I'm too old to admit this, but I really freaking love this song.
So, there's that.
Now, let's talk about yesterday (Thursday).
On Wednesday night, I was nervous. I slept three hours that night. I was so worried about over-sleeping for my dentist appointment at 10:45 a.m. that was 2.5 hours away that I woke up at 3 a.m. and never went back to sleep.
Needless to say, I made it there on time.
Now, let me explain something to you. I have one tooth in my mouth that is very, very difficult to numb. I have no idea why, but it's been like that for years. That poor tooth has had a filling in it since high school, and I always cringed when my old dentist worked on it. It could never, ever, not even once, get numb.
Fast forward a few years, and I know now that the tooth is possible to numb. But it's kind of like expecting a certain little black Pug to not poop in her kennel, play in it, and then jump all over me on my lunch break when I have food in my hand. (My lunch break today sucked.)
Yeah it's possible, but it's not likely to happen.
Again, I was really nervous about this tooth. But sometimes you have to put your adult pants on and deal with your problems, even if they hurt.
For those of you with normal teeth, an endodontist is a dentist who specializes in root canals. I first went to my endodontist in 2009 after my dentist could not numb a tooth that he said "was the easiest tooth in my mouth to numb."
I remember the first appointment I had with my endodontist seven years ago. I told him my dentist couldn't numb that tooth. I was young, dumb, and I assumed because my dentist could not numb it, the tooth would never get numb for anyone.
That wasn't the case! The endodontist, in total boss mode, numbed that tooth easily. It didn't even phase him that some whiny girl was concerned about not getting numb. I've been a big fan of him ever since.
I respect a lot of the decisions that he's has made for me over the years. In 2012, I went to him because I thought I needed a root canal.
I sat there forever during the root canal. An assistant came in the room, looked in my mouth, said "Oh, it's s two-fer" and left.
He did two root canals on me, without telling me I was getting the second one. On Halloween, nonetheless.
After the appointment, he sat me up, said something like, "I made the best decision for your health, regardless of money" and told me I could make payments to him.
I didn't have time to ask him questions. That was that.
I thought about being offended, but then I thought of what he told me: "I made the best decision for your health."
What was I supposed to say? How dare you? No, that would not have been nice.
It took me six months to pay that off. It worked out. He got his money, I got to make affordable payments and he got a patient for life...or until I run out of teeth.
Win-win.
Two years later, I was in a world of hurt, both literally and figuratively. I still to this day don't understand what happened, but all I know is that I went to him for a second opinion.
When he looked at the x-rays, he started cussing.
If you cuss at me in the first sentence you talk to me, I'm going to like you instantly.
I like people who don't sugarcoat the truth.
During a pre-root canal pep talk a few weeks later, he told me: "You need to know there are good dentists in the world."
Like I said, I respect a lot of the decisions he's made for me over the years. I've had several 3.5 hour appointments with him. In the end, it usually turns out okay, meaning I generally get to keep the teeth that he works on.
(When you're young and you get a root canal, you worry about money. When you get root canals as you age, your concern shifts from money to 'Can I save this tooth?' It sucks when you spend money trying to save a tooth that isn't savable. Trust me.)
Yesterday, the appointment was only an hour and a half. Compared to past appointments, that's nothing. I should have been able to handle it.
But that stupid tooth has always been tricky to numb. And I was nervous and didn't sleep well. I knew it wouldn't be good.
I told him that right away that the tooth is really, really hard to numb. Honesty is a good policy, especially when it comes to people who bring sharp stabby things into your face on a somewhat regular basis.
After the first two shots, they put a rubber dam on me and he got to work. Except, I wasn't numb. Not even close.
Okay, the first two shots didn't work.
He worked on me some more, and I felt all of it. It went on for a while. He took the rubber dam off, then got kind of stab happy all over my face.
This one is going to sting, he'd tell me.
This isn't going to feel good.
You're going to feel this one.
He was right on all accounts.
Finally, he got stab happy on the left side of my face, near my ear. I don't know anything about teeth, or nerves, or science or biology and anything that takes intelligence to understand, but that was the shot that did the trick.
He said something like, "That finally worked."
I had my eyes shut the entire time. I thought I was done. I thought Jesus Christ, that root canal is finally over. I want to go home and sleep.
It turns out, he meant the shot finally worked and I was numb. The root canal hadn't even started yet.
As I was sitting there, slobbering all over my face in front of multiple people, I thought about telling my endodontist to give up. Maybe I could be put under for it somewhere else, or maybe it's not even worth saving and needs to be pulled instead.
In a moment of panic, I turned to him. (Moving your head without permission is a pretty big deal. I'm a rebel.) I asked him if not getting numb was normal.
He didn't hesitate to answer me.
"It's normal for you," he told me.
Then he kept on keeping on, and went about his business.
"It's normal for you" is now a quote that I'll remember for a very long time, much like "You need to know there are good dentists in the world" and "I made the best decision for your health, regardless of money."
It's normal, for you.
I'm not sure why I asked the question to begin with. The last thing you want to hear when something isn't exactly going as planned is, "Of course you're not normal, you stupid freak."
It's normal, for you, is a very good answer to my question.
Oh, I thought. Okay. I'm just going to keep slobbering all over myself until you tell me I'm good to go.
By the way, the never-ending cycle of suck that is my mouth involves pain that causes nausea. Which, is a nice way to say that after I left the appointment, I gagged a lot while driving home. I also threw up (not in my car, thankfully).
There is no grace or dignity in this process, but there are people who treat you with grace and dignity throughout the process.
I'll take it.
Note: I love writing just as much as I love Pugs, reading, and the words ought and might. I keep track (write about) my tooth disasters, but I don't tend to share any of them. I'd like to think that when I die, someone is going to find that document on my laptop and have a good laugh at my (dead) expense. This will be the latest entry in that document. While I have no intention of sharing everything I've been through, in life, in health or otherwise, I don't think sharing this will hurt anyone. Plus, it's kind of fun to read about stuff if you've never gone through it before.
Another note: BRUSH AND FLOSS YOUR FACE, FOLKS.
No comments:
Post a Comment