My Love/Hate Relationship with Dentists

I went to the dentist this past Friday afternoon for the first time in one or maybe two years. I was beyond excited for it and I’m not quite sure why because I don’t really like the dentist. However, since the dentist I had been going to in Virginia for years was a pediatric dentist {yes, you read that correctly} my dentist experience on Friday was a bit more extensive and different than what I’m used to.

Because I’m sure you’re wondering all about my dental history and why I don’t love my life as I lie there in the dentist’s chair, I’ll give you some background info:

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1. When I was younger and my adult teeth started to come in, my mouth was far too small to fit them. Because of this, I had a palatal expander placed in the palette of my mouth that was used to widen my upper jaw. My parents had to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning to turn a “key” in this device in my mouth to make it expand more. I’m sure some of you may have had this too.
2. In second grade, I had braces for the first time.
3. In fifth grade, I had braces for the second time.
4. After I got my braces off, I had to wear special retainers because… I was born without two adult teeth.
5. Finally, my senior year in high school after lots of appointments with dentists, specialists, and oral surgeons I had my wisdom teeth removed while also getting two implants put into my lower jaw where the two adult teeth were missing.

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It was NOT pleasant. Sure, I had fun the first ten minutes after coming out of surgery and the first thing I said was, “LET’S DO THAT AGAIN!” Ohhhh, laughing gas. Looking back, I would NOT want to do that again. I had two horribly painful dry sockets from my wisdom teeth being removed and the pain of having two metal rods drilled into the bone of your jaw cannot be explained. I’ll leave it at that.

It wasn’t over, yet. The rods were in my jaw but I had to have two crowns made to fit on top of the rods to complete the process. After having impressions made, many appointments to have the crowns fit and re-fit and having tools dropped into my mouth {which has scarred me for life!!}, and having a crown pop out while chewing delicious Valentine’s Day chocolates, I had them permanently glued in and was finally set and they’re still holding up today! Here’s what a normal tooth looks like versus what I now have:

{via}

But, after all those years in and out of the dentist, orthodontist, oral surgeon, etc. I don’t like being in that chair. This time going into the dentist, I was scared to find out how many cavities I had. After two years of not going to the dentist, I had to have a couple, right? Wrong. All EIGHTEEN X-rays showed I was cavity-free and had healthy bone density! I was most worried about the area around the implants. Because of the implant, gum disease is much more likely to occur if the area is not properly cared for and can eventually result in bone loss. I take good care of my teeth and, while flossing under the crown is difficult for me, the dentist said I was doing a great job. He went in and cleaned under the crown for me with that lovely pick they use. And, let me tell you… it HURT like crazy. The gum there is SO tender and sore and it felt like having a needle repeatedly shoved into my gum. Painful, right? He was great, though, and explained everything he was doing and answered the many questions I had.

This place had a flat screen TV that hung down from the ceiling so you could watch a show while having your teeth cleaned! How could I NOT love this place? Oh, AND the fluoride I got was cheesecake flavored. Yes, cheesecake. It even tasted like the real deal :)

In the end, it was a great experience! I felt wonderful about the news of being cavity-free and having healthy dental implants! It looks like my dental future is only looking brighter, friends :)