything - I'll have to pass on beverages at that point. Laura said she was going to give me a face piercing to see if I could feel it -- no, I'm good; thanks though!!
If you haven't had the nose gas, I do recommend it. I recommend it because it allows you to relax. It allows you to not stress and not dig your claws into the arms of the dentist's chair. It allows you to stay tilted back in a weird position without giving a damn that you're tilted back in a weird position. It allows you to dream while you're awake - and that's worth every penny, right there. Do it. They now make the little nose covers smaller as well. I used to hate them, but I'm good now. I have learned to somehow talk myself through all the would-be fretting and say a ton of affirmations that not only get me through the experience, but some of them I actually believe.
Such a day! Three to three and a half hours in the chair with people poking and prodding, scraping, scaling, and rough-housing under my gums! At least I know my teeth are clean, and half of my gums all the way up to my left nostril! I'll get the other done and feel like a completely different person soon. Joy of joy!! One of the affirmations I told myself is that in 2025, I have it so much better than Wyatt Earp did if he ever leaned on his good friend Doc Holliday to help him out with tooth/teeth issues.
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