I received a phone call from my dentist's office today. Apparently, something awful had shown up on my new set of x-rays and I needed to come in later in the day for a consultation about a needed root canal.
I arrived at the dentist in a "consultation" state of mind.
I should have known something was amiss when they started putting the drool bib on me.
In order to avoid the possible root canal, they decided to first refill the offending tooth. And, since I was in the office already... well, you know the rest.
While the procedure was pretty uneventful, I was able to drown out the sound of the drill with the vocal stylings of Mr. Nat King Cole via a portable CD player.
Out of the selection of CDs that the office offered -- Shania Twain, the Titanic soundtrack, some various Beatles albums (Magical Mystery Tour??), I settled on Nat King Cole because of the soothing nature of his voice.
It was ironic, however, to listen to Cole's rendition of "Smile" as my mouth was being pried open by some monstrous metal apparatus holding taut the dental dam.
I swear, I felt like I was in a David Lynch film with a little bit of "A Clockwork Orange" thrown in for good measure.
The moral of this story?
Make sure to floss and avoid Sour Straws.
Well, at least your root canal was successful. A few years back, the dentist said I needed one too. I sat in that chair for two days and at the end of the second session the dentist, all of a sudden, just closed up shop and started putting his tools away. "Couldn't save the tooth. I tried. But, I'd recommend you get it pulled as soon as possible!"
Ouch. Not only did I have to sit through that but for naught! And now this. So the next day I found myself in another dentist's office. He just took his tool and pulled the thing out. All of this happened in a matter of seconds. It came out so easily it was shocking.
I'm glad you've learned your, um, lesson, Mena. Floss every day (actually, they say night is the best time to floss).
Posted by: Jeff | January 15, 2002 at 07:18 AM
mena... it must be some sort of planetary alignment as my remaining baby tooth has started to mambo in my mouth. i ignored last months signs and i think that it's only going to get ugly. i can see a date with a dentist for an extraction looming... i'm going to save the tooth. i'll add it to the others. feel better.
Posted by: heather | January 15, 2002 at 11:22 AM
Jeff: I actually did not have the root canal. They're trying to do other things in order to save this tooth.
Heather: I feel for you. The fact that you have a remaining baby tooth just speaks volumes to the amount of teeth distress you've probably had to go through. I hope the (possible) extraction goes well.
And then people wonder why tooth nightmares are the worst sort of nightmares?
Posted by: Mena | January 15, 2002 at 11:31 AM
I have one of those problems that when I go to the dentist to get something done I freak out and shake and cry, and they physically can't get near me. I guess you could call it a phobia.
I haven't had my teeth looked after in over 7 years and it's starting to show. I have loose fillings. I have caverns in my back teeth I could drop coins in. So far no serious nerve pain yet, but it's coming, I can tell.
So what am I to do? I'm going to need to be knocked out...I don't know how I'm going to pay for it. I'm so scared. Gah.
Posted by: lisel | January 15, 2002 at 11:38 AM
My dentist pulled the same "consultation" trick when it was time to have my wisdom teeth removed. I was scheduled to work that day and had to go in, gums bandaged and bruised, groggy and horrible puffy in the face. Fortunately my employer took pity on me and sent me home after and hour. My sister kindly picked up my script from the chemist and set me up with packages of frozen peas and the next few days remain a blur.
In retrospect, it was better walking into the office not knowing my teeth were about to be pried and cut out of my mouth but the experience did nothing to allay my general hate of dentistry.
Posted by: eat hot lettuce | January 18, 2002 at 05:19 AM
Whoa. I just had a post deja vu. From my site, over a year ago:
1.11.01 WONDERFUL WORLD
My dentist supplies headphones for her patients. When you've got some quality tunes playing, you hardly notice the smell of burning tooth enamel while she drills. I selected Louis Armstrong.
Two masked dentists leaned over me, backed by a glaring, operating-table light, while I tried not to gag on the spit collecting at the back of my throat. At the peak of my discomfort, Louis sang, "AND I THINK TO MAHSELF, WHUTTA WONDERFUHL WAHHHLD... (cue strings)." I swear, it was like stepping into a Quentin Tarantino movie. I found it so absurd that I had to control the urge to laugh (funeralsbreakupsthethingsIwishI'dknown). But the more depressing things I thought about, the worse the juxtaposition became. When "Life is a Cabaret" came on, I lost it. With my mouth stretched open like a gasping trout, I started to guffaw.
They, mercifully, assumed I was choking. I tried to cover my lunacy with a few well-placed coughs, and hit stop on the CD player while I was sitting up. I shoulda gone with Korn.
10:55 a.m.
Posted by: Maggie | January 23, 2002 at 01:52 PM
Maggie: That's so funny... Perhaps at dental conventions they discuss the most absurd music they can play while torturing their patients.
I wouldn't be surprised if all those twisted movie directors have had a lot of dental work done:
Posted by: Mena | January 23, 2002 at 04:01 PM